I love to see the man, a long-lived child,
As yet uninjured by all worldly taint
As the fresh infant whose whole life is play.
'Tis a serene spectacle for a serene day;
But better still I love to contemplate
The mature soul of lesser innocence,
Who hath traveled far on life's dusty road
And proudly bears his small degen'racy
Blazon'd on his memorial standard high
Who from the sad experience of his fate
Since his bark struck on that unlucky rock
Has proudly steered his life with his own hands.
Yet there do chiefly lurk within its depths
Furrowed by care, but yet all over spread
With the ripe bloom of a self-wrought content
Noble resolves which do reprove the gods
And it doth more assert man's eminence
Above the happy level of the brute
And more doth advertise me of the heights
To which no natural path doth ever lead
No natural light can ever light our steps,
-- But the far-piercing ray that shines
From the recesses of a brave man's eye.

She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that's best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes:
Thus mellowed to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.

One shade the more, one ray the less,
Had half impaired the nameless grace
Which waves in every raven tress,
Or softly lightens o'er her face;
Where thoughts serenely sweet express
How pure, how dear their dwelling place.

And on that cheek, and o'er that brow,
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow,
But tell of days in goodness spent,
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent!

Now must I these three praise
Three women that have wrought
What joy is in my days:
One because no thought,
Nor those unpassing cares,
No, not in these fifteen
Many-times-troubled years,
Could ever come between
Mind and delighted mind;
And one because her hand
Had strength that could unbind
What none can understand,
What none can have and thrive,
Youth's dreamy load, till she
So changed me that I live
Labouring in ecstasy.
And what of her that took
All till my youth was gone
With scarce a pitying look?
How could I praise that one?
When day begins to break
I count my good and bad,
Being wakeful for her sake,
Remembering what she had,
What eagle look still shows,
While up from my heart's root
So great a sweetness flows
I shake from head to foot.

Desiree knows little of desire
Except what she detects in hungry eyes.
Sometime soon, perhaps, she'll feel the flame
Instead of merely acting in its name,
Reduced to an estate she will despise.
Each dances like a moth before the fire,
Even when she knows the end is shame.

Her poise so graceful
-a flower untouched;
Like a lotus in muddy water
Her presence felt so distinct

Her glances so bewitching
To melt the hardest of hearts;
Yet like the Goddess of Love
No human could ever touch

Her love spriteful yet encompassing
To touch the wiliest of hearts;
Like the coolness of the full moon
Her nobleness rendering peace deep inside

Her unbridled beauty unmatched
Breathing life into the soulless;
With divine grace she entraps
The earth in her sublime beauty.

From HOW SKY HOLDS THE SUN


sunshine
shifting
the earth;
in your eyes
candles flickering

sudden fog
hiding the ocean
we see each other
in a new,
pale light

rainbows
come
rainbows
go
you, my treasure, remain

alone together
we listen to the wind
blowing souls
of our past dreams
against the windowpane

narrow mountain road
at each corner you tense,
stare straight ahead,
until, at the top, we stop
to see the world at our feet

Wedding Poems