A charm invests a face
Imperfectly beheld.
The lady dare not lift her veil
For fear it be dispelled.
But peers beyond her mesh,
And wishes, and denies,
'Lest interview annul a want
That image satisfies.
-
-
If you were coming in the fall,
I'd brush the summer by
With half a smile and half a spurn,
As housewives do a fly.If I could see you in a year,
I'd wind the months in balls,
And put them each in separate drawers,
Until their time befalls.If only centuries delayed,
I'd count them on my hand,
Subtracting till my fingers dropped... -
For each ecstatic instant
We must an anguish pay
In keen and quivering ratio
To the ecstasy.For each beloved hour
Sharp pittances of years,
Bitter contested farthings
And coffers heaped with tears. -
I lost a World - the other day!
Has Anybody found?
You'll know it by the Row of Stars
Around its forehead bound.A Rich man—might not notice it—
Yet—to my frugal Eye,
Of more Esteem than Ducats—
Oh find it—Sir—for me! -
You left me, sweet, two legacies,--
A legacy of love
A Heavenly Father would content,
Had He the offer of;You left me boundaries of pain
Capacious as the sea,
Between eternity and time,
Your consciousness and me. -
I gave myself to him,
And took himself for pay.
The solemn contract of a life
Was ratified this wayThe value might disappoint,
Myself a poorer prove
Than this my purchaser suspect,
The daily own of LoveDepreciates the sight;
But, 'til the merchant buy,
Still fabled, in the isles of spice
The subtle cargoes lie.At least, 'tis...
-
Heart, we will forget him!
You an I, tonight!
You may forget the warmth he gave,
I will forget the light.When you have done, pray tell me
That I my thoughts may dim;
Haste! lest while you're lagging.
I may remember him! -
Proud of my broken heart since thou didst break it,
Proud of the pain I did not feel till thee,
Proud of my night since thou with moons dost slake it,
Not to partake thy passion, my humility. -
To lose thee, sweeter than to gain
All other hearts I knew.
‘Tis true the drought is destitute
But, then, I had the dew!
The Caspian has its realms of sand,
Its other realm of sea.
Without this sterile perquisite
No Caspian could be. -
It's all I have to bring today--
This, and my heart beside--
This, and my heart, and all the fields--
And all the meadows wide--
Be sure you count--should I forget
Some one the sum could tell--
This, and my heart, and all the Bees
Which in the Clover dwell.