Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE POET'S JOURNAL: IF LOVE SHOULD COME AGAIN, by BAYARD TAYLOR Poet's Biography First Line: If love should come again, I ask my heart Last Line: And silently we parted for repose. Alternate Author Name(s): Taylor, James Bayard Subject(s): Fate; Flowers; Hearts; Love; Destiny | ||||||||
IF Love should come again, I ask my heart In tender tremors, not unmixed with pain, Couldst thou be calm, nor feel thine ancient smart, If Love should come again? Couldst thou unbar the chambers where his nest So long was made, and made, alas in vain, Nor with embarrassed welcome chill thy guest, If Love should come again? Would Love his ruined quarters recognize, Where shrouded pictures of the Past remain, And gently turn them with forgiving eyes, If Love should come again? Would bliss, in milder type, spring up anew, As silent craters with the scarlet stain Of flowers repeat the lava's ancient hue, If Love should come again? Would Fate, relenting, sheathe the cruel blade Whereby the angel of thy youth was slain, That thou might'st all possess him, unafraid, If Love should come again? In vain I ask: my heart makes no reply But echoes evermore the sweet re frain; Till, trembling lest it seem a wish, I sigh; If Love should come again. "The darkness and the twilight have an end," Said Ernest, as he laid the book aside, And, with a tenderness he could not hide, Smiled, seeing in the eyes of wife and friend The same soft dew that made his own so dim. My heart was strangely moved, but not for him. The holy night, the stars that twinkled faint, Serfs of the regnant moon, the slumbering trees And silvery hills, recalled fair memories Of her I knew, his life's translated saint, Who seemed too sacred now, too far removed, To be by him lamented or beloved. And yet she stood, I knew, by Ernest's side Invisible, a glory in the heart, A light of peace, the inner counterpart Of that which round us poured its radiant tide. We sat in silence, till a wind, astray From some uneasy planet, shook the vines And sprinkled us with snow of eglantines. The laurels rustled as it passed away, And, million-tongued, the woodland whisper crept Of leaves that turned in sleep, from tree to tree All down the lawn, and once again they slept. Then Edith from her tender fantasy Awoke, yet still her pensive posture kept, Her white hands motionless upon her knee, Her eyes upon a star that sparkled through The mesh of leaves, and hummed a wandering air (As if the music of her thoughts it were,) Low, sweet, and sad, until to words it grew That made it sweeter, -- words that Ernest knew: Love, I follow, follow thee, Wipe thine eyes and thou shalt see: Sorrow makes thee blind to me. I am with thee, blessing, blest; Let thy doubts be laid to rest: Rise, and take me to thy breast! In thy bliss my steps behold: Stretch thine arms and bliss enfold: 'T is thy sorrow makes me cold Life is good, and life is fair, Love awaits thee everywhere: Love! is Love's immortal prayer. Live for love, and thou shall be, Loving others, true to me: Love, I follow, follow thee! Thus Edith sang: the stars heard, and the night, The happy spirits, leaning from the wall Of Heaven, the saints, and God above them all, Heard what she sang. She ceased: her brow was bright With other splendor than the moon's: she rose, Gave each a hand, and silently we trod The dry, white gravel and the dewy sod, And silently we parted for repose. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...ATTEMPTING TO ANSWER DAVID IGNATOW'S QUESTION by ROBERT BLY FROST AND HIS ENEMIES by ROBERT BLY THE WORLDS IN THIS WORLD by LAURE-ANNE BOSSELAAR UNABLE TO FIND by LAURE-ANNE BOSSELAAR TO HELEN KELLER - HUMANITARIAN, SOCIAL DEMOCRAT, GREAT SOUL by EDWIN MARKHAM DOMESDAY BOOK: FINDING OF THE BODY by EDGAR LEE MASTERS WE COME BACK by KENNETH REXROTH THE WAKING (2) by THEODORE ROETHKE BEDOUIN [LOVE] SONG by BAYARD TAYLOR NATIONAL ODE; INDEPENDENCE SQUARE, PHILADELPHIA by BAYARD TAYLOR |
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