275 Filling the chilly room with perfumed light"And now, my love, my seraph fair, awake! "Thou art my heaven, and I thine eremite: “Open thine eyes, for meek St. Agnes' sake, "Or I shall drowse beside thee, so my soul doth ache." XXXII. 280 Thus whispering, his warm, unnerved arm Sank in her pillow. Shaded was her dream By the dusk curtains:-'twas a midnight charm 285 290 295 300 Impossible to melt as iced stream: The lustrous salvers in the moonlight gleam; It seem'd he never, never could redeem From such a steadfast spell his lady's eyes; So mus'd awhile, entoil'd in woofed phantasies. XXXIII. Awakening up, he took her hollow lute,- He play'd an ancient ditty, long since mute, mercy: Close to her ear touching the melody;- XXXIV. smooth Her eyes were open, but she still beheld, At which fair Madeline began to weep, And moan forth witless words with many a sigh, While still her gaze on Porphyro would keep; 305 Who knelt, with joined hands and piteous eye, Fearing to move or speak, she look'd so dream ingly. XXXV. "Ah, Porphyro!" said she, "but even now 310 "And those sad eyes were spiritual and clear: "Give me that voice again, my Porphyro, "Oh leave me not in this eternal woe, 315"For if thou diest, my Love, I know not where to go." 320 325 XXXVI. Beyond a mortal man impassion'd far Blended its odour with the violet,— Solution sweet: meantime the frost-wind blows Like Love's alarum pattering the sharp sleet Against the window-panes; St. Agnes' moon hath set. XXXVII. 'Tis dark: quick pattereth the flaw-blown sleet: 330 335 340 345 350 355 "Porphyro will leave me here to fade and pine. "Cruel! what traitor could thee hither bring? "I curse not, for my heart is lost in thine, “Though thou forsakest a deceived thing;"A dove forlorn and lost with sick unpruned wing." XXXVIII. "My Madeline! sweet dreamer! lovely bride! "Ah, silver shrine, here will I take my rest XXXIX. "Hark! 'tis an elfin-storm from faery land, "Of haggard seeming, but a boon indeed: "Arise-arise! the morning is at hand;"The bloated wassailers will never heed:"Let us away, my love, with happy speed; "There are no ears to hear, or eyes to see,— "Drown'd all in Rhenish and the sleepy mead: "Awake! arise! my love, and fearless be, "For o'er the southern moors I have a home for thee." XL. She hurried at his words, beset with fears, In all the house was heard no human sound. The arras rich with horseman, hawk, and Flutter'd in the besieging wind's uproar; 360 And the long carpets rose along the gusty floor. 365 370 375 XLI. They glide, like phantoms, into the wide hall; The wakeful bloodhound rose, and shook his But his sagacious eye an inmate owns: By one, and one, the bolts full easy slide::The chains lie silent on the footworn stones;The key turns, and the door upon its hinges groans. XLII. And they are gone: ay, ages long ago That night the Baron dreamt of many a woe, Of witch, and demon, and large coffin-worm, ODE TO A NIGHTINGALE (1819) I. My heart aches, and a drowsy numbness pains My sense, as though of hemlock I had drunk, Or emptied some dull opiate to the drains One minute past, and Lethe-wards had sunk: 5 'Tis not through envy of thy happy lot, 10 But being too happy in thine happiness,- Of beechen green, and shadows numberless, II. O, for a draught of vintage! that hath been Dance, and Provençal song, and sunburnt 15 O for a beaker full of the warm South, 20 That I might drink, and leave the world unseen, III. Fade far away, dissolve, and quite forget What thou among the leaves hast never known, The weariness, the fever, and the fret Here, where men sit and hear each other groan; |