Endymion

On such a tranquil night as this,
She woke Endymion with a kiss,
When, sleeping in the grove,
He dreamed not of her love.

Like Dian's kiss, unasked, unsought,
Love gives itself, but is not bought;
Nor voice, nor sound betrays
Its deep, impassioned gaze.

It comes, the beautiful, the free,
The crown of all humanity,—
In silence and alone

To seek the elected one.

It lifts the boughs, whose shadows deep
Are life's oblivion, the soul's sleep,
And kisses the closed eyes

Of him who slumbering lies.

O weary hearts! O slumbering eyes!
O drooping souls, whose destinies

Are fraught with fear and pain,
Ye shall be loved again!

No one is so accursed by fate,

No one so utterly desolate,

But some heart, though unknown,
Responds unto his own.

Responds, as if with unseen wings,
An angel touched its quivering strings;
And whispers, in its song,

"Where hast thou stayed so long?"

485

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow [1807-1882]

FATE

Two shall be born, the whole wide world apart,
And speak in different tongues and have no thought
Each of the other's being, and no heed.

And these, o'er unknown seas, to unknown lands
Shall cross, escaping wreck, defying death;
And all unconsciously shape every act

And bend each wandering step to this one end-
That, one day, out of darkness they shall meet
And read life's meaning in each other's eyes.

And two shall walk some narrow way of life
So nearly side by side that, should one turn
Ever so little space to left or right,

They needs must stand acknowledged, face to face.
And, yet, with wistful eyes that never meet
And groping hands that never clasp and lips
Calling in vain to ears that never hear,
They seek each other all their weary days
And die unsatisfied-and this is Fate!

Susan Marr Spalding [18 - ?]

"GIVE ALL TO LOVE"

GIVE all to love;

Obey thy heart;

Friends, kindred, days,

Estate, good fame,

Plans, credit, and the Muse,—

Nothing refuse.

'Tis a brave master;

Let it have scope:

Follow it utterly,

Hope beyond hope:

High and more high

"Give All To Love"

It dives into noon,
With wing unspent,
Untold intent;
But it is a god,
Knows its own path

And the outlets of the sky.

It was never for the mean;
It requireth courage stout.
Souls above doubt,
Valor unbending,
It will reward,-
They shall return
More than they were,
And ever ascending.

Leave all for love;

Yet, hear me, yet,

One word more thy heart behoved,

One pulse more of firm endeavor,-
Keep thee to-day,

To-morrow, forever,
Free as an Arab

Of thy beloved.

Cling with life to the maid;

But when the surprise,

First vague shadow of surmise,

Flits across her bosom young,

Of a joy apart from thee,

Free be she, fancy-free;

Nor thou detain her vesture's hem,

Nor the palest rose she flung

From her summer diadem.

Though thou loved her as thyself,

As a self of purer clay,

Though her parting dims the day,

Stealing grace from all alive;

487

Heartily know,

When half-gods go,

The gods arrive.

Ralph Waldo Emerson [1803-1882]

"O, LOVE IS NOT A SUMMER MOOD"

O, LOVE is not a summer mood,

Nor flying phantom of the brain,

Nor youthful fever of the blood,

Nor dream, nor fate, nor circumstance.
Love is not born of blinded chance,
Nor bred in simple ignorance.

Love is the flower of maidenhood;
Love is the fruit of mortal pain;

And she hath winter in her blood.

True love is steadfast as the skies,
And once alight, she never flies;
And love is strong, and love is wise.
Richard Watson Gilder [1844-1909]

WHEN WILL LOVE COME?

SOME find Love late, some find him soon,
Some with the rose in May,

Some with the nightingale in June,

And some when skies are gray;

Love comes to some with smiling eyes,

And comes with tears to some;

For some Love sings, for some Love sighs,
For some Love's lips are dumb.

How will you come to me, fair Love?

Will you come late or soon?

With sad or smiling skies above,

By light of sun or moon?

The Secret

Will you be sad, will you be sweet,
Sing, sigh, Love, or be dumb?
Will it be summer when we meet,
Or autumn ere you come?

489

Pakenham Beatty [18 - ? ]

"AWAKE, MY HEART”

AWAKE, my heart, to be loved, awake, awake!
The darkness silvers away, the morn doth break,
It leaps in the sky: unrisen lustres slake
The o'ertaken moon. Awake, O heart, awake!

She too that loveth awaketh and hopes for thee:
Her eyes already have sped the shades that flee,
Already they watch the path thy feet shall take:
Awake, O heart, to be loved, awake, awake!

And if thou tarry from her,—if this could be,—
She cometh herself, O heart, to be loved, to thee;
For thee would unashamèd herself forsake:
Awake, to be loved, my heart, awake, awake!

Awake! The land is scattered with light, and see,
Uncanopied sleep is flying from field and tree;
And blossoming boughs of April in laughter shake:
Awake, O heart, to be loved, awake, awake!

Lo, all things wake and tarry and look for thee:
She looketh and saith, "O sun, now bring him to me.
Come, more adored, O adored, for his coming's sake,
And awake, my heart, to be loved, awake, awake!"
Robert Bridges [1855-

THE SECRET

NIGHTINGALES warble about it

All night under blossom and star;
The wild swan is dying without it,
And the eagle crieth afar;