The Jester shook his hood and bells, and leaped upon a chair;
The pages laughed, the women screamed, and tossed their scented hair;
The falcon whistled, staghounds bayed, the lapdog barked without,
The scullion dropped the pitcher brown, the cook railed at the lout;
The steward, counting out his gold, let pouch and money fall,—
And why? because the...
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The Royal feast was done; the King
Sought some new sport to banish care,
And to his jester cried: “Sir Fool,
Kneel now, and make for us a prayer!”The jester doffed his cap and bells,
And stood the mocking court before;
They could not see the bitter smile
Behind the painted grin he wore.He bowed his head, and bent his...
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The Spacious Noon enfolds me with its peace—
The affluent Midsummer wraps me round—
So still the earth and air, that scarce a sound
Affronts the silence, and the swift caprice
Of one stray bird’s lone call does but increase
The sense of some compelling hush profound,
Some spell by which the whole vast world is bound,
Till star-... -
Young palmer sun, that to the shining sands
Pourest thy pilgrim’s tale, discoursing still
Thy silver passages of sacred lands,
With news of Sepulchre and Dolorous Hill,Canst thou be he that, Yester-Sunset warm,
Purple with Paynim rage and wrack-desire,
Dashed ravening out of a dusty lair of storm,
Harried the west, and set the... -
Go stand at night upon an ocean craft,
And watch the folds of its imperial train
Catching in fleecy foam a thousand glows—
A miracle of fire unquenched by sea.
There in bewildering turbulence of change
Whirls the whole firmament, till as you gaze,
All else unseen, it is as heaven itself
Had lost its poise, and each unanchored star... -
From “The Isles of the Amazons,” Part III.
COME, lovers, come, forget your pains!
I know upon this earth a spot
Where clinking coins, that clank as chains
Upon the souls of men, are not;
Nor man is measured for his gains
Of gold that stream with crimson stains.There snow-topped towers crush the clouds,
And break the still... -
BEHOLD where Beauty walks with Peace!
Behold where Plenty pours her horn
Of fruits, of flowers, fat increase,
As generous as light of morn.Green Shasta, San Diego, seas
Of bloom and green between them rolled.
Great herds in grasses to their knees,
And green earth garmented in gold.White peaks that prop the sapphire...
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A Stranger came one night to Yussouf’s tent,
Saying, “Behold one outcast and in dread,
Against whose life the bow of power is bent,
Who flies, and hath not where to lay his head;
I come to thee for shelter and for food,
To Yussouf, called through all our tribes ‘The Good.’”“This tent is mine,” said Yussouf, “but no more
Than it is God’... -
From “An Hymne in Honor of Beautie”
SO every spirit, as it is most pure,
And hath in it the more of heavenly light,
So it the fairer bodie doth procure
To habit in, and it more fairly dight
With cheerfull grace and amiable sight;
For of the soule the bodie forme doth take;
For soule is forme, and doth the bodie make.Therefore...
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From the Latin by Goldwin Smith
From “Elegies” Book I. II.
DEAR girl, what boots it thus to dress thy hair,
Or flaunt in silken garment rich and rare,
To reek of perfume from a foreign mart,
And pass thyself for other than thou art—
Thus Nature’s gift of beauty to deface
And rob thy own fair form of half its grace?
Trust me, no...