Rosemary and Pansies
ROSEMARY
AND PANSIES
The record of moods passed by,
Vain laughter and vainer tears,
A smile followed fast by a sigh.
And thought perchance not wholly sound or clear;
But youth with manhood's inconsistent still,
And manhood mocks at age's cautious chill:
Enough if through the whole there runs the thread
Of a soul resolved where conscience loads to tread.
remembrance: pray, love, remember:
and there's pansies, that's for thoughts"
Hamlet, Act iv. Scene 4
LONDON
PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR
77 CHARING CROSS ROAD, W.C
MDCCCCIV
TO
ARTHUR H. BULLEN
Than this poor garland, rather weeds than flowers,
Not the rich product of calm leisured hours.
But such as I from toil and haste could wring;
Yet take it, since 'tis something of mine own.
That bears at least the stamp of thought sincere.
Which from no consequence recoils in fear.
But seeks for truth unveiled—and truth alone.
To delve within the ancient mines of gold
And disinter from dust, decay, and mould.
Long-buried treasures held in time's duresse;
But here, a modern of the modern time,
A spirit that questions all is in my rhyme.
Wherein the pageant of the Universe
Reflects itself in all its wondrous beauty,
That he may set forth its sublimity,
The unity beneath its transmutations,
And shew his less imaginative fellows
Something of that great vision he beholds.
He gazes steadily at all things human,
Ever intent to find the harmony
Which underlies life's many seeming discords.
He is an alchemist whose art indeed
Transmutes base metal into shining gold,
And in his brain's laboratory turns
Thought's star-dust into worlds of light and splendour.
He works more transformations than the gods
Of Greece were feigned in fable to accomplish:
From common things he lifts the veil which hides
Their inner mystery from the eyes of men,
And everywhere reveals the infinite.
'Tis he alone through whom the immanent spirit
That all creation vivifies and sustains
Proclaims its oracles of deepest wisdom.
CONTENTS
PAGE | ||
*The Pageant of the Hours | 1 | |
*"Beauty and the Beast" | 4 | |
*The Spiritual Life | 7 | |
A Poet's Grievance | 11 | |
*The Dream of Life | 15 | |
Unspoken Passion | 21 | |
Lost Identity | 23 | |
A Bookworm's Confession | 27 | |
*Hymn of the Pantheist | 30 | |
*The Dead Soul | 31 | |
Cradle Song | 34 | |
Omar-FitzGeraldics | 35 | |
Lines Written after Reading Pepys's Diary | 37 | |
A Song of Yearning | 40 | |
*Afterwards | 42 | |
*A Prayer for Light | 44 | |
*To a Friend | 46 | |
*The Pilgrim's Halt | 48 | |
*Rest | 50 | |
*On Receiving a Present of Roses | 51 | |
*The Poet's Heart | 52 | |
*The Lost Son | 54 | |
*Simplicity | 56 | |
On the Death of a Child | 57 | |
The Balladist Parson | 59 | |
To J. W. E. | 61 | |
Threnody | 62 | |
A Jealous Lover | 63 | |
Haikais | 65 | |
Dirge | 68 | |
Farewell | 70 | |
Miriam's Lovers | 72 | |
Lady Clara Vere de Vere's Reply | 74 | |
Despondency | 76 | |
The Wine of Life | 78 | |
The Infant's Grave | 81 | |
A Rhymer's Complaint | 83 | |
The Rhymer's Petition | 87 | |
Bernard Shaw | 89 | |
A Reply | 91 | |
Jones's Progress | 93 | |
Fragments | 94 | |
The Fall of the Leaves | 95 | |
The Return of the Golden Age | 97 | |
Autumn Song | 98 | |
*Epigrams | 99 | |
*Epigrams from the French | 101 |
SONNETS
[Note.—Early in 1901 I printed, for private circulation, an edition of seventy-five copies only of a volume of poems with the same title as that of the present book. Many of the poems which were printed in that volume are included in this; but a few which appeared there have not been reprinted. On the other hand, the present volume contains a good many pieces which were not included in the issue of 1901. These new poems are distinguished in the above list by having a * prefixed to them.]
Printed by
Ballantyne, Hanson & Co.
London & Edinburgh
This work was published before January 1, 1929, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.
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