Have you heard a hidden bird 10
Cast her note above?
So my lady, so my lovely love,
Echoing Cupid’s prompted word,
Makes a tune thereof.
Have you seen, at heaven’s mid-height, 15
In the moon-rack’s ebb and tide,
Venus leap forth burning white,
Dian pale and hide?
So my bright breast-jewel, so my bride,
One sweet night, when fear takes flight, 20
Shall leap against my side.
VENUS VERTICORDIA
(FOR A PICTURE)
She hath the apple in her hand for thee,
Yet almost in her heart would hold it back;
She muses, with her eyes upon the track
Of that which in thy spirit they can see.
Haply, ‘Behold, he is at peace,’ saith she; 5
‘Alas! the apple for his lips, - the dart
That follows its brief sweetness to his heart, -
The wandering of his feet perpetually!’
A little space her glance is still and coy;
But if she give the fruit that works her spell, 10
Those eyes shall flame as for her Phrygian boy.
Then shall her bird’s strained throat the woe foretell,
And her far seas moan as a single shell,
And her grove glow with love-lit fires of Troy.
THE PASSOVER IN THE HOLY FAMILY
(FOR A DRAWING)
Here meet together the prefiguring day
And day prefigured. ‘Eating, thou shalt stand,
Feet shod, loins girt, thy road-staff in thine hand,
With blood-stained door and lintel,’ - did God say
By Moses’ mouth in ages passed away. 5
And now, where this poor household doth comprise
At Pashcal-Feast two kindred families, -
Lo! the slain lamb confronts the Lamb to slay.
The pyre is piled. What agony’s crown attained,
What shadow of death the Boy’s fair brow subdues 10
Who holds that blood wherewith the porch is stained
By Zachary the priest? John binds the shoes
He deemed himself not worthy to unloose;
And Mary culls the bitter herbs ordained.
MARY MAGDALENE AT THE DOOR OF SIMON THE PHARISEE
(FOR A DRAWING)
‘Why wilt thou cast the roses from thine hair?
Nay, be thou all a rose, - wreath, lips, and cheek.
Nay, not this house, - that banquet-house we seek;
See how they kiss and enter; come thou there.
This delicate day of love we two will share 5
Till at our ear love’s whispering night shall speak.
What, sweet one, - hold’st thou still the foolish freak?
Nay, when I kiss thy feet they’ll leave the stair.’
Oh loose me! See’st thou not my Bridegroom’s face
That draws me to Him? For His feet my kiss, 10
My hair, my tears He craves to-day: - and oh!
What words can tell what other day and place
Shall see me clasp those blood-stained feet of His?
He needs me, calls me, loves me: let me go!’
CASSANDRA
(FOR A DRAWING)
I
Rend, rend thine hair, Cassandra: he will go
Yea, rend thy garments, wring thine hands, and cry
From Troy still towered to the unreddened sky.
See, all but she that bore thee mock thy woe: -
He most whom that fair woman arms, with show 5
Of wrath on her bent brows; for in this place
This hour thou bad’st all men in Helen’s face
The ravished ravishing prize of Death to know.
What eyes, what ears hath sweet Andromache,
Save for her Hector’s form and step; as tear 10
On tear make salt the warm last kiss he gave?
He goes. Cassandra’s words beat heavily
Like crows above his crest, and at his ear
Ring hollow in the shield that shall not save.
II
‘O Hector, gone, gone, gone! O Hector, thee 15
Two chariots wait, in Troy long bless’d and curs’d;
And Grecian spear and Phrygian sand athirst
Crave from thy veins the blood of victory.
Lo! long upon our hearth the brand had we,
Lit for the roof-tree’s ruin: and to-day 20
The ground-stone quits the wall, - the wind hath way, -
And higher and higher the wings of fire are free.
O Paris, Paris! O thou burning brand,
Thou beacon of the sea whence Venus rose,
Lighting thy race to shipwreck! Even that hand 25
Wherewith she took thine apple let her close
Within thy curls at last, and while Troy glows
Lift thee her trophy to the sea and land.’
PANDORA
(FOR A PICTURE)
What of the end, Pandora? Was it thine,
The deed that set these fiery pinions free?
Ah! wherefore did the Olympian consistory
In its own likeness make thee half divine?
Was it that Juno’s brow might stand a sign 5
For ever? and the mien of Pallas be
A deadly thing? and that all men might see
In Venus’ eyes the gaze of Proserpine?
What of the end? These beat their wings at will,
The ill-born things, the good things turned to ill, - 10
Powers of the impassioned hours prohibited.
Aye, hug the casket now! Whither they go
Thou mayst not dare to think: nor canst thou know
If Hope still pent there be alive or dead.
FOR ‘THE WINE OF CIRCE’ BY EDWARD BURNE JONES
Dusk-haired and gold-robed o’er the golden wine
She stoops, wherein, distilled of death and shame,
Sink the black drops; while, lit with fragrant flame,
Round her spread board the golden sunflowers shine.
Doth Helios here with Hecatè combine 5
(O Circe, thou their votaress!) to proclaim
For these thy guests all rapture in Love’s name,
Till pitiless Night gave Day the countersign?
Lords of their hour, they come. And by her knee
Those cowering beasts, their equals heretofore, 10
Wait; who with them in new equality
To-night shall echo back the unchanging roar
Which sounds for ever from the tide-strown shore
Where the dishevelled seaweed hates the sea.
‘THE WINE OF CIRCE’ BY EDWARD BURNE JONES
THREE TRANSLATIONS FROM FRANÇOIS VILLON, 1450
THE BALLAD OF DEAD LADIES
Tell me now in what hidden way is
Lady Flora the lovely Roman?
Where’s Hipparchia, and where is Thais,
Neither of them the fairer woman?
Where is Echo, beheld of no man, 5
Only heard on river and mere, -
She whose beauty was more than human?...
But where are the snows of yester-year?
Where’s Héloise, the learned nun,
For whose sake Abeillard, I ween, 10
Lost manhood and put priesthood on?
(From Love he won such dule and teen!)
And where, I pray you, is the Queen
Who willed that Buridan should steer
Sewed in a sack’s mouth down the Seine?... 15
But where are the snows of yester-year?
White Queen Blanche, like a queen of lilies,
With a voice like any mermaiden -
Bertha Broadfoot, Beatrice, Alice,
And Ermengarde the lady of Maine, - 20
And that good Joan whom Englishmen
At Rouen doomed and burned her there,-
Mother of God, where are they then?...
But where are the snows of yester-year?
Nay, never ask this week, fair lord, 25
Where they are gone, nor yet this year,
Except with this for an overword, -
But where are the snows of yester-year?
TO DEATH, OF HIS LADY
Death, of thee do I make my moan,
Who hadst my lady away from me,
Nor wilt assuage thine enmity
Till with her life thou hast mine own;
For since that hour my strength has flown. 5
Lo! what wrong was her life to thee,
Death?
Two we were, and the heart was one;
Which now being dead, dead I must be,
Or seem alive as lifelessly 10
As in the choir the painted stone,
Death!
HIS MOTHER’S SERVICE TO OUR LADY
Lady of Heaven and earth, and therewithal
Crowned Empress of the nether clefts of Hell, -
I, thy poor Christian, on thy name do call,
Commending me to thee, with thee to dwell,
Albeit in nought I be commendable. 5
But all mine undeserving may not mar
Such mercies as thy sovereign mercies are;
Without the which (as true words testify)
No soul can reach thy Heaven so fair and far.
Even in this faith I choose to live and die. 10
Unto thy Son say thou that I am His,
And to me graceless make Him gracious.
Sad Mary of Egypt lacked not of that bliss,
Nor yet the sorrowful clerk Theophilus,
Whose bitter sins were set aside even thus 15
Though to the Fiend his bounden service was.
Oh help me, lest in vain for me should pass
(Sweet Virgin that shalt have no loss thereby!)
The blessed Host and sacring of the Mass.
Even in this faith I choose to live and die. 20
A pitiful poor woman, shrunk and old,
I am, and nothing learn’d in letter-lore.
Within my parish-cloister I behold
A painted Heaven where harps and lutes adore,
And eke an Hell whose damned folk seethe full sore: 25
One bringeth fear, the other joy to me.
That joy, great Goddess, make thou mine to be, -
Thou of whom all must ask it even as I;
And that which faith desires, that let it see.
For in this faith I choose to live and die. 30
O excellent Virgin Princess! thou didst bear
King Jesus, the most excellent comforter,
Who even of this our weakness craved a share
And for our sake stooped to us from on high,
Offering to death His young life sweet and fair.
Such as He is, Our Lord, I Him declare,
And in this faith I choose to live and die.
ONE GIRL
I
Like the sweet apple which reddens upon the topmost bough,
A-top on the topmost twig, - which the pluckers forgot, somehow, -
Forgot it not, nay, but got it not, for none could get it till now.
II
Like the wild hyacinth flower which on the hills is found,
Which the passing feet of the shepherds for ever tear and wound, 5
Until the purple blossom is trodden into the ground.
LOVE-LILY
Between the hands, between the brows,
Between the lips of Love-Lily,
A spirit is born whose birth endows
My blood with fire to burn through me;
Who breathes upon my gazing eyes, 5
Who laughs and murmurs in mine ear,
At whose least touch my colour flies,
And whom my life grows faint to hear.
Within the voice, within the heart,
Within the mind of Love-Lily, 10
A spirit is born who lifts apart
His tremulous wings and looks at me;
Who on my mouth his finger lays,
And shows, while whispering lutes confer,
That Eden of Love’s watered ways 15
Whose winds and spirits worship her.
Brows, hands, and lips, heart, mind, and voice,
Kisses and words of Love-Lily, -
Oh! bid me with your joy rejoice
Till riotous longing rest in me! 20
Ah! let not hope be still distraught,
But find in her its gracious goal,
Whose speech Truth knows not from her thought
Nor Love her body from her soul.
FIRST LOVE REMEMBERED
Peace in her chamber, wheresoe’er
It be, a holy place:
The thought still brings my soul such grace
As morning meadows wear.
Whether it still be small and light, 5
A maid’s who dreams alone,
As from her orchard-gate the moon
Its ceiling showed at night:
Or whether, in a shadow dense
As nuptial hymns invoke, 10
Innocent maidenhood awoke
To married innocence:
There still the thanks unheard await
The unconscious gift bequeathed;
For there my soul this hour has breathed 15
An air inviolate.
TROY TOWN
Heavenborn Helen, Sparta’s queen,
(O Troy Town!)
Had two breasts of heavenly sheen,
The sun and moon of the heart’s desire:
All Love’s lordship lay between.
(O Troy’s down,
Tall Troy’s on fire!)
Helen knelt at Venus’ shrine,
(O Troy Town!)
Saying, ‘A little gift is mine, 10
A little gift for a heart’s desire.
Hear me speak and make me a sign!
(O Troy’s down,
Tall Troy’s on fire!)
‘Look, I bring thee a carven cup; 15
(O Troy Town!)
See it here as I hold it up, -
Shaped it is to the heart’s desire,
Fit to fill when the gods would sup.
(O Troy’s down, 20
Tall Troy’s on fire!)
‘It was moulded like my breast
(O Troy Town!)
He that sees it may not rest,
Rest at all for his heart’s desire. 25
O give ear to my heart’s behest!
(O Troy’s down,
Tall Troy’s on fire!)
‘See my breast, how like it is;
(O Troy Town!) 30
See it bare for the air to kiss!
Is the cup to thy heart’s desire?
O for the breast, O make it his!
(O Troy’s down,
Tall Troy’s on fire!) 35
‘Yea, for my bosom here I sue;
(O Troy Town!)
Thou must give it where ’tis due,
Give it there to the heart’s desire.
Whom do I give my bosom to? 40
(O Troy’s down,
Tall Troy’s on fire!)
‘Each twin breast is an apple sweet
(O Troy Town!)
Once an apple stirred the beat 45
Of thy heart with the heart’s desire: -
Say, who brought it then to thy feet?
(O Troy’s down,
Tall Troy’s on fire!)
‘They that claimed it then were three: 50
(O Troy Town!)
For thy sake two hearts did he
Make forlorn of the heart’s desire.
Do for him as he did for thee!
(O Troy’s down, 55
Tall Troy’s on fire!)
‘Mine are apples grown to the south,
(O Troy Town!)
Grown to taste in the days of drouth,
Taste and waste to t
he heart’s desire: 60
Mine are apples meet for his mouth.’
(O Troy’s down,
Tall Troy’s on fire!)
Venus looked on Helen’s gift,
(O Troy Town!) 65
Looked and smiled with subtle drift,
Saw the work of her heart’s desire: -
‘There thou kneel’st for Love to lift!’
(O Troy’s down,
Tall Troy’s on fire!) 70
Venus looked in Helen’s face,
(O Troy Town!)
Knew far off an hour and place,
And fire lit from the heart’s desire;
Laughed and said, ‘Thy gift hath grace!’ 75
(O Troy’s down,
Tall Troy’s on fire!)
Cupid looked on Helen’s breast,
(O Troy Town!)
Saw the heart within its nest, 80
Saw the flame of the heart’s desire, -
Marked his arrow’s burning crest.
(O Troy’s down,
Tall Troy’s on fire!)
Cupid took another dart, 85
(O Troy Town!)
Fledged it for another heart,
Winged the shaft with the heart’s desire,
Drew the string and said, ‘Depart!’
(O Troy’s down, 90
Tall Troy’s on fire!)
Paris turned upon his bed,
(O Troy Town!)
Turned upon his bed and said,
Dead at heart with the heart’s desire, - 95
‘O to clasp her golden head!’
(O Troy’s down,
Tall Troy’s on fire!)
EDEN BOWER
It was Lilith the wife of Adam:
(Eden bower’s in flower.)
Not a drop of her blood was human,
But she was made like a soft sweet woman.
Lilith stood on the skirts of Eden; 5
(And O the bower and the hour!)
She was the first that thence was driven;
With her was hell and with Eve was heaven.
In the ear of the Snake said Lilith: -
(Eden bower’s in flower.) 10
‘To thee I come when the rest is over;
A snake was I when thou wast my lover.
‘I was the fairest snake in Eden:
(And O the bower and the hour!)
By the earth’s will, new form and feature
Made me a wife for the earth’s new creature.
‘Take me thou as I come from Adam:
(Eden bower’s in flower.)
Complete Poetical Works of Dante Gabriel Rossetti Page 13
