Here the first violets
Perhaps will bud unseen,

And a dove, may be,

Return to nestle here.

CHRISTINA ROSSETTI

386

AT COMMON DAWN

AT common dawn there is a voice of bird
So sweet, 'tis kin to pain;

For love of earthly life it needs be heard,
And lets not sleep again.

This bird I did one time at midnight hear

In wet November wood

Say to himself his lyric faint and clear

As one at daybreak should.

He ceased; the covert breathed no other sound,

Nor moody answer made;

But all the world at beauty's worship found,

Was waking in the glade.

VIVIAN LOCKE ELLIS

387

1

GLYCINE'S SONG

A SUNNY shaft did I behold,
From sky to earth it slanted:
And poised therein a bird so bold-
Sweet bird, thou wert enchanted!

He sank, he rose, he twinkled, he trolled
Within that shaft of sunny mist;

His eyes of fire, his beak of gold,
All else of amethyst!

And thus he sang: "Adieu! adieu!
Love's dreams prove seldom true.
The blossoms, they make no delay:

The sparkling dew-drops will not stay.

Sweet month of May,

We must away;

Far, far away!

To-day! to-day!"

SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE

388

THE CRYSTAL CABINET

THE Maiden caught me in the wild,
Where I was dancing merrily;

She put me into her Cabinet,

And locked me up with a golden key.

This Cabinet is formed of Gold

And Pearl and Crystal shining bright,
And within it opens into a World
And a little lovely Moony Night.