A WALL. I. O THE old wall here! How I could pass II. And lush and lithe do the creepers clothe In lappets of tangle they laugh between. III. Now, what is it makes pulsate the robe? Why tremble the sprays? What life o'erbrims The body-the house no eye can probe— Divined as, beneath a robe, the limbs? IV. And there again! But my heart may guess V. Wall upon wall are between us; life And song should away from heart to heart! I-prison-bird, with a ruddy strife 5 ΤΟ 15 At breast, and a lip whence storm-notes start— 20 VI. Hold on, hope hard in the subtle thing Of the rueful neighbours, and-forth to thee! PRELUDE TO 'DRAMATIC IDYLS.' (SECOND SERIES.) 'You are sick, that's sure'-they say: So ignorant of man's whole Ah me! Of bodily organs plain to see— Time- between 1833 and 15 PIPPA PASSES. A DRAMA. NEW-YEAR'S DAY AT ASOLO IN THE TREVISAN.-A large, mean, airy chamber. A girl, PIPPA, from the silk-mills, springing out of bed. DAY! Faster and more fast, O'er night's brim, day boils at last; Boils, pure gold, o'er the cloud-cup's brim Of the eastern cloud, an hour away; But forth one wavelet, then another, curled, Rose, reddened, and its seething breast Flickered in bounds, grew gold, then overflowed the world. Oh, Day, if I squander a wavelet of thee, A mite of my twelve hours' treasure, The least of thy gazes or glances (Be they grants thou art bound to, or gifts above measure), One of thy choices, or one of thy chances 5 10 15 (Be they tasks God imposed thee, or freaks at thy pleasure)My Day, if I squander such labour or leisure, Then shame fall on Asolo, mischief on me! Thy long blue solemn hours serenely flowing, Whence earth, we feel, gets steady help and good 20 Thy fitful sunshine-minutes, coming, going, In which earth turns from work in gamesome mood— All shall be mine! But thou must treat me not As the prosperous are treated, those who live Me, who am only Pippa-old-year's sorrow, With mist, will Luigi and his mother grieve The lady and her child, unmatched, forsooth, 35 40 45 50 55 |