For each ecstatic instant
For each ecstatic instant We must an anguish pay In keen and quivering ration To the ecstasy. For each beloved hour Sharp pittances of years Bitter contested farthings And Coffers heaped with Tears!
Taking up the fair Ideal
Taking up the fair Ideal, Just to cast her down When a fracture we discover Or a splintered Crown Makes the Heavens portable And the Gods a lie Doubtless “Adam” scowled at Eden For
Of Bronze and Blaze
Of Bronze and Blaze The North Tonight So adequate it forms So preconcerted with itself So distant to alarms And Unconcern so sovereign To Universe, or me Infects my simple spirit With Taints of
I know some lonely Houses off the Road
I know some lonely Houses off the Road A Robber’d like the look of Wooden barred, And Windows hanging low, Inviting to A Portico, Where two could creep One hand the Tools The other
'Tis easier to pity those when dead
‘Tis easier to pity those when dead That which pity previous Would have saved A Tragedy enacted Secures Applause That Tragedy enacting Too seldom does.
'Tis customary as we part
‘Tis customary as we part A trinket to confer It helps to stimulate the faith When Lovers be afar ‘Tis various as the various taste Clematis journeying far Presents me with a single Curl
I cannot want it more
I cannot want it more I cannot want it less My Human Nature’s fullest force Expends itself on this. And yet it nothing is To him who easy owns Is Worth itself or Distance
My Life had stood a Loaded Gun
My Life had stood a Loaded Gun In Corners till a Day The Owner passed identified And carried Me away And now We roam in Sovereign Woods And now We hunt the Doe And
Forever it composed of Nows
Forever it composed of Nows ‘Tis not a different time Except for Infiniteness And Latitude of Home From this experienced Here Remove the Dates to These Let Months dissolve in further Months And Years
The Bible is an antique Volume
The Bible is an antique Volume Written by faded men At the suggestion of Holy Spectres Subjects Bethlehem Eden the ancient Homestead Satan the Brigadier Judas the Great Defaulter David the Troubador Sin a
Abraham to kill him
Abraham to kill him Was distinctly told Isaac was an Urchin Abraham was old Not a hesitation Abraham complied Flattered by Obeisance Tyranny demurred Isaac to his children Lived to tell the tale Moral
A Drunkard cannot meet a Cork
A Drunkard cannot meet a Cork Without a Revery And so encountering a Fly This January Day Jamaicas of Remembrance stir That send me reeling in The moderate drinker of Delight Does not deserve
Smiling back from Coronation
Smiling back from Coronation May be Luxury On the Heads that started with us Being’s Peasantry Recognizing in Procession Ones We former knew When Ourselves were also dusty Centuries ago Had the Triumph no
The parasol is the umbrella's daughter
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
Peril as a Possesssion
Peril as a Possesssion ‘Tis Good to hear Danger disintegrates Satiety There’s Basis there Begets an awe That searches Human Nature’s creases As clean as Fire.