TO OLD NOBODADDY. Why dost thou hide thyself in clouds In all thy words and laws,— That none dare eat the fruit but from The wily serpent's jaws? Or is it because secrecy Gains feminine applause? BARREN BLOSSOM. I FEARED the fury of my wind Would blight all blossoms fair and true, And my sun it shined and shined, And my wind it never blew. But a blossom fair or true Was not found on any tree; OPPORTUNITY. HE who bends to himself a joy Does the winged life destroy; But he who kisses the joy as it flies Lives in eternity's sunrise. If you trap the moment before it's ripe, The tears of repentance you'll certainly wipe ; But, if once you let the ripe moment go, You can never wipe off the tears of woe. LOVE'S SECRET. NEVER seek to tell thy love, Love that never told shall be; For the gentle wind does move Silently, invisibly. I told my love, I told my love, Soon after she was gone from me, A traveller came by, Silently, invisibly: He took her with a sigh. THE WILL AND THE WAY. I ASKED a thief to steal me a peach: He turned up his eyes. I asked a lithe lady to lie her down: Holy and meck, she cries. As soon as I went, An Angel came. He winked at the thief, And smiled at the dame; And, without one word spoke, CUPID. WHY was Cupid a boy, For he shoots with his bow, And a girl shoots with her eye; And to make Cupid a boy Was surely a woman's plan, And then he is so pierced through THE THISTLES AND THORNS. I LAID me down upon a bank, I heard among the rushes dank, Then I went to the heath and the wild, To the thistles and thorns of the waste; And they told me how they were beguiled, Driven out, and compelled to be chaste. THE GOLDEN NET. BENEATH the white-thorn's lovely may, They cry, and tears for ever flow. When they saw my tears, a smile THE CRYSTAL CABINET. THE maiden caught me in the wild, And locked me up with a golden key. This cabinet is formed of gold, And pearl and crystal shining bright, Another England there I saw, Another London with its Tower, Translucent, lovely, shining clear, And found a threefold kiss returned. I strove to seize the inmost form With ardour fierce and hands of flame, But burst the crystal cabinet, And like a weeping babe became : A weeping babe upon the wild, I filled with woes the passing wind. |