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Scarlet of the poppy,

Yellow of the corn,

The men were at the garnering,
A-shouting in the morn;
I chased her to a pippin-tree,-
The waking birds all whist,-
And oh! it was the sweetest kiss
That I have ever kissed.

Marjorie, mint, and violets
A-drying round us set,
'Twas all done in the faience-room

A-spicing marmalet;

On one tile was a satyr,

On one a nymph at bay,

Methinks the birds will scarce be home

To wake our wedding-day!

Théophile Marzials [1850

"WHEN DEATH TO EITHER SHALL COME"

WHEN Death to either shall come,

I pray it be first to me,

Be happy as ever at home,
If so, as I wish, it be.

Possess thy heart, my own;

And sing to thy child on thy knee,

Or read to thyself alone

The songs that I made for thee.

Robert Bridges [1844

THE RECONCILIATION

From "The Princess"

As through the land at eve we went,
And plucked the ripened ears,

We fell out, my wife and I,
O, we fell out, I know not why,

And kissed again with tears.

Song

And blessings on the falling out

That all the more endears,

When we fall out with those we love
And kiss again with tears!

For when we came where lies the child

We lost in other years,

There above the little grave,
O, there above the little grave,
We kissed again with tears.

1135

Alfred Tennyson [1809-1892]

SONG

WAIT but a little while

The bird will bring

A heart in tune for melodies

Unto the spring,

Till he who's in the cedar there

Is moved to trill a song so rare,
And pipe her fair.

Wait but a little while

The bud will break;

The inner rose will open

For summer's sake;

and glow

Fond bees will lodge within her breast

Till she herself is plucked and pressed
Where I would rest.

Wait but a little while-

The maid will grow

Gracious with lips and hands to thee,

With breast of snow.

To-day Love's mute, but time hath sown

A soul in her to match thine own,

Though yet ungrown.

Norman Gale [1862

CONTENT

THOUGH Singing but the shy and sweet

Untrod by multitudes of feet,

Songs bounded by the brook and wheat,
I have not failed in this,

The only lure my woodland note,
To win all England's whitest throat!
O bards in gold and fire who wrote,
Be yours all other bliss!

Norman Gale [1862

CHE SARA SARA

PREACH Wisdom unto him who understands!
When there's such lovely longing in thine eyes,
And such a pulse in thy small clinging hands,
What is the good of being great or wise?

What is the good of beating up the dust

On the world's highway, vexed with droughty heat? Oh, I grow fatalist-what must be must,

Seeing that thou, beloved, art so sweet!

Victor Plarr [1863

"BID ADIEU TO GIRLISH DAYS"

BID adieu, adieu, adieu,

Bid adieu to girlish days,
Happy Love is come to woo

Thee and woo thy girlish ways—
The zone that doth become thee fair,
The snood upon thy yellow hair.

When thou hast heard his name upon
The bugles of the cherubim,
Begin thou softly to unzone

Thy girlish bosom unto him,
And softly to undo the snood
That is the sign of maidenhood.
James Joyce [18

Advice to a Lover

1137

TO F. C.

FAST falls the snow, O lady mine,
Sprinkling the lawn with crystals fine,
But by the gods we won't repine
While we're together,

We'll chat and rhyme, and kiss and dine,
Defying weather.

So stir the fire and pour the wine,
And let those sea-green eyes divine
Pour their love-madness into mine:
I don't care whether

'Tis snow or sun or rain or shine

If we're together.

Mortimer Collins [1827-1876]

SPRING PASSION

BLUE sky, green fields, and lazy yellow sun!
Why should I hunger for the burning South,
Where beauty needs no travail to be won,

Now I may kiss her pure impassioned mouth?

Winds rippling with the rich delight of spring!
Why should I yearn for myriad-colored skies,
Lit by auroral suns, when I may sing

The flame and rapture of her starry eyes?

Oh, song of birds, and flowers fair to see!
Why should I thirst for far-off Eden-isles,

When I may hear her discourse melody,
And bask, a dreamer, in her dreamy smiles?
Joel Elias Spingarn [1875-

ADVICE TO A LOVER

OH, if you love her,

Show her the best of you;

So will you move her

To bear with the rest of you.

Coldness and jealousy
Cannot but seem to her
Signs that a tempest lurks

Where was sunbeam to her.
Patience and tenderness

Still will awake in her

Hopes of new sunshine,

Though the storm break for her; Love, she will know, for her,

Like the blue firmament, Under the tempest lies

Gentle and permanent.

Nor will she ever

Gentleness find the less When the storm overblown

Leaveth clear kindliness. Deal with her tenderly,

Skylike above her,

Smile on her waywardness,

Oh, if you love her!

S. Charles Jellicoe [18

"YES"

THEY stood above the world,

In a world apart;

And she dropped her happy eyes,

And stilled the throbbing pulses

Of her happy heart.

And the moonlight fell above her,

Her secret to discover;

And the moonbeams kissed her hair,

As though no human lover

Had laid his kisses there.

"Look up, brown eyes," he said,

"And answer mine;

Lift up those silken fringes

That hide a happy light

Almost divine."

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