https://sonett.fontane-place.de/ Sun, 28 Jun 2026 18:44:09 +0000 MyBB https://sonett.fontane-place.de/showthread.php?tid=17134 Mon, 23 Jul 2007 11:19:32 +0200 ZaunköniG]]> https://sonett.fontane-place.de/showthread.php?tid=17134 Spring streams of comfort, crystalline and mild,
To cool the wound the sudden stroke has wrought
And bid my heart in peace be reconciled.
My spirit whispers--"From this meteor flown,
Draw knowledge of the stars, now all is done.
Assign it station in some system known,
Part of the ordered brightness round the sun."
Good counsel!--reconcile, transmute, remould
To earth's conglomerate mass this unconfined
Pilgrim of sky,--or label it, grown cold,
To edify a chaos-fearing mind? . . .
Love, love, I keep memorial of you! Nay!--
Unsolved, bright, lonely, till my Judgment Day!]]> Spring streams of comfort, crystalline and mild,
To cool the wound the sudden stroke has wrought
And bid my heart in peace be reconciled.
My spirit whispers--"From this meteor flown,
Draw knowledge of the stars, now all is done.
Assign it station in some system known,
Part of the ordered brightness round the sun."
Good counsel!--reconcile, transmute, remould
To earth's conglomerate mass this unconfined
Pilgrim of sky,--or label it, grown cold,
To edify a chaos-fearing mind? . . .
Love, love, I keep memorial of you! Nay!--
Unsolved, bright, lonely, till my Judgment Day!]]> https://sonett.fontane-place.de/showthread.php?tid=17133 Mon, 23 Jul 2007 11:18:54 +0200 ZaunköniG]]> https://sonett.fontane-place.de/showthread.php?tid=17133 Answer me, tell me, why you chose to go?
Why did you seek that far-strewn firmament?
Was loneliness not keen enough below?
Did some old wrong affright you? Some new ill?
Did one more bloom that lured you turn to dust?
What spur could goad that lovely weary will,
What hopeless calm, what storm of shaken trust?
Across the giant waste of this unknown
Must I forever send my questionings?
Had you no word to leave me for my own
Before you went? Must my imaginings
Deem you forgot?--Or did you[r] heart foretell
That time's whole later hush would speak farewell?]]> Answer me, tell me, why you chose to go?
Why did you seek that far-strewn firmament?
Was loneliness not keen enough below?
Did some old wrong affright you? Some new ill?
Did one more bloom that lured you turn to dust?
What spur could goad that lovely weary will,
What hopeless calm, what storm of shaken trust?
Across the giant waste of this unknown
Must I forever send my questionings?
Had you no word to leave me for my own
Before you went? Must my imaginings
Deem you forgot?--Or did you[r] heart foretell
That time's whole later hush would speak farewell?]]> https://sonett.fontane-place.de/showthread.php?tid=17132 Mon, 23 Jul 2007 11:18:23 +0200 ZaunköniG]]> https://sonett.fontane-place.de/showthread.php?tid=17132 More than a fragment of the words they said.
Their further speech died dull upon my ear;
For my rapt spirit otherwhere had fled--
Fled unto you in other times and places.
Old memories winged about me in glad flight.
I saw your lips of longing and delight,--
Your grave glad eyes beyond their chattering faces.
I saw a world where you have been to me
More than the sun, more than the wakening wind.
I saw a brightness that they could not see.
And yet I seemed as smitten deaf and blind.
I heard but fragments of the words they said.
Life wanes. The sunlight darkens. You are dead.]]> More than a fragment of the words they said.
Their further speech died dull upon my ear;
For my rapt spirit otherwhere had fled--
Fled unto you in other times and places.
Old memories winged about me in glad flight.
I saw your lips of longing and delight,--
Your grave glad eyes beyond their chattering faces.
I saw a world where you have been to me
More than the sun, more than the wakening wind.
I saw a brightness that they could not see.
And yet I seemed as smitten deaf and blind.
I heard but fragments of the words they said.
Life wanes. The sunlight darkens. You are dead.]]> https://sonett.fontane-place.de/showthread.php?tid=17131 Mon, 23 Jul 2007 11:17:50 +0200 ZaunköniG]]> https://sonett.fontane-place.de/showthread.php?tid=17131 March drives his windy chariot-wheels of cold.
Somewhere, they tell me, Spring is waiting near. . . .
But all my heart is with things grey and old:--
Reliques of other Aprils, that are blown
Recklessly up and down the barren earth;
Mine the dull grasses by the Winter mown,
And the chill echoes of forgotten mirth.
Spring comes, but not for me. I know the sign
And feel it alien. I am of an age
That passes. All the blossoms that were mine
Lie trampled now beneath December's rage.
Ye children of the Spring,--may life be sweet!
For me, the world crumbles beneath my feet.]]> March drives his windy chariot-wheels of cold.
Somewhere, they tell me, Spring is waiting near. . . .
But all my heart is with things grey and old:--
Reliques of other Aprils, that are blown
Recklessly up and down the barren earth;
Mine the dull grasses by the Winter mown,
And the chill echoes of forgotten mirth.
Spring comes, but not for me. I know the sign
And feel it alien. I am of an age
That passes. All the blossoms that were mine
Lie trampled now beneath December's rage.
Ye children of the Spring,--may life be sweet!
For me, the world crumbles beneath my feet.]]> https://sonett.fontane-place.de/showthread.php?tid=17130 Mon, 23 Jul 2007 11:17:07 +0200 ZaunköniG]]> https://sonett.fontane-place.de/showthread.php?tid=17130 More numerous than the clear-cut shade of day. . . .
Go forth, when all the leaves whisper of June,
Into the dusk of swooping bats at play,--
Or go into that late November dusk
When hills take on the noble lines of death,
And on the air the faint astringent musk
Of rotting leaves pours vaguely troubling breath.--
Then shall you see shadows whereof the sun
Knows nothing,--aye, a thousand shadows there
Shall leap and flicker and stir and stay and run,
Like petrels of the changing foul or fair,--
Like ghosts of twilight, of the moon, of him
Whose homeland lies past each horizon's rim. . . .]]> More numerous than the clear-cut shade of day. . . .
Go forth, when all the leaves whisper of June,
Into the dusk of swooping bats at play,--
Or go into that late November dusk
When hills take on the noble lines of death,
And on the air the faint astringent musk
Of rotting leaves pours vaguely troubling breath.--
Then shall you see shadows whereof the sun
Knows nothing,--aye, a thousand shadows there
Shall leap and flicker and stir and stay and run,
Like petrels of the changing foul or fair,--
Like ghosts of twilight, of the moon, of him
Whose homeland lies past each horizon's rim. . . .]]> https://sonett.fontane-place.de/showthread.php?tid=17129 Mon, 23 Jul 2007 11:16:16 +0200 ZaunköniG]]> https://sonett.fontane-place.de/showthread.php?tid=17129 Is not, and never while time lasts can be.
It is a tale of lights down rain-gusts seen,--
Of midnight argent mad moon-archery.
Ah, life that vexes all men plagued us most!
And made us motes in winds that blew from far,--
Credulous of the whispers of a ghost,--
Fain of the light of some long-quenchèd star.
What were you that I loved you? What was I
That I perturbed you? Shapes of restless sleep!
A shadow from a cloud that hurried by,--
A ripple of great powers that stirred the deep.
And we, too supple for life's storms to break,
Writhed at a dream's touch, for a shadow's sake!]]> Is not, and never while time lasts can be.
It is a tale of lights down rain-gusts seen,--
Of midnight argent mad moon-archery.
Ah, life that vexes all men plagued us most!
And made us motes in winds that blew from far,--
Credulous of the whispers of a ghost,--
Fain of the light of some long-quenchèd star.
What were you that I loved you? What was I
That I perturbed you? Shapes of restless sleep!
A shadow from a cloud that hurried by,--
A ripple of great powers that stirred the deep.
And we, too supple for life's storms to break,
Writhed at a dream's touch, for a shadow's sake!]]> https://sonett.fontane-place.de/showthread.php?tid=17128 Mon, 23 Jul 2007 11:15:36 +0200 ZaunköniG]]> https://sonett.fontane-place.de/showthread.php?tid=17128 Down the long passage of a hundred years,
Should breathe his longing through the words I sing--
And close the book, dazed by a woman's tears?
Does it mean aught to you that such might be? . . .
Ah! we far-seekers! . . . Solely thus were proved
From dream to deed the souls of you and me;--
Thus only were it real that we had loved,
Grey ghosts blown down the desolate moors of time!
Poor wanderers, lost to any hope of rest!
Joined by the measure of a faltering rhyme!
Sundered by deep division of the breast!--
Sundered by all wherein we both have part;
Joined by the far-world seeking of each heart.]]> Down the long passage of a hundred years,
Should breathe his longing through the words I sing--
And close the book, dazed by a woman's tears?
Does it mean aught to you that such might be? . . .
Ah! we far-seekers! . . . Solely thus were proved
From dream to deed the souls of you and me;--
Thus only were it real that we had loved,
Grey ghosts blown down the desolate moors of time!
Poor wanderers, lost to any hope of rest!
Joined by the measure of a faltering rhyme!
Sundered by deep division of the breast!--
Sundered by all wherein we both have part;
Joined by the far-world seeking of each heart.]]> https://sonett.fontane-place.de/showthread.php?tid=17127 Mon, 23 Jul 2007 11:14:58 +0200 ZaunköniG]]> https://sonett.fontane-place.de/showthread.php?tid=17127
I needs must know that in the days to come
No child that from our Summer sprang shall be
To give our voices when the lips are dumb
That lingering breath of immortality.
Nay, all our longing compassed not such hope,
Nor did we, in our flame-shot passagings,
Push the horizon of our visions' scope
To regions of these far entangled things.
I knew not such desire. But now I know.--
O perfect body! O wild soul a-flower!
We, wholly kindled by life's whitest glow,
Turned barren from our life-commanding hour. . . .
Now while I dream, sweetness of that desire
Lies on my heart like veils of parching fire.]]>
I needs must know that in the days to come
No child that from our Summer sprang shall be
To give our voices when the lips are dumb
That lingering breath of immortality.
Nay, all our longing compassed not such hope,
Nor did we, in our flame-shot passagings,
Push the horizon of our visions' scope
To regions of these far entangled things.
I knew not such desire. But now I know.--
O perfect body! O wild soul a-flower!
We, wholly kindled by life's whitest glow,
Turned barren from our life-commanding hour. . . .
Now while I dream, sweetness of that desire
Lies on my heart like veils of parching fire.]]> https://sonett.fontane-place.de/showthread.php?tid=17126 Mon, 23 Jul 2007 11:14:16 +0200 ZaunköniG]]> https://sonett.fontane-place.de/showthread.php?tid=17126 Not of the spirit or the mind alone,
Outlasting far the dominance of a mood,
Eating corrosive into flesh and bone.
And what shall medicine this mortal ill
I know not, nor the surgeons truly know.
They tap and peer and pry their foolish fill,--
But still the dizzy humors ebb and flow.
And yet I somehow feel that did you lay
Your hand upon my heart and bid it beat,
There might come back my youth's unwearied day,
And all the world-paths call my healèd feet.
For in a world where soul and body mesh,
Surely so much the spirit may mould the flesh?]]> Not of the spirit or the mind alone,
Outlasting far the dominance of a mood,
Eating corrosive into flesh and bone.
And what shall medicine this mortal ill
I know not, nor the surgeons truly know.
They tap and peer and pry their foolish fill,--
But still the dizzy humors ebb and flow.
And yet I somehow feel that did you lay
Your hand upon my heart and bid it beat,
There might come back my youth's unwearied day,
And all the world-paths call my healèd feet.
For in a world where soul and body mesh,
Surely so much the spirit may mould the flesh?]]> https://sonett.fontane-place.de/showthread.php?tid=17125 Mon, 23 Jul 2007 11:13:43 +0200 ZaunköniG]]> https://sonett.fontane-place.de/showthread.php?tid=17125 Are swift; and out of them the sun comes free.
The mists that drift beneath the flying moon
Reveal new brightness of her wizardry.
Not so the shadows that on the spirit fall,
Moving like torrents that wind the mountain-steep.
Down from the slopes they bear beyond recall
Earth and flowers; their pathway is graven deep.
They wear the iron rock; they change the hills;
The slopes are torn; the peaks fall; the vales flood wide.
And when the waters cease, and sound of rills
Remains, the battle's echo, down the mountain-side,
Passers-by shall marvel, in far-off days--
"Here lie forever the torrent's ancient ways!"]]> Are swift; and out of them the sun comes free.
The mists that drift beneath the flying moon
Reveal new brightness of her wizardry.
Not so the shadows that on the spirit fall,
Moving like torrents that wind the mountain-steep.
Down from the slopes they bear beyond recall
Earth and flowers; their pathway is graven deep.
They wear the iron rock; they change the hills;
The slopes are torn; the peaks fall; the vales flood wide.
And when the waters cease, and sound of rills
Remains, the battle's echo, down the mountain-side,
Passers-by shall marvel, in far-off days--
"Here lie forever the torrent's ancient ways!"]]> https://sonett.fontane-place.de/showthread.php?tid=17124 Mon, 23 Jul 2007 11:13:11 +0200 ZaunköniG]]> https://sonett.fontane-place.de/showthread.php?tid=17124 To strangers, meeting, of their rank and name.
The great archangel hosts no aureoles wear,
And Satan's minions prance ungirt of flame.
In vesture undemonstrative they come
And stand like mighty shadows at the gate,
Their eyes subdued, their eloquent voices dumb,
Their hands concealed that hold such turns of fate.
Greet thou the stranger! give him of thy best,
As fits the pilgrim of an unknown day.
Then when thy board is emptied of its guest,
And o'er the hills that vast form stalks away,
Evening, mayhap, across thy door shall fall
Ere thou know sure what garments swept thy hall.]]> To strangers, meeting, of their rank and name.
The great archangel hosts no aureoles wear,
And Satan's minions prance ungirt of flame.
In vesture undemonstrative they come
And stand like mighty shadows at the gate,
Their eyes subdued, their eloquent voices dumb,
Their hands concealed that hold such turns of fate.
Greet thou the stranger! give him of thy best,
As fits the pilgrim of an unknown day.
Then when thy board is emptied of its guest,
And o'er the hills that vast form stalks away,
Evening, mayhap, across thy door shall fall
Ere thou know sure what garments swept thy hall.]]> https://sonett.fontane-place.de/showthread.php?tid=17123 Mon, 23 Jul 2007 11:12:37 +0200 ZaunköniG]]> https://sonett.fontane-place.de/showthread.php?tid=17123 And soars on pinions of authentic might
To glad communion with its sister-stars,
Needing no guidance save its own pure light.
But ere it break the prison of its fears,
Some kinship with the heavens must touch its soul,--
Or, past the wreckage of the shattered years,
It shall drift alien where calm splendors roll. . . .
There is a love born of an exile's heart,--
That shares not in love's universal breath,--
That craves not all life's beauty, but one part
From the rest sundered. And its way is death.
Yet as through night its dying gleam sweeps by,
It mocks the earth,--it, pilgrim of the sky.]]> And soars on pinions of authentic might
To glad communion with its sister-stars,
Needing no guidance save its own pure light.
But ere it break the prison of its fears,
Some kinship with the heavens must touch its soul,--
Or, past the wreckage of the shattered years,
It shall drift alien where calm splendors roll. . . .
There is a love born of an exile's heart,--
That shares not in love's universal breath,--
That craves not all life's beauty, but one part
From the rest sundered. And its way is death.
Yet as through night its dying gleam sweeps by,
It mocks the earth,--it, pilgrim of the sky.]]> https://sonett.fontane-place.de/showthread.php?tid=17122 Mon, 23 Jul 2007 11:11:59 +0200 ZaunköniG]]> https://sonett.fontane-place.de/showthread.php?tid=17122 A glimpse of life's obscure authentic lord--
A link from mote to planet,--these with awe
The saint and lover crave, in deep accord.
Yet must the lover ofttimes turn aside
From where the saint, sure of his truth, would bound
Powers that, beyond known confines circling wide,
The unproved dominance of his dream confound.
Sometimes across the vastness of free sky,
Beyond the orbit of life's charted world,
A wandering spectre of the dark goes by--
A flaming comet out of chaos hurled:--
And wise men doubt their wisdom, as that light
Plunges unknown down chasms of boundless night.]]> A glimpse of life's obscure authentic lord--
A link from mote to planet,--these with awe
The saint and lover crave, in deep accord.
Yet must the lover ofttimes turn aside
From where the saint, sure of his truth, would bound
Powers that, beyond known confines circling wide,
The unproved dominance of his dream confound.
Sometimes across the vastness of free sky,
Beyond the orbit of life's charted world,
A wandering spectre of the dark goes by--
A flaming comet out of chaos hurled:--
And wise men doubt their wisdom, as that light
Plunges unknown down chasms of boundless night.]]> https://sonett.fontane-place.de/showthread.php?tid=17121 Mon, 23 Jul 2007 11:11:20 +0200 ZaunköniG]]> https://sonett.fontane-place.de/showthread.php?tid=17121 Of Cytherea from her sapphire bays,--
When troubadour-romance grows ghastly pale
In death, and love has come on doubtful days,--
When harlots walk the streets enticing lust,
And dull convenience seals the marriage bond,
And love scarce knows itself from friendly trust,
And restless hearts strain toward some fresh beyond,--
In such an hour, vex not with idle blame
The wreck of two, adrift where windy moods
Trouble the deep. Look inward! let the flame
Reveal if moths have spared your treasured goods.
And he whose hopes are bright and sure, alone
Let him take up the first accusing stone.]]> Of Cytherea from her sapphire bays,--
When troubadour-romance grows ghastly pale
In death, and love has come on doubtful days,--
When harlots walk the streets enticing lust,
And dull convenience seals the marriage bond,
And love scarce knows itself from friendly trust,
And restless hearts strain toward some fresh beyond,--
In such an hour, vex not with idle blame
The wreck of two, adrift where windy moods
Trouble the deep. Look inward! let the flame
Reveal if moths have spared your treasured goods.
And he whose hopes are bright and sure, alone
Let him take up the first accusing stone.]]> https://sonett.fontane-place.de/showthread.php?tid=17120 Mon, 23 Jul 2007 11:10:44 +0200 ZaunköniG]]> https://sonett.fontane-place.de/showthread.php?tid=17120 Whose beam I can approach but to eclipse,--
Whose glow I can but darken when your praise
In half-unconscious singing stirs my lips,--
Propitious do I deem the leagues of night
That sunder me from regions where you are.
Ere I would quench one glad ray of your light,
I would that you were still my unknown star.
When in the future days I draw not nigh
And mar no more calm skies where you are set,
Think not my night of memory has gone by;--
And, silent star, let not your heart forget.--
Let sometime, somewhere, one clear midnight be
When you revisit this dark troubled sea.]]> Whose beam I can approach but to eclipse,--
Whose glow I can but darken when your praise
In half-unconscious singing stirs my lips,--
Propitious do I deem the leagues of night
That sunder me from regions where you are.
Ere I would quench one glad ray of your light,
I would that you were still my unknown star.
When in the future days I draw not nigh
And mar no more calm skies where you are set,
Think not my night of memory has gone by;--
And, silent star, let not your heart forget.--
Let sometime, somewhere, one clear midnight be
When you revisit this dark troubled sea.]]>