From the Italian by John Edward Taylor
THE MIGHT of one fair face sublimes my love,
For it hath weaned my heart from low desires;
Nor death I heed, nor purgatorial fires.
Thy beauty, antepast of joys above,
Instructs me in the bliss that saints approve;
For O, how good, how beautiful, must be
The God that made so good a thing as thee,...
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Betrothed to Righteousness might be
An Ecstasy discreet
But Nature relishes the Pinks
Which she was taught to eat — -
It might be lonelier
Without the Loneliness —
I'm so accustomed to my Fate —
Perhaps the Other — Peace —
Would interrupt the Dark —
And crowd the little Room —
Too scant — by Cubits — to contain
The Sacrament — of Him —
I am not used to Hope —
It might...The Grace — Myself — might not obtain —
Confer upon My flower —
Refracted but a Countenance —
For I — inhabit Her —The right to perish might be thought
An undisputed right —
Attempt it, and the Universe
Upon the opposite
Will concentrate its officers —
You cannot even die
But nature and mankind must pause
To pay you scrutiny.They might not need me but; they might.
I'll let my Head be just in sight;
A smile as small as mine might be
Precisely their necessity.Wert Thou but ill — that I might show thee
How long a Day I could endure
Though thine attention stop not on me
Nor the least signal, Me assure —
Wert Thou but Stranger in ungracious country —
And Mine — the Door
Thou paused at, for a passing bounty —
No More —
Accused...