Collected Poems in Two Volumes, Vol. II — Reading Notes

Who were you once? Could we but guess, We might perchance more boldly Define the patient weariness That sets your lips so coldly; You "lived," we know, for blame and fame; But sure, to friend or foeman, You bore some more distinctive name Than mere "B. C.,"--and "Roman"?

Your pedestal should help us much. Thereon your acts, your title, (Secure from cold Oblivion's touch!) Had doubtless due recital; Vain hope!--not even deeds can last! That stone, of which you're _minus_, Maybe with all your virtues past Endows ... a TIGELLINUS!

We seek it not; we should not find. But still, it needs no magic To tell you wore, like most mankind, Your comic mask and tragic; And held that things were false and true, Felt angry or forgiving, As step by step you stumbled through This life-long task ... of living!

You tried the _cul-de-sac_ of Thought; The _montagne Russe_ of Pleasure; You found the best Ambition brought Was strangely short of measure; You watched, at last, the fleet days fly, Till--drowsier and colder-- You felt MERCURIUS loitering by To touch you on the shoulder.

'Twas then (why not?) the whim would come That howso Time should garble Those deeds of yours when you were dumb, At least you'd live--in Marble; You smiled to think that after days, At least, in Bust or Statue, (We all have sick-bed dreams!) would gaze, Not quite incurious, at you.

_We_ gaze; _we_ pity you, be sure! In truth, Death's worst inaction Must be less tedious to endure Than nameless petrifaction; Far better, in some nook unknown, To sleep for once--and soundly, Than still survive in wistful stone, Forgotten more profoundly!

_"Now the Graces are four and the Venuses two,_ _And ten is the number of Muses;_ _For a Muse and a Grace and a Venus are you,--_ _My dear little Molly Trefusis!"_

So he wrote, the old bard of an "old magazine:" As a study it not without use is, If we wonder a moment who she may have been, This same "little Molly Trefusis!"

She was Cornish. We know that at once by the "Tre;" Then of guessing it scarce an abuse is If we say that where Bude bellows back to the sea Was the birthplace of Molly Trefusis.

And she lived in the era of patches and bows, Not knowing what rouge or ceruse is; For they needed (I trust) but her natural rose, The lilies of Molly Trefusis.

And I somehow connect her (I frankly admit That the evidence hard to produce is) With BATH in its hey-day of Fashion and Wit,-- This dangerous Molly Trefusis.

I fancy her, radiant in ribbon and knot, (How charming that old-fashioned puce is!) All blooming in laces, fal-lals and what not, At the PUMP ROOM,--Miss Molly Trefusis.

I fancy her reigning,--a Beauty,--a Toast, Where BLADUD'S medicinal cruse is; And we know that at least of one Bard it could boast,-- The Court of Queen Molly Trefusis.

He says she was "VENUS." I doubt it. Beside, (Your rhymer so hopelessly loose is!) His "little" could scarce be to Venus applied, If fitly to Molly Trefusis.

No, no. It was HEBE he had in his mind; And fresh as the handmaid of Zeus is, And rosy, and rounded, and dimpled,--you'll find,-- Was certainly Molly Trefusis!

Then he calls her "a MUSE." To the charge I reply That we all of us know what a Muse is; It is something too awful,--too acid,--too dry,-- For sunny-eyed Molly Trefusis.

But "a GRACE." There I grant he was probably right; (The rest but a verse-making ruse is) It was all that was graceful,--intangible,--light, The beauty of Molly Trefusis!

Was she wooed? Who can hesitate much about that Assuredly more than obtuse is; For how could the poet have written so pat "_My_ dear little Molly Trefusis!"

And was wed? That I think we must plainly infer, Since of suitors the common excuse is To take to them Wives. So it happened to her, Of course,--"little Molly Trefusis!"

To the Bard? 'Tis unlikely. Apollo, you see, In practical matters a goose is;-- 'Twas a knight of the shire, and a hunting J.P., Who carried off Molly Trefusis!

And you'll find, I conclude, in the "_Gentleman's Mag._," At the end, where the pick of the news is, "_On the_ (blank), _at 'the Bath,' to Sir Hilary Bragg_, _With a Fortune_, MISS MOLLY TREFUSIS."

Thereupon ... But no farther the student may pry: Love's temple is dark as Eleusis; So here, at the threshold, we part, you and I, From "dear little Molly Trefusis."

Wistaria blossoms trail and fall Above the length of barrier wall; And softly, now and then, The shy, staid-breasted doves will flit From roof to gateway-top, and sit And watch the ways of men.

The gate's ajar. If one might peep! Ah, what a haunt of rest and sleep The shadowy garden seems! And note how dimly to and fro The grave, gray-hooded Sisters go, Like figures seen in dreams.

Look, there is one that tells her beads; And yonder one apart that reads A tiny missal's page; And see, beside the well, the two That, kneeling, strive to lure anew The magpie to its cage!

Not beautiful--not all! But each With that mild grace, outlying speech, Which comes of even mood;-- The Veil unseen that women wear With heart-whole thought, and quiet care, And hope of higher good.

"A placid life--a peaceful life! What need to these the name of Wife? What gentler task (I said)-- What worthier--e'en your arts among-- Than tend the sick, and teach the young, And give the hungry bread?"

"No worthier task!" re-echoes She, Who (closelier clinging) turns with me To face the road again: --And yet, in that warm heart of hers, She means the doves', for she prefers To "watch the ways of men."

A NEW SONG TO AN OLD TUNE.

Across the grass I see her pass; She comes with tripping pace,-- A maid I know,--and March winds blow Her hair across her face;-- With a hey, Dolly! ho, Dolly! Dolly shall be mine, Before the spray is white with May, Or blooms the eglantine.

The March winds blow. I watch her go: Her eye is brown and clear; Her cheek is brown, and soft as down, (To those who see it near!)-- With a hey, Dolly! ho, Dolly! Dolly shall be mine, Before the spray is white with May, Or blooms the eglantine.

What has she not that those have got,-- The dames that walk in silk! If she undo her 'kerchief blue, Her neck is white as milk. With a hey, Dolly! ho, Dolly! Dolly shall be mine, Before the spray is white with May, Or blooms the eglantine.

Let those who will be proud and chill! For me, from June to June, My Dolly's words are sweet as curds-- Her laugh is like a tune;-- With a hey, Dolly! ho, Dolly! Dolly shall be mine, Before the spray is white with May, Or blooms the eglantine.

Break, break to hear, O crocus-spear! O tall Lent-lilies flame! There'll be a bride at Easter-tide, And Dolly is her name. With a hey, Dolly! ho, Dolly! Dolly shall be mine, Before the spray is white with May, Or blooms the eglantine.

Green growths of mosses drop and bead Around the granite brink; And 'twixt the isles of water-weed The wood-birds dip and drink.

Slow efts about the edges sleep; Swift-darting water-flies Shoot on the surface; down the deep Fast-following bubbles rise.

Look down. What groves that scarcely sway! What "wood obscure," profound! What jungle!--where some beast of prey Might choose his vantage-ground!

Who knows what lurks beneath the tide?-- Who knows what tale? Belike, Those "antres vast" and shadows hide Some patriarchal Pike;--

Some tough old tyrant, wrinkle-jawed, To whom the sky, the earth, Have but for aim to look on awed And see him wax in girth;--

Hard ruler there by right of might; An ageless Autocrat, Whose "good old rule" is "Appetite, And subjects fresh and fat;"--

While they--poor souls!--in wan despair Still watch for signs in him; And dying, hand from heir to heir The day undawned and dim,

When the pond's terror too must go; Or creeping in by stealth, Some bolder brood, with common blow, Shall found a Commonwealth.

Or say,--perchance the liker this!-- That these themselves are gone; That Amurath _in minimis_,-- Still hungry,--lingers on,

With dwindling trunk and wolfish jaw Revolving sullen things, But most the blind unequal law That rules the food of Kings;--

The blot that makes the cosmic All A mere time-honoured cheat;-- That bids the Great to eat the Small, Yet lack the Small to eat!

Who knows! Meanwhile the mosses bead Around the granite brink; And 'twixt the isles of water-weed The wood-birds dip and drink.

Melik the Sultan, tired and wan, Nodded at noon on his divan.

Beside the fountain lingered near JAMIL the bard, and the vizier--

Old YUSUF, sour and hard to please; Then JAMIL sang, in words like these.

_Slim is Butheina--slim is she As boughs of the Araka tree!_

"Nay," quoth the other, teeth between, "Lean, if you will,--I call her lean."

_Sweet is Butheina--sweet as wine, With smiles that like red bubbles shine!_

"True,--by the Prophet!" YUSUF said, "She makes men wander in the head!"

_Dear is Butheina--ah! more dear Than all the maidens of Kashmeer!_

"Dear," came the answer, quick as thought, "Dear ... and yet always to be bought."

So JAMIL ceased. But still Life's page Shows diverse unto YOUTH and AGE:

And,--be the song of Ghouls or Gods,-- TIME, like the Sultan, sits ... and nods.

TO A MISSAL OF THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY.

Missal of the Gothic age, Missal with the blazoned page, Whence, O Missal, hither come, From what dim scriptorium?

Whose the name that wrought thee thus, Ambrose or Theophilus, Bending, through the waning light, O'er thy vellum scraped and white;

Weaving 'twixt thy rubric lines Sprays and leaves and quaint designs; Setting round thy border scrolled Buds of purple and of gold?

Ah!--a wondering brotherhood, Doubtless, by that artist stood, Raising o'er his careful ways Little choruses of praise;

Glad when his deft hand would paint Strife of Sathanas and Saint, Or in secret coign entwist Jest of cloister humourist.

Well the worker earned his wage, Bending o'er the blazoned page! Tired the hand and tired the wit Ere the final _Explicit_!

Not as ours the books of old-- Things that steam can stamp and fold; Not as ours the books of yore-- Rows of type, and nothing more.

Then a book was still a Book, Where a wistful man might look, Finding something through the whole, Beating--like a human soul.

In that growth of day by day, When to labour was to pray, Surely something vital passed To the patient page at last; Something that one still perceives Vaguely present in the leaves; Something from the worker lent; Something mute--but eloquent!

A REVOLUTIONARY RELIC.

Old it is, and worn and battered, As I lift it from the stall; And the leaves are frayed and tattered, And the pendent sides are shattered, Pierced and blackened by a ball.

'Tis the tale of grief and gladness Told by sad St. Pierre of yore, That in front of France's madness Hangs a strange seductive sadness, Grown pathetic evermore.

And a perfume round it hovers, Which the pages half reveal, For a folded corner covers, Interlaced, two names of lovers,-- A "Savignac" and "Lucile."

As I read I marvel whether, In some pleasant old chateau, Once they read this book together, In the scented summer weather, With the shining Loire below?

Nooked--secluded from espial, Did Love slip and snare them so, While the hours danced round the dial To the sound of flute and viol, In that pleasant old chateau?

Did it happen that no single Word of mouth could either speak? Did the brown and gold hair mingle, Did the shamed skin thrill and tingle To the shock of cheek and cheek?

Did they feel with that first flushing Some new sudden power to feel, Some new inner spring set gushing At the names together rushing Of "Savignac" and "Lucile"?

Did he drop on knee before her-- "_Son Amour, son Coeur, sa Reine_"-- In his high-flown way adore her, Urgent, eloquent implore her, Plead his pleasure and his pain?

Did she turn with sight swift-dimming, And the quivering lip we know, With the full, slow eyelid brimming, With the languorous pupil swimming, Like the love of Mirabeau?

Stretch her hand from cloudy frilling, For his eager lips to press; In a flash all fate fulfilling Did he catch her, trembling, thrilling-- Crushing life to one caress?

Did they sit in that dim sweetness Of attained love's after-calm, Marking not the world--its meetness, Marking Time not, nor his fleetness, Only happy, palm to palm?

Till at last she,--sunlight smiting Red on wrist and cheek and hair,-- Sought the page where love first lighting, Fixed their fate, and, in this writing, Fixed the record of it there.

Did they marry midst the smother, Shame and slaughter of it all? Did she wander like that other Woful, wistful, wife and mother, Round and round his prison wall;--

Wander wailing, as the plover Waileth, wheeleth, desolate, Heedless of the hawk above her, While as yet the rushes cover, Waning fast, her wounded mate,--

Wander, till his love's eyes met hers, Fixed and wide in their despair? Did he burst his prison fetters, Did he write sweet, yearning letters, "_A Lucile,--en Angleterre_"?

Letters where the reader, reading, Halts him with a sudden stop, For he feels a man's heart bleeding, Draining out its pain's exceeding-- Half a life, at every drop:

Letters where Love's iteration Seems to warble and to rave; Letters where the pent sensation Leaps to lyric exultation, Like a song-bird from a grave.

Where, through Passion's wild repeating, Peep the Pagan and the Gaul, Politics and love competing, Abelard and Cato greeting, Rousseau ramping over all.

Yet your critic's right--you waive it, Whirled along the fever-flood; And its touch of truth shall save it, And its tender rain shall lave it, For at least you read _Amavit_, Written there in tears of blood.

Did they hunt him to his hiding, Tracking traces in the snow? Did they tempt him out, confiding, Shoot him ruthless down, deriding, By the ruined old chateau?

Left to lie, with thin lips resting Frozen to a smile of scorn, Just the bitter thought's suggesting, At this excellent new jesting Of the rabble Devil-born.

Till some "tiger-monkey," finding These few words the covers bear, Some swift rush of pity blinding, Sent them in the shot-pierced binding "_A Lucile, en Angleterre_."

Fancies only! Nought the covers, Nothing more the leaves reveal, Yet I love it for its lovers, For the dream that round it hovers Of "Savignac" and "Lucile."

Before me, careless lying, Young Love his ware comes crying; Full soon the elf untreasures His pack of pains and pleasures,-- With roguish eye, He bids me buy From out his pack of treasures.

His wallet's stuffed with blisses, With true-love-knots and kisses, With rings and rosy fetters, And sugared vows and letters;-- He holds them out With boyish flout, And bids me try the fetters.

Nay, Child (I cry), I know them; There's little need to show them! Too well for new believing I know their past deceiving,-- I am too old (I say), and cold, To-day, for new believing!

But still the wanton presses, With honey-sweet caresses, And still, to my undoing, He wins me, with his wooing, To buy his ware With all its care, Its sorrow and undoing.

When first I came to Court, _Fa la_! When first I came to Court, I deemed Dan Cupid but a boy, And Love an idle sport, A sport whereat a man might toy With little hurt and mickle joy-- When first I came to Court!

Too soon I found my fault, _Fa la_! Too soon I found my fault; The fairest of the fair brigade Advanced to mine assault. Alas! against an adverse maid Nor fosse can serve nor palisade-- Too soon I found my fault!

When SILVIA'S eyes assail, _Fa la_! When SILVIA'S eyes assail, No feint the arts of war can show, No counterstroke avail; Naught skills but arms away to throw, And kneel before that lovely foe, When SILVIA'S eyes assail!

Yet is all truce in vain, _Fa la_! Yet is all truce in vain, Since she that spares doth still pursue To vanquish once again; And naught remains for man to do But fight once more, to yield anew, And so all truce is vain!

Here, in this sequestered close Bloom the hyacinth and rose; Here beside the modest stock Flaunts the flaring hollyhock; Here, without a pang, one sees Ranks, conditions, and degrees.

All the seasons run their race In this quiet resting place; Peach, and apricot, and fig Here will ripen, and grow big; Here is store and overplus,-- More had not Alcinoues!

Here, in alleys cool and green, Far ahead the thrush is seen; Here along the southern wall Keeps the bee his festival; All is quiet else--afar Sounds of toil and turmoil are.

Here be shadows large and long; Here be spaces meet for song; Grant, O garden-god, that I, Now that none profane is nigh,-- Now that mood and moment please, Find the fair Pierides!

A CHAPTER OF FROISSART.

(GRANDPAPA LOQUITUR.)

You don't know Froissart now, young folks. This age, I think, prefers recitals Of high-spiced crime, with "slang" for jokes, And startling titles;

But, in my time, when still some few Loved "old Montaigne," and praised Pope's _Homer_ (Nay, thought to style him "poet" too, Were scarce misnomer),

Sir John was less ignored. Indeed, I can re-call how Some-one present (Who spoils her grandson, Frank!) would read And find him pleasant;

For,--by this copy,--hangs a Tale. Long since, in an old house in Surrey, Where men knew more of "morning ale" Than "Lindley Murray,"

In a dim-lighted, whip-hung hall, 'Neath Hogarth's "Midnight Conversation," It stood; and oft 'twixt spring and fall, With fond elation,

I turned the brown old leaves. For there All through one hopeful happy summer, At such a page (I well knew where), Some secret comer,

Whom I can picture, 'Trix, like you (Though scarcely such a colt unbroken), Would sometimes place for private view A certain token;--

A rose-leaf meaning "Garden Wall," An ivy-leaf for "Orchard corner," A thorn to say "Don't come at all,"-- Unwelcome warner!--

Not that, in truth, our friends gainsaid; But then Romance required dissembling, (Ann Radcliffe taught us that!) which bred Some genuine trembling;

Though, as a rule, all used to end In such kind confidential parley As may to you kind Fortune send, You long-legged Charlie,

When your time comes. How years slip on! We had our crosses like our betters; Fate sometimes looked askance upon Those floral letters;

And once, for three long days disdained, The dust upon the folio settled; For some-one, in the right, was pained, And some-one nettled,

That sure was in the wrong, but spake Of fixed intent and purpose stony To serve King George, enlist and make Minced-meat of "Boney,"

Who yet survived--ten years at least. And so, when she I mean came hither, One day that need for letters ceased, She brought this with her!

Here is the leaf-stained Chapter:--_How The English King laid Siege to Calais_; I think Gran. knows it even now,-- Go ask her, Alice.

TO THE MAMMOTH-TORTOISE

OF THE MASCARENE ISLANDS.

"_Tuque, Testudo, resonare septem_ _Callida nervis._" Hor. iii. 11.

Monster Chelonian, you suggest To some, no doubt, the calm,-- The torpid ease of islets drest In fan-like fern and palm;

To some your cumbrous ways, perchance, Darwinian dreams recall; And some your Rip-van-Winkle glance, And ancient youth appal;

So widely varied views dispose: But not so mine,--for me Your vasty vault but simply shows A LYRE immense, _per se_,

A LYRE to which the Muse might chant A truly "Orphic tale," Could she but find that public want, A Bard--of equal scale!

Oh, for a Bard of awful words, And lungs serenely strong, To sweep from your sonorous chords Niagaras of song,

Till, dinned by that tremendous strain, The grovelling world aghast, Should leave its paltry greed of gain, And mend its ways ... at last!

A ROMAN "ROUND-ROBIN."

("HIS FRIENDS" TO QUINTUS HORATIUS FLACCUS.)

"_Haec decies repetita_ [non] _placebit_."--Ars Poetica.