Bright dames when first we meet unheeded passe
We read frail charms on Monuments of Glasse.

In Joylesse Streams the Purple Chrystall flows
Till each is nam'd for whome each Bosom glows.

Then Friendship Love and Wine Unite their fires
Then all their Homage pay, where each admires.

Love love begets, then never be
Unsoft to him who's smooth to thee.
Tygers and Beares (I've heard some say)
For profer'd love will love repay:
None are so harsh, but if they find
Softnesse in others, will be kind;
Affection will affection move,
Then you must like, because I love.

Her breasts, white nuns
Before her eyes—
O hands be
As the smile on a child's face.
Her knees, pale fruit
Whose seed grew from a wish.
Her thighs, boughs of apple blossoms—
O wind blow not too strong.
Her belly, fairy hill of snow.
Her hair, sunlight
In long pale grass limp with dew.
Her voice, sea-mist, wine, flying birds,
White clouds,
Whispers between earth and sky in spring.

This, my love—
She whom I carry
As a bell carries its tongue.
This, my love—
She who makes my days
A ride in barren fields
That have rich crops

I have read of the sweet olden story,
Of the fair, happy Eden above;
Of the beautiful mansions of glory,
In the bright golden city of love.
Oh, the sweet olden story
Of the fair, happy Eden above;
Of the beautiful mansions of glory,
In the bright golden city of love.
I have read of the clear sparkling river,
Bursting out 'neath the great throne of God;
How its sweet waters glide on forever,
Making glad all the host of the Lord.
I have read how the banks of that river,
By the saints and the angels are trod,
How their glorious anthems forever,

O had I love-inspiring eyes
As brightly blue as summer skies:
Rich locks flowing wave on wave,
Lips ‘whose hue, angry and brave’
Makes the rose less fair to see,
A form of finest symmetry,
Such as angels wear above,—
Then, then I'd pray to be thy love.

O were I of a home possest
Like fabled islands of the blest,
Where nobler woods and purer streams,
And meads enriched with gladder beams
Than earth can boast or poets feign,
Outshone the gold of Saturn's reign,
I'd pray the gods on bended knee
That thou might'st share that home with me.

Sing, oh my soul, to the Lord, thy Redeemer,
Sing of the love that he beareth for thee;
Tell to the world how he scattered the darkness,
Tell how he suffered and died on the tree.
Tell to the world of his blessed salvation,
Tell of the fountain that cleanseth from sin;
Tell of the joy like a deep flowing river,
Filling the heart that has Jesus within.
Sing, oh my soul, of this wonderful Saviour,
Mighty and willing to cleanse and to save;
Tell of his power thy soul to deliver,
Tell how in triumph he conquered the grave.

Well dost thou, Love, thy solemn Feast to hold
In vestal February;
Not rather choosing out some rosy day
From the rich coronet of the coming May,
When all things meet to marry!
O, quick, praevernal Power
That signall'st punctual through the sleepy mould
The Snowdrop's time to flower,
Fair as the rash oath of virginity
Which is first-love's first cry;
O, Baby Spring,
That flutter'st sudden 'neath the breast of Earth
A month before the birth;
Whence is the peaceful poignancy,
The joy contrite,
Sadder than sorrow, sweeter than delight,

My love, my wife, three months ago
I joined the fight in London town.
I haven't conquered yet, you know,
And friends are few, and hope is low;
Far off I see the shining crown.

I'm daunted, dear; but blow on blow
With ebbing force I strike, and so
I am not felled and trodden down,
My love, my wife!

I wonder when the tide will flow,
Sir Oracle cease saying “No,”
And Fortune smile away her frown.
Well, while I swim I cannot drown;
And while we sleep the harvests grow,
My love, my wife.

A placid lake dreamed the dull days away
In Scotland's leafy heart, the wild deer's home,
Yet never knew the ecstasy of foam,
The curl of waves, or the grim tempest's sway.

But storms encompassed it one fatal day,
The snaky lightnings o'er its bank did roam,
And to its sheltering snow-girt cedars clomb,
Stirring the blue depths in wild disarray.

Like that calm lake, my heart serenely dreamed,
Unconscious of alarm, until you came,
Leading Love with you, vigorous and free;
Then the strong lights of passion grandly gleamed,

When I gaze upon the sky
And the sea below, I cry,
Thus be poetry and love,
Deep beneath and bright above.