Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, ON MISS HELEN FAUCIT'S JULIET, by WILLIAM EDMONSTOUNE AYTOUN



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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

ON MISS HELEN FAUCIT'S JULIET, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: I have been wandering in enchanted ground
Last Line: From other lips, sweet lady, than from thine.
Alternate Author Name(s): Bon Gaultier (with Theodore Martin)
Subject(s): Love; Tears; Wandering & Wanderers; Wanderlust; Vagabonds; Tramps; Hoboes


I HAVE been wandering in enchanted ground,
The slave and subject, Lady, of thy spell;
I heard thy voice, and straightway all around
Became transformed; yet how, I could not tell:
And through Verona's streets I took my way,
Thronged with quaint masks and gallants many a one,
I heard the sounds of revel and of fray,
And saw bright weapons flashing in the sun.
So passed I on, in marvel, till the night
Cooled the red furnace of the southern sky,
And the sweet stars, all kindling into light,
Burst through the vaulted darkness, where they lie.
Hush'd was the city, and its varied din,
As with a tremulous thrill, and half afraid,
I entered, through a stately portal, in
To what might be a garden or a glade.
A soft voluptuous odour filled the spot,
From the rose thickets and the orange bower,
And a tall fountain, bursting from its grot,
Broke up the moonbeam in a pearly shower;
And then it was I heard the nightingale,
Within the dark pomegranate boughs unseen,
Pour out the saddest and the tenderest wail,
That ever filled with tears a lover's eyne;
When lo! a whisper stole upon my ear,
With such angelic sweetness in its tone,
That my heart beat as though a Saint were near,
And lost all sense of presence -- save of one.
For there, upon the balcony above,
And whiter than the moonlight round her shining,
I saw the perfect form of maiden's love
In the rapt fondness of her soul reclining; --
And heard her speak in such impassioned strain,
With so melodious yearning and divine --
That I shall never hear that tale again
From other lips, sweet Lady, than from thine.





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