Select Poems of Sidney Lanier [23]
and `June Dreams in January'.
It will be interesting to compare `My Springs' with other poems on the eyes. Among the most noteworthy* may be cited Shakespeare's "And those eyes, the break of day, Lights that do mislead the morn;" Lodge's "Her eyes are sapphires set in snow, Resembling heaven by every wink; The Gods do fear whenas they glow, And I do tremble when I think, Heigh ho, would she were mine!" Jonson's "Drink to me only with thine eyes And I will pledge with mine," etc.; Herrick's "Sweet, be not proud of those two eyes Which starlike sparkle in their skies;" Thomas Stanley's "Oh turn away those cruel eyes, The stars of my undoing; Or death in such a bright disguise May tempt a second wooing;" Byron's "She walks in beauty, like the night, Of cloudless climes and starry skies; And all that's best of dark and bright Meet in her aspect and her eyes; Thus mellowed to that tender light Which heaven to gaudy day denies;" H. Coleridge's "She is not fair to outward view, As many maidens be; Her loveliness I never knew Until she smiled on me. O then I saw her eye was bright, A well of love, a spring of light. "But now her looks are coy and cold, To mine they ne'er reply, And yet I cease not to behold The love-light in her eye: Her very frowns are fairer far Than smiles of other maidens are;" and Wordsworth's "Her eyes are stars of twilight fair."
-- * These may be found either in Gosse's `English Lyrics' (D. Appleton & Co., New York) or in Palgrave's `Golden Treasury of Songs and Lyrics' (Macmillan & Co., New York). --
49-50. See `Introduction', p. xlv [Part IV].
52. There is in early English literature a most interesting play entitled `Mary Magdalene': see Pollard's `English Miracle Plays' (New York), where extracts are given.
55-56. See `Introduction', p. xlvi [Part IV].
The Symphony
"O Trade! O Trade! would thou wert dead! [1] The Time needs heart -- 'tis tired of head: We're all for love," the violins said. "Of what avail the rigorous tale Of bill for coin and box for bale? Grant thee, O Trade! thine uttermost hope: Level red gold with blue sky-slope, And base it deep as devils grope: When all's done, what hast thou won Of the only sweet that's under the sun? Ay, canst thou buy a single sigh [11] Of true love's least, least ecstasy?" Then, with a bridegroom's heart-beats trembling, All the mightier strings assembling Ranged them on the violins' side As when the bridegroom leads the bride, And, heart in voice, together cried: "Yea, what avail the endless tale Of gain by cunning and plus by sale? Look up the land, look down the land, The poor, the poor, the poor, they stand [21] Wedged by the pressing of Trade's hand Against an inward-opening door That pressure tightens evermore: They sigh a monstrous foul-air sigh For the outside leagues of liberty, Where Art, sweet lark, translates the sky Into a heavenly melody. `Each day, all day' (these poor folks say), `In the same old year-long, drear-long way, We weave in the mills and heave in the kilns, [31] We sieve mine-meshes under the hills, And thieve much gold from the Devil's bank tills, To relieve, O God, what manner of ills? -- The beasts, they hunger, and eat, and die; And so do we, and the world's a sty; Hush, fellow-swine: why nuzzle and cry? "Swinehood hath no remedy" Say many men, and hasten by, Clamping the nose and blinking the eye. But who said once, in the lordly tone, [41] "Man shall not live by bread alone But all that cometh from the Throne?" Hath God said so? But Trade saith "No": And the kilns and the curt-tongued mills say "Go: There's plenty that can, if you can't: we know. Move out, if you think you're underpaid. The poor are prolific; we're not afraid; Trade is trade."'" Thereat this passionate protesting [51] Meekly changed, and softened till
It will be interesting to compare `My Springs' with other poems on the eyes. Among the most noteworthy* may be cited Shakespeare's "And those eyes, the break of day, Lights that do mislead the morn;" Lodge's "Her eyes are sapphires set in snow, Resembling heaven by every wink; The Gods do fear whenas they glow, And I do tremble when I think, Heigh ho, would she were mine!" Jonson's "Drink to me only with thine eyes And I will pledge with mine," etc.; Herrick's "Sweet, be not proud of those two eyes Which starlike sparkle in their skies;" Thomas Stanley's "Oh turn away those cruel eyes, The stars of my undoing; Or death in such a bright disguise May tempt a second wooing;" Byron's "She walks in beauty, like the night, Of cloudless climes and starry skies; And all that's best of dark and bright Meet in her aspect and her eyes; Thus mellowed to that tender light Which heaven to gaudy day denies;" H. Coleridge's "She is not fair to outward view, As many maidens be; Her loveliness I never knew Until she smiled on me. O then I saw her eye was bright, A well of love, a spring of light. "But now her looks are coy and cold, To mine they ne'er reply, And yet I cease not to behold The love-light in her eye: Her very frowns are fairer far Than smiles of other maidens are;" and Wordsworth's "Her eyes are stars of twilight fair."
-- * These may be found either in Gosse's `English Lyrics' (D. Appleton & Co., New York) or in Palgrave's `Golden Treasury of Songs and Lyrics' (Macmillan & Co., New York). --
49-50. See `Introduction', p. xlv [Part IV].
52. There is in early English literature a most interesting play entitled `Mary Magdalene': see Pollard's `English Miracle Plays' (New York), where extracts are given.
55-56. See `Introduction', p. xlvi [Part IV].
The Symphony
"O Trade! O Trade! would thou wert dead! [1] The Time needs heart -- 'tis tired of head: We're all for love," the violins said. "Of what avail the rigorous tale Of bill for coin and box for bale? Grant thee, O Trade! thine uttermost hope: Level red gold with blue sky-slope, And base it deep as devils grope: When all's done, what hast thou won Of the only sweet that's under the sun? Ay, canst thou buy a single sigh [11] Of true love's least, least ecstasy?" Then, with a bridegroom's heart-beats trembling, All the mightier strings assembling Ranged them on the violins' side As when the bridegroom leads the bride, And, heart in voice, together cried: "Yea, what avail the endless tale Of gain by cunning and plus by sale? Look up the land, look down the land, The poor, the poor, the poor, they stand [21] Wedged by the pressing of Trade's hand Against an inward-opening door That pressure tightens evermore: They sigh a monstrous foul-air sigh For the outside leagues of liberty, Where Art, sweet lark, translates the sky Into a heavenly melody. `Each day, all day' (these poor folks say), `In the same old year-long, drear-long way, We weave in the mills and heave in the kilns, [31] We sieve mine-meshes under the hills, And thieve much gold from the Devil's bank tills, To relieve, O God, what manner of ills? -- The beasts, they hunger, and eat, and die; And so do we, and the world's a sty; Hush, fellow-swine: why nuzzle and cry? "Swinehood hath no remedy" Say many men, and hasten by, Clamping the nose and blinking the eye. But who said once, in the lordly tone, [41] "Man shall not live by bread alone But all that cometh from the Throne?" Hath God said so? But Trade saith "No": And the kilns and the curt-tongued mills say "Go: There's plenty that can, if you can't: we know. Move out, if you think you're underpaid. The poor are prolific; we're not afraid; Trade is trade."'" Thereat this passionate protesting [51] Meekly changed, and softened till