A FAREWELL. FLOW down, cold rivulet, to the sea, Thy tribute wave deliver; No more by thee my steps shall be, For ever and for ever. Flow, softly flow, by lawn and lea, A rivulet then a river: No where by thee my steps shall be, For ever and for ever. But here will sigh thine alder tree, And here by thee will hum the bee, A hundred suns will stream on thee, A thousand moons will quiver; But not by thee my steps shall be, THE BEGGAR MAID. HER arms across her breast she laid; She was more fair than words can say: Bare-footed came the beggar maid Before the king Cophetua. In robe and crown the king stept down, To meet and greet her on her way: "It is no wonder," said the lords, "She is more beautiful than day." As shines the moon in clouded skies, One her dark hair and lovesome mien. So sweet a face, such angel grace, In all that land had never been: Cophetua sware a royal oath : "This beggar maid shall be my queen!" THE VISION OF SIN. I HAD a vision when the night was late; A youth came riding toward a palace-gate. He rode a horse with wings, that would have flown, A sleepy light upon their brows and lips As when the sun, a crescent of eclipse, Dreams over lake and lawn, and isles and capes - By heaps of gourds, and skins of wine, and piles of grapes. Then methought I heard a mellow sound, Gathering up from all the lower ground; |