IV The chasm in which the sun has sunk is shut Which the keen evening star is shining through. THE BOAT ON THE SERCHIO [Published in part (11. 1-61, 88-118) by Mrs. Shelley, Posthumous Poems, 1824; revised and enlarged by Rossetti, Complete P. W. of P. B. S., 1870.] OUR boat is asleep on Serchio's stream, Its sails are folded like thoughts in a dream, Dominic, the boatman, has brought the mast, And the oars, and the sails; but 'tis sleeping fast, Like a beast, unconscious of its tether. The stars burnt out in the pale blue air, And the thin white moon lay withering there; Day had kindled the dewy woods, And the rocks above and the stream below, And clothed with light of aëry gold 20 5 10 And the Apennines' shroud of summer snow, 15 The mists in their eastern caves uprolled. Day had awakened all things that be, The lark and the thrush and the swallow free, And the milkmaid's song and the mower's scythe, The beetle forgot to wind his horn, 20 The crickets were still in the meadow and hill: 25 Like a flock of rooks at a farmer's gun Night's dreams and terrors, every one, Fled from the brains which are their prey From the lamp's death to the morning ray. All rose to do the task He set to each, 30 Who shaped us to His ends and not our own; And many rose Evening, &c.-20 cinereous Boscombe MS.; enormous edd. 1824, 1839. Whose woe was such that fear became desire ;- Screens Lucca from the Pisan's envious eye, With streams and fields and marshes bare, 'What think you, as she lies in her green cove, 'If morning dreams are true, why I should guess 35 40 45 We should have led her by this time of day.'— 50 'Never mind,' said Lionel, The white clouds are driving merrily, 'Give care to the winds, they can bear it well And the stars we miss this morn will light 55 How it whistles, Dominic's long black hair! 60 -'Of us and of our lazy motions,' 'If I can guess a boat's emotions; And how we ought, two hours before, 65 Weaving his idle words, Melchior said: 'She dreams that we are not yet out of bed; 70 We'll put a soul into her, and a heart 58-61 Which like a dove chased by a dove shall beat.' 'Ay, heave the ballast overboard, List, my dear fellow, the breeze blows fair; If I can guess a boat's emotions.'-edd. 1824, 1839. 61-67 Rossetti places these lines conjecturally between ll. 51 and 52. 75 No, now all's right.' 'Those bottles of warm tea- To cram in greatcoat pockets, and to mix And, couched on stolen hay in those green harbours With a bottle in one hand, As if his very soul were at a stand, Lionel stood when Melchior brought him steady:- The chain is loosed, the sails are spread, As, with dews and sunrise fed, Comes the laughing morning wind; And hangs upon the wave, and stems Which fervid from its mountain source It sweeps into the affrighted sea; In morning's smile its eddies coil, The Serchio, twisting forth Between the marble barriers which it clove Of tangled marsh and woods of stunted pine, 112 then 95. 96 and stems The tempest of the wanting in edd. 1824, 1839. Boscombe MS.; until edd. 1824, 1839. 114 superfluous Boscombe MS.; clear edd. 1824, 1839. 117 pine Boscombe MS.; fir edd. 1824, 1839. MUSIC [Published by Mrs. Shelley, Posthumous Poems, 1824.] I I PANT for the music which is divine, My heart in its thirst is a dying flower; II Let me drink of the spirit of that sweet sound, It loosens the serpent which care has bound The dissolving strain, through every vein, III As the scent of a violet withered up, Which grew by the brink of a silver lake, IV As one who drinks from a charmèd cup Of foaming, and sparkling, and murmuring wine, Whom, a mighty Enchantress filling up, SONNET TO BYRON [Published by Medwin, The Shelley Papers, 1832 (11. 1-7), and Life of Shelley, 1847 (11. 1-9, 12-14). Revised and completed from the Boscombe MS. by Rossetti, Complete P. W. of P. B. S., 1870.] [I AM afraid these verses will not please you, but] The mind which, like a worm whose life may share Marks your creations rise as fast and fair Music-16 mist 1824; tank 1839, 2nd ed. 1870; him 1832; thee 1847. Sonnet to Byron-1 you ed. 4 So ed. 1870; My soul which as a worm may haply share 1832; My soul which even as a worm may share 1847. 6 your ed. 1870; his 1832; thy 1847. But such is my regard that nor your power Who dares these words:-the worm beneath the sod 1 FRAGMENT ON KEATS WHO DESIRED THAT ON HIS TOMB SHOULD BE INSCRIBED 'HERE lieth One whose name was writ on water.' But; ere the breath that could erase it blew, Death, in remorse for that fell slaughter, Death, the immortalizing winter, flew Athwart the stream,-and time's printless torrent grew A scroll of crystal, blazoning the name Of Adonais! FRAGMENT: 'METHOUGHT I WAS A BILLOW [Published by Rossetti, Complete P. W. of P. B. S., 1870.] METHOUGHT I was a billow in the crowd Of common men, that stream without a shore, That ocean which at once is deaf and loud; That I, a man, stood amid many more By a wayside which the aspect bore Of some imperial metropolis, Where mighty shapes-pyramid, dome, and towerGleamed like a pile of crags TO-MORROW [Published by Mrs. Shelley, Posthumous Poems, 1824.] WHERE art thou, beloved To-morrow? When young and old, and strong and weak, Thy sweet smiles we ever seek,— In thy place-ah! well-a-day! We find the thing we fled-To-day. STANZA [Published by Rossetti, Complete P. W. of P. B. S., 1870. Connected by Dowden with the preceding.] IF I walk in Autumn's even While the dead leaves pass, 8, 9 So ed. 1870; wanting 1832; But not the blessings of thy happier lot, Nor thy well-won prosperity, and fame 1847. 10, 11 So ed. 1870; wanting 1832, 1847. 12-14 So 1847, ed. 1870; wanting 1832. Published by Mrs. Shelley, P. W., 1839, 1st ed.—ED. 10 5 5 |