Page:The collected poems, lyrical and narrative, of A. Mary F. Robinson.djvu/39

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Tuscan Cypress



x.

There is a Siren in the middle sea
Sings all day long and wreathes her pallid hair.
Seven years you sail, and seven, ceaselessly,
From any port ere you adventure there.

Thither we'll go, and thither sail away
Out of the world, to hear the Siren play !
Thither we'll go and hide among her tresses,
Since all the world is savage wildernesses.

xi.

Tell me a story, dear, that is not true.
Strange as a vision, full of splendid things ;
Here will I lie and dream it is not you.
And dream it is a mocking bird that sings.

For if I find your voice in any part.
Even the sound of it will break my heart ;
For if you speak of us and of our love,
I faint and die to feel the thrill thereof.

xii.

Let us forget we loved each other much.
Let us forget we ever have to part.
Let us forget that any look or touch
Once let in either to the other's heart.

Only we'll sit upon the daisied grass
And hear the larks and see the swallows pass
Only we'll live awhile, as children play,
Without to-morrow, without yesterday.

xiii.

Far, far away and in the middle sea—
So still I dream, although the dream is vain,—
There lies a valley full of rest for me,
Where I shall live and you shall love again.

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