[ { "title": "CHARMIDES", "author": "Oscar Wilde", "lines": [ "I.", "", "He was a Grecian lad, who coming home", "With pulpy figs and wine from Sicily", "Stood at his galley's prow, and let the foam", "Blow through his crisp brown curls unconsciously,", "And holding wave and wind in boy's despite", "Peered from his dripping seat across the wet and stormy night.", "", "Till with the dawn he saw a burnished spear", "Like a thin thread of gold against the sky,", "And hoisted sail, and strained the creaking gear,", "And bade the pilot head her lustily", "Against the nor'west gale, and all day long", "Held on his way, and marked the rowers' time with measured song.", "", "And when the faint Corinthian hills were red", "Dropped anchor in a little sandy bay,", "And with fresh boughs of olive crowned his head,", "And brushed from cheek and throat the hoary spray,", "And washed his limbs with oil, and from the hold", "Brought out his linen tunic and his sandals brazen-soled,", "", "And a rich robe stained with the fishers' juice", "Which of some swarthy trader he had bought", "Upon the sunny quay at Syracuse,", "And was with Tyrian broideries inwrought,", "And by the questioning merchants made his way", "Up through the soft and silver woods, and when the labouring day", "", "Had spun its tangled web of crimson cloud,", "Clomb the high hill, and with swift silent feet", "Crept to the fane unnoticed by the crowd", "Of busy priests, and from some dark retreat", "Watched the young swains his frolic playmates bring", "The firstling of their little flock, and the shy shepherd fling", "", "The crackling salt upon the flame, or hang", "His studded crook against the temple wall", "To Her who keeps away the ravenous fang", "Of the base wolf from homestead and from stall;", "And then the clear-voiced maidens 'gan to sing,", "And to the altar each man brought some goodly offering,", "", "A beechen cup brimming with milky foam,", "A fair cloth wrought with cunning imagery", "Of hounds in chase, a waxen honey-comb", "Dripping with oozy gold which scarce the bee", "Had ceased from building, a black skin of oil", "Meet for the wrestlers, a great boar the fierce and white-tusked", "spoil", "", "Stolen from Artemis that jealous maid", "To please Athena, and the dappled hide", "Of a tall stag who in some mountain glade", "Had met the shaft; and then the herald cried,", "And from the pillared precinct one by one", "Went the glad Greeks well pleased that they their simple vows had", "done.", "", "And the old priest put out the waning fires", "Save that one lamp whose restless ruby glowed", "For ever in the cell, and the shrill lyres", "Came fainter on the wind, as down the road", "In joyous dance these country folk did pass,", "And with stout hands the warder closed the gates of polished brass.", "", "Long time he lay and hardly dared to breathe,", "And heard the cadenced drip of spilt-out wine,", "And the rose-petals falling from the wreath", "As the night breezes wandered through the shrine,", "And seemed to be in some entranced swoon", "Till through the open roof above the full and brimming moon", "", "Flooded with sheeny waves the marble floor,", "When from his nook up leapt the venturous lad,", "And flinging wide the cedar-carven door", "Beheld an awful image saffron-clad", "And armed for battle! the gaunt Griffin glared", "From the huge helm, and the long lance of wreck and ruin flared", "", "Like a red rod of flame, stony and steeled", "The Gorgon's head its leaden eyeballs rolled,", "And writhed its snaky horrors through the shield,", "And gaped aghast with bloodless lips and cold", "In passion impotent, while with blind gaze", "The blinking owl between the feet hooted in shrill amaze.", "", "The lonely fisher as he trimmed his lamp", "Far out at sea off Sunium, or cast", "The net for tunnies, heard a brazen tramp", "Of horses smite the waves, and a wild blast", "Divide the folded curtains of the night,", "And knelt upon the little poop, and prayed in holy fright.", "", "And guilty lovers in their venery", "Forgat a little while their stolen sweets,", "Deeming they heard dread Dian's bitter cry;", "And the grim watchmen on their lofty seats", "Ran to their shields in haste precipitate,", "Or strained black-bearded throats across the dusky parapet.", "", "For round the temple rolled the clang of arms,", "And the twelve Gods leapt up in marble fear,", "And the air quaked with dissonant alarums", "Till huge Poseidon shook his mighty spear,", "And on the frieze the prancing horses neighed,", "And the low tread of hurrying feet rang from the cavalcade.", "", "Ready for death with parted lips he stood,", "And well content at such a price to see", "That calm wide brow, that terrible maidenhood,", "The marvel of that pitiless chastity,", "Ah! well content indeed, for never wight", "Since Troy's young shepherd prince had seen so wonderful a sight.", "", "Ready for death he stood, but lo! the air", "Grew silent, and the horses ceased to neigh,", "And off his brow he tossed the clustering hair,", "And from his limbs he throw the cloak away;", "For whom would not such love make desperate?", "And nigher came, and touched her throat, and with hands violate", "", "Undid the cuirass, and the crocus gown,", "And bared the breasts of polished ivory,", "Till from the waist the peplos falling down", "Left visible the secret mystery", "Which to no lover will Athena show,", "The grand cool flanks, the crescent thighs, the bossy hills of", "snow.", "", "Those who have never known a lover's sin", "Let them not read my ditty, it will be", "To their dull ears so musicless and thin", "That they will have no joy of it, but ye", "To whose wan cheeks now creeps the lingering smile,", "Ye who have learned who Eros is, - O listen yet awhile.", "", "A little space he let his greedy eyes", "Rest on the burnished image, till mere sight", "Half swooned for surfeit of such luxuries,", "And then his lips in hungering delight", "Fed on her lips, and round the towered neck", "He flung his arms, nor cared at all his passion's will to check.", "", "Never I ween did lover hold such tryst,", "For all night long he murmured honeyed word,", "And saw her sweet unravished limbs, and kissed", "Her pale and argent body undisturbed,", "And paddled with the polished throat, and pressed", "His hot and beating heart upon her chill and icy breast.", "", "It was as if Numidian javelins", "Pierced through and through his wild and whirling brain,", "And his nerves thrilled like throbbing violins", "In exquisite pulsation, and the pain", "Was such sweet anguish that he never drew", "His lips from hers till overhead the lark of warning flew.", "", "They who have never seen the daylight peer", "Into a darkened room, and drawn the curtain,", "And with dull eyes and wearied from some dear", "And worshipped body risen, they for certain", "Will never know of what I try to sing,", "How long the last kiss was, how fond and late his lingering.", "", "The moon was girdled with a crystal rim,", "The sign which shipmen say is ominous", "Of wrath in heaven, the wan stars were dim,", "And the low lightening east was tremulous", "With the faint fluttering wings of flying dawn,", "Ere from the silent sombre shrine his lover had withdrawn.", "", "Down the steep rock with hurried feet and fast", "Clomb the brave lad, and reached the cave of Pan,", "And heard the goat-foot snoring as he passed,", "And leapt upon a grassy knoll and ran", "Like a young fawn unto an olive wood", "Which in a shady valley by the well-built city stood;", "", "And sought a little stream, which well he knew,", "For oftentimes with boyish careless shout", "The green and crested grebe he would pursue,", "Or snare in woven net the silver trout,", "And down amid the startled reeds he lay", "Panting in breathless sweet affright, and waited for the day.", "", "On the green bank he lay, and let one hand", "Dip in the cool dark eddies listlessly,", "And soon the breath of morning came and fanned", "His hot flushed cheeks, or lifted wantonly", "The tangled curls from off his forehead, while", "He on the running water gazed with strange and secret smile.", "", "And soon the shepherd in rough woollen cloak", "With his long crook undid the wattled cotes,", "And from the stack a thin blue wreath of smoke", "Curled through the air across the ripening oats,", "And on the hill the yellow house-dog bayed", "As through the crisp and rustling fern the heavy cattle strayed.", "", "And when the light-foot mower went afield", "Across the meadows laced with threaded dew,", "And the sheep bleated on the misty weald,", "And from its nest the waking corncrake flew,", "Some woodmen saw him lying by the stream", "And marvelled much that any lad so beautiful could seem,", "", "Nor deemed him born of mortals, and one said,", "'It is young Hylas, that false runaway", "Who with a Naiad now would make his bed", "Forgetting Herakles,' but others, 'Nay,", "It is Narcissus, his own paramour,", "Those are the fond and crimson lips no woman can allure.'", "", "And when they nearer came a third one cried,", "'It is young Dionysos who has hid", "His spear and fawnskin by the river side", "Weary of hunting with the Bassarid,", "And wise indeed were we away to fly:", "They live not long who on the gods immortal come to spy.'", "", "So turned they back, and feared to look behind,", "And told the timid swain how they had seen", "Amid the reeds some woodland god reclined,", "And no man dared to cross the open green,", "And on that day no olive-tree was slain,", "Nor rushes cut, but all deserted was the fair domain,", "", "Save when the neat-herd's lad, his empty pail", "Well slung upon his back, with leap and bound", "Raced on the other side, and stopped to hail,", "Hoping that he some comrade new had found,", "And gat no answer, and then half afraid", "Passed on his simple way, or down the still and silent glade", "", "A little girl ran laughing from the farm,", "Not thinking of love's secret mysteries,", "And when she saw the white and gleaming arm", "And all his manlihood, with longing eyes", "Whose passion mocked her sweet virginity", "Watched him awhile, and then stole back sadly and wearily.", "", "Far off he heard the city's hum and noise,", "And now and then the shriller laughter where", "The passionate purity of brown-limbed boys", "Wrestled or raced in the clear healthful air,", "And now and then a little tinkling bell", "As the shorn wether led the sheep down to the mossy well.", "", "Through the grey willows danced the fretful gnat,", "The grasshopper chirped idly from the tree,", "In sleek and oily coat the water-rat", "Breasting the little ripples manfully", "Made for the wild-duck's nest, from bough to bough", "Hopped the shy finch, and the huge tortoise crept across the", "slough.", "", "On the faint wind floated the silky seeds", "As the bright scythe swept through the waving grass,", "The ouzel-cock splashed circles in the reeds", "And flecked with silver whorls the forest's glass,", "Which scarce had caught again its imagery", "Ere from its bed the dusky tench leapt at the dragon-fly.", "", "But little care had he for any thing", "Though up and down the beech the squirrel played,", "And from the copse the linnet 'gan to sing", "To its brown mate its sweetest serenade;", "Ah! little care indeed, for he had seen", "The breasts of Pallas and the naked wonder of the Queen.", "", "But when the herdsman called his straggling goats", "With whistling pipe across the rocky road,", "And the shard-beetle with its trumpet-notes", "Boomed through the darkening woods, and seemed to bode", "Of coming storm, and the belated crane", "Passed homeward like a shadow, and the dull big drops of rain", "", "Fell on the pattering fig-leaves, up he rose,", "And from the gloomy forest went his way", "Past sombre homestead and wet orchard-close,", "And came at last unto a little quay,", "And called his mates aboard, and took his seat", "On the high poop, and pushed from land, and loosed the dripping", "sheet,", "", "And steered across the bay, and when nine suns", "Passed down the long and laddered way of gold,", "And nine pale moons had breathed their orisons", "To the chaste stars their confessors, or told", "Their dearest secret to the downy moth", "That will not fly at noonday, through the foam and surging froth", "", "Came a great owl with yellow sulphurous eyes", "And lit upon the ship, whose timbers creaked", "As though the lading of three argosies", "Were in the hold, and flapped its wings and shrieked,", "And darkness straightway stole across the deep,", "Sheathed was Orion's sword, dread Mars himself fled down the steep,", "", "And the moon hid behind a tawny mask", "Of drifting cloud, and from the ocean's marge", "Rose the red plume, the huge and horned casque,", "The seven-cubit spear, the brazen targe!", "And clad in bright and burnished panoply", "Athena strode across the stretch of sick and shivering sea!", "", "To the dull sailors' sight her loosened looks", "Seemed like the jagged storm-rack, and her feet", "Only the spume that floats on hidden rocks,", "And, marking how the rising waters beat", "Against the rolling ship, the pilot cried", "To the young helmsman at the stern to luff to windward side", "", "But he, the overbold adulterer,", "A dear profaner of great mysteries,", "An ardent amorous idolater,", "When he beheld those grand relentless eyes", "Laughed loud for joy, and crying out 'I come'", "Leapt from the lofty poop into the chill and churning foam.", "", "Then fell from the high heaven one bright star,", "One dancer left the circling galaxy,", "And back to Athens on her clattering car", "In all the pride of venged divinity", "Pale Pallas swept with shrill and steely clank,", "And a few gurgling bubbles rose where her boy lover sank.", "", "And the mast shuddered as the gaunt owl flew", "With mocking hoots after the wrathful Queen,", "And the old pilot bade the trembling crew", "Hoist the big sail, and told how he had seen", "Close to the stern a dim and giant form,", "And like a dipping swallow the stout ship dashed through the storm.", "", "And no man dared to speak of Charmides", "Deeming that he some evil thing had wrought,", "And when they reached the strait Symplegades", "They beached their galley on the shore, and sought", "The toll-gate of the city hastily,", "And in the market showed their brown and pictured pottery.", "", "", "II.", "", "", "But some good Triton-god had ruth, and bare", "The boy's drowned body back to Grecian land,", "And mermaids combed his dank and dripping hair", "And smoothed his brow, and loosed his clenching hand;", "Some brought sweet spices from far Araby,", "And others bade the halcyon sing her softest lullaby.", "", "And when he neared his old Athenian home,", "A mighty billow rose up suddenly", "Upon whose oily back the clotted foam", "Lay diapered in some strange fantasy,", "And clasping him unto its glassy breast", "Swept landward, like a white-maned steed upon a venturous quest!", "", "Now where Colonos leans unto the sea", "There lies a long and level stretch of lawn;", "The rabbit knows it, and the mountain bee", "For it deserts Hymettus, and the Faun", "Is not afraid, for never through the day", "Comes a cry ruder than the shout of shepherd lads at play.", "", "But often from the thorny labyrinth", "And tangled branches of the circling wood", "The stealthy hunter sees young Hyacinth", "Hurling the polished disk, and draws his hood", "Over his guilty gaze, and creeps away,", "Nor dares to wind his horn, or - else at the first break of day", "", "The Dryads come and throw the leathern ball", "Along the reedy shore, and circumvent", "Some goat-eared Pan to be their seneschal", "For fear of bold Poseidon's ravishment,", "And loose their girdles, with shy timorous eyes,", "Lest from the surf his azure arms and purple beard should rise.", "", "On this side and on that a rocky cave,", "Hung with the yellow-belled laburnum, stands", "Smooth is the beach, save where some ebbing wave", "Leaves its faint outline etched upon the sands,", "As though it feared to be too soon forgot", "By the green rush, its playfellow, - and yet, it is a spot", "", "So small, that the inconstant butterfly", "Could steal the hoarded money from each flower", "Ere it was noon, and still not satisfy", "Its over-greedy love, - within an hour", "A sailor boy, were he but rude enow", "To land and pluck a garland for his galley's painted prow,", "", "Would almost leave the little meadow bare,", "For it knows nothing of great pageantry,", "Only a few narcissi here and there", "Stand separate in sweet austerity,", "Dotting the unmown grass with silver stars,", "And here and there a daffodil waves tiny scimitars.", "", "Hither the billow brought him, and was glad", "Of such dear servitude, and where the land", "Was virgin of all waters laid the lad", "Upon the golden margent of the strand,", "And like a lingering lover oft returned", "To kiss those pallid limbs which once with intense fire burned,", "", "Ere the wet seas had quenched that holocaust,", "That self-fed flame, that passionate lustihead,", "Ere grisly death with chill and nipping frost", "Had withered up those lilies white and red", "Which, while the boy would through the forest range,", "Answered each other in a sweet antiphonal counter-change.", "", "And when at dawn the wood-nymphs, hand-in-hand,", "Threaded the bosky dell, their satyr spied", "The boy's pale body stretched upon the sand,", "And feared Poseidon's treachery, and cried,", "And like bright sunbeams flitting through a glade", "Each startled Dryad sought some safe and leafy ambuscade.", "", "Save one white girl, who deemed it would not be", "So dread a thing to feel a sea-god's arms", "Crushing her breasts in amorous tyranny,", "And longed to listen to those subtle charms", "Insidious lovers weave when they would win", "Some fenced fortress, and stole back again, nor thought it sin", "", "To yield her treasure unto one so fair,", "And lay beside him, thirsty with love's drouth,", "Called him soft names, played with his tangled hair,", "And with hot lips made havoc of his mouth", "Afraid he might not wake, and then afraid", "Lest he might wake too soon, fled back, and then, fond renegade,", "", "Returned to fresh assault, and all day long", "Sat at his side, and laughed at her new toy,", "And held his hand, and sang her sweetest song,", "Then frowned to see how froward was the boy", "Who would not with her maidenhood entwine,", "Nor knew that three days since his eyes had looked on Proserpine;", "", "Nor knew what sacrilege his lips had done,", "But said, 'He will awake, I know him well,", "He will awake at evening when the sun", "Hangs his red shield on Corinth's citadel;", "This sleep is but a cruel treachery", "To make me love him more, and in some cavern of the sea", "", "Deeper than ever falls the fisher's line", "Already a huge Triton blows his horn,", "And weaves a garland from the crystalline", "And drifting ocean-tendrils to adorn", "The emerald pillars of our bridal bed,", "For sphered in foaming silver, and with coral crowned head,", "", "We two will sit upon a throne of pearl,", "And a blue wave will be our canopy,", "And at our feet the water-snakes will curl", "In all their amethystine panoply", "Of diamonded mail, and we will mark", "The mullets swimming by the mast of some storm-foundered bark,", "", "Vermilion-finned with eyes of bossy gold", "Like flakes of crimson light, and the great deep", "His glassy-portaled chamber will unfold,", "And we will see the painted dolphins sleep", "Cradled by murmuring halcyons on the rocks", "Where Proteus in quaint suit of green pastures his monstrous", "flocks.", "", "And tremulous opal-hued anemones", "Will wave their purple fringes where we tread", "Upon the mirrored floor, and argosies", "Of fishes flecked with tawny scales will thread", "The drifting cordage of the shattered wreck,", "And honey-coloured amber beads our twining limbs will deck.'", "", "But when that baffled Lord of War the Sun", "With gaudy pennon flying passed away", "Into his brazen House, and one by one", "The little yellow stars began to stray", "Across the field of heaven, ah! then indeed", "She feared his lips upon her lips would never care to feed,", "", "And cried, 'Awake, already the pale moon", "Washes the trees with silver, and the wave", "Creeps grey and chilly up this sandy dune,", "The croaking frogs are out, and from the cave", "The nightjar shrieks, the fluttering bats repass,", "And the brown stoat with hollow flanks creeps through the dusky", "grass.", "", "Nay, though thou art a god, be not so coy,", "For in yon stream there is a little reed", "That often whispers how a lovely boy", "Lay with her once upon a grassy mead,", "Who when his cruel pleasure he had done", "Spread wings of rustling gold and soared aloft into the sun.", "", "Be not so coy, the laurel trembles still", "With great Apollo's kisses, and the fir", "Whose clustering sisters fringe the seaward hill", "Hath many a tale of that bold ravisher", "Whom men call Boreas, and I have seen", "The mocking eyes of Hermes through the poplar's silvery sheen.", "", "Even the jealous Naiads call me fair,", "And every morn a young and ruddy swain", "Woos me with apples and with locks of hair,", "And seeks to soothe my virginal disdain", "By all the gifts the gentle wood-nymphs love;", "But yesterday he brought to me an iris-plumaged dove", "", "With little crimson feet, which with its store", "Of seven spotted eggs the cruel lad", "Had stolen from the lofty sycamore", "At daybreak, when her amorous comrade had", "Flown off in search of berried juniper", "Which most they love; the fretful wasp, that earliest vintager", "", "Of the blue grapes, hath not persistency", "So constant as this simple shepherd-boy", "For my poor lips, his joyous purity", "And laughing sunny eyes might well decoy", "A Dryad from her oath to Artemis;", "For very beautiful is he, his mouth was made to kiss;", "", "His argent forehead, like a rising moon", "Over the dusky hills of meeting brows,", "Is crescent shaped, the hot and Tyrian noon", "Leads from the myrtle-grove no goodlier spouse", "For Cytheraea, the first silky down", "Fringes his blushing cheeks, and his young limbs are strong and", "brown;", "", "And he is rich, and fat and fleecy herds", "Of bleating sheep upon his meadows lie,", "And many an earthen bowl of yellow curds", "Is in his homestead for the thievish fly", "To swim and drown in, the pink clover mead", "Keeps its sweet store for him, and he can pipe on oaten reed.", "", "And yet I love him not; it was for thee", "I kept my love; I knew that thou would'st come", "To rid me of this pallid chastity,", "Thou fairest flower of the flowerless foam", "Of all the wide AEgean, brightest star", "Of ocean's azure heavens where the mirrored planets are!", "", "I knew that thou would'st come, for when at first", "The dry wood burgeoned, and the sap of spring", "Swelled in my green and tender bark or burst", "To myriad multitudinous blossoming", "Which mocked the midnight with its mimic moons", "That did not dread the dawn, and first the thrushes' rapturous", "tunes", "", "Startled the squirrel from its granary,", "And cuckoo flowers fringed the narrow lane,", "Through my young leaves a sensuous ecstasy", "Crept like new wine, and every mossy vein", "Throbbed with the fitful pulse of amorous blood,", "And the wild winds of passion shook my slim stem's maidenhood.", "", "The trooping fawns at evening came and laid", "Their cool black noses on my lowest boughs,", "And on my topmost branch the blackbird made", "A little nest of grasses for his spouse,", "And now and then a twittering wren would light", "On a thin twig which hardly bare the weight of such delight.", "", "I was the Attic shepherd's trysting place,", "Beneath my shadow Amaryllis lay,", "And round my trunk would laughing Daphnis chase", "The timorous girl, till tired out with play", "She felt his hot breath stir her tangled hair,", "And turned, and looked, and fled no more from such delightful", "snare.", "", "Then come away unto my ambuscade", "Where clustering woodbine weaves a canopy", "For amorous pleasaunce, and the rustling shade", "Of Paphian myrtles seems to sanctify", "The dearest rites of love; there in the cool", "And green recesses of its farthest depth there is pool,", "", "The ouzel's haunt, the wild bee's pasturage,", "For round its rim great creamy lilies float", "Through their flat leaves in verdant anchorage,", "Each cup a white-sailed golden-laden boat", "Steered by a dragon-fly, - be not afraid", "To leave this wan and wave-kissed shore, surely the place was made", "", "For lovers such as we; the Cyprian Queen,", "One arm around her boyish paramour,", "Strays often there at eve, and I have seen", "The moon strip off her misty vestiture", "For young Endymion's eyes; be not afraid,", "The panther feet of Dian never tread that secret glade.", "", "Nay if thou will'st, back to the beating brine,", "Back to the boisterous billow let us go,", "And walk all day beneath the hyaline", "Huge vault of Neptune's watery portico,", "And watch the purple monsters of the deep", "Sport in ungainly play, and from his lair keen Xiphias leap.", "", "For if my mistress find me lying here", "She will not ruth or gentle pity show,", "But lay her boar-spear down, and with austere", "Relentless fingers string the cornel bow,", "And draw the feathered notch against her breast,", "And loose the arched cord; aye, even now upon the quest", "", "I hear her hurrying feet, - awake, awake,", "Thou laggard in love's battle! once at least", "Let me drink deep of passion's wine, and slake", "My parched being with the nectarous feast", "Which even gods affect! O come, Love, come,", "Still we have time to reach the cavern of thine azure home.'", "", "Scarce had she spoken when the shuddering trees", "Shook, and the leaves divided, and the air", "Grew conscious of a god, and the grey seas", "Crawled backward, and a long and dismal blare", "Blew from some tasselled horn, a sleuth-hound bayed,", "And like a flame a barbed reed flew whizzing down the glade.", "", "And where the little flowers of her breast", "Just brake into their milky blossoming,", "This murderous paramour, this unbidden guest,", "Pierced and struck deep in horrid chambering,", "And ploughed a bloody furrow with its dart,", "And dug a long red road, and cleft with winged death her heart.", "", "Sobbing her life out with a bitter cry", "On the boy's body fell the Dryad maid,", "Sobbing for incomplete virginity,", "And raptures unenjoyed, and pleasures dead,", "And all the pain of things unsatisfied,", "And the bright drops of crimson youth crept down her throbbing", "side.", "", "Ah! pitiful it was to hear her moan,", "And very pitiful to see her die", "Ere she had yielded up her sweets, or known", "The joy of passion, that dread mystery", "Which not to know is not to live at all,", "And yet to know is to be held in death's most deadly thrall.", "", "But as it hapt the Queen of Cythere,", "Who with Adonis all night long had lain", "Within some shepherd's hut in Arcady,", "On team of silver doves and gilded wain", "Was journeying Paphos-ward, high up afar", "From mortal ken between the mountains and the morning star,", "", "And when low down she spied the hapless pair,", "And heard the Oread's faint despairing cry,", "Whose cadence seemed to play upon the air", "As though it were a viol, hastily", "She bade her pigeons fold each straining plume,", "And dropt to earth, and reached the strand, and saw their dolorous", "doom.", "", "For as a gardener turning back his head", "To catch the last notes of the linnet, mows", "With careless scythe too near some flower bed,", "And cuts the thorny pillar of the rose,", "And with the flower's loosened loneliness", "Strews the brown mould; or as some shepherd lad in wantonness", "", "Driving his little flock along the mead", "Treads down two daffodils, which side by aide", "Have lured the lady-bird with yellow brede", "And made the gaudy moth forget its pride,", "Treads down their brimming golden chalices", "Under light feet which were not made for such rude ravages;", "", "Or as a schoolboy tired of his book", "Flings himself down upon the reedy grass", "And plucks two water-lilies from the brook,", "And for a time forgets the hour glass,", "Then wearies of their sweets, and goes his way,", "And lets the hot sun kill them, even go these lovers lay.", "", "And Venus cried, 'It is dread Artemis", "Whose bitter hand hath wrought this cruelty,", "Or else that mightier maid whose care it is", "To guard her strong and stainless majesty", "Upon the hill Athenian, - alas!", "That they who loved so well unloved into Death's house should", "pass.'", "", "So with soft hands she laid the boy and girl", "In the great golden waggon tenderly", "(Her white throat whiter than a moony pearl", "Just threaded with a blue vein's tapestry", "Had not yet ceased to throb, and still her breast", "Swayed like a wind-stirred lily in ambiguous unrest)", "", "And then each pigeon spread its milky van,", "The bright car soared into the dawning sky,", "And like a cloud the aerial caravan", "Passed over the AEgean silently,", "Till the faint air was troubled with the song", "From the wan mouths that call on bleeding Thammuz all night long.", "", "But when the doves had reached their wonted goal", "Where the wide stair of orbed marble dips", "Its snows into the sea, her fluttering soul", "Just shook the trembling petals of her lips", "And passed into the void, and Venus knew", "That one fair maid the less would walk amid her retinue,", "", "And bade her servants carve a cedar chest", "With all the wonder of this history,", "Within whose scented womb their limbs should rest", "Where olive-trees make tender the blue sky", "On the low hills of Paphos, and the Faun", "Pipes in the noonday, and the nightingale sings on till dawn.", "", "Nor failed they to obey her hest, and ere", "The morning bee had stung the daffodil", "With tiny fretful spear, or from its lair", "The waking stag had leapt across the rill", "And roused the ouzel, or the lizard crept", "Athwart the sunny rock, beneath the grass their bodies slept.", "", "And when day brake, within that silver shrine", "Fed by the flames of cressets tremulous,", "Queen Venus knelt and prayed to Proserpine", "That she whose beauty made Death amorous", "Should beg a guerdon from her pallid Lord,", "And let Desire pass across dread Charon's icy ford.", "", "", "III", "", "", "In melancholy moonless Acheron,", "Farm for the goodly earth and joyous day", "Where no spring ever buds, nor ripening sun", "Weighs down the apple trees, nor flowery May", "Chequers with chestnut blooms the grassy floor,", "Where thrushes never sing, and piping linnets mate no more,", "", "There by a dim and dark Lethaean well", "Young Charmides was lying; wearily", "He plucked the blossoms from the asphodel,", "And with its little rifled treasury", "Strewed the dull waters of the dusky stream,", "And watched the white stars founder, and the land was like a dream,", "", "When as he gazed into the watery glass", "And through his brown hair's curly tangles scanned", "His own wan face, a shadow seemed to pass", "Across the mirror, and a little hand", "Stole into his, and warm lips timidly", "Brushed his pale cheeks, and breathed their secret forth into a", "sigh.", "", "Then turned he round his weary eyes and saw,", "And ever nigher still their faces came,", "And nigher ever did their young mouths draw", "Until they seemed one perfect rose of flame,", "And longing arms around her neck he cast,", "And felt her throbbing bosom, and his breath came hot and fast,", "", "And all his hoarded sweets were hers to kiss,", "And all her maidenhood was his to slay,", "And limb to limb in long and rapturous bliss", "Their passion waxed and waned, - O why essay", "To pipe again of love, too venturous reed!", "Enough, enough that Eros laughed upon that flowerless mead.", "", "Too venturous poesy, O why essay", "To pipe again of passion! fold thy wings", "O'er daring Icarus and bid thy lay", "Sleep hidden in the lyre's silent strings", "Till thou hast found the old Castalian rill,", "Or from the Lesbian waters plucked drowned Sappho's golden quid!", "", "Enough, enough that he whose life had been", "A fiery pulse of sin, a splendid shame,", "Could in the loveless land of Hades glean", "One scorching harvest from those fields of flame", "Where passion walks with naked unshod feet", "And is not wounded, - ah! enough that once their lips could meet", "", "In that wild throb when all existences", "Seemed narrowed to one single ecstasy", "Which dies through its own sweetness and the stress", "Of too much pleasure, ere Persephone", "Had bade them serve her by the ebon throne", "Of the pale God who in the fields of Enna loosed her zone." ], "linecount": "683" }, { "title": "The Ballad Of Reading Gaol", "author": "Oscar Wilde", "lines": [ "(In memoriam", "C. T. W.", "Sometime trooper of the Royal Horse Guards", "obiit H.M. prison, Reading, Berkshire", "July 7, 1896)", "", "I", "", "He did not wear his scarlet coat,", "For blood and wine are red,", "And blood and wine were on his hands", "When they found him with the dead,", "The poor dead woman whom he loved,", "And murdered in her bed.", "", "He walked amongst the Trial Men", "In a suit of shabby grey;", "A cricket cap was on his head,", "And his step seemed light and gay;", "But I never saw a man who looked", "So wistfully at the day.", "", "I never saw a man who looked", "With such a wistful eye", "Upon that little tent of blue", "Which prisoners call the sky,", "And at every drifting cloud that went", "With sails of silver by.", "", "I walked, with other souls in pain,", "Within another ring,", "And was wondering if the man had done", "A great or little thing,", "When a voice behind me whispered low,", "'THAT FELLOW'S GOT TO SWING.'", "", "Dear Christ! the very prison walls", "Suddenly seemed to reel,", "And the sky above my head became", "Like a casque of scorching steel;", "And, though I was a soul in pain,", "My pain I could not feel.", "", "I only knew what hunted thought", "Quickened his step, and why", "He looked upon the garish day", "With such a wistful eye;", "The man had killed the thing he loved,", "And so he had to die.", "", "", "Yet each man kills the thing he loves,", "By each let this be heard,", "Some do it with a bitter look,", "Some with a flattering word,", "The coward does it with a kiss,", "The brave man with a sword!", "", "Some kill their love when they are young,", "And some when they are old;", "Some strangle with the hands of Lust,", "Some with the hands of Gold:", "The kindest use a knife, because", "The dead so soon grow cold.", "", "Some love too little, some too long,", "Some sell, and others buy;", "Some do the deed with many tears,", "And some without a sigh:", "For each man kills the thing he loves,", "Yet each man does not die.", "", "He does not die a death of shame", "On a day of dark disgrace,", "Nor have a noose about his neck,", "Nor a cloth upon his face,", "Nor drop feet foremost through the floor", "Into an empty space.", "", "", "He does not sit with silent men", "Who watch him night and day;", "Who watch him when he tries to weep,", "And when he tries to pray;", "Who watch him lest himself should rob", "The prison of its prey.", "", "He does not wake at dawn to see", "Dread figures throng his room,", "The shivering Chaplain robed in white,", "The Sheriff stern with gloom,", "And the Governor all in shiny black,", "With the yellow face of Doom.", "", "He does not rise in piteous haste", "To put on convict-clothes,", "While some coarse-mouthed Doctor gloats,", "and notes", "Each new and nerve-twitched pose,", "Fingering a watch whose little ticks", "Are like horrible hammer-blows.", "", "He does not know that sickening thirst", "That sands one's throat, before", "The hangman with his gardener's gloves", "Slips through the padded door,", "And binds one with three leathern thongs,", "That the throat may thirst no more.", "", "He does not bend his head to hear", "The Burial Office read,", "Nor, while the terror of his soul", "Tells him he is not dead,", "Cross his own coffin, as he moves", "Into the hideous shed.", "", "He does not stare upon the air", "Through a little roof of glass:", "He does not pray with lips of clay", "For his agony to pass;", "Nor feel upon his shuddering cheek", "The kiss of Caiaphas.", "", "", "II", "", "", "Six weeks our guardsman walked the yard,", "In the suit of shabby grey:", "His cricket cap was on his head,", "And his step seemed light and gay,", "But I never saw a man who looked", "So wistfully at the day.", "", "I never saw a man who looked", "With such a wistful eye", "Upon that little tent of blue", "Which prisoners call the sky,", "And at every wandering cloud that trailed", "Its ravelled fleeces by.", "", "He did not wring his hands, as do", "Those witless men who dare", "To try to rear the changeling Hope", "In the cave of black Despair:", "He only looked upon the sun,", "And drank the morning air.", "", "He did not wring his hands nor weep,", "Nor did he peek or pine,", "But he drank the air as though it held", "Some healthful anodyne;", "With open mouth he drank the sun", "As though it had been wine!", "", "And I and all the souls in pain,", "Who tramped the other ring,", "Forgot if we ourselves had done", "A great or little thing,", "And watched with gaze of dull amaze", "The man who had to swing.", "", "And strange it was to see him pass", "With a step so light and gay,", "And strange it was to see him look", "So wistfully at the day,", "And strange it was to think that he", "Had such a debt to pay.", "", "", "For oak and elm have pleasant leaves", "That in the springtime shoot:", "But grim to see is the gallows-tree,", "With its adder-bitten root,", "And, green or dry, a man must die", "Before it bears its fruit!", "", "The loftiest place is that seat of grace", "For which all worldlings try:", "But who would stand in hempen band", "Upon a scaffold high,", "And through a murderer's collar take", "His last look at the sky?", "", "It is sweet to dance to violins", "When Love and Life are fair:", "To dance to flutes, to dance to lutes", "Is delicate and rare:", "But it is not sweet with nimble feet", "To dance upon the air!", "", "So with curious eyes and sick surmise", "We watched him day by day,", "And wondered if each one of us", "Would end the self-same way,", "For none can tell to what red Hell", "His sightless soul may stray.", "", "At last the dead man walked no more", "Amongst the Trial Men,", "And I knew that he was standing up", "In the black dock's dreadful pen,", "And that never would I see his face", "In God's sweet world again.", "", "Like two doomed ships that pass in storm", "We had crossed each other's way:", "But we made no sign, we said no word,", "We had no word to say;", "For we did not meet in the holy night,", "But in the shameful day.", "", "A prison wall was round us both,", "Two outcast men we were:", "The world had thrust us from its heart,", "And God from out His care:", "And the iron gin that waits for Sin", "Had caught us in its snare.", "", "", "III", "", "", "In Debtors' Yard the stones are hard,", "And the dripping wall is high,", "So it was there he took the air", "Beneath the leaden sky,", "And by each side a Warder walked,", "For fear the man might die.", "", "Or else he sat with those who watched", "His anguish night and day;", "Who watched him when he rose to weep,", "And when he crouched to pray;", "Who watched him lest himself should rob", "Their scaffold of its prey.", "", "The Governor was strong upon", "The Regulations Act:", "The Doctor said that Death was but", "A scientific fact:", "And twice a day the Chaplain called,", "And left a little tract.", "", "And twice a day he smoked his pipe,", "And drank his quart of beer:", "His soul was resolute, and held", "No hiding-place for fear;", "He often said that he was glad", "The hangman's hands were near.", "", "But why he said so strange a thing", "No Warder dared to ask:", "For he to whom a watcher's doom", "Is given as his task,", "Must set a lock upon his lips,", "And make his face a mask.", "", "Or else he might be moved, and try", "To comfort or console:", "And what should Human Pity do", "Pent up in Murderers' Hole?", "What word of grace in such a place", "Could help a brother's soul?", "", "", "With slouch and swing around the ring", "We trod the Fools' Parade!", "We did not care: we knew we were", "The Devil's Own Brigade:", "And shaven head and feet of lead", "Make a merry masquerade.", "", "We tore the tarry rope to shreds", "With blunt and bleeding nails;", "We rubbed the doors, and scrubbed the floors,", "And cleaned the shining rails:", "And, rank by rank, we soaped the plank,", "And clattered with the pails.", "", "We sewed the sacks, we broke the stones,", "We turned the dusty drill:", "We banged the tins, and bawled the hymns,", "And sweated on the mill:", "But in the heart of every man", "Terror was lying still.", "", "So still it lay that every day", "Crawled like a weed-clogged wave:", "And we forgot the bitter lot", "That waits for fool and knave,", "Till once, as we tramped in from work,", "We passed an open grave.", "", "With yawning mouth the yellow hole", "Gaped for a living thing;", "The very mud cried out for blood", "To the thirsty asphalte ring:", "And we knew that ere one dawn grew fair", "Some prisoner had to swing.", "", "Right in we went, with soul intent", "On Death and Dread and Doom:", "The hangman, with his little bag,", "Went shuffling through the gloom:", "And each man trembled as he crept", "Into his numbered tomb.", "", "", "That night the empty corridors", "Were full of forms of Fear,", "And up and down the iron town", "Stole feet we could not hear,", "And through the bars that hide the stars", "White faces seemed to peer.", "", "He lay as one who lies and dreams", "In a pleasant meadow-land,", "The watchers watched him as he slept,", "And could not understand", "How one could sleep so sweet a sleep", "With a hangman close at hand.", "", "But there is no sleep when men must weep", "Who never yet have wept:", "So we - the fool, the fraud, the knave -", "That endless vigil kept,", "And through each brain on hands of pain", "Another's terror crept.", "", "Alas! it is a fearful thing", "To feel another's guilt!", "For, right within, the sword of Sin", "Pierced to its poisoned hilt,", "And as molten lead were the tears we shed", "For the blood we had not spilt.", "", "The Warders with their shoes of felt", "Crept by each padlocked door,", "And peeped and saw, with eyes of awe,", "Grey figures on the floor,", "And wondered why men knelt to pray", "Who never prayed before.", "", "All through the night we knelt and prayed,", "Mad mourners of a corse!", "The troubled plumes of midnight were", "The plumes upon a hearse:", "And bitter wine upon a sponge", "Was the savour of Remorse.", "", "", "The grey cock crew, the red cock crew,", "But never came the day:", "And crooked shapes of Terror crouched,", "In the corners where we lay:", "And each evil sprite that walks by night", "Before us seemed to play.", "", "They glided past, they glided fast,", "Like travellers through a mist:", "They mocked the moon in a rigadoon", "Of delicate turn and twist,", "And with formal pace and loathsome grace", "The phantoms kept their tryst.", "", "With mop and mow, we saw them go,", "Slim shadows hand in hand:", "About, about, in ghostly rout", "They trod a saraband:", "And the damned grotesques made arabesques,", "Like the wind upon the sand!", "", "With the pirouettes of marionettes,", "They tripped on pointed tread:", "But with flutes of Fear they filled the ear,", "As their grisly masque they led,", "And loud they sang, and long they sang,", "For they sang to wake the dead.", "", "'Oho!' they cried, 'The world is wide,", "But fettered limbs go lame!", "And once, or twice, to throw the dice", "Is a gentlemanly game,", "But he does not win who plays with Sin", "In the secret House of Shame.'", "", "No things of air these antics were,", "That frolicked with such glee:", "To men whose lives were held in gyves,", "And whose feet might not go free,", "Ah! wounds of Christ! they were living things,", "Most terrible to see.", "", "Around, around, they waltzed and wound;", "Some wheeled in smirking pairs;", "With the mincing step of a demirep", "Some sidled up the stairs:", "And with subtle sneer, and fawning leer,", "Each helped us at our prayers.", "", "The morning wind began to moan,", "But still the night went on:", "Through its giant loom the web of gloom", "Crept till each thread was spun:", "And, as we prayed, we grew afraid", "Of the Justice of the Sun.", "", "The moaning wind went wandering round", "The weeping prison-wall:", "Till like a wheel of turning steel", "We felt the minutes crawl:", "O moaning wind! what had we done", "To have such a seneschal?", "", "At last I saw the shadowed bars,", "Like a lattice wrought in lead,", "Move right across the whitewashed wall", "That faced my three-plank bed,", "And I knew that somewhere in the world", "God's dreadful dawn was red.", "", "At six o'clock we cleaned our cells,", "At seven all was still,", "But the sough and swing of a mighty wing", "The prison seemed to fill,", "For the Lord of Death with icy breath", "Had entered in to kill.", "", "He did not pass in purple pomp,", "Nor ride a moon-white steed.", "Three yards of cord and a sliding board", "Are all the gallows' need:", "So with rope of shame the Herald came", "To do the secret deed.", "", "We were as men who through a fen", "Of filthy darkness grope:", "We did not dare to breathe a prayer,", "Or to give our anguish scope:", "Something was dead in each of us,", "And what was dead was Hope.", "", "For Man's grim Justice goes its way,", "And will not swerve aside:", "It slays the weak, it slays the strong,", "It has a deadly stride:", "With iron heel it slays the strong,", "The monstrous parricide!", "", "We waited for the stroke of eight:", "Each tongue was thick with thirst:", "For the stroke of eight is the stroke of Fate", "That makes a man accursed,", "And Fate will use a running noose", "For the best man and the worst.", "", "We had no other thing to do,", "Save to wait for the sign to come:", "So, like things of stone in a valley lone,", "Quiet we sat and dumb:", "But each man's heart beat thick and quick,", "Like a madman on a drum!", "", "With sudden shock the prison-clock", "Smote on the shivering air,", "And from all the gaol rose up a wail", "Of impotent despair,", "Like the sound that frightened marshes hear", "From some leper in his lair.", "", "And as one sees most fearful things", "In the crystal of a dream,", "We saw the greasy hempen rope", "Hooked to the blackened beam,", "And heard the prayer the hangman's snare", "Strangled into a scream.", "", "And all the woe that moved him so", "That he gave that bitter cry,", "And the wild regrets, and the bloody sweats,", "None knew so well as I:", "For he who lives more lives than one", "More deaths than one must die.", "", "", "IV", "", "", "There is no chapel on the day", "On which they hang a man:", "The Chaplain's heart is far too sick,", "Or his face is far too wan,", "Or there is that written in his eyes", "Which none should look upon.", "", "So they kept us close till nigh on noon,", "And then they rang the bell,", "And the Warders with their jingling keys", "Opened each listening cell,", "And down the iron stair we tramped,", "Each from his separate Hell.", "", "Out into God's sweet air we went,", "But not in wonted way,", "For this man's face was white with fear,", "And that man's face was grey,", "And I never saw sad men who looked", "So wistfully at the day.", "", "I never saw sad men who looked", "With such a wistful eye", "Upon that little tent of blue", "We prisoners called the sky,", "And at every careless cloud that passed", "In happy freedom by.", "", "But there were those amongst us all", "Who walked with downcast head,", "And knew that, had each got his due,", "They should have died instead:", "He had but killed a thing that lived,", "Whilst they had killed the dead.", "", "For he who sins a second time", "Wakes a dead soul to pain,", "And draws it from its spotted shroud,", "And makes it bleed again,", "And makes it bleed great gouts of blood,", "And makes it bleed in vain!", "", "", "Like ape or clown, in monstrous garb", "With crooked arrows starred,", "Silently we went round and round", "The slippery asphalte yard;", "Silently we went round and round,", "And no man spoke a word.", "", "Silently we went round and round,", "And through each hollow mind", "The Memory of dreadful things", "Rushed like a dreadful wind,", "And Horror stalked before each man,", "And Terror crept behind.", "", "", "The Warders strutted up and down,", "And kept their herd of brutes,", "Their uniforms were spick and span,", "And they wore their Sunday suits,", "But we knew the work they had been at,", "By the quicklime on their boots.", "", "For where a grave had opened wide,", "There was no grave at all:", "Only a stretch of mud and sand", "By the hideous prison-wall,", "And a little heap of burning lime,", "That the man should have his pall.", "", "For he has a pall, this wretched man,", "Such as few men can claim:", "Deep down below a prison-yard,", "Naked for greater shame,", "He lies, with fetters on each foot,", "Wrapt in a sheet of flame!", "", "And all the while the burning lime", "Eats flesh and bone away,", "It eats the brittle bone by night,", "And the soft flesh by day,", "It eats the flesh and bone by turns,", "But it eats the heart alway.", "", "", "For three long years they will not sow", "Or root or seedling there:", "For three long years the unblessed spot", "Will sterile be and bare,", "And look upon the wondering sky", "With unreproachful stare.", "", "They think a murderer's heart would taint", "Each simple seed they sow.", "It is not true! God's kindly earth", "Is kindlier than men know,", "And the red rose would but blow more red,", "The white rose whiter blow.", "", "Out of his mouth a red, red rose!", "Out of his heart a white!", "For who can say by what strange way,", "Christ brings His will to light,", "Since the barren staff the pilgrim bore", "Bloomed in the great Pope's sight?", "", "But neither milk-white rose nor red", "May bloom in prison-air;", "The shard, the pebble, and the flint,", "Are what they give us there:", "For flowers have been known to heal", "A common man's despair.", "", "So never will wine-red rose or white,", "Petal by petal, fall", "On that stretch of mud and sand that lies", "By the hideous prison-wall,", "To tell the men who tramp the yard", "That God's Son died for all.", "", "", "Yet though the hideous prison-wall", "Still hems him round and round,", "And a spirit may not walk by night", "That is with fetters bound,", "And a spirit may but weep that lies", "In such unholy ground,", "", "He is at peace - this wretched man -", "At peace, or will be soon:", "There is no thing to make him mad,", "Nor does Terror walk at noon,", "For the lampless Earth in which he lies", "Has neither Sun nor Moon.", "", "They hanged him as a beast is hanged:", "They did not even toll", "A requiem that might have brought", "Rest to his startled soul,", "But hurriedly they took him out,", "And hid him in a hole.", "", "They stripped him of his canvas clothes,", "And gave him to the flies:", "They mocked the swollen purple throat,", "And the stark and staring eyes:", "And with laughter loud they heaped the shroud", "In which their convict lies.", "", "The Chaplain would not kneel to pray", "By his dishonoured grave:", "Nor mark it with that blessed Cross", "That Christ for sinners gave,", "Because the man was one of those", "Whom Christ came down to save.", "", "Yet all is well; he has but passed", "To Life's appointed bourne:", "And alien tears will fill for him", "Pity's long-broken urn,", "For his mourners will be outcast men,", "And outcasts always mourn", "", "", "V", "", "", "I know not whether Laws be right,", "Or whether Laws be wrong;", "All that we know who lie in gaol", "Is that the wall is strong;", "And that each day is like a year,", "A year whose days are long.", "", "But this I know, that every Law", "That men have made for Man,", "Since first Man took his brother's life,", "And the sad world began,", "But straws the wheat and saves the chaff", "With a most evil fan.", "", "This too I know - and wise it were", "If each could know the same -", "That every prison that men build", "Is built with bricks of shame,", "And bound with bars lest Christ should see", "How men their brothers maim.", "", "With bars they blur the gracious moon,", "And blind the goodly sun:", "And they do well to hide their Hell,", "For in it things are done", "That Son of God nor son of Man", "Ever should look upon!", "", "", "The vilest deeds like poison weeds,", "Bloom well in prison-air;", "It is only what is good in Man", "That wastes and withers there:", "Pale Anguish keeps the heavy gate,", "And the Warder is Despair.", "", "For they starve the little frightened child", "Till it weeps both night and day:", "And they scourge the weak, and flog the fool,", "And gibe the old and grey,", "And some grow mad, and all grow bad,", "And none a word may say.", "", "Each narrow cell in which we dwell", "Is a foul and dark latrine,", "And the fetid breath of living Death", "Chokes up each grated screen,", "And all, but Lust, is turned to dust", "In Humanity's machine.", "", "The brackish water that we drink", "Creeps with a loathsome slime,", "And the bitter bread they weigh in scales", "Is full of chalk and lime,", "And Sleep will not lie down, but walks", "Wild-eyed, and cries to Time.", "", "", "But though lean Hunger and green Thirst", "Like asp with adder fight,", "We have little care of prison fare,", "For what chills and kills outright", "Is that every stone one lifts by day", "Becomes one's heart by night.", "", "With midnight always in one's heart,", "And twilight in one's cell,", "We turn the crank, or tear the rope,", "Each in his separate Hell,", "And the silence is more awful far", "Than the sound of a brazen bell.", "", "And never a human voice comes near", "To speak a gentle word:", "And the eye that watches through the door", "Is pitiless and hard:", "And by all forgot, we rot and rot,", "With soul and body marred.", "", "And thus we rust Life's iron chain", "Degraded and alone:", "And some men curse, and some men weep,", "And some men make no moan:", "But God's eternal Laws are kind", "And break the heart of stone.", "", "", "And every human heart that breaks,", "In prison-cell or yard,", "Is as that broken box that gave", "Its treasure to the Lord,", "And filled the unclean leper's house", "With the scent of costliest nard.", "", "Ah! happy they whose hearts can break", "And peace of pardon win!", "How else may man make straight his plan", "And cleanse his soul from Sin?", "How else but through a broken heart", "May Lord Christ enter in?", "", "", "And he of the swollen purple throat,", "And the stark and staring eyes,", "Waits for the holy hands that took", "The Thief to Paradise;", "And a broken and a contrite heart", "The Lord will not despise.", "", "The man in red who reads the Law", "Gave him three weeks of life,", "Three little weeks in which to heal", "His soul of his soul's strife,", "And cleanse from every blot of blood", "The hand that held the knife.", "", "And with tears of blood he cleansed the hand,", "The hand that held the steel:", "For only blood can wipe out blood,", "And only tears can heal:", "And the crimson stain that was of Cain", "Became Christ's snow-white seal.", "", "", "VI", "", "", "In Reading gaol by Reading town", "There is a pit of shame,", "And in it lies a wretched man", "Eaten by teeth of flame,", "In a burning winding-sheet he lies,", "And his grave has got no name.", "", "And there, till Christ call forth the dead,", "In silence let him lie:", "No need to waste the foolish tear,", "Or heave the windy sigh:", "The man had killed the thing he loved,", "And so he had to die.", "", "And all men kill the thing they love,", "By all let this be heard,", "Some do it with a bitter look,", "Some with a flattering word,", "The coward does it with a kiss,", "The brave man with a sword!" ], "linecount": "666" }, { "title": "Easter Day", "author": "Oscar Wilde", "lines": [ "The silver trumpets rang across the Dome:", "The people knelt upon the ground with awe:", "And borne upon the necks of men I saw,", "Like some great God, the Holy Lord of Rome.", "Priest-like, he wore a robe more white than foam,", "And, king-like, swathed himself in royal red,", "Three crowns of gold rose high upon his head:", "In splendour and in light the Pope passed home.", "My heart stole back across wide wastes of years", "To One who wandered by a lonely sea,", "And sought in vain for any place of rest:", "'Foxes have holes, and every bird its nest.", "I, only I, must wander wearily,", "And bruise my feet, and drink wine salt with tears.'" ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "To My Wife - With A Copy Of My Poems", "author": "Oscar Wilde", "lines": [ "I can write no stately proem", "As a prelude to my lay;", "From a poet to a poem", "I would dare to say.", "", "For if of these fallen petals", "One to you seem fair,", "Love will waft it till it settles", "On your hair.", "", "And when wind and winter harden", "All the loveless land,", "It will whisper of the garden,", "You will understand." ], "linecount": "12" }, { "title": "Ballade De Marguerite (Normande)", "author": "Oscar Wilde", "lines": [ "I am weary of lying within the chase", "When the knights are meeting in market-place.", "", "Nay, go not thou to the red-roofed town", "Lest the hoofs of the war-horse tread thee down.", "", "But I would not go where the Squires ride,", "I would only walk by my Lady's side.", "", "Alack! and alack! thou art overbold,", "A Forester's son may not eat off gold.", "", "Will she love me the less that my Father is seen", "Each Martinmas day in a doublet green?", "", "Perchance she is sewing at tapestrie,", "Spindle and loom are not meet for thee.", "", "Ah, if she is working the arras bright", "I might ravel the threads by the fire-light.", "", "Perchance she is hunting of the deer,", "How could you follow o'er hill and mere?", "", "Ah, if she is riding with the court,", "I might run beside her and wind the morte.", "", "Perchance she is kneeling in St. Denys,", "(On her soul may our Lady have gramercy!)", "", "Ah, if she is praying in lone chapelle,", "I might swing the censer and ring the bell.", "", "Come in, my son, for you look sae pale,", "The father shall fill thee a stoup of ale.", "", "But who are these knights in bright array?", "Is it a pageant the rich folks play?", "", "'T is the King of England from over sea,", "Who has come unto visit our fair countrie.", "", "But why does the curfew toll sae low?", "And why do the mourners walk a-row?", "", "O 't is Hugh of Amiens my sister's son", "Who is lying stark, for his day is done.", "", "Nay, nay, for I see white lilies clear,", "It is no strong man who lies on the bier.", "", "O 't is old Dame Jeannette that kept the hall,", "I knew she would die at the autumn fall.", "", "Dame Jeannette had not that gold-brown hair,", "Old Jeannette was not a maiden fair.", "", "O 't is none of our kith and none of our kin,", "(Her soul may our Lady assoil from sin!)", "", "But I hear the boy's voice chaunting sweet,", "'Elle est morte, la Marguerite.'", "", "Come in, my son, and lie on the bed,", "And let the dead folk bury their dead.", "", "O mother, you know I loved her true:", "O mother, hath one grave room for two?" ], "linecount": "46" }, { "title": "Nay, Lord, not thus! white lilies in the spring,", "author": "Oscar Wilde", "lines": [ "Seven stars in the still water,", "And seven in the sky;", "Seven sins on the King's daughter,", "Deep in her soul to lie.", "", "Red roses are at her feet,", "(Roses are red in her red-gold hair)", "And O where her bosom and girdle meet", "Red roses are hidden there.", "", "Fair is the knight who lieth slain", "Amid the rush and reed,", "See the lean fishes that are fain", "Upon dead men to feed.", "", "Sweet is the page that lieth there,", "(Cloth of gold is goodly prey,)", "See the black ravens in the air,", "Black, O black as the night are they.", "", "What do they there so stark and dead?", "(There is blood upon her hand)", "Why are the lilies flecked with red?", "(There is blood on the river sand.)", "", "There are two that ride from the south and east,", "And two from the north and west,", "For the black raven a goodly feast,", "For the King's daughter rest.", "", "There is one man who loves her true,", "(Red, O red, is the stain of gore!)", "He hath duggen a grave by the darksome yew,", "(One grave will do for four.)", "", "No moon in the still heaven,", "In the black water none,", "The sins on her soul are seven,", "The sin upon his is one." ], "linecount": "32" }, { "title": "Roses And Rue", "author": "Oscar Wilde", "lines": [ "(To L. L.)", "", "Could we dig up this long-buried treasure,", "Were it worth the pleasure,", "We never could learn love's song,", "We are parted too long.", "", "Could the passionate past that is fled", "Call back its dead,", "Could we live it all over again,", "Were it worth the pain!", "", "I remember we used to meet", "By an ivied seat,", "And you warbled each pretty word", "With the air of a bird;", "", "And your voice had a quaver in it,", "Just like a linnet,", "And shook, as the blackbird's throat", "With its last big note;", "", "And your eyes, they were green and grey", "Like an April day,", "But lit into amethyst", "When I stooped and kissed;", "", "And your mouth, it would never smile", "For a long, long while,", "Then it rippled all over with laughter", "Five minutes after.", "", "You were always afraid of a shower,", "Just like a flower:", "I remember you started and ran", "When the rain began.", "", "I remember I never could catch you,", "For no one could match you,", "You had wonderful, luminous, fleet,", "Little wings to your feet.", "", "I remember your hair - did I tie it?", "For it always ran riot -", "Like a tangled sunbeam of gold:", "These things are old.", "", "I remember so well the room,", "And the lilac bloom", "That beat at the dripping pane", "In the warm June rain;", "", "And the colour of your gown,", "It was amber-brown,", "And two yellow satin bows", "From your shoulders rose.", "", "And the handkerchief of French lace", "Which you held to your face -", "Had a small tear left a stain?", "Or was it the rain?", "", "On your hand as it waved adieu", "There were veins of blue;", "In your voice as it said good-bye", "Was a petulant cry,", "", "'You have only wasted your life.'", "(Ah, that was the knife!)", "When I rushed through the garden gate", "It was all too late.", "", "Could we live it over again,", "Were it worth the pain,", "Could the passionate past that is fled", "Call back its dead!", "", "Well, if my heart must break,", "Dear love, for your sake,", "It will break in music, I know,", "Poets' hearts break so.", "", "But strange that I was not told", "That the brain can hold", "In a tiny ivory cell", "God's heaven and hell." ], "linecount": "69" }, { "title": "Serenade (For Music)", "author": "Oscar Wilde", "lines": [ "The western wind is blowing fair", "Across the dark AEgean sea,", "And at the secret marble stair", "My Tyrian galley waits for thee.", "Come down! the purple sail is spread,", "The watchman sleeps within the town,", "O leave thy lily-flowered bed,", "O Lady mine come down, come down!", "", "She will not come, I know her well,", "Of lover's vows she hath no care,", "And little good a man can tell", "Of one so cruel and so fair.", "True love is but a woman's toy,", "They never know the lover's pain,", "And I who loved as loves a boy", "Must love in vain, must love in vain.", "", "O noble pilot, tell me true,", "Is that the sheen of golden hair?", "Or is it but the tangled dew", "That binds the passion-flowers there?", "Good sailor come and tell me now", "Is that my Lady's lily hand?", "Or is it but the gleaming prow,", "Or is it but the silver sand?", "", "No! no! 'tis not the tangled dew,", "'Tis not the silver-fretted sand,", "It is my own dear Lady true", "With golden hair and lily hand!", "O noble pilot, steer for Troy,", "Good sailor, ply the labouring oar,", "This is the Queen of life and joy", "Whom we must bear from Grecian shore!", "", "The waning sky grows faint and blue,", "It wants an hour still of day,", "Aboard! aboard! my gallant crew,", "O Lady mine, away! away!", "O noble pilot, steer for Troy,", "Good sailor, ply the labouring oar,", "O loved as only loves a boy!", "O loved for ever evermore!" ], "linecount": "40" }, { "title": "ENDYMION (For music)", "author": "Oscar Wilde", "lines": [ "The apple trees are hung with gold,", "And birds are loud in Arcady,", "The sheep lie bleating in the fold,", "The wild goat runs across the wold,", "But yesterday his love he told,", "I know he will come back to me.", "O rising moon! O Lady moon!", "Be you my lover's sentinel,", "You cannot choose but know him well,", "For he is shod with purple shoon,", "You cannot choose but know my love,", "For he a shepherd's crook doth bear,", "And he is soft as any dove,", "And brown and curly is his hair.", "", "The turtle now has ceased to call", "Upon her crimson-footed groom,", "The grey wolf prowls about the stall,", "The lily's singing seneschal", "Sleeps in the lily-bell, and all", "The violet hills are lost in gloom.", "O risen moon! O holy moon!", "Stand on the top of Helice,", "And if my own true love you see,", "Ah! if you see the purple shoon,", "The hazel crook, the lad's brown hair,", "The goat-skin wrapped about his arm,", "Tell him that I am waiting where", "The rushlight glimmers in the Farm.", "", "The falling dew is cold and chill,", "And no bird sings in Arcady,", "The little fauns have left the hill,", "Even the tired daffodil", "Has closed its gilded doors, and still", "My lover comes not back to me.", "False moon! False moon! O waning moon!", "Where is my own true lover gone,", "Where are the lips vermilion,", "The shepherd's crook, the purple shoon?", "Why spread that silver pavilion,", "Why wear that veil of drifting mist?", "Ah! thou hast young Endymion", "Thou hast the lips that should be kissed!" ], "linecount": "42" }, { "title": "From Spring Days To Winter (For Music)", "author": "Oscar Wilde", "lines": [ "In the glad springtime when leaves were green,", "O merrily the throstle sings!", "I sought, amid the tangled sheen,", "Love whom mine eyes had never seen,", "O the glad dove has golden wings!", "", "Between the blossoms red and white,", "O merrily the throstle sings!", "My love first came into my sight,", "O perfect vision of delight,", "O the glad dove has golden wings!", "", "The yellow apples glowed like fire,", "O merrily the throstle sings!", "O Love too great for lip or lyre,", "Blown rose of love and of desire,", "O the glad dove has golden wings!", "", "But now with snow the tree is grey,", "Ah, sadly now the throstle sings!", "My love is dead: ah! well-a-day,", "See at her silent feet I lay", "A dove with broken wings!", "Ah, Love! ah, Love! that thou wert slain -", "Fond Dove, fond Dove return again!" ], "linecount": "22" } ]