Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, ODE TO A RING-DOVE, by MARCUS S. C. RICKARDS


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

ODE TO A RING-DOVE, by                    
First Line: Vanish all vernal forms before the twain
Last Line: Thine empire is humanity at last!
Subject(s): Art & Artists; Love; Passion


VANISH all vernal forms before the twain
That charm me peering thro' you greenery!
Cease all May melodies before that strain!
Tho' music flood the sylvan scenery
More rare and sweet by far, the tone of this
To me, scarce knowing why, excels the rest.
Is it that theirs of mundane rapture tells,
But thine of heavenly Bliss?
That while they sport in pleasure thou art blest,
Blest with a joy that haunts no earthly dells?
Ay, is it that thy heart, resplendent Dove!
Is cast in finer, nobler mould than theirs,
And so they trill of Passion, thou of Love,
Their tale, ecstatic spasms, wild despairs
And swift oblivion; thine, unchanging Truth
And calm Delight, and half celestial Hope,
Whose rainbow hues have burnished thee as tho'
In pledge, mid earthly ruth,
That Love is heir to a Diviner scope
Than mortal chains and limits can bestow!

I dare to gauge thee by our human rule --
The voice reveals the nature, nor canst thou
All artless train it, or unconscious, school:
Truth must inspire this rich, deep, tender vow
Oft told and brooded over. Well is He
Imaged by such as thou, who sues our heart
Whose Fruit is Love; and fitly round the throat
That breathes such sympathy
Rests the eternal Symbol; the high Art
That cast it stamping thine as Love's true note.

Unseen I watch thee mid the emerald maze,
Coquette with thy soft mate, around her cooing,
Then wing a heavenward flight, as if in praise
To Him who taught thee this terrestrial wooing:
The while your Agapemone I scan,
Its form the mystic Circle, and within
Two spotless eggs, as tho' to testify
To base degenerate man,
That Love breeds pureness (Passion only sin)
Pureness like snow that wanders from the Sky.

Lo! Passion wantons everywhere, and sings
And builds in open field and sunny place;
But Love, rare Love! speed, speed, as you soft wings
Regain their homely shade! Woo thou our Race
With privacy of blessing! In thy train
Will follow Joy and Peace,a nd Virtue's equipage,
And all that when Life's summer glow is past
Shall undecayed remain:
Our hearts are thy peculiar heritage;
Thine empire is Humanity at last!





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