A ROMAN'S CHAMBER

I

IN the cave which wild weeds cover
Wait for thine ethereal lover;
For the pallid moon is waning,
O'er the spiral cypress hanging,
And the moon no cloud is staining.

II

It was once a Roman's chamber,

And the wild weeds twine and clamber,
Where he kept his darkest revels;

It was then a chasm for devils.

SONG OF THE FURIES

WHEN a lover clasps his fairest,
Then be our dread sport the rarest.
Their caresses were like the chaff
In the tempest, and be our laugh
His despair- her epitaph!

When a mother clasps her child,
Watch till dusty Death has piled
His cold ashes on the clay;

A Roman's Chamber || The Roman's Chamber, Forman. Published by Mrs. Shelley, 18392, dated 1819.

ii. 2, 3 Rossetti || transpose, Mrs. Shelley, 18392.

Song of the Furies, Dowden || Fragment of an Incantation, Forman. Published by Mrs. Shelley, 18392, dated 1819.

THE rude wind is singing

The dirge of the music dead;
The cold worms are clinging
Where kisses were lately fed.

BEFORE AND AFTER

THE babe is at peace within the womb;
The corpse is at rest within the tomb :
We begin in what we end.

THE SHADOW OF HELL

A GOLDEN-WINGED Angel stood
Before the Eternal Judgment-seat:
His looks were wild, and Devils' blood
Stained his dainty hands and feet.

The Father and the Son

Knew that strife was now begun.

They knew that Satan had broken his chain,

"The Rude Wind is singing." Published by Mrs. Shelley, 18391, dated 1821.

Before and After || Peace First and Last, Forman; Peace Surrounding Life, Dowden. Published by Mrs. Shelley, 18392, dated 1821.

The Shadow of Hell || Satan Loose, Forman; Sutan at Large, Dowden. Published by Rossetti, 1870, dated 1817.

And with millions of demons in his train,

Was ranging over the world again.

Before the Angel had told his tale,

A sweet and a creeping sound

Like the rushing of wings was heard around; And suddenly the lamps grew pale —

The lamps, before the Archangels seven-
That burn continually in heaven.

CONSEQUENCE

THE viewless and invisible Consequence
Watches thy goings-out, and comings-in,
And... hovers o'er thy guilty sleep,
Unveiling every new-born deed, and thoughts
More ghastly than those deeds.

A HATE-SONG

A HATER he came and sat by a ditch,
And he took an old cracked lute;
And he sang a song which was

screech

'Gainst a woman that was a brute.

more of a

A FACE

wrinkled and loose

HIS face was like a snake's

And withered.

Consequence, Forman. Published by Rossetti, 1870, dated 1820.
A Hate-Song. Published by Rossetti, 1870, dated 1817.
A Face, Forman. Published by Rossetti, 1870; dated 1820.

THE POET'S LOVER

I AM as a spirit who has dwelt

Within his heart of hearts, and I have felt

His feelings, and have thought his thoughts, and known

The inmost converse of his soul, the tone
Unheard but in the silence of his blood,
When all the pulses in their multitude
Image the trembling calm of summer seas.
I have unlocked the golden melodies
Of his deep soul, as with a master-key,
And loosened them and bathed myself therein
Even as an eagle in a thunder-mist
Clothing his wings with lightning.

"I WOULD NOT BE A KING"

I WOULD not be a king - enough
Of woe it is to love;

The path to power is steep and rough,
And tempests reign above.

I would not climb the imperial throne;
"Tis built on ice which fortune's sun
Thaws in the height of noon.
Then farewell, king, yet were I one,

Care would not come so soon.
Would he and I were far away

Keeping flocks on Himalay!

The Poet's Lover || A Soul Known, Forman; Fellowship of

Souls, Dowden. Published by Garnett, 1862, dated 1819.

"I would not be a King." Published by Mrs. Shelley, 18392, dated 1821.

"IS IT THAT IN SOME BRIGHTER SPHERE"

Is it that in some brighter sphere

We part from friends we meet with here?
Or do we see the Future pass

Over the Present's dusky glass?

Or what is that that makes us seem
To patch up fragments of a dream,
Part of which comes true, and part
Beats and trembles in the heart?

TO-DAY

AND who feels discord now or sorrow?
Love is the universe to-day;
These are the slaves of dim to-morrow,
Darkening Life's labyrinthine way.

LOVE'S ATMOSPHERE

THERE is a warm and gentle atmosphere
About the form of one we love, and thus
As in a tender mist our spirits are

Wrapped in the

of that which is to us

The health of life's own life.

"Is it that in some Brighter Sphere" || Questions, Forman; Reminiscence and Desire, Dowden. Published by Garnett, 1862, dated 1819.

To-day | Love the Universe, Forman. Published by Mrs. Shelley, 18391, dated 1819.

Love's Atmosphere, Forman. Published by Mrs. Shelley, 18392, dated 1819.