The Jabberwocky

Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:

And the mome raths outgrabe.

 
"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!"

He took his vorpal sword in hand:
Long time the manxome foe he sought-
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood a while in thought.

And, as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling th...
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Theme with Variations

I never loved a dear Gazelle-
Nor anything that cost me much;
High prices profit those who sell,
But why should I be fond of such?\

To glad me with his soft black eye
My son comes trotting home form school;
He's had a fight but can't tell why-
He always was a little fool!

But, when he came to know me well,
He kicked me out, her testy Sire:
And when I stained my hair, that Belle
Might note the change, and thus admire

And love me, it was sure to dye
A muddy green, or staring b...
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To Margaret

Who hath seduced thee to this foul revolt
From the pure well of Beauty undefiled?
So banish from true wisdom to prefer
Such squalid wit to honorable rhyme?
To write? To scribble? Nonsense and no more?
I will not write upon this argument
To write is human- not to write divine.


"To Octavia"

When wit, and wine, and friends have met
And laughter crowns the festive hour
In vain I struggle to forget
Still does my heart confess thy power
And fondly turn to thee!

But Octavia, do not strive to rob
My he...
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To Helen

Helen, thy beauty is to me
Like those Nicean barks of yore,
That gently, o'er a perfumed sea, 
The weary way-worn travelor bore
To his own native shore.

On desperate seas long wont to roam,
Thy hyacinth hair, thy classic face,
Thy Naiad airs have brought me home
To the glory that was Greece,
And the grandeur that was Rome.

Lo! in yon brilliant window-niche
How statue-like I see thee stand,
The agate lamp within thy hand!
Ah, Psyche, from the regions which
Are Holy-Land!


To F____s S. O____d

T...
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Evening Star

'Twas noontide of summer,
And mid-time of night,
And stars, in their orbits,
Shone pale, thro' the light
Of the brighter, cold moon,
'Mid planets her slaves,
Herself in the Heavens,
Her beam on the waves.
I gaz'd awhile
On her cold smile,
Too cold- too cold for me-
There pass'd, as a shroud,
A fleecy cloud,
And I turn'd away to thee,
Proud Evening Star,
In thy glory afar,
And dearer thy beam shall be;
For joy to my heart
Is the proud part
Thou bearest in Heav'n at night,
And more I admir...
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The Child Compassion

Unwelcome child

Compassion come

Into my heart

As to the womb,

 How heavily

It laboureth

In anguish to

Bring thee to birth,

 O puny babe

With thy frail cry

Too weak to live

Too strong to die.

 Unwilling mother

I confessed

Do suckly thee

Upon my breast

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Spirit, Silken Thread

Spirit, silken thread,

Lightly wind

Through the fingers

Of my soul

She is blind. . . .

 I Take Thee, Life

I take thee, Life,

Because I need,

A wanton love

My flesh to feed.

 But still my soul

Insatiate

Cries out, cries out

For its true mate.

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Love Song

Though to think

Rejoiceth me,

Love I will

Not think of Thee,

 Though thy heart's

my resting place

Yet I will

Not seek embrace,

 Not till soul

Has shed her pain

Will I come

To Thee again.

 And then when

My heart is free

I will give

It back to thee.

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From 'The Flower of Flame'
 

 Before I woke I knew her gone,

Though nothing high had stirred;

Now by the curtain inward blown

She stood, not seen, but heard,

Where faint moonlight dimmed or shone. . .

And neither spoke a word.

 One hand against her mouth she pressed,

But could not stanch its cry;

The other knocked upon her breast

Impotently. . . while I

Glared rigid, labouring, possessed,

And dared not ask her why.

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Aurelia

When within my arms I hold you,

Motionless in long surrender,

Then what love-words can I summon,

Tender as my heart is tender?

 

When within your arms you hold me,

And kisses speak your love unspoken,

Then my eyes with tears run over,

And my very heart is broken.

 

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From 'Sonnets to Aurelia'

When the proud World does most my world despise,

Vaunting what most my human heart must grieve,

Choosing what most I value to disprize,

Deriding that most which I most believe-

When the proud World, I say, does mostoffend

The artless passion of my patient heart,

Til I despair the morrow and make amend,

And before sunset from the sun would part:

Then in my ruin's hour remembrance brings

Faith to my doubt, to my intention grace,

Reminding me how feebly fall such stings

On one ...

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Depreciating her Beauty

I love not thy perfections. When I hear
Thy beauty blazoned, and the common tongue
Cheapening with vulgar praise a lip, an ear,
A cheek that I have prayed to;- When among
The loud world's gods my god is noised and sung,
Her wit applauded, even her taste, her dress,
Her each dear hidden marvel lightly flung
At the world's feet and stripped to nakedness-
Then I despise thy beauty utterly,
Crying, 'Be these your gods, O Israel!'
And I remember that on such a day
I found thee with eye...
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Nightingales

Beautiful must be the mountains whence ye come,
And bright the fruitful valleys and streams, from whence
Ye learn your song:
 Where are those starry woods?  O might I wander there,
Among the flowers, which in that heavenly air
Bloom the year long!

Nay, barren are those mountains and spent those streams:
Our song is the voice of desire, that haunts our dreams,
A throe of the heart,
Whose pining visions dim, forbidden hopes profound,
No dying cadence nor long sigh can sound,
For al...
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Tonight I've Watched

Tonight I've watched
The moon and then
The Pleiades
go down.

The night is now
Half-gone; youth
goes; I am
In bed alone.

-- -

Although they are
Only breath, words
which I command
are immortal.
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Drinking Alone with the Moon

From a pot of wine among the flowers
I drank alone.  There was no one with me
Till raising my cup, I asked the bright moon
To bring me my shadow and make us three.
Alas, the moon was unable to drink
And my shadow tagged me vacantly;
But still for a while I had these friends 
To cheer me through the end of spring.
I sang.  The moon encouraged me.
I danced. My shadow tumbled after.
As long as I knew, we were born companions.
And then I was drunk and we lost one another.
Shall go...
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Diary Entry

 As the autumn season approaches, the tree-tops near the pond, the bushes near the stream, are dyed in varying tints whose colors grow deeper in the mellow light of evening.  The murmuring sound of waters mingles all the night through with the never-ceasing recitation of sutras which appeal more to one's heart as the breezes grow cooler.
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The cuckoo sings on the same branch
With voice unchanged,
That you shall know.
-- -
The night passes,
We dream no faintest dreams-
There is no night for that
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Although the wind
Blows terribly here,
The moonlight also leaks
Between the roof planks
Of this ruined house.
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