The farthest Thunder that I heard
Was nearer than the Sky
And rumbles still, though torrid Noons
Have lain their Missiles by -
The Lightning that preceded it
Struck no one but myself -
But I would not...
The feet of people walking home
With gayer sandals go -
The Crocus - till she rises
The Vassal of the snow -
The lips at Hallelujah
Long years of practise bore
Till bye and bye these Bargemen
Walked s...
The Flake the Wind exasperate
More eloquently lie
Than if escorted to it's Down
By Arm of Chivalry.
The Guest is gold and crimson -
An Opal guest, and gray -
Of Ermine is his doublet -
His Capuchin gay -
He reaches town at nightfall -
He stops at every door -
Who looks for him at morning
I pray him ...
The healed Heart shows it's shallow scar
With confidential moan -
Not mended by Mortality
Are Fabrics truly torn -
To go it's convalescent way
So shameless is to see
More genuine were perfidy
Than suc...
The Heart asks Pleasure - first -
And then - Excuse from Pain -
And then - those little Anodyness
That deaden suffering -
And then - to go to sleep -
And then - if it should be
The will of it's Inquis...
The joy that has no stem nor core,
Nor seed that we can sow,
Is edible to longing,
But ablative to show.
By fundamental palates
Those products are preferred
Impregnable to transit
And patented by pod.
The Lamp burns sure - within -
Tho' Serfs - supply the Oil -
It matters not the busy Wick -
At her phosphoric toil!
The Slave - forgets - to fill -
The Lamp - burns golden - on -
Unconscious that the ...
The Lassitudes of Contemplation
Beget a force -
They are the spirit's still vacation
That him refresh -
The Dreams consolidate in action -
What mettle fair.
The Life we have is very great.
The Life that we shall see
Surpasses it, we know, because
It is Infinity.
But when all Space has been beheld
And all Dominion shown
The smallest Human Heart's extent
Re...
The Lightning is a yellow Fork
From Tables in the sky
By inadvertent fingers dropt
The awful Cutlery
Of mansions never quite disclosed
And never quite concealed
The Apparatus of the Dark
To ignorance ...
The long sigh of the Frog
Upon a Summer's Day
Enacts intoxication
Upon the Passer by.
But his receding Swell
Substantiates a Peace
That makes the Ear inordinate
For corporal release.
The Malay - took the Pearl -
Not - I - the Earl -
I - feared the Sea - too much
Unsanctified - to touch -
Praying that I might be
Worthy - the Destiny -
The Swarthy fellow swam -
And bore my Jewel - H...
The Manner of it's Death
When Certain it must die -
'Tis deemed a privilege to choose -
'Twas Major Andre's Way -
When Choice of Life - is past -
There yet remains a Love
It's little Fate to stipulate...
The Martyr Poets - did not tell -
But wrought their Pang in syllable -
That when their mortal name be numb -
Their mortal fate - encourage Some -
The Martyr Painters - never spoke -
Bequeathing - rath...
The Mind lives on the Heart
Like any Parasite -
If that is full of Meat
The Mind is fat -
But if the Heart omit
Emaciate the Wit -
The Aliment of it
So absolute.
The morns are meeker than they were -
The nuts are getting brown -
The berry's cheek is plumper -
The Rose is out of town.
The Maple wears a gayer scarf -
The field a scarlet gown -
Lest I should be o...
The only Ghost I ever saw
Was dressed in Mechlin - so -
He had no sandal on his foot -
And stepped like flakes of snow -
His Gait - was soundless, like a Bird -
But rapid - like the Roe -
His fashions...
The parasol is the umbrella's daughter,
And associates with a fan
While her father abuts the tempest
And abridges the rain.
The former assists a siren
In her serene display;
But her father is borne an...
The Poets light but Lamps -
Themselves - go out -
The Wicks they stimulate -
If vital Light
Inhere as do the Suns -
Each Age a Lens
Disseminating their
Circumference.
The pretty Rain from those sweet Eaves
Her unintending Eyes -
Took her own Heart, including our's,
By innocent Surprise -
The wrestle in her simple throat
To hold the feeling down
That vanquished her ...
The Province of the Saved
Should be the Art - To Save -
Through Skill obtained in Themselves -
The Science of the Grave
No Man can understand
But He that hath endured
The Dissolution - in Himself -
Th...
The pungent atom in the Air
Admits of no debate -
All that is named of Summer Days
Relinquished our Estate -
For what Department of Delight
As positive are we
As Limit of Dominion
Or Dams - of Extasy.
The rainbow never tells me
That gust and storm are by -
Yet is she more convincing
Than Philosophy.
My flowers turn from Forums -
Yet eloquent declare
What Cato couldn't prove me
Except the birds were...
The Red - Blaze - is the Morning -
The Violet - is Noon -
The Yellow - Day - is falling -
And after that - is None -
But Miles of Sparks - at Evening -
Reveal the Width that burned -
The Territory Arg...