Love-poems

Dead Poets Society

Poetryweb

It is the hour when from the boughs 
The nightingale's high note is heard; 
It is the hour -- when lover's vows 
Seem sweet in every whisper'd word; 
And gentle winds and waters near, 
Make music to the lonely ear. 
Each flower the dews have lightly wet, 
And in the sky the stars are met, 
And on the wave is deeper blue, 
And on the leaf a browner hue, 
And in the Heaven that clear obscure 
So softly dark, and darkly pure, 
That follows the decline of day 
As twilight melts beneath the moon away. 

So we'll go no more a roving 
     So late into the night, 
Though the heart be still as loving, 
     And the moon be still as bright. 

For the sword outwears its sheath, 
     And the soul wears out the breast, 
And the heart must pause to breathe, 
     And Love itself have rest. 

Though the night was made for loving, 
     And the day returns too soon, 
Yet we'll go no more a roving 
     By the light of the moon. 

When we two parted
In silence and tears,
Half broken-hearted
To sever for years,
Pale grew thy cheek and cold,
Colder thy kiss;
Truly that hour foretold
Sorrow to this. 

The dew of the morning
Sunk chill on my brow-
It felt like the warning
Of what I feel now.
Thy vows are all broken,
And light is thy fame:
I hear thy name spoken,
And share in its shame. 

They name thee before me,
A knell to mine ear;
A shudder comes o'er me-
Why were thou so dear?
They know not I knew thee,
Who knew thee too well:-
Long, long shall I rue thee,
Too deeply to tell. 

In secret we met-
In silence I grieve,
That thy heart could forget,
Thy spirit deceive.
If I should meet thee
After long years,
How should I greet thee?-
With silence and tears.

Remind me not, remind me not, 
Of those beloved, those vanish'd hours, 
When all my soul was given to thee; 
Hours that may never be forgot, 
Till Time unnerves our vital powers, 
And thou and I shall cease to be. 

Can I forget---canst thou forget, 
When playing with thy golden hair, 
How quick thy fluttering heart did move? 
Oh! by my soul, I see thee yet, 
With eyes so languid, breast so fair, 
And lips, though silent, breathing love. 

When thus reclining on my breast, 
Those eyes threw back a glance so sweet, 
As half reproach'd yet rais'd desire, 
And still we near and nearer prest, 
And still our glowing lips would meet, 
As if in kisses to expire. 

And then those pensive eyes would close, 
And bid their lids each other seek, 
Veiling the azure orbs below; 
While their long lashes' darken'd gloss 
Seem'd stealing o'er thy brilliant cheek, 
Like raven's plumage smooth'd on snow. 

I dreamt last night our love return'd, 
And, sooth to say, that very dream 
Was sweeter in its phantasy, 
Than if for other hearts I burn'd, 
For eyes that ne'er like thine could beam 
In Rapture's wild reality. 

Then tell me not, remind me not, 
Of hours which, though for ever gone, 
Can still a pleasing dream restore, 
Till Thou and I shall be forgot, 
And senseless, as the mouldering stone 
Which tells that we shall be no more.

 And wilt thou weep when I am low?
Sweet lady! speak those words again:
Yet if they grieve thee, say not so---
I would not give that bosom pain.

My heart is sad, my hopes are gone,
My blood runs coldly through my breast;
And when I perish, thou alone
Wilt sigh above my place of rest.

And yet, methinks, a gleam of peace
Doth through my cloud of anguish shine:
And for a while my sorrows cease,
To know thy heart hath felt for mine.

Oh lady! blessd be that tear---
It falls for one who cannot weep;
Such precious drops are doubly dear
To those whose eyes no tear may steep.

Sweet lady! once my heart was warm
With every feeling soft as thine;
But Beauty's self hath ceased to charm
A wretch created to repine.

Yet wilt thou weep when I am low?
Sweet lady! speak those words again:
Yet if they grieve thee, say not so---
I would not give that bosom pain. 

I speak not, I trace not, I breathe not thy name; 
There is grief in the sound, there is guilt in the fame; 
But the tear that now burns on my cheek may impart 
The deep thoughts that dwell in that silence of heart. 
Too brief for our passion, too long for our peace, 
Were those hours - can their joy or their bitterness cease? 
We repent, we abjure, we will break from our chain, - 
We will part, we will fly to - unite it again! 
Oh! thine be the gladness, and mine be the guilt! 
Forgive me, adored one! - forsake if thou wilt; 
But the heart which is thine shall expire undebased, 
And man shall not break it - whatever thou may'st. 
And stern to the haughty, but humble to thee, 
This soul in its bitterest blackness shall be; 
And our days seem as swift, and our moments more sweet, 
With thee at my side, than with worlds at our feet. 
One sigh of thy sorrow, one look of thy love, 
Shall turn me or fix, shall reward or reprove. 
And the heartless may wonder at all I resign - 
Thy lips shall reply, not to them, but to mine.

Thy cheek is pale with thought, but not from woe, 
And yet so lovely, that if Mirth could flush 
Its rose of whiteness with the brightest blush, 
My heart would wish away that ruder glow: 
And dazzle not thy deep-blue eyes---but, oh! 
While gazing on them sterner eyes will gush, 
And into mine my mother's weakness rush, 
Soft as the last drops round Heaven's airy bow. 
For, though thy long dark lashes low depending, 
The soul of melancholy Gentleness 
Gleams like a Seraph from the sky descending, 
Above all pain, yet pitying all distress; 
At once such majesty with sweetness blending, 
I worship more, but cannot love thee less.

 Maid Of Athens, Ere We Part
        Zoë mou, sas agapo [My life, I love you]

Maid of Athens, ere we part,
Give, oh, give me back my heart!
Or, since that has left my breast,
Keep it now, and take the rest!
Hear my vow before I go,
Zoë mou, sas agapo.

By those tresses unconfined,
Woo'd by each Aegean wind;
By those lids whose jetty fringe
Kiss thy soft cheeks' blooming tinge;
By those wild eyes like the roe,
Zoë mou, sas agapo.

By that lip I long to taste;
By that zone-encircled waist;
By all the token-flowers that tell
What words can never speak so well;
By love's alternate joy and woe,
Zoë mou, sas agapo.

Maid of Athens! I am gone:
Think of me, sweet! when alone.
Though I fly to Istambol,
Athens holds my heart and soul:
Can I cease to love thee? No!
Zoë mou, sas agapo.

 There be none of Beauty's daughters        Stanzas for Music

There be none of Beauty's daughters 
With a magic like Thee; 
And like music on the waters 
Is thy sweet voice to me: 
When, as if its sound were causing 
The charméd ocean's pausing, 
The waves lie still and gleaming, 
And the lull'd winds seem dreaming: 
And the midnight moon is weaving 
Her bright chain o'er the deep, 
Whose breast is gently heaving 
As an infant's asleep: 
So the spirit bows before thee 
To listen and adore thee; 
With a full but soft emotion, 
Like the swell of Summer's ocean.

George Gordon Byron
(1788 - 1824)