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 4,^<r^v# 
 
 LOVE SONGS 
 
 TENNYSON 
 
 SELECTED AND ARRANGED 
 
 ETHEL HARRIS 
 
 ILLUSTRATED WITH REPRODUCTIONS FROM THE WORKS 
 
 MASTER PAINTERS 
 
 RAND MCNALLY & COMPANY 
 
 ^„_ PUBLISHERS 
 
 CHICAGO NEW YORK 
 

 Tennyson's Love Poems 
 
 Copyright, iQoy, 
 
 By Rand, McNally & Company 
 
 Love Songs from Tennyson 
 
 Copyright, iqii 
 
 By Rand, McNally & Company 
 
 CHICAGO AND NEW YORK 
 
 ^" 
 
 
 ^CI.A303452 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 Page 
 
 Elednore ... 5 
 
 Lady Clare lo 
 
 From The Princess 
 
 Part VI 14 
 
 From The Grandmother .... . i^ 
 
 Edward Gray .... . . . ig 
 
 Lady Clara Vere de Vere 21 
 
 Circumstance 24 
 
 From Queen Mary 
 
 Milkmaid's Song 25 
 
 Lilian 26 
 
 Love and Death 28 
 
 From Maud 
 
 Part I, XII 29 
 
 From The Gardener's Daughter . . . . 31 
 From Maud 
 
 Part /, XVII 33 
 
 Rosalind J5 
 
 From The Window 
 
 Marriage Morning 38 
 
 From The Princess 
 
 Part IV 39 
 
 The Lord of Burleigh 41 
 
 From The Window 
 
 No Answer 45 
 
 Madeline . 47 
 
 From- The Lover's Telle 49 
 
 From The Window 
 
 No Answer 50 
 
 From The Window 
 
 The Answer 51 
 
 Adeline 52 
 
 From The Miller's Daughter 55 
 
 From In Memoriam 
 
 CXXVI 56 
 
 (I) 
 
CONTENTS— Continued 
 
 Page 
 
 From Harold 
 
 Act I, Scene II 
 Mariana . 
 
 Fatima .... 
 From Harold 
 
 Act III, Scene II . 
 From Mariana in the South 
 The Beggar Maid 
 From Maud 
 
 Part I, XXII 
 From Locksley Hall 
 From Maud 
 
 Part II, IV . 
 From The Window 
 
 The Letter 
 From Isabel 
 From Queen Mary 
 
 Act V, Scene II 
 Margaret . 
 
 From The Miller's Daughter 
 From The Day-Dream 
 
 The Arrival ■ . 
 From The Day-Dream, 
 
 The Departure 
 From The Day-Dream 
 
 The Sleeping Beauty 
 From The Day-Dream 
 
 The Revival 
 From Idylls of the King 
 
 The Song of Love and Death 
 From Idylls of the King 
 
 Song from ''The Last Tournament'' 
 From The Window 
 
 When 
 From The Window 
 
 Ay 
 
 From Idylls of the King 
 
 ''Trust me not at all, or all in all 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 'Serene Imperial Elednore" . 
 'Shy she was, and I thought her cold' 
 'Roses are her cheeks, 
 And a rose her mouth'' . 
 'Smiling, frowning, evermore. 
 Thou art perfect in Love-lore" 
 'He cometh not, she said" 
 'Baby lips will laugh me down: 
 My latest rival brings thee rest" 
 'It is the miller s daughter" . 
 
 Page 
 
 46 y' 
 84^ 
 
 (3) 
 
Frank Dicksee 
 
 ''Serene, imperial Eleanor e. 
 
gl:ean0r:e 
 
 Thy dark eyes open'd not, 
 
 Nor first reveal'd themselves to EngHsh air, 
 
 For there is nothing here, 
 Which, from the outward to the inward brought, 
 Moulded thy baby thought. 
 Far off from human neighborhood, 
 
 Thou wert born, on a summer morn, 
 A mile beneath the cedar-wood. 
 Thy bounteous forehead was not fann'd 
 
 With breezes from our oaken glades. 
 But thou wert nursed in some delicious land 
 
 Of lavish lights, and floating shades; 
 And flattering thy childish thought 
 The oriental fairy brought. 
 
 At the moment of thy birth. 
 From old well-heads of haunted rills. 
 And the hearts of purple hills. 
 
 And shadow'd coves on a sunny shore, 
 
 The choicest wealth of all the earth, 
 
 Jewel or shell, or starry ore. 
 
 To deck thy cradle, Eleanore. 
 
 (5) 
 
TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS 
 
 II 
 
 Or the yellow-banded bees, 
 
 Thro' half -open lattices 
 
 Coming in the scented breeze, 
 
 Fed thee, a child, lying alone, 
 
 With whitest honey in fairy gardens cuU'd- 
 A glorious child, dreaming alone, 
 In silk-soft folds, upon yielding down, 
 
 With the hum of swarming bees 
 Into dreamful slumber luU'd. 
 
 Ill 
 
 Who may minister to thee? 
 
 Summer herself should minister 
 
 To thee, with fruitage golden -rinded 
 On golden salvers, or it may be. 
 
 Youngest Autum.n, in a bower 
 
 Grape-thicken 'd from the light, and .blinded 
 With many a deep-hued bell-like flower 
 
 Of fragrant trailers, when the air 
 Sleepeth over all the heaven, 
 And the crag that fronts the even, 
 All along the shadowing shore. 
 
 Crimsons over an inland mere, Eleanore! 
 
 IV 
 
 How may fuU-sail'd verse express, 
 How may measured words adore 
 The full-flowing harmony 
 
TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS 
 
 Of thy swan-like stateliness, 
 Eleanore ? 
 The luxuriant symmetry 
 Of thy floating gracefulness, 
 Eleanore ? 
 Every turn and glance of thine, 
 Every lineament divine, 
 
 Eleanore, 
 And the steady sunset glow, 
 That stays upon thee? For in thee 
 Is nothing sudden, nothing single; 
 Like two streams of incense free 
 From one censer, in one shrine, 
 Thought and motion mingle, 
 Mingle ever. Motions flow 
 To one another, even as tho' 
 They were modulated so 
 To an unheard melody. 
 Which hves about thee, and a sweep 
 
 Of richest pauses, evermore 
 Drawn from each other mellov/-deep 
 Who may express thee, Eleanore? 
 
 I stand before thee, Eleanore; 
 
 I see thy beauty gradually unfold, 
 Daily and hourly, more and more. 
 I muse, as in a trance, the while 
 
 Slowly, as from a cloud of gold, 
 
TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS 
 
 Comes out thy deep ambrosial smile. 
 I muse, as in a trance, whene'er 
 
 The languors of thy love-deep eyes 
 Float on to me. I would I were 
 So tranced, so rapt in ecstacies, 
 To stand apart, and to adore, 
 Gazing on thee for evermore, 
 Serene, imperial Eleanore! 
 
 VI 
 
 Sometimes, with most intensity 
 
 Gazing, I seem to see 
 
 Thought folded over thought, smiling asleep, 
 
 Slov/ly awaken 'd, grow so full and deep 
 
 In thy large eyes that, overpower 'd quite, 
 
 I cannot veil, or droop my sight, 
 
 But am as nothing in its light. 
 
 As tho' a star, in inmost heaven set. 
 
 Even while we gaze on it. 
 
 Should slowly round his orb, and slowly grow 
 
 To a full face, there like a sun remain 
 
 Fix'd — then as slowly fade again ^ 
 
 And draw itself to what it was before ; 
 
 So full, so deep, so slow. 
 
 Thought seems to come and go 
 
 In thy large eyes, imperial Eleanore. 
 
FENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS 
 
 VII 
 
 As thunder-elouds that, hung on high, 
 
 Roof'd the world with doubt and fear, 
 Floating thro' an evening atmosphere, 
 Grow golden all about the sky; 
 In thee all passion becomes passionless, 
 Touch'd by thy spirit's mellowness, 
 Losing his fire and active might 
 
 In a silent meditation, 
 Falling into a still delight. 
 
 And luxury of contemplation. 
 As waves that up a quiet cove 
 Rolling slide, and lying still 
 Shadow forth the banks at will, 
 Or sometimes they swell and move, 
 Pressing up against the land, 
 Y\fith. motions of the outer sea; 
 And the self-same influence 
 Controlleth all the soul and sense 
 Of Passion gazing upon thee. 
 His bow-string slacken'd, languid Love, 
 Leaning his cheek upon his hand. 
 Droops both his wings, regarding thee, 
 And so would languish evermore. 
 Serene, imperial Eleanore. 
 
TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS 
 
 It was the time when lilies blow, 
 And clouds are highest up in air, 
 
 Lord Ronald brought a lily-white doe 
 To give his cousin, Lady Clare. 
 
 I trow they did not part in scorn; 
 
 Lovers long-betroth 'd were they; 
 They two will wed the morrow morn — 
 
 God's blessing on the day! 
 
 "He does not love me for my birth. 
 Nor for my lands so broad and fair; 
 
 He loves me for my own true worth, 
 And that is well," said Lady Clare. 
 
 In there came old Alice the nurse, 
 
 Said, "Who was this that went from thee ? " 
 "It was my cousin," said Lady Clare; 
 
 "To-morrow he weds with me." 
 
 "O, God be thank'd," said Alice the nurse, 
 "That all comes round so just and fair! 
 
 Lord Ronald is heir of all your lands, 
 And you are Jiot the Lady Clare." 
 
TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS 
 
 "Are ye out of your mind, my nurse, my nurse," 
 Said Lady Clare, "that ye speak so wild?" 
 
 "As God's above," said Alice the nurse, 
 *'I speak the truth: You are my child. 
 
 "The old Earl's daughter died at my breast; 
 
 I speak the truth, as I live by bread! 
 I buried her like my own sweet child, 
 
 And put my child in her stead." 
 
 "Falsely, falsely have ye done, 
 
 O mother," she said, "if this be true, 
 
 To keep the best man under the sun 
 So many years from his due." 
 
 "Nay now, my child," said Alice the nurse, 
 "But keep the secret for your life. 
 
 And all you have will be Lord Ronald's, 
 When you are man and wife." 
 
 "If I'm a beggar bom," she said, 
 "I will speak out, for I dare not lie. 
 
 Pull off, pull off, the brooch of gold. 
 And fling the diamond necklace by." 
 
 "Nay now, my child," said Alice the nurse, 
 
 "But keep the secret all ye can." 
 She said, "Not so; but I will know 
 
 If there be any faith in man." 
 
TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS 
 
 'Nay now, what faith?" said AUce the nurse; 
 
 "The man will cleave unto his right." 
 •And he shall have it," the lady replied, 
 
 "Tho' I should die to-night." 
 
 "Yet give one kiss to your mother dear! 
 
 Alas, my child, I sinn'd for thee!" 
 "O mother, mother, mother," she said, 
 
 "So strange it seems to me. 
 
 "Yet here's a kiss for my mother dear, 
 
 My mother dear, if this be so, 
 And lay your hand upon my head, 
 
 And bless me, mother, ere I go." 
 
 She clad herself in a russet gown, 
 
 She was no longer Lady Clare; 
 She went by dale, and she went by down, 
 
 With a single rose in her hair. 
 
 The lily-white doe Lord Ronald had brought 
 
 Leapt up from where she lay, 
 Dropt her head in the maiden's hand, 
 
 And follow 'd her all the way. 
 
 Down stept Lord Ronald from his tower: 
 "O Lady Clare, you shame your worth! 
 
 Why come you drest like a village maid. 
 That are the flower of the earth?" 
 
TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS 13 
 
 "If I come drest like a village maid, 
 
 I am but as my fortunes are; 
 I am a beggar born," she said, 
 
 "And not the Lady Clare." 
 
 "Play me no tricks," said Lord Ronald, 
 "For I am yours in word and in deed. 
 
 Play me no tricks," said Lord Ronald, 
 "Your riddle is hard to read." 
 
 O, and proudly stood she up! 
 
 Her heart within her did not fail; 
 She look'd into Lord Ronald's eyes, 
 
 And told him all her nurse's tale. 
 
 He laugh'd a laugh of merry scorn; 
 
 He turned and kiss'd her where she stood; 
 "If you are not the heiress born, 
 
 And I," said he, "the next in blood, — 
 
 "If you are not the heiress born, 
 And I," said he, "the lawful heir. 
 
 We two will wed to-morrow morn, 
 And you shall still be Lady Clare." 
 
14 TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS 
 
 PART VI 
 
 Ask me no more : The moon may draw the sea ; 
 The cloud may stoop from heaven and take 
 
 the shape, 
 With fold to fold, of mountain or of cape; 
 But O too fond, when have I answer'd thee? 
 Ask me no more. 
 
 Ask me no more : What answer should I give ? 
 I love not hollow cheek or faded eye: 
 Yet, O my friend, I will not have thee die! 
 
 Ask me no more, lest I should bid thee live; 
 Ask me no more. 
 
 Ask me no more : Thy fate and mine are seal'd ; 
 
 I strove against the stream and all in vain; 
 
 Let the great river take me to the main. 
 No more, dear love, for at a touch I yield; 
 Ask me no more. 
 
TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS 
 
 * * I remember a quarrel I had with your 
 
 father, my dear, 
 All for a slanderous story, that cost me many 
 
 a tear. 
 I mean your grandfather, Annie; it cost me a 
 
 world of woe, 
 Seventy years ago, my darling, seventy years 
 
 ago. 
 
 For Jenny, my cousin, had come to the place, 
 
 and I knew right well 
 That Jenny had tript in her time; I knew, but 
 
 I would not tell. 
 And she to be coming and slandering me, the 
 
 base little liar! 
 But the tongue is a fire, as you know, my dear, 
 
 the tongue is a fire. 
 
 And the parson made it his text that week, and 
 he said likewise 
 
 That a lie which is half a truth is ever the black- 
 est of lies. 
 
 That a lie which is all a lie may be met and 
 fought with outright. 
 
 But a lie which is part a truth is a harder matter 
 to fight. 
 
i6 TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS 
 
 And Willy had not been down to the farm for 
 
 a week and a day; 
 And all things look'd half-dead, tho' it was the 
 
 middle of May. 
 Jenny, to slander me, who knew what Jenny 
 
 had been! 
 But soiling another, Annie, will never make 
 
 one's self clean. 
 
 And I cried myself well-nigh blind, and all of an 
 
 evening late 
 I climb 'd to the top of the garth, and stood by 
 
 the road at the gate. 
 The moon like a rick on fire was rising over the 
 
 dale* 
 And whit, whit, whit, in the bush beside me 
 
 chirrupt the nightingale. 
 
 All of a sudden he stopt ; there past by the gate 
 
 of the farm 
 Willy, — he didn't see me,— and Jenny hung on 
 
 his arm. 
 Out into the road I started, and spoke I scarce 
 
 knew how; 
 Ah, there's no fool like the old one— it makes 
 
 me angry now. 
 
 Willy stood up like a man, and look'd the thing 
 
 that he meant; 
 Jenny, the viper, made me a mocking curtsey 
 
 and went. 
 
TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS 17 
 
 And I said, "Let us part; in a hundred years 
 
 it'll all be the same. 
 You cannot love me at all, if you love not my 
 
 good name." 
 
 And he tum'd, and I saw his eyes all wet, in the 
 
 sweet moonshine: 
 ** Sweetheart, I love you so well that your good 
 
 name is mine. 
 And what do I care for Jane, let her speak of 
 
 you well or ill; 
 But marry me out of hand; we two shall be 
 
 happy still." 
 
 "Marry you, Willy!" said I, "but I needs must 
 
 speak my mind. 
 And I fear you'll Hsten to tales, be jealous and 
 
 hard and unkind." 
 But he tum'd and claspt me in his arms, and 
 
 answer 'd, "No, love, no;" 
 Seventy years ago, my darling, seventy years 
 
 ago. 
 
 So Willy and I were wedded. I wore a lilac 
 
 gown ; 
 And the ringers rang with a will, and he gave 
 
 the ringers a crown * * * 
 
R. POETZKLBEEGER 
 
 ''Shy she zvas, and I thought her cold." 
 
TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS ig 
 
 Sweet Emma Moreland of yonder town 
 Met me walking on yonder way; 
 
 "And have you lost your heart?" she said; 
 "And are you married yet, Edward Gray? 
 
 Sweet Emma Moreland spoke to me; 
 
 Bitterly weeping I turn'd away: 
 "Sweet Emma Moreland, love no more 
 
 Can touch the heart of Edward Gray. 
 
 "Ellen Adair she loved me well, 
 
 Against her father's and mother's will; 
 
 To-day I sat for an hour and wept 
 By Ellen's grave, on the windy hill. 
 
 "Shy she was, and I thought her cold, 
 Thought her proud, and fled over the sea; 
 
 Fill'd I was with folly and spite, 
 
 When Ellen Adair was dying for me. 
 
 "Cruel, cruel the words I said! 
 
 Cruelly came they back to-day: 
 'You're too slight and fickle,' I said, 
 
 'To trouble the heart of Edward Gray.' 
 
20 TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS 
 
 "There I put my face in the grass — 
 Whisper'd, 'Listen to my despair; 
 
 I repent me of all I did; 
 
 Speak a little, Ellen Adair!' 
 
 "Then I took a pencil, and wrote 
 On the mossy stone, as I lay, 
 
 'Here lies the body of Ellen Adair; 
 And here the heart of Edward Gray!' 
 
 "Love may come, and love may go, 
 And fly, like a bird, from tree to tree; 
 
 But I will love no more, no more, 
 Till Ellen Adair come back to me. 
 
 "Bitterly wept I over the stone; 
 
 Bitterly weeping I turn'd away. 
 There lies the body of Ellen Adair! 
 
 And there the heart of Edward Gray!" 
 
TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS 
 
 J^Eilg (Elnxu Hittt it mtxt 
 
 Lady Clara Vere de Vere, 
 
 Of me you shall not win renown : 
 You thought to break a country heart 
 
 For pastime, ere you went to tov/n. 
 At me you smiled, but unbeguiled 
 
 I saw the snare, and I retired; 
 The daughter of a hundred earls, 
 
 You are not one to be desired. 
 
 Lady Clara Vere de Vere, 
 
 I know you proud to bear your name, 
 Your pride is yet no mate for mine. 
 
 Too proud to care from whence I came. 
 Nor would I break for your sweet sake 
 
 A heart that dotes on truer charms. 
 A simple maiden in her flower 
 
 Is worth a hundred coats-of-arms. 
 
 Lady Clara Vere de Vere, 
 
 Some meeker pupil you must find, 
 For, were you queen of all that is, 
 
 I could not stoop to such a mind. 
 You sought to prove how I could love, 
 
 And my disdain is my reply. 
 The lion on your old stone gates 
 
 Is not more cold to you than I. 
 
TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS 
 
 Lady Clara Vere de Vere, 
 
 You put strange memories in my head. 
 Not thrice your branching limes have blown 
 
 Since I beheld young Laurence dead. 
 O, your sweet eyes, your low replies! 
 
 A great enchantress you may be ; 
 But there was that across his throat 
 
 AVhich you had hardly cared to see. 
 
 Lady Clara Vere de Vere, 
 
 When thus he met his mother's view, 
 She had the passions of her kind. 
 
 She spake some certain truths of you. 
 Indeed I heard one bitter word 
 
 That scarce is fit for you to hear; 
 Her manners had not that repose 
 
 Which stamps the caste of Vere de Vere. 
 
 Lady Clara Vere de Vere, 
 
 There stands a spectre in your hall; 
 The guilt of blood is at your door; 
 
 You changed a wholesome heart to gall. 
 You held your course without remorse, 
 
 To make him trust his modest worth, 
 And, last, you fix'd a vacant stare, 
 
 And slew him with your noble birth. 
 
 Trust me, Clara Vere de Vere, 
 
 From yon blue heavens above us bent 
 
 The gardener Adam and his wife 
 Smile at the claims of long descent. 
 
TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS 23 
 
 Howe'er it be, it seems to me, 
 
 'Tis only noble to be good. 
 Kind hearts are more than coronets, 
 
 And simple faith than Norman blood. 
 
 I know you, Clara Vere de Vere, 
 
 You pine among your halls and towers; 
 The languid light of your proud eyes 
 
 Is wearied of the rolling hours. 
 In glowing health, with boundless wealth, 
 
 But sickening of a vague disease, 
 You know so ill to deal with tim.e. 
 
 You needs must play such pranks as these. 
 
 Clara, Clara Vere de Vere, 
 
 If time be heavy on your hands. 
 Are there no beggars at your gate. 
 
 Nor any poor about your lands? 
 O, teach the orphan-boy to read. 
 
 Or teach the orphan -girl to sew, 
 Pray Heaven for a human heart, 
 
 And let the foolish yeoman go. 
 
24 TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS 
 
 QltrcutnstantB 
 
 Two children in two neighbor villages" 
 Playing mad pranks along the heathy leas ; 
 Two strangers meeting at a festival; 
 Two lovers whispering by an orchard wall; 
 Two lives bound fast in one with golden ease ; 
 Two graves grass -green beside a gray church - 
 
 tower, 
 Washed with still rains and daisy-blossomed ; 
 Two children in one hamlet born and bred: 
 So runs the round of life from hour to hour. 
 
TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS 25 
 
 Frnm Qnttn TOcrrg 
 
 act iii, scene v 
 milkmaid's song 
 
 Shame upon you, Robin, 
 
 Shame upon you now! 
 Kiss me would you? with my hands 
 
 Milking the cow? 
 
 Daisies grow again, 
 
 Kingcups blow again, 
 And you came and kiss'd me milking the cow. 
 
 Robin came behind me, 
 
 Kiss'd me well, I vow. 
 Cuff him could I? with my hands 
 
 Milking the cow? 
 
 Swallows fly again. 
 
 Cuckoos cry again. 
 And you came and kiss'd me milking the cow. 
 
 Come, Robin, Robin, 
 
 Come and kiss me now; 
 Help it can I? with my hands 
 
 Milking the cow? 
 
 Ringdoves coo again, 
 
 All things woo again. 
 Come behind and kiss me milking: the cow. 
 
26 TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS 
 
 yitEti 
 
 Airy, fairy Lilian, 
 
 Flitting, fairy Lilian, 
 When I ask her if she love me. 
 Claps her tiny hands above me. 
 
 Laughing all she can; 
 She'll not tell me if she love me, 
 
 Cruel little Lilian. 
 
 II 
 
 When my passion seeks 
 
 Pleasance in love-sighs, 
 She, looking thro' and thro' me 
 Thoroughly to undo me. 
 
 Smiling, never speaks : 
 So innocent-arch, so cunning-simple. 
 From beneath her gather'd wimple 
 
 Glancing with black-beaded eyes, 
 Till the lightning laughters dimiple 
 
 The baby-roses in her cheeks ; 
 
 Then away she flies. 
 
TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS 27 
 
 III 
 
 Pry thee weep, May Lilian! 
 Gaiety without eclipse 
 
 Wearieth me, May Lilian : 
 Thro' my very heart it thrilleth 
 
 When from crimson-threaded lips 
 Silver-treble laughter trilleth : 
 
 Prythee weep, May Lilian! 
 
 IV 
 
 Praying all I can, 
 If prayers will not hush thee. 
 
 Airy Lilian, 
 Like a rose-leaf I will crush thee, 
 
 Fairy Lilian. 
 
28 TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS 
 
 What time the mighty moon was gathering Hght 
 Love paced the thymy plots of Paradise, 
 And all about him roll'd his lustrous eyes; 
 When, turning round a cassia, full in view. 
 Death, walking all alone beneath a yew. 
 And talking to himself, first met his sight. 
 "You must begone," said Death, "these walks 
 
 are mine." 
 Love wept and spread his sheeny vans for flight ; 
 Yet ere he parted said, "This hour is thine; 
 Thou art the shadow of life, and as the tree ; 
 Stands in the sun and shadows all beneath, 
 So in the light of great eternity 
 Life eminent creates the shade of death. 
 The shadow passeth when the tree shall fall, 
 But I shall reign for ever over all. " 
 
TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS 29 
 
 PART I, XII 
 I 
 
 Birds in the high Hall-garden 
 When twiUght was faUing, 
 
 Maud, Maud, Maud, Maud, 
 They were crying and calling. 
 
 II 
 
 Where was Maud? In our wood; 
 
 And I — who else ? was with her, 
 Gathering woodland HHes, 
 
 Myriads blow together. 
 
 Ill 
 
 Birds in our wood sang 
 Ringing thro' the valleys, 
 
 Maud is here, here, here 
 In among the lilies. 
 
 IV 
 
 I kiss'd her slender hand. 
 She took the kiss sedately; 
 
 Maud is not seventeen. 
 
 But she is tall and stately. 
 
30 TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS 
 
 I to cry out on pride 
 
 Who have won her favor! 
 O, Maud were sure of Heaven 
 
 If lowliness could save her! 
 
 VI 
 
 I know the way she went 
 Home with her maiden posy, 
 
 For her feet have touch 'd the meadows 
 And left the daisies rosy. 
 
 VII 
 
 Birds in the high Hall-garden 
 Were crying and calling to her, 
 
 Where is Maud, Maud, Maud? 
 One is come to woo her. 
 
 VIII 
 
 Look, a horse at the door, 
 
 And little King Charley snarling! 
 
 Go back, my lord, across the moor, 
 You are not her darling. 
 
TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS ji 
 
 One arm aloft — 
 Gown'd in pure white that fitted to the shape — 
 Holding the bush, to fix it back, she stood, 
 A single stream of all her soft brown hair 
 Pour'd on one side; the shadow of the flowers 
 Stole all the golden gloss, and, wavering 
 Lovingly lower, trembled on her waist — 
 Ah, happy shade ! — and still went wavering down, 
 But, ere it touch 'd a foot that might have 
 
 danced 
 The greensward into greener circles, dipt, 
 And mix'd with shadows of the common ground. 
 But the full day dwelt on her brows, and sunn'd 
 Her violet eyes, and all her Hebe bloom. 
 And doubled his own warmth against her lips, 
 And on the bounteous wave of such a breast 
 As never pencil drev/. Half light, half shade. 
 She stood, a sight to make an old man young. 
 
'Roses are her cheeks, 
 And a rose her mouih. 
 
TENIVY SON'S LOVE SONGS 
 
 33 
 
 ?xxxm "-KimxA 
 
 PART I. xvn 
 
 Go not, happy day, 
 
 From the shining fields, 
 Go not, happy day. 
 
 Till the maiden yields. 
 Rosy is the West, 
 
 Rosy is the South, 
 Roses are her cheeks. 
 
 And a rose her mouth. 
 When the happy Yes 
 
 Falters from her lips. 
 Pass and blush the news 
 
 Over glowing ships; 
 Over blowing seas, 
 
 Over seas at rest. 
 Pass the happy news, 
 
 Blush it thro' the West; 
 Till the red man dance 
 
 By his red cedar tree. 
 And the red man's babe 
 
 Leap, beyond the sea. 
 Blush from West to East, 
 
 Blush from East to West, 
 
j4 TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS 
 
 Till the West is East, 
 Blush it thro' the West. 
 
 Rosy is the West, 
 Rosy is the South, 
 
 Roses are her cheeks, 
 And a rose her mouth. 
 
TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS 35 
 
 I 
 
 My Rosalind, my Rosalind, 
 
 My frolic falcon, with bright eyes, 
 
 Whose free delight, from any height of rapid 
 
 flight, 
 Stoops at all game that wing the skies, 
 My Rosalind, my Rosalind, 
 My bright-eyed, wild-eyed falcon, whither. 
 Careless both of wind and weather. 
 Whither fly ye, what game spy ye, 
 Up or down the streaming wind? 
 
 II 
 
 The quick lark's closest -caroll'd strains, 
 The shadow rushing up the sea, 
 The lightning flash atween the rains, 
 The sunlight driving down the lea. 
 The leaping stream, the very wind, 
 That will not stay, upon his way. 
 To stoop the cowslip to the plains, 
 Is not so clear and bold and free 
 As you, my falcon Rosalind. 
 
36 TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS 
 
 You care not for another's pains, 
 Because you are the soul of joy, 
 Bright metal all without alloy. 
 Life shoots and glances thro' your veins. 
 And flashes off a thousand ways, 
 Thro' lips and eyes in subtle rays. 
 Your hawk-eyes are keen and bright, 
 Keen with triumph, watching still 
 To pierce me thro' with pointed light; 
 But oftentimes they flash and glitter 
 Like sunshine on a dancing rill, 
 And your words are seeming-bitter, 
 Sharp and few, but seeming-bitter 
 From excess of swift delight. 
 
 Ill 
 
 Come down, come home, my Rosalind, 
 My gay young hawk, my Rosalind. 
 Too long you keep the upper skies; 
 Too long you roam and wheel at will; 
 But we must hood your random eyes, 
 That care not whom they kill, 
 And your cheek, whose brilliant hue 
 Is so sparkling-fresh to view. 
 Some red heath -flower in the dew. 
 Touch 'd with sunrise. We must bind 
 And keep you fast, my Rosalind, 
 Fast, fast, my wild-eyed Rosalind, 
 
TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS ?; 
 
 And clip your wings, and make you love. 
 
 When we have lured you from above, 
 
 And that delight of frolic flight, by day or night, 
 
 From North to South, 
 
 We'll bind you fast in silken cords, 
 
 And kiss away the bitter words 
 
 From off your rosy mouth. 
 
38 TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS 
 
 MARRIAGE MORNING 
 
 Light, SO lov/ Upon earth, 
 
 You send a flash to the sun. 
 Here is the golden close of love, 
 
 All my wooing is done. 
 O, the woods and the meadows, 
 
 Woods where we hid from the wet, 
 Stiles where we stay'd to be kind, 
 
 Meadows in which we met ! 
 
 Light, so low in the vale 
 
 You flash and lighten afar, 
 For this is the golden morning of love, 
 
 And you are his morning star. 
 Flash, I am coming, I come. 
 
 By meadow and stile and wood, 
 O, lighten into my eyes and my heart, 
 
 Into my heart and my blood! 
 
 Heart, are you great enough 
 
 For a love that never tires ? 
 O heart, are you great enough for love? 
 
 I have heard of thorns and briers." 
 Over the thorns and briers. 
 
 Over the meadows and stiles, 
 Over the world to the end of it 
 
 Flash for a million miles. 
 
TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS jq 
 
 Frnm TlT:e ^rmt^ss 
 
 *'0 Swallow, Swallow, flying, flying south, 
 Fly to her, and fall upon her gilded eaves, 
 And tell her, tell her, what I tell to thee. 
 
 "O, tell her. Swallow, thou that knowest each. 
 That bright and fierce and fickle is the South, 
 And dark and true and tender is the North. 
 
 "O Swallow, Swallow, if I could follow, and 
 light 
 Upon her lattice, I would pipe and trill. 
 And cheep and twitter twenty million loves. 
 
 "0, were I thou that she might take me in, 
 And lay me on her bosom, and her heart 
 Would rock the snowy cradle till I died! 
 
 "Why lingereth she to clothe her heart with 
 love, 
 Delaying as the tender ash delays 
 To clothe herself, when all the woods are green ? 
 
 "O, tell her, Swallow, that thy brood is flown; 
 Say to her, I do but wanton in the South, 
 But in the North long since my nest is made. 
 
40 TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS 
 
 "O, tell her, brief is life but love is long, 
 And brief the sun of summer in the North, 
 And brief the moon of beauty in the South. 
 
 "O Swallow, flying from the golden woods, 
 Fly to her, and pipe and woo her, and make 
 
 her mine, 
 And tell her, tell her, that I follow thee. " 
 
TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS 41 
 
 In her ear he whispers gaily, 
 
 "If my heart by signs can tell, 
 Maiden, I have watch'd thee daily, 
 
 And I think thou lov'st me welL" 
 She replies, in accents fainter, 
 
 "There is none I love like thee." 
 He is but a landscape-painter, 
 
 And a village maiden she. 
 He to hps that fondly falter 
 
 Presses his without reproof, 
 Leads her to the village altar. 
 
 And they leave her father's roof. 
 "I can make no marriage present; 
 
 Little can I give my wife. 
 Love will make our cottage pleasant, 
 
 And I love thee more than hfe." 
 They by parks and lodges going 
 
 See the lordly castles stand; 
 Summer woods, about them blowing. 
 
 Made a murmur in the land. 
 From deep thought himself he rouses. 
 
 Says to her that loves him well, 
 
42 TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS 
 
 "Let us see these handsome houses 
 
 Where the wealthy nobles dwell." 
 So she goes by him attended, 
 
 Hears him lovingly converse, 
 Sees whatever fair and splendid 
 
 Lay betwixt his home and hers; 
 Parks with oak and chestnut shady. 
 
 Parks and order 'd gardens great, 
 Ancient homes of lord and lady. 
 
 Built for pleasure and for state. 
 All he shows her makes him dearer; 
 
 Evermore she seems to gaze 
 On that cottage growing nearer, 
 
 Where they twain will spend their days. 
 O, but she will love him truly! 
 
 He shall have a cheerful home; 
 She will order all things duly, 
 
 When beneath his roof they come. 
 Thus her heart rejoices greatly, 
 
 Till a gateway she discerns 
 With armorial bearings stately, 
 
 And beneath the gate she turns, 
 Sees a mansion more majestic 
 
 Than all those she saw before. 
 Many a gallant gay domestic 
 
 Bows before him at the door; 
 And they speak in gentle murmur, 
 
 When they answer to his call. 
 While he treads with footstep firmer, 
 
 Leading on from hall to hall. 
 
TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS 43 
 
 And, while now she wonders blindly, 
 
 Nor the meaning can divine, 
 Proudly turns he round and kindly, 
 
 "All of this is mine and thine." 
 Here he lives in state and bounty, 
 
 Lord of Burleigh, fair and free; 
 Not a lord in all the county 
 
 Is so great a lord as he. 
 All at once the color flushes 
 
 Her sweet face from brow to chin ; 
 As it were with shame she blushes. 
 
 And her spirit changed within. 
 Then her countenance all over 
 
 Pale again as death did prove; 
 But he clasp 'd her like a lover, 
 
 And he cheer'd her soul with love. 
 So she strove against her weakness, 
 
 Tho' at times her spirit sank, 
 Shaped her heart with woman's meekness 
 
 To all duties of her rank; 
 And a gentle consort made he, 
 
 And her gentle mind was such 
 That she grew a noble lady. 
 
 And the people loved her much. 
 But a trouble weigh'd upon her. 
 
 And perplex 'd her, night and morn, 
 With the burthen of an honor 
 
 Unto which she was not born. 
 Faint she grew, and ever fainter. 
 
 And she murmur 'd, "O, that he 
 
44 TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS 
 
 Were once more that landscape-painter 
 Which did win my heart from me ! ' ' 
 
 So she droop 'd and droop 'd before him, 
 Fading slowly from his side; 
 
 Three fair children first she bore him, 
 Then before her time she died. 
 
TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS 45 
 
 NO ANSWER 
 
 The mist and the rain, the mist and the rain! 
 
 Is it ay or no ? is it ay or no ? 
 And never a gUmpse of her window pane ! 
 
 And I may die but the grass will grow, 
 And the grass will grow when I am gone, 
 And the wet west wind and the world will go on. 
 
 Ay is the song of the wedded spheres. 
 No is trouble and cloud and storm, 
 
 Ay is life for a hundred years. 
 
 No will push me down to the worm. 
 
 And when I am there and dead and gone. 
 
 The wet west wind and the world will go on. 
 
 The wind and the wet, the wind and the wet! 
 
 Wet west wind, how you blow, you blow! 
 And never a line from my lady yet! 
 
 Is it ay or no ? is it ay or no ? 
 Blow then, blow, and when I am gone, 
 The wet west wind and the world may go on. 
 
Joseph Coomans 
 
 'Smiling, frowning, evermore. 
 Thou art perfect in love-lore. 
 
TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS 47 
 
 TOariBlin^ 
 
 Thou art not steep 'd in golden languors, 
 No tranced summer calm is thine, 
 
 Ever varying Madeline. 
 Thro' light and shadow thou dost range, 
 Sudden glances, sweet and strange, 
 
 Delicious spites and darling angers, 
 And airy forms of flitting change. 
 
 II 
 
 Smiling, frowning, evermore. 
 Thou art perfect in love -lore. 
 Revealings deep and clear are thine 
 Of wealthy smiles; but who may know 
 Whether smile or frown be fleeter? 
 Whether smile or frown be sweeter. 
 
 Who may know? 
 Frowns perfect-sweet along the brow 
 Light -glooming over eyes divine. 
 Like little clouds sun -fringed, are thine, 
 
 Ever varying Madeline. 
 Thy smile and frown are not aloof 
 
 From one another. 
 
 Each to each is dearest brother; 
 
48 TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS 
 
 Hues of the silken sheeny woof 
 Momently shot into each other. 
 
 All the mystery is thine; 
 Smiling, frowning, evermore, 
 Thou art perfect in love -lore, 
 
 Ever varying Madeline. 
 
 Ill 
 
 A subtle, sudden flame. 
 
 By veering passion fann'd. 
 About thee breaks and dances; 
 
 When I would kiss thy hand. 
 The flush of anger'd shame 
 
 O'erflows thy calmer glances, 
 And o'er black brows drops down 
 A sudden -curved frown: 
 But when I turn away. 
 Thou, willing me to stay, 
 
 Wooest not, nor vainly wranglest. 
 But, looking fixedly the while, 
 
 All my bounding heart entanglest 
 In a golden-netted smile; 
 Then in madness and in bliss, 
 If my lips should dare to kiss 
 Thy taper fingers amorously. 
 Again thou blushest angerly; 
 And o'er black brows drops down 
 A sudden-curved frown. 
 
TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS 4q 
 
 I did not speak; I could not speak my love. 
 Love lieth deep, Love dwells not in lip -depths. 
 Love wraps his wings on either side the heart, 
 Constraining it with kisses close and warm. 
 Absorbing all the incense of sweet thoughts 
 So that they pass not to the shrine of sound. 
 Else had the life of that delighted hour 
 Drunk in the largeness of the utterance 
 Of Love ; but how should earthly measure mete 
 The heavenly-unmeasured or unlimited Love, 
 Who scarce can tune his high majestic sense 
 Unto the thunder-song that wheels the spheres, 
 Scarce living in the ^olian harmony. 
 And flowing odor of the spacious air, 
 Scarce housed within the circle of this earth, 
 Be cabin 'd up in words and syllables, 
 Which pass with that which breathes them? 
 
 Sooner earth 
 Might go round heaven, and the strait girth 
 
 of Time 
 Inswathe the fullness of Eternity, 
 Than language grasp the infinite of Love. 
 
50 TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS 
 
 NO ANSWER 
 
 Winds are loud and you are dumb, 
 Take my love, for love will come, 
 
 Love will come but once a life. 
 Winds are loud and winds will pass! 
 Spring is here with leaf and grass : 
 
 Take my love and be my wife. 
 After-loves of maids and men 
 Are but dainties drest again. 
 Love me now, you'll love me then; 
 
 Love can love but once a life. 
 
TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS 51 
 
 Frnm Tire TOindatu 
 
 THE ANSWER 
 
 Two little hands that meet, 
 Claspt on her seal, my sweet! 
 Must I take you and break you, 
 Two little hands that meet? 
 I must take you, and break you, 
 And loving hands must part — 
 Take, take — break, break — 
 Break — you may break my heart. 
 Faint heart never won — 
 Break, break, and all's done. 
 
52 TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS 
 
 ^Mxnt 
 
 Mystery of mysteries, 
 Faintly smiling Adeline, 
 Scarce of earth nor all divine, 
 Nor unhappy, nor at rest. 
 But beyond expression fair 
 With thy floating flaxen hair; 
 Thy rose -lips and full blue eyes 
 
 Take the heart from out my breast. 
 Wherefore those dim looks of thine, 
 Shadowy, dreaming Adeline? 
 
 II 
 
 Whence that aery bloom of thine, 
 
 Like a lily which the sun 
 Looks thro' in his sad decline. 
 
 And a rose-bush leans upon, 
 Thou that faintly smilest still. 
 
 As a Naiad in a well. 
 
 Looking at the set of day, 
 Or a phantom two hours old 
 
 Of a maiden past away, 
 Ere the placid lips be cold? 
 Wherefore those faint smiles of thine, 
 
 Spiritual Adeline? 
 
TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS 53 
 
 III 
 
 What hope or fear or joy is thine? 
 Who talketh with thee, AdeUne? 
 For sure thou art not all alone. 
 
 Do beating hearts of salient springs 
 Keep measure with thine own? 
 Hast thou heard the butterflies 
 What they say betwixt their wings? 
 Or in stillest evenings 
 With what voice the violet woos 
 To his heart the silver dews? 
 Or when little airs arise, 
 How the merry bluebell rings 
 To the mosses underneath? 
 Hast thou look'd upon the breath 
 Of the lilies at sunrise? 
 Wherefore that faint smile of thine. 
 Shadowy, dreaming Adeline? 
 
 IV 
 
 Some honey-converse feeds thy mind, 
 Some spirit of a crimson rose 
 In love with thee forgets to close 
 His curtains, wasting odorous sighs 
 All night long on darkness blind. 
 What aileth thee? whom waitest thou 
 With thy soften 'd, shadow 'd brow. 
 And those dew -lit eyes of thine, 
 Thou faint smiler, Adeline? 
 
5^ TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS 
 
 Lovest thou the doleful wind 
 When thou gazest at the skies? 
 Doth the low-tongued Orient 
 Wander from the side of the morn, 
 Dripping with Sabsean spice 
 On thy pillow, lowly bent 
 With melodious airs lovelorn, 
 Breathing Light against thy face, 
 While his locks a-drooping twined 
 Round thy neck in subtle ring 
 Make a carcanet of rays. 
 
 And ye talk together still, 
 In the language wherewith Spring 
 
 Letters cowslips on the hill? 
 Hence that look and smile of thine. 
 Spiritual Adeline. 
 
TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS 55 
 
 Frnm TItb TOilT^r's ganglTt:er 
 
 Love that hath us in the net, 
 Can he pass, and we forget? 
 Many suns arise and set; 
 Many a chance the years beget; 
 
 Love the gift is Love the debt. 
 
 Even so. 
 Love is hurt with jar and fret; 
 Love is made a vague regret; 
 Eyes with idle tears are wet; 
 Idle habit links us yet. 
 What is love? for we forget: 
 
 Ah, no! no! 
 
56 TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS 
 
 Frnm %n WSitmnxium 
 
 CXXVI 
 
 Love is and was my lord and king, 
 And in his presence I attend 
 To hear the tidings of my friend, 
 
 Which every hour his couriers bring. 
 
 Love is and was my king and lord, 
 And will be, tho' as yet I keep 
 Within the court on earth, and sleep 
 
 En compass 'd by his faithful guard. 
 
 And hear at times a sentinel 
 
 Who moves about from place to place, 
 And whispers to the worlds of space, 
 
 In the deep night, that all is well. 
 
TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS 5; 
 
 Frnm HntnU 
 
 ACT I, SCENE II 
 
 Love is come with a song and a smile, 
 Welcome Love with a smile and song: 
 Love can stay but a little while. 
 Why cannot he stay ? They call him away ; 
 Ye do him wrong, ye do him wrong; 
 Love will stay for a whole life long. 
 
Gf. VON HOESSLIN 
 
 He comeih not, she said." 
 
TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS 39 
 
 "Mariana in the moated grange." 
 
 Measure for Measure. 
 
 With blackest moss the flower-plots 
 
 Were thickly crusted, one and all; 
 
 The rusted nails fell from the knots 
 
 That held the pear to the gable-wall. 
 The broken sheds look'd sad and strange: 
 Unlifted was the clinking latch ; 
 Weeded and worn the ancient thatch 
 Upon the lonely moated grange. 
 She only said, "My life is dreary, 
 
 He Cometh not," she said; 
 She said, "I am aweary, aweary, 
 I would that I were dead!" 
 
 Her tears fell with the dews at even ; 
 
 Her tears fell ere the dews were dried; 
 She could not look on the sweet heaven, 
 
 Either at morn or eventide. 
 After the flitting of the bats. 
 
 When thickest dark did trance the sky. 
 She drew her casement-curtain by, 
 And glanced athwart the glooming flats. 
 She only said, "The night is dreary, 
 
 He Cometh not," she said; 
 She said, "I am aweary, aweary, 
 I would that I were dead! " 
 
6o TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS 
 
 Upon the middle of the night, 
 
 Waking she heard the night -fowl crow; 
 The cock sung out an hour ere light ; 
 From the dark fen the oxen's low 
 Came to her; without hope of change, 
 In sleep she seem'd to walk forlorn, 
 Till cold winds woke the grey-eyed morn 
 About the lonely moated grange. 
 She only said, "The day is dreary. 
 
 He Cometh not," she said; 
 She said, "I am aweary, aweary, 
 I would that I were dead!" 
 
 About a stone-cast from the wall 
 
 A sluice with blacken'd waters slept, 
 And o'er it many, round and small, 
 
 The cluster'd marish-mosses crept. 
 
 Hard by a poplar shook alway, 
 
 All silver-green with gnarled bark: 
 
 For leagues no other tree did mark 
 
 The level waste, the rounding gray. 
 
 She only said, "My life is dreary, 
 
 He Cometh not," she said; 
 She said, "I am aweary, aweary, 
 I would that I were dead!" 
 
TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS 6i 
 
 And ever when the moon was low, 
 
 And the shrill winds were up and away, 
 In the white curtain, to and fro. 
 
 She saw the gusty shadow sway. 
 But when the moon was very low. 
 
 And wild winds bound within their cell, 
 The shadow of the poplar fell 
 Upon her bed, across her brow. 
 
 She only said, "The night is dreary, 
 
 He Cometh not," she said; 
 She said, "I am aweary, aweary, 
 I would that I were dead!" 
 
 All day within the dreamy house. 
 
 The doors upon their hinges creak'd; 
 The blue fly sung in the pane ; the mouse 
 
 Behind the mouldering wainscot shriek'd, 
 Or from the crevice peer'd about. 
 Old faces glimmer 'd thro' the doors, 
 Old footsteps trod the upper floors. 
 Old voices called her from without. 
 She only said, "My life is dreary, 
 
 He Cometh not," she said; 
 She said, "I am aweary, aweary, 
 I would that I were dead!" 
 
62 TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS 
 
 The sparrow's chirrup on the roof, 
 
 The slow clock ticking, and the sound 
 Which to the wooing wind aloof 
 
 The poplar made, did all confound 
 
 Her sense; but most she loathed the hour 
 
 When the thick-moted sunbeam lay 
 
 Athwart the chambers, and the day 
 
 Was sloping toward his western bower. 
 
 Then, said she, "I am very dreary, 
 
 He will not come," she said; 
 She wept, "I am aweary, aweary, 
 O God. that I were dead!" 
 
TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS 63 
 
 Fa:tima 
 
 O Love, Love, Love! O withering might! 
 
 sun, that from thy noonday height 
 Shudderest when I strain my sight, 
 Throbbing thro' all thy heat and light, 
 
 Lo, falling from my constant mind, 
 Lo, parch'd and wither'd, deaf and blind, 
 I whirl like leaves in roaring wind. 
 
 Last night I wasted hateful hours 
 Below the city's eastern towers; 
 
 1 thirsted for the brooks, the showers; 
 I roll'd among the tender flowers; 
 
 I crush'd them on my breast, my mouth; 
 I look'd athwart the burning drouth 
 Of that long desert to the south. 
 
 Last night, when some one spoke his name. 
 From my swift blood that went and came 
 A thousand little shafts of flame 
 Were shiver 'd in my narrow frame. 
 O Love, O fire! once he drew 
 With one long kiss my whole soul thro* 
 My lips, as sunlight drinketh dew. 
 
64 TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS 
 
 Before he mounts the hill, I know- 
 He Cometh quickly: From below- 
 Sweet gales, as from deep gardens, blow 
 Before him, striking on my brow. 
 In my dry brain my spirit soon, 
 Down -deepening from swoon to swoon, 
 Faints like a dazzled morning moon. 
 
 The wind sounds like a silver wire. 
 And from beyond the noon a fire 
 Is pour'd upon the hills, and nigher 
 The skies stoop down in their desire; 
 And, isled in sudden seas of hght, 
 My heart, pierced thro' with fierce deUght, 
 Bursts into blossom in his sight. 
 
 My whole soul waiting silently, 
 
 All naked in a sultry sky. 
 
 Droops blinded with his shining eye; 
 
 I will possess him or will die. 
 
 I will grow round him in his place, 
 Grow, live, die looking on his face, 
 Die, dying, clasp 'd in his embrace. 
 
TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS 63 
 
 From Harniri 
 
 ACT III, SCENE II 
 
 Two young lovers in winter weather, 
 
 None to guide them, 
 Walk'd at night on the misty heather; 
 Night, as black as a raven's feather; 
 Both were lost and found together, 
 
 None beside them. 
 
 Lost, lost, the light of day, 
 
 "I am beside thee." 
 Lost, lost, we have lost the w^ay. 
 
 "Love, I will guide thee." 
 Whither, O whither? into the river. 
 Where we two may be lost together, 
 And lost for ever? "O, never! O, never! 
 Tho' we be lost and be found together. 
 
66 TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS 
 
 Frrtm mUnxxnnu in tte Sttutlr 
 
 With one black shadow at its feet, 
 
 The house thro' all the level shines, 
 Close -latticed to the brooding heat, 
 
 And silent in its dusty vines: 
 A faint-blue ridge upon the right, 
 An empty river-bed before, 
 And shallows on a distant shore, 
 In glaring sand and inlets bright. 
 But "Ave Mary," made she moan, 
 And "Ave Mary," night and morn, 
 And "Ah," she sang, "to be all alone, 
 To live forgotten, and love forlorn." 
 
 She, as her carol sadder grew, 
 
 From brow and bosom slowly down 
 Thro' rosy taper fingers drew 
 
 Her streaming curls of deepest brown 
 To left and right, and made appear 
 Still-lighted in a secret shrine 
 Her melancholy eyes divine, 
 The home of woe without a tear. 
 And "Ave Mary," v/as her moan, 
 
 " Madonna > sad is night and morn," 
 And "Ah," she sang, "to be all alone, 
 To live forgotten, and love forlorn." 
 
TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS 67 
 
 Till all the crimson changed, and past 
 
 Into deep orange o'er the sea, 
 Low on her knees herself she cast. 
 
 Before Our Lady murmur'd she; 
 Complaining, "Mother, give me grace 
 To help me of my weary load." 
 And on the liquid mirror glow'd 
 The clear perfection of her face. 
 
 "Is this the form," she made her moan, 
 
 "That won his praises night and morn?" 
 And "Ah," she said, "but I wake alone, 
 I sleep forgotten, I wake forlorn." 
 
68 TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS 
 
 Her arms across her breast she laid; 
 
 She was more fair than words can say; 
 Bare-footed came the beggar maid 
 
 Before the king Cophetua. 
 In robe and crown the king stept down, 
 
 To meet and greet her on her way ; 
 "It is no wonder," said the lords, 
 
 "She is more beautiful than day." 
 
 As shines the moon in clouded skies, 
 
 She in her poor attire was seen; 
 One praised her ankles, one her eyes, 
 
 One her dark hair and lovesome mien. 
 So sweet a face, such angel grace. 
 
 In all that land had never been. 
 Cophetua sware a royal oath: 
 
 "This beggar maid shall be my queen!" 
 
TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS 69 
 
 PART I, XXII 
 
 I said to the lily, "There is but one, 
 
 With whom she has heart to be gay. 
 When will the dancers leave her alone? 
 
 She is weary of dance and play." 
 Now half to the setting moon are gone, 
 
 And half to the rising day ; 
 Low on the sand and loud on the stone 
 
 The last wheel echoes away. 
 
 I said to the rose, "The brief night goes 
 
 In babble and revel and wine. 
 O young lord-lover, what sighs are those, 
 
 For one that will never be thine ? 
 But mine, but mine," so I swear to the rose, 
 
 "For ever and ever, mine." 
 
 And the soul of the rose went into my blood, 
 
 As the music clash'd in the hall; 
 And long by the garden lake I stood, 
 
 For I heard your rivulet fall 
 From the lake to the meadow and on to the wood, 
 
 Our wood, that is dearer than all; 
 
yo TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS 
 
 From the meadow your walks have left so sweet 
 That whenever a March-wind sighs 
 
 He sets the jewel-print of your feet 
 In violets blue as your eyes, 
 
 To the woody hollows in which we meet 
 And the valleys of Paradise. 
 
 The slender acacia would not shake 
 
 One long milk-bloom on the tree; 
 The white lake-blossom fell into the lake 
 
 As the pimpernel dozed on the lea ; 
 But the rose was awake all night for your sake, 
 
 Knowing your promise to me; 
 The lilies and roses were all awake, 
 
 They sigh'd for the dawn and thee. 
 
 Queen rose of the rosebtid garden of girls. 
 Come hither, the dances are done, 
 
 In gloss of satin and glimmer of pearls. 
 Queen lily and rose in one ; 
 
 Shine out, little head, sunning over with curls, 
 To the flowers, and be their sun. 
 
TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS 71 
 
 There has fallen a splendid tear 
 
 From the passion-flower at the gate. 
 
 She is coming, my dove, my dear; 
 She is coming, my life, my fate. 
 
 The red rose cries, "She is near, she is near;' 
 And the white rose weeps, "She is late;" 
 The larkspur listens, "I hear, I hear;" 
 And the lily whispers, "I wait." 
 
 She is coming, my own, my sweet; 
 
 Were it ever so airy a tread, 
 My heart would hear her and beat, 
 
 Were it earth in an earthy bed; 
 My dust would hear her and beat. 
 
 Had I lain for a century dead, 
 Would start and tremble under her feet 
 
 And blossom in purple and red. 
 
31 \X \ nl.KUAUT 
 
 Baby lips will laugh me down: 
 My latest rival brings thee rest." 
 
TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS yj 
 
 From I^orkslBg Hall 
 
 In the spring a fuller crimson comes upon the 
 
 robin's breast; 
 In the spring the wanton lapwing gets himself 
 
 another crest; 
 
 In the spring a livelier iris changes on the 
 
 burnish 'd dove; 
 In the spring a young man's fancy lightly turns 
 
 to thoughts of love. 
 
 Then her cheek was pale and thinner than 
 
 should be for one so young, 
 And her eyes on all my motions with a mute 
 
 observance hung. 
 
 And I said, "My cousin Amy, speak, and speak 
 
 the truth to me, 
 Trust me, cousin, all the current of my being 
 
 sets to thee." 
 
 On her pallid cheek and forehead came a color 
 
 and a light, 
 As I have seen the rosy red flushing in the 
 
 northern night. 
 
 And she turn'd — her bosom shaken with a 
 
 sudden storm of sighs — 
 All the spirit deeply dawning in the dark of 
 
 hazel eyes — 
 
74 TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS 
 
 Saying, "I have hid my feelings, fearing they 
 
 should do me wrong;" 
 Saying, "Dost thou love me, cousin?" weeping, 
 
 "I have loved thee long." 
 
 Love took up the glass of Time, and turn'd it 
 
 in his glowing hands; 
 Every moment, lightly shaken, ran itself in 
 
 golden sands. 
 
 Love took up the harp of Life, and smote on all 
 
 the chords with might; 
 Smote the chord of Self, that, trembling, pass'd 
 
 in music out of sight. 
 
 Many a morning on the moorland did we hear 
 
 the copses ring. 
 And her whisper throng'd my pulses with the 
 
 fullness of the spring. 
 
 Many an evening by the waters did we watch the 
 
 stately ships, 
 And our spirits rush'd together at the touching 
 
 of the lips. 
 
 O my cousin, shallow -hearted ! O my Amy, 
 
 mine no more! 
 O the dreary, dreary moorland! O the barren, 
 
 barren shore! 
 
 Falser than all fancy fathoms, falser than all 
 
 songs have sung. 
 Puppet to a father's threat, and servile to a 
 
 shrewish tongue! 
 
TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS 75 
 
 Is it well to wish thee happy? — having known 
 
 me — to decline 
 On a range of lower feelings and a narrower 
 
 heart than mine! 
 
 Yet it shall be; thou shalt lower to his level 
 
 day by day, 
 What is fine within thee growing coarse to 
 
 sympathize with clay. 
 
 As the husband is, the v/ife is; thou art mated 
 
 with a clown, 
 And the grossness of his nature will have weight 
 
 to drag thee down. 
 
 He will hold thee, when his passion shall have 
 
 spent its novel force, 
 Something better than his dog, a little dearer 
 
 than his horse. 
 
 What is this?. His eyes are heavy; think not 
 
 they are glazed with wine. 
 Go to him, it is thy duty; kiss him, take his 
 
 hand in thine. 
 
 It may be my lord is weary, that his brain is 
 
 overwrought ; 
 Soothe him with thy finer fancies, touch him 
 
 with thy lighter thought. 
 
 He will answer to the purpose, easy things to 
 
 understand — 
 Better thou wert dead before me, tho' I slew 
 
 thee with my hand! 
 
y6 TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS 
 
 Better thou and I were lying, hidden from the 
 
 heart's disgrace, 
 Roll'd in one another's arms, and silent in a 
 
 last embrace. 
 
 Cursed be the social wants that sin against the 
 
 strength of youth! 
 Cursed be the social lies that warp us from the 
 
 living truth! 
 
 Nay, but Nature brings thee solace; for a tender 
 
 voice will cry. 
 'Tis a purer life than thine, a lip to drain thy 
 
 trouble dry. 
 
 Baby lips will laugh me down; my latest rival 
 
 brings thee rest. 
 Baby fingers, waxen touches, press me from 
 
 the mother's breast. 
 
 O, the child too clothes the father with a dear- 
 
 ness not his due. 
 Half is thine and half is his; it will be worthy 
 
 of the two. 
 
 O, I see thee old and formal, fitted to thy petty 
 
 part, 
 With a little hoard of maxims preaching down 
 
 a daughter's heart. 
 
TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS yy 
 
 "They were dangerous guides the feelings — 
 
 she herself was not exempt — 
 Truly, she herself had suffer'd" — Perish in thy 
 
 self -contempt ! 
 
 Overlive it — lower yet — be happy! wherefore 
 
 should I care? 
 I myself must mix with action, lest I wither 
 
 by despair. 
 
 Howsoever these things be, a long farewell to 
 
 Locksley Hall! 
 Now for me the woods may wither, now for me 
 
 the roof -tree fall. 
 
 Comes a vapor from the margin, blackening 
 
 over heath and holt. 
 Cramming all the blast before it, in its breast 
 
 a thunderbolt. 
 
 Let it fall on Locksley Hall, with rain or hail, 
 
 or fire or snow; 
 For the mighty wind arises, roaring sea-ward, 
 
 and I go. 
 
y8 TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS 
 
 PART II, IV 
 I 
 
 O that 'twere possible 
 
 After long grief and pain 
 
 To find the arms of my true love 
 
 Round me once again ! 
 
 II 
 
 When I was wont to meet her 
 In the silent woody places 
 By the home that gave me birth, 
 We stood tranced in long embraces 
 Mixt with kisses sweeter, sweeter 
 Than anything on earth. 
 
 Ill 
 
 A shadow flits before me. 
 
 Not thou, but like to thee. 
 
 Ah, Christ, that it were possible 
 
 For one short hour to see 
 
 The souls we loved that they might tell us 
 
 What and where they be. 
 
TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS jq 
 
 THE LETTER 
 
 Where is another sweet as my sweet, 
 Fine of the fine, and shy of the shy? 
 
 Fine Httle hands, fine Httle feet — 
 Dewy blue eye. 
 
 Shall I write to her ? shall I go ? 
 Ask her to marry me by and by ? 
 
 Somebody said that she'd say no; 
 Somebody knows that she'll say ay! 
 
 Ay or no, if ask'd to her face? 
 
 Ay or no, from shy of the shy? 
 Go, little letter, apace, apace, 
 
 Fly; 
 Fly to the light in the valley below — 
 
 Tell my wish to her dewy blue eye. 
 Somebody said that she'd say no; 
 
 Somebody knows that she'll say ay! 
 
8o TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS 
 
 Frnm f seM 
 
 Eyes not down-dropt nor over-bright, but fed 
 With the clear-pointed flame of chastity, 
 Clear, without heat, undying, tended by 
 Pure vestal thoughts in the translucent fane 
 Of her still spirit; locks not v/ide-dispread, 
 Madonna-wise on either side her head ; 
 Sweet lips whereon perpetually did reign 
 The summer calm of golden charity, 
 Were fixed shadows of thy fixed mood, 
 
 Revered Isabel, the crown and head, 
 The stately flower of female fortitude. 
 
 Of perfect wifehood and pure lowlihead. 
 
TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS 8i 
 
 Fr0m (^xtttn TOnrg 
 
 ACT V, SCENE II 
 
 Hapless doom of woman happy in betrothing! 
 Beauty passes Hke a breath, and love is lost in 
 
 loathing: 
 Low, my lute; speak low, my lute, but say the 
 
 world is nothing — 
 
 Low, lute, low! 
 
 Love will hover round the flowers when they 
 first awaken; 
 
 Love will fly the fallen leaf, and not be over- 
 taken. 
 
 Low, my lute! O, low, my lute! we fade and 
 are forsaken — 
 
 Low, dear lute, low! 
 
82 TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS 
 
 O sweet pale Margaret, 
 
 O rare pale Margaret, 
 What lit your eyes with tearful power, 
 Like moonlight on a falling shower? 
 Who lent you, love, your mortal dower 
 
 Of pensive thought and aspect pale, 
 
 Your melancholy sweet and frail 
 As perfume of the cuckoo-flower? 
 From the westward-winding flood, 
 From the evening-lighted wood. 
 
 From all things outward you have won 
 A tearful grace, as tho' you stood 
 
 Between the rainbow and the sun. 
 The very smile before you speak, 
 That dimples your transparent cheek, 
 
 Encircles all the heart, and feedeth 
 The senses with a still delight 
 
 Of dainty sorrow without sound, 
 
 Like the tender amber round 
 
 Which the moon about her spreadeth. 
 Moving thro' a fleecy night. 
 
TENNYSON'S L OVE SONGS 83 
 
 O sweet pale Margaret, 
 
 O rare pale Margaret, 
 Come down, come down, and hear me speak. 
 Tie up the ringlets on your cheek. 
 
 The sun is just about to set, 
 The arching limes are tall and shady, 
 
 And faint, rainy Hghts are seen, 
 
 Moving in the leavy beech. 
 Rise from the feast of sorrow, lady. 
 
 Where all day long you sit between 
 
 Joy and woe, and whisper each. 
 Or only look across the lawn, 
 
 Look out below your bower-eaves. 
 Look down, and let your blue eyes dawn 
 
 Upon me thro' the jasmine-leaves. 
 
E. DE BLAAS 
 
 'It is the miller s daughter. 
 
TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS 85 
 
 It is the miller's daughter, 
 
 And she is grown so dear, so dear, 
 That I would be the jewel 
 
 That trembles in her ear; 
 For hid in ringlets day and night, 
 I'd touch her neck so warm and white. 
 
 And I would be the girdle 
 
 About her dainty, dainty waist. 
 
 And her heart would beat against me, 
 In sorrow and in rest; 
 
 And I should know if it beat right, 
 
 I'd clasp it round so close and tight. 
 
 And I would be the necklace. 
 
 And all day long to fall and rise 
 
 Upon her balmy bosom, 
 
 With her laughter or her sighs; 
 
 And I would lie so light, so light, 
 
 I scarce should be unclasp 'd at night. 
 
86 TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS 
 
 THE ARRIVAL 
 I 
 
 All precious things, disco ver'd late, 
 
 To those that seek them issue forth; 
 For love in sequel works with fate, 
 
 And draws the veil from hidden worth. 
 He travels far from other skies — 
 
 His mantle glitters on the rocks — 
 A fairy Prince, with joyful eyes, 
 
 And lighter-footed than the fox. 
 
 II 
 
 The bodies and the bones of those 
 
 That strove in other days to pass 
 Are wither'd in the thorny close, 
 
 Or scatter'd blanching on the grass. 
 He gazes on the silent dead : 
 
 "They perish 'd in their daring deeds." 
 This proverb flashes thro' his head, 
 
 "The many fail, the one succeeds." 
 
 Ill 
 
 He comes, scarce knowing what he seeks; 
 
 He breaks the hedge; he enters there; 
 The color flies into his cheeks; 
 
 He trusts to light on something fair ; 
 
TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS Sy 
 
 For all his life the charm did talk 
 About his path, and hover near 
 
 With words of promise in his walk, 
 And whisper'd voices at his ear. 
 
 IV 
 
 More close and close his footsteps wind; 
 
 The Magic Music in his heart. 
 Beats quick and quicker, till he find 
 
 The quiet chamber far apart. 
 His spirit flutters like a lark, 
 
 He stoops — to kiss her — on his knee. 
 "Love, if thy tresses be so dark. 
 
 How dark those hidden eyes must be!" 
 
TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS 
 
 THE DEPARTURE 
 
 I 
 
 And on her lover's arm she leant, 
 
 And round her waist she felt it fold, 
 And far across the hills they went 
 
 In that new world which is the old, 
 Across the hills, and far away 
 
 Beyond their utmost purple rim, 
 And deep into the dying day 
 
 The happy princess follow 'd him. 
 
 II 
 
 **rd sleep another hundred years, 
 
 O love, for such another kiss;" 
 "0, wake for ever, love," she hears, 
 
 "O love, 'twas such as this and this." 
 And o'er them many a sliding star, 
 
 And many a merry wind was borne. 
 And, stream'd thro' many a golden bar, 
 
 The twilight melted into morn. 
 
 Ill 
 
 "O eyes long laid in happy sleep!" 
 "O happy sleep, that lightly fled!" 
 
 "O happy kiss, that woke thy sleep!" 
 "O love, thy kiss would wake the dead!" 
 
TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS 89 
 
 And o'er them many a flowing range 
 Of vapor buoy'd the crescent-bark, 
 
 And, rapt thro' many a rosy change, 
 The twihght died into the dark. 
 
 IV 
 
 **A hundred summers! can it be? 
 
 And whither goest thou, tell me where?" 
 "O, seek my father's court with me, 
 
 For there are greater wonders there." 
 And o'er the hills, and far away 
 
 Beyond their utmost purple rim. 
 Beyond the night, across the day, 
 
 Thro' all the world she follow 'd him. 
 
go TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS 
 
 f THE SLEEPING BEAUTY 
 
 I 
 
 Year after year unto her feet, 
 
 She lying on her couch alone, 
 Across the purple coverlet 
 
 The maiden's jet-black hair has grown, 
 On either side her tranced form 
 
 Forth streaming from a braid of pearl; 
 The slumbrous light is rich and warm, 
 
 And moves not on the rounded curl. 
 
 II 
 
 The silk star-broider'd coverlid 
 
 Unto her limbs itself doth mould 
 Languidly ever; and, amid 
 
 Her full black ringlets downward roU'd, 
 Glows forth each softly-shadow'd arm 
 
 With bracelets of the diamond bright. 
 Her constant beauty doth inform 
 
 Stillness with love, and day with light. 
 
 Ill 
 
 She sleeps; her breathings are not heard 
 
 In palace chambers far apart. 
 The fragrant tresses are not stirr'd 
 
 That lie upon her charmed heart. 
 She sleeps; on either hand upswells 
 
 The gold-fringed pillow Hghtly prest; 
 She sleeps, nor dreams, but ever dwells 
 
 A perfect form in perfect rest. 
 
TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS gi 
 
 THE REVIVAL 
 I 
 
 A touch, a kiss ! the charm was snapt. 
 
 There rose a noise of striking clocks, 
 And feet that ran, and doors that clapt, 
 
 And barking dogs, and crowing cocks: 
 A fuller light illumined all, 
 
 A breeze thro' all the garden swept, 
 A sudden hubbub shook the hall. 
 
 And sixty feet the fountain leapt. 
 
g2 TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS 
 
 From MglTs nf \\[t %ing 
 
 THE SONG OF LOVE AND DEATH 
 
 "Sweet is true love tho' given in vain, in vain; 
 And sweet is death who puts an end to pain. 
 I know not which is sweeter, no, not I. 
 
 * Love, art thou sweet? then bitter death 
 must be. 
 Love, thou art bitter; sweet is death to me. 
 
 Love, if death be sweeter, let me die. 
 
 "Sweet love, that seems not made to fade 
 away; 
 Sweet death, that seems to make us loveless clay; 
 
 1 know not which is sweeter, no, not L 
 
 "I fain would follow love, if that could be; 
 I needs must follow death, who calls for me; 
 Call and I follow, I follow! let me die." 
 
TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS ^^ 
 
 SONG FROM "THE LAST TOURNAMENT" 
 
 "Ay, ay, O, ay — the winds that bend the brier! 
 A star in heaven, a star within the mere! 
 Ay, ay, O, ay — a star was my desire, 
 And one was far apart, and one was near. 
 Ay, ay, O, ay — the winds that bow the grass ! 
 And one was water and one star was fire, 
 And one will ever shine and one will pass. 
 Ay, ay, O, ay — the winds that move the 
 mere!" 
 
g4 TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS 
 
 WHEN 
 
 Sun comes, moon comes, 
 
 Time slips away. 
 Sun sets, moon sets, 
 
 Love, fix a day. 
 
 "A year hence, a year hence.'* 
 "We shall both be gray." 
 
 "A month hence, a month hence.'* 
 "Far, far away." 
 
 "A week hence, a week hence.'* 
 
 "Ah, the long delay!" 
 "Wait a little, wait a little, 
 
 You shall fix a day." 
 
 "To-morrow, love, to-morrow. 
 And that's an age away." 
 
 Blaze upon her window, sun, 
 And honor all the day. 
 
TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS pj 
 
 Front TItb ^Xiininm 
 
 AY 
 
 Be merry, all birds, to-day, 
 
 Be merry on earth as you never were merry 
 before, 
 Be merry in heaven, O larks, and far awa3^ 
 And merry for ever and ever, and one day 
 more. 
 
 Why? 
 For it's easy to find a rhyme. 
 Look, look, how he flits. 
 
 The fire -crown 'd king of the wrens, from out 
 of the pine! 
 Look how they tumble the blossom, the mad 
 little tits! 
 "Cuck-oo! Cuck-oo!" was ever a May so fine? 
 
 Why? 
 For it's easy to find a rhyme. 
 O merry the linnet and dove, 
 
 And swallow and sparrow and throstle, and 
 have your desire! 
 O merry my heart, you have gotten the wings 
 of love, 
 And flit like the king of the wrens with a 
 crown of fire. 
 
 Why? 
 For its ay ay, ay ay. 
 
g6 TENNYSON'S LOVE SONGS 
 
 Frnm SriglTs nf iht ?(ing 
 
 "trust me not at all or all in all" 
 
 "In Love, if Love be Love, if Love be ours. 
 Faith and unfaith can ne'er be equal powers. 
 Un faith in aught is want of faith in all. 
 
 "It is the little rift within the lute. 
 That by and by will make the music mute. 
 And ever widening slowly silence all. 
 
 "The little rift within the lover's lute. 
 Or little pitted speck in garner'd fruit, 
 That rotting inward slowly moulders all. 
 
 "It is not worth the keeping; let it go: 
 But shall it? answer, darling, answer, no. 
 And trust me not at all or all in all." 
 
 1 
 
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