Part 42

Leigh Hunt [1784-1859]

ONLY OF THEE AND ME

Only of thee and me the night wind sings, Only of us the sailors speak at sea, The earth is filled with wondered whisperings Only of thee and me.

Only of thee and me the breakers chant, Only of us the stir in bush and tree; The rain and sunshine tell the eager plant Only of thee and me.

Only of thee and me, till all shall fade; Only of us the whole world's thoughts can be - For we are Love, and God Himself is made Only of thee and me.

Louis Untermeyer [1885-

TO ---

One word is too often profaned For me to profane it, One feeling too falsely disdained For thee to disdain it. One hope is too like despair For prudence to smother, And Pity from thee more dear Than that from another.

I can give not what men call love; But wilt thou accept not The worship the heart lifts above And the Heavens reject not: The desire of the moth for the star, Of the night for the morrow, The devotion to something afar From the sphere of our sorrow?

Percy Bysshe Shelley [1792-1822]

FROM THE ARABIC

My faint spirit was sitting in the light Of thy looks, my love; It panted for thee like the hind at noon For the brooks, my love. Thy barb, whose hoofs outspeed the tempest's flight, Bore thee far from me; My heart, for my weak feet were weary soon, Did companion thee.

Ah! fleeter far than fleetest storm or steed, Or the death they bear, The heart which tender thought clothes like a dove With the wings of care; In the battle, in the darkness, in the need, Shall mine cling to thee, Nor claim one smile for all the comfort, love, It may bring to thee.

Percy Bysshe Shelley [1792-1822]

THE WANDERING KNIGHT'S SONG

My ornaments are arms, My pastime is in war, My bed is cold upon the wold, My lamp yon star.

My journeyings are long, My slumbers short and broken; From hill to hill I wander still, Kissing thy token.

I ride from land to land, I sail from sea to sea; Some day more kind I fate may find, Some night, kiss thee.

John Gibson Lockhart [1794-1854]

SONG

Love's on the highroad, Love's in the byroad - Love's on the meadow, and Love's in the mart! And down every byway Where I've taken my way I've met Love a-smiling - for Love's in my heart!

Dana Burnet [1888-

THE SECRET LOVE

You and I have found the secret way, None can bar our love or say us nay: All the world may stare and never know You and I are twined together so.

You and I for all his vaunted width Know the giant Space is but a myth; Over miles and miles of pure deceit You and I have found our lips can meet.

You and I have laughed the leagues apart In the soft delight of heart to heart. If there's a gulf to meet or limit set, You and I have never found it yet.

You and I have trod the backward way To the happy heart of yesterday, To the love we felt in ages past. You and I have found it still to last.

You and I have found the joy had birth In the angel childhood of the earth, Hid within the heart of man and maid. You and I of Time are not afraid.