IX To W. R. MADAM Life's a piece in bloom She's the tenant of the room, You shall see her as a friend, You shall bilk him once and twice; But he'll trap you in the end, And he'll stick you for her price. With his kneebones at your chest, But she's heard it all before, Well she knows you've had your fun, Gingerly she gains the door, And your little job is done. 1877 X THE sea is full of wandering foam, My restless thoughts among them roam The night is dark and loud. Where are the hours that came to me So beautiful and bright? A wild wind shakes the wilder sea O, dark and loud's the night! XI To W. R. THICK is the darkness- Rough is the highway— Dawn harbours surely East of the shadows. Facing us somewhere Spread the sweet meadows. Upward and forward! Time will restore us : Light is above us, Rest is before us. 1876 XII To me at my fifth-floor window Are sets of pipes pandean For every wind that blows; And the smoke that whirls and eddies In a thousand times and keys Is really a visible music Set to my reveries. O monstrous pipes, melodious The clouds are your only audience, I |