3ROGER OF SICILY TO AZALA;S.1140.Thou hast the silence and imperial tread, The strong and supple beauty of a pard; And oft I wish that I had had thee barr'd In some firm cage, and feel a strange vague dread.At t...

To SleepFond words have oft been spoken to thee, Sleep!And thou hast had thy store of tenderest names;The very sweetest Fancy culls or frames,When thankfulness of heart is strong and deep!Dear Bosom-child we call thee, that dost st...

The KissWhat smouldering senses in death's sick delay Or seizure of malign vicissitude Can rob this body of honour, or denudeThis soul of wedding-raiment worn to-day?For lo! even now my lady's lips did play With these my lip...

To SleepO gentle Sleep! do they belong to thee,These twinklings of oblivion? Thou dost loveTo sit in meekness, like the brooding Dove,A captive never wishing to be free.This tiresome night, O Sleep! thou art to meA Fly, that up...

The Lovers' WalkSweet twining hedgeflowers wind-stirred in no wise On this June day; and hand that clings in hand: - Still glades; and meeting faces scarcely fann'd; -An osier-odoured stream that draws the skiesDeep to its heart;...

To NatureIt may indeed be phantasy, when I Essay to draw from all created thingsDeep, heartfelt, inward joy that closely clings; And trace in leaves and flowers that round me lieLessons of love and earnest piety. So let it b...

13Pia dei Tolomei to Love and Death (1295) The distant hills are blue as lips of death; Between myself and them the hot swamps steam In fetid curls, which, in the twilight, seem Like gathering phantoms waiting for my breath; ...

Work Without HopeLines Composed 21st February, 1827All Nature seems at work. Slugs leave their lair -The bees are stirring - birds are on the wing -And Winter slumbering in the open air,Wears on his smiling face a dream of Spri...

Sonnet XXXIIIVenus VictrixCould Juno's self more sovereign presence wear Than thou, 'mid other ladies throned in grace? - Or Pallas, when thou bend'st with soul-stilled faceO'er poet's page gold-shadowed in thy hair?Dost...

When haughty expectations prostrate lie,And grandeur crouches like a guilty thing,Oft shall the lowly weak, till nature bringMature release, in fair societySurvive, and Fortune's utmost anger try;Like these frail snowdrops that togethe...