“Adieu, adieu! my native shore” |
Lord Byron |
|
English |
Adieu, adieu! my native shore
Fades o’er the waters blue;
The night-winds sigh, the breakers roar,
And shrieks the wild sea-mew.
Yon sun that sets upon the sea
We follow in his flight;
Farewell awhile to him and thee,
My native Land... |
“Ae fond kiss, and then we sever” |
Robert Burns |
1779 |
English |
Ae fond kiss, and then we sever;
Ae fareweel, alas, forever!
Deep in heart-wrung tears I ’ll pledge thee;
Warring sighs and groans I ’ll wage thee.
Who shall say that fortune grieves him,
While the star of hope she leaves him?
Me, nae cheerfu’... |
“Ah, how sweet” |
John Dryden |
1651 |
English |
From “Tyrannic Love,” Act IV. Sc. 1.
AH, how sweet it is to love!
Ah, how gay is young desire!
And what pleasing pains we prove
When we first approach love’s fire!
Pains of love be sweeter far
Than all other pleasures are.
Sighs which... |
“Alas! how light a cause” |
Thomas Moore |
1799 |
English |
From “The Light of the Harem”
ALAS! how light a cause may move
Dissension between hearts that love!
Hearts that the world in vain has tried,
And sorrow but more closely tied;
That stood the storm when waves were rough,
Yet in a sunny hour fall off,... |
“Alexis, here she stayed” |
William Drummond of Hawthornden |
|
English |
Alexis, here she stayed; among these pines,
Sweet hermitress, she did alone repair;
Here did she spread the treasure of her hair,
More rich than that brought from the Colchian mines.
She sate her by these muskèd eglantines,
The happy place the print seems... |
“All quiet along the Potomac” |
Ethelinda Elliott Beers |
|
English |
“all quiet along the Potomac,” they say,
“Except now and then a stray picket
Is shot, as he walks on his beat, to and fro,
By a rifleman hid in the thicket.
’T is nothing: a private or two, now and then,
Will not count in the news of the battle;... |
“Amazing, beauteous change” |
Philip Doddridge |
1722 |
English |
Amazing, beauteous change!
A world created new!
My thoughts with transport range,
The lovely scene to view;
In all I trace,
Saviour divine,
The word is thine,—
Be thine the praise!
See crystal fountains play... |
“And doth not a meeting like this” |
Thomas Moore |
1799 |
English |
And doth not a meeting like this make amends
For all the long years I ’ve been wand’ring away—
To see thus around me my youth’s early friends,
As smiling and kind as in that happy day?
Though haply o’er some of your brows, as o’er mine,
The snow-fall... |
“Are the children at home?” |
Margaret Elizabeth Sangster |
|
English |
Each day, when the glow of sunset
Fades in the western sky,
And the wee ones, tired of playing,
Go tripping lightly by,
I steal away from my husband,
Asleep in his easy-chair,
And watch from the open door-way
Their faces fresh and... |
“Art thou weary?” |
Saint Stephen the Sabaite |
|
English |
From the Latin by John Mason Neale
ART thou weary, art thou languid,
Art thou sore distressed?
“Come to Me,” saith One, “and coming,
Be at rest.”
Hath He marks to lead me to Him,
If He be my Guide?
“In His feet and hands are... |
“As by the shore at break of day” |
Thomas Moore |
1799 |
English |
As by the shore, at break of day,
A vanquished chief expiring lay,
Upon the sands, with broken sword,
He traced his farewell to the free;
And there the last unfinished word
He dying wrote, was “Liberty!”
At night a sea-bird shrieked the knell... |
“As slow our ship” |
Thomas Moore |
1799 |
English |
As slow our ship her foamy track
Against the wind was cleaving,
Her trembling pennant still looked back
To that dear isle ’t was leaving.
So loath we part from all we love,
From all the links that bind us;
So turn our hearts, as on we rove,... |
“Asleep! asleep!” |
Lucy Ann Bennett |
|
English |
“And so saying, he fell asleep.”
Martyrdom of Saint Stephen
ASLEEP! asleep! men talk of “sleep,”
When all adown the silent deep
The shades of night are stealing;
When like a curtain, soft and vast,
The darkness over all is cast,
And sombre... |
“Behave yoursel’ before folk” |
Alexander Rodger |
|
English |
BEHAVE yoursel’ before folk,
Behave yoursel’ before folk,
And dinna be sae rude to me,
As kiss me sae before folk.
It wouldna give me meikle pain,
Gin we were seen and heard by nane,
To tak’ a kiss, or grant you ane;
But... |
“Believe me, if all those endearing young charms” |
Thomas Moore |
1799 |
English |
Believe me, if all those endearing young charms,
Which I gaze on so fondly to-day,
Were to change by to-morrow, and fleet in my arms,
Like fairy-gifts fading away,
Thou wouldst still be adored, as this moment thou art,
Let thy loveliness fade as it... |
“Beyond the smiling and the weeping” |
Horatius Bonar |
|
English |
Beyond the smiling and the weeping
I shall be soon;
Beyond the waking and the sleeping,
Beyond the sowing and the reaping,
I shall be soon.
Love, rest, and home!
Sweet hope!
Lord, tarry not, but come.
... |
“Bless the dear old verdant land” |
Denis Florence Mac Carthy |
|
English |
Bless the dear old verdant land!
Brother, wert thou born of it?
As thy shadow life doth stand
Twining round its rosy band,
Did an Irish mother’s hand
Guide thee in the morn of it?
Did a father’s first command
Teach thee love or scorn... |
“Blest as the immortal gods” |
Sappho |
|
English |
From the Greek by Ambrose Phillips
BLEST as the immortal gods is he,
The youth who fondly sits by thee,
And hears and sees thee all the while
Softly speak, and sweetly smile.
’T was this deprived my soul of rest,
And raised such tumults in my... |
“Blow, blow, thou winter wind” |
William Shakespeare |
1584 |
English |
From “As You Like It,” Act II. Sc. 7.
BLOW, blow, thou winter wind,
Thou art not so unkind
As man’s ingratitude;
Thy tooth is not so keen,
Because thou art not seen,
Although thy breath be rude. ... |
“Break, break, break” |
Alfred, Lord Tennyson |
|
English |
Break, break, break,
On thy cold gray stones, O sea!
And I would that my tongue could utter
The thoughts that arise in me.
O well for the fisherman’s boy
That he shouts with his sister at play!
O well for the sailor lad
That he... |