Her casement like a watchful eye
From the face of the wall looks down,
Lashed round with ivy vines so dry,
And with ivy leaves so brown.
Her golden head in her lily hand
Like a star in the spray o’ the sea,
And wearily rocking to and fro,
She sings so sweet and she sings so low
To the little babe on her knee.
But...
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Among the beautiful pictures
That hang on Memory’s wall
Is one of a dim old forest,
That seemeth best of all;
Not for its gnarled oaks olden,
Dark with the mistletoe;
Not for the violets golden
That sprinkle the vale below;
Not for the milk-white lilies
That lean from the fragrant ledge,
Coquetting all... -
Six skeins and three, six skeins and three!
Good mother, so you stinted me,
And here they be,—ay, six and three!Stop, busy wheel! stop, noisy wheel!
Long shadows down my chamber steal,
An’ warn me to make haste and reel.’T is done,—the spinning work complete,
O heart of mine, what makes you beat
So fast and sweet, so fast... -
I Hold that Christian grace abounds
Where charity is seen; that when
We climb to heaven, ’t is on the rounds
Of love to men.I hold all else, named piety,
A selfish scheme, a vain pretence;
Where centre is not—can there be
Circumference?This I moreover hold, and dare
Affirm where’er my rhyme may go,—...