AND shall not Beauty reign beyond the grave? There Life is, Life eternal, there as here: For none may die, tho' he desire the dear And dark repose of Death's abysmal wave; Thro' Life's unending round for aeons still, Even as we moved, so must we move and change Thro' all the marvels of her mystic range: Sea, rose or tempest, soul or star or hill. But only here, perchance, we know the grace Of Beauty and the magic of her dream, And here I love to watch the things that seem: The dawn that filters thro' the veils of space; The noon that spreads a glare implacable O'er all the plain, and drives the shepherd home; The peace of forests, and the greeny dome Of ancient oaks above a holy well. I hold my breath until the blackbird stops; I mark enchanted, past our cottage eaves, The roses of the sunset shed their leaves In shining pink upon the mountain tops. I watch a lonely fountain dance all night In silver music to the silent moon; While, trembling thro' the milky skies of June, The stars shine faintly amid the flooding light. I dream; I mix divinely soul and earth. But if hereafter, 'mid the moving stars, We find thee not in our long avatars, May I forget thee, O Beauty, and thy dearth! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE LOVELINESS OF LOVE by GEORGE DARLEY TWILIGHT by DAVID HERBERT LAWRENCE AUTUMN SONG by DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI THE MARVELOUS MUNCHAUSEN by WILLIAM ROSE BENET RHAPSODY by MATILDA BARBARA BETHAM-EDWARDS PSALM 139 by OLD TESTAMENT BIBLE |