Poems (Hinxman)/Stanzas (Never, when once the breeze of love)
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For works with similar titles, see Stanzas.
STANZAS.
Never, when once the breeze of loveHath chosen with its wing to moveThe water's unsuspecting breast,—Never again, by night or day,In still September or leafy May,Shall it return to former rest.
Sometimes, when all the heavens are clear,A shade shall on its face appearFleeting and thin, but still a shade;And wandering airs shall have strange powerUpon this lake, though not a flowerBe by their gentle visiting swayed.
And it shall break into a quiver,From shore to shore shall curve and shiver,And to its deepest springs belowShall send a quick, disturbing sound,Therein a thousand echoes foundShall stir, reply, and upwards flow.
Or haply this poor lake shall groanBeneath a tempest of its own,Writhing, and dark, and full of grief;While all the waters else that fillThe untouched cisterns of the hillGlass the blue sky and glossy leaf.