Back Aa

Beauties of Tennyson

<h2>THE BROOK.</h2> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> I come from haunts of coot and hern, I make sudden sally And sparkle out among the fern, To bicker down a valley. </div> <div class="stanza"> By thirty hills I hurry down, Or slip between the ridges, By twenty thorps, a little town, And half a hundred bridges. </div> </div> <hr style="width: 20%; Margin-left: 7em; Margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em;" /> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> I chatter over stony ways, In little sharps and trebles, I bubble into eddying bays, I babble on the pebbles. </div> <div class="stanza"> With many a curve my banks I fret By many a field and fallow, And many a fairy foreland set With willow-weed and mallow. </div> </div> <hr style="width: 20%; Margin-left: 7em; Margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em;" /> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> And here and there a foamy lake Upon me, as I travel With many a silvery waterbreak Above the golden gravel, </div> <div class="stanza"> And draw them all along, and flow To join the brimming river, For men may come and men may go, But I go on for ever. </div> </div> <div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/illus01.jpg" width-obs="506" height-obs="650" alt=""I CHATTER OVER STONY WAYS, IN LITTLE SHARPS AND TREBLES."" title="" /> "I CHATTER OVER STONY WAYS, IN LITTLE SHARPS AND TREBLES."</div> <hr style="width: 65%;" /> <h2>ContentsSONG FROM "MAUD."</h2> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> See what a lovely shell, Small and pure as a pearl, Lying close to my foot, Frail, but a work divine, Made so fairily well With delicate spire and whorl, How exquisitely minute, A miracle of design! </div> <div class="stanza"> What is it? a learned man Could give it a clumsy name. Let him name it who can, The beauty would be the same. </div> <div class="stanza"> The tiny cell is forlorn, Void of the little living will That made it stir on the shore. Did he stand at the diamond door Of his house in a rainbow frill? Did he push, when he was uncurl'd, A golden foot or a fairy horn Thro' his dim water-world. </div> <div class="stanza"> Slight, to be crushed with a tap Of my finger-nail on the sand, Small, but a work divine, Frail, but of force to withstand, Year upon year, the shock Of cataract seas that snap The three-decker's oaken spine Athwart the ledges of rock, Here on the Breton strand! </div> </div> <div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/illus02.jpg" width-obs="472" height-obs="650" alt=""SEE WHAT A LOVELY SHELL, LYING CLOSE TO MY FOOT."" title="" /> "SEE WHAT A LOVELY SHELL, LYING CLOSE TO MY FOOT."</div> <hr style="width: 65%;" /> <h2>ContentsA FAREWELL.</h2> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> Flow down, cold rivulet, to the sea, Thy tribute wave deliver: No more by thee my steps shall be, For ever and for ever. </div> <div class="stanza"> Flow, softly flow, by lawn and lea, A rivulet then a river: Nowhere by thee my steps shall be, For ever and for ever. </div> <div class="stanza"> But here will sigh thine alder tree, And here thine aspen shiver; And here by thee will hum the bee, For ever and for ever. </div> <div class="stanza"> A thousand suns will stream on thee, A thousand moons will quiver; But not by thee my steps shall be, For ever and for ever. </div> </div> <div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/illus03.jpg" width-obs="489" height-obs="650" alt=""FLOW DOWN, COLD RIVULET, TO THE SEA."" title="" /> "FLOW DOWN, COLD RIVULET, TO THE SEA."</div> <hr style="width: 65%;" /> <h2>ContentsSONG FROM "MAUD."</h2> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> Come into the garden, Maud, For the black bat, night, has flown, Come into the garden, Maud, I am here at the gate alone; And the woodbine spices are wafted abroad, And the musk of the roses blown. </div> <div class="stanza"> For a breeze of morning moves, And the planet of Love is on high, Beginning to faint in the light that she loves On a bed of daffodil sky, To faint in the light of the sun she loves, To faint in his light, and to die. </div> </div> <hr style="width: 20%; Margin-left: 7em; Margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em;" /> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> There has fallen a splendid tear From the passion-flower at the gate. She is coming, my dove, my dear; She is coming, my life, my fate; The red rose cries, "She is near, she is near;" And the white rose weeps, "She is late;" The larkspur listens, "I hear, I hear;" And the lily whispers, "I wait." </div> <div class="stanza"> She is coming, my own, my sweet; Were it ever so airy a tread, My heart would hear her and beat, Were it earth in an earthy bed; My dust would hear her and beat, Had I lain for a century dead; Would start and tremble under her feet, And blossom in purple and red. </div> </div> <div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/illus04.jpg" width-obs="539" height-obs="650" alt=""THE RED ROSE CRIES, 'SHE IS NEAR, SHE IS NEAR.'"" title="" /> "THE RED ROSE CRIES, 'SHE IS NEAR, SHE IS NEAR.'"</div> <hr style="width: 65%;" /> <h2>ContentsBREAK, BREAK, BREAK.</h2> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> Break, break, break, On thy cold gray stones, O Sea! And I would that my tongue could utter The thoughts that arise in me. </div> <div class="stanza"> O well for the fisherman's boy, That he shouts with his sister at play! O well for the sailor lad, That he sings in his boat on the bay! </div> <div class="stanza"> And the stately ships go on To their haven under the hill; But O for the touch of a vanish'd hand, And the sound of a voice that is still! </div> <div class="stanza"> Break, break, break, At the foot of thy crags, O Sea! But the tender grace of a day that is dead Will never come back to me. </div> </div> <div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/illus05.jpg" width-obs="442" height-obs="650" alt=""BREAK, BREAK, BREAK, AT THE FOOT OF THY CRAGS, O SEA!"" title="" /> "BREAK, BREAK, BREAK, AT THE FOOT OF THY CRAGS, O SEA!"</div> <hr style="width: 65%;" /> <h2>ContentsFROM "LOCKSLEY HALL."</h2> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> Love took up the glass of Time, and turn'd it in his glowing hands; Every moment, lightly shaken, ran itself in golden sands. </div> <div class="stanza"> Love took up the harp of Life, and smote on all the chords with might; Smote the chord of Self, that, trembling, pass'd in music out of sight. </div> <div class="stanza"> Many a morning on the moorland did we hear the copses ring, And her whisper throng'd my pulses with the fulness of the Spring. </div> <div class="stanza"> Many an evening by the waters did we watch the stately ships, And our spirits rush'd together at the touching of the lips. </div> <div class="stanza"> O my cousin, shallow-hearted! O my Amy, mine no more! O the dreary, dreary moorland! O the barren, barren shore! </div> </div> <div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/illus06.jpg" width-obs="446" height-obs="650" alt=""MANY AN EVENING BY THE WATERS DID WE WATCH THE STATELY SHIPS."" title="" /> "MANY AN EVENING BY THE WATERS DID WE WATCH THE STATELY SHIPS."</div> <hr style="width: 65%;" /> <h2>ContentsSONG FROM "MAUD."</h2> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> Go not, happy day, From the shining fields, Go not, happy day, Till the maiden yields. Rosy is the West, Rosy is the South, Roses are her cheeks, And a rose her mouth When the happy Yes Falters from her lips, Pass and blush the news Over glowing ships; Over blowing seas, Over seas at rest, Pass the happy news, Blush it thro' the West; Till the red man dance By his red cedar-tree, And the red man's babe Leap, beyond the sea. Blush from West to East, Blush from East to West, Till the West is East, Blush it thro' the West. Rosy is the West, Rosy is the South, Roses are her cheeks, And a rose her mouth. </div> </div> <div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/illus07.jpg" width-obs="479" height-obs="650" alt=""GO NOT, HAPPY DAY, TILL THE MAIDEN YIELDS."" title="" /> "GO NOT, HAPPY DAY, TILL THE MAIDEN YIELDS."</div> <hr style="width: 65%;" /> <h2>ContentsSONG FROM "THE PRINCESS."</h2> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> Sweet and low, sweet and low, Wind of the western sea, Low, low, breathe and blow, Wind of the western sea! Over the rolling waters go, Come from the dying moon, and blow, Blow him again to me; While my little one, while my pretty one, sleeps. </div> <div class="stanza"> Sleep and rest, sleep and rest, Father will come to thee soon; Rest, rest, on mother's breast, Father will come to thee soon; Father will come to his babe in the nest, Silver sails all out of the west Under the silver moon: Sleep, my little one, sleep, my pretty one, sleep. </div> </div> <div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/illus08.jpg" width-obs="534" height-obs="650" alt=""FATHER WILL COME TO HIS BABE IN THE NEST."" title="" /> "FATHER WILL COME TO HIS BABE IN THE NEST."</div> <hr style="width: 65%;" /> <h2>ContentsLILIAN.</h2> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> Airy, fairy Lilian, Flitting, fairy Lilian, When I ask her if she love me, Claps her tiny hands above me, Laughing all she can; She'll not tell me if she love me, Cruel little Lilian. </div> <div class="stanza"> When my passion seeks Pleasance in love-sighs, She, looking thro' and thro' me Thoroughly to undo me, Smiling, never speaks: So innocent-arch, so cunning-simple, From beneath her gather'd wimple Glancing with black-beaded eyes, Till the lightning laughters dimple The baby-roses in her cheeks; Then away she flies. </div> <div class="stanza"> Prythee weep, May Lilian! Gayety without eclipse Wearieth me, May Lilian: Thro' my very heart it thrilleth When from crimson-threaded lips Silver-treble laughter trilleth: Prythee weep, May Lilian. </div> <div class="stanza"> Praying all I can, If prayers will not hush thee, Airy Lilian, Like a rose-leaf I will crush thee, Fairy Lilian. </div> </div> <div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/illus09.jpg" width-obs="471" height-obs="650" alt="AIRY, FAIRY LILIAN." title="" /> AIRY, FAIRY LILIAN.</div> <hr style="width: 65%;" /> <h2>ContentsRING OUT, WILD BELLS.</h2> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky, The flying cloud, the frosty light: The year is dying in the night; Ring out, wild bells, and let him die. </div> <div class="stanza"> Ring out the old, ring in the new, Ring, happy bells, across the snow: The year is going, let him go; Ring out the false, ring in the true. </div> <div class="stanza"> Ring out the grief that saps the mind, For those that here we see no more; Ring out the feud of rich and poor, Ring in redress to all mankind. </div> <div class="stanza"> Ring out a slowly dying cause, And ancient forms of party strife; Ring in the nobler modes of life, With sweeter manners, purer laws. </div> <div class="stanza"> Ring out the want, the care, the sin, The faithless coldness of the times; Ring out, ring out my mournful rhymes, But ring the fuller minstrel in. </div> <div class="stanza"> Ring out false pride in place and blood, The civic slander and the spite; Ring in the love of truth and right, Ring in the common love of good. </div> <div class="stanza"> Ring out old shapes of foul disease; Ring out the narrowing lust of gold; Ring out the thousand wars of old, Ring in the thousand years of peace. </div> <div class="stanza"> Ring in the valiant man and free, The larger heart, the kindlier hand; Ring out the darkness of the land, Ring in the Christ that is to be. </div> </div> <div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/illus10.jpg" width-obs="502" height-obs="650" alt=""RING OUT, WILD BELLS, TO THE WILD SKY."" title="" /> "RING OUT, WILD BELLS, TO THE WILD SKY."</div> <hr style="width: 65%;" /> <h2>ContentsFROM "THE PRINCESS."</h2> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> Tears, idle tears, I know not what they mean, Tears from the depth of some divine despair Rise in the heart, and gather to the eyes, In looking on the happy Autumn-fields, And thinking of the days that are no more. </div> <div class="stanza"> Fresh as the first beam glittering on a sail, That brings our friends up from the underworld, Sad as the last which reddens over one That sinks with all we love below the verge; So sad, so fresh, the days that are no more. </div> <div class="stanza"> Ah, sad and strange as in dark summer dawns The earliest pipe of half-awaken'd birds To dying ears, when unto dying eyes The casement slowly grows a glimmering square; So sad, so strange, the days that are no more. </div> <div class="stanza"> Dear as remember'd kisses after death, And sweet as those by hopeless fancy feign'd On lips that are for others; deep as love, Deep as first love, and wild with all regret; O Death in Life, the days that are no more. </div> </div> <div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/illus11.jpg" width-obs="485" height-obs="650" alt=""TEARS, IDLE TEARS."" title="" /> "TEARS, IDLE TEARS."</div> <hr style="width: 65%;" /> <h2>ContentsSONG FROM "THE PRINCESS."</h2> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> The splendor falls on castle-walls And snowy summits old in story: The long light shakes across the lakes, And the wild cataract leaps in glory. Blow, bugle, blow, set the wild echoes flying, Blow, bugle; answer, echoes, dying, dying, dying. </div> <div class="stanza"> O hark, O hear! how thin and clear, And thinner, clearer, farther going! O sweet and far from cliff and scar The horns of Elfland faintly blowing! Blow, let us hear the purple glens replying: Blow, bugle; answer, echoes, dying, dying, dying. </div> <div class="stanza"> O love, they die in yon rich sky, They faint on hill or field or river; Our echoes roll from soul to soul, And grow for ever and for ever. Blow, bugle, blow, set the wild echoes flying, And answer, echoes, answer, dying, dying, dying. </div> </div> <div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/illus12.jpg" width-obs="482" height-obs="650" alt=" "BLOW, BUGLE, BLOW, SET THE WILD ECHOES FLYING, BLOW, BUGLE; ANSWER, ECHOES, DYING, DYING, DYING."" title="" /> "BLOW, BUGLE, BLOW, SET THE WILD ECHOES FLYING, BLOW, BUGLE; ANSWER, ECHOES, DYING, DYING, DYING."</div> <hr style="width: 65%;" /> <h2>ContentsFROM "ENOCH ARDEN."</h2> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> The mountain wooded to the peak, the lawns And winding glades high up like ways to Heaven, The slender coco's drooping crown of plumes The lightning flash of insect and of bird, The lustre of the long convolvuluses That coil'd around the stately stems, and ran Ev'n to the limit of the land, the glows And glories of the broad belt of the world, All these he saw; but what he fain had seen He could not see, the kindly human face, Nor ever hear a kindly voice, but heard The myriad shriek of wheeling ocean-fowl, The league-long roller thundering on the reef, The moving whisper of huge trees that branch'd And blossom'd in the zenith, or the sweep Of some precipitous rivulet to the wave, As down the shore he ranged, or all day long Sat often in the seaward-gazing gorge, A shipwreck'd sailor, waiting for a sail: No sail from day to day, but every day The sunrise broken into scarlet shafts Among the palms and ferns and precipices; The blaze upon the waters to the east; The blaze upon his island overhead; The blaze upon the waters to the west; Then the great stars that globed themselves in heaven, The hollower-bellowing ocean, and again The scarlet shafts of sunrise—but no sail. </div> </div> <div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/illus13.jpg" width-obs="483" height-obs="650" alt=""A SHIPWRECK'D SAILOR, WAITING FOR A SAIL."" title="" /> "A SHIPWRECK'D SAILOR, WAITING FOR A SAIL."</div> <hr style="width: 65%;" /> <h2>ContentsFROM "ENOCH ARDEN."</h2> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> But Enoch yearn'd to see her face again; 'If I might look on her sweet face again And know that she is happy.' So the thought Haunted and harass'd him, and drove him forth At evening when the dull November day Was growing duller twilight, to the hill. There he sat down gazing on all below; There did a thousand memories roll upon him, Unspeakable for sadness. By and by The ruddy square of comfortable light, Far blazing from the rear of Philip's house, Allured him, as the beacon-blaze allures The bird of passage, till he madly strikes Against it, and beats out his weary life. </div> <div class="stanza"> For Philip's dwelling fronted on the street, The latest house to landward; but behind With one small gate that open'd on the waste, Flourish'd a little garden square and wall'd: And in it throve an ancient evergreen, A yew tree, and all round it ran a walk Of shingle, and a walk divided it: But Enoch shunn'd the middle walk and stole Up by the wall, behind the yew; and thence That which he better might have shunn'd, if griefs Like his have worse or better, Enoch saw. </div> </div> <div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/illus14.jpg" width-obs="511" height-obs="650" alt=""STOLE UP BY THE WALL, BEHIND THE YEW."" title="" /> "STOLE UP BY THE WALL, BEHIND THE YEW."</div> <hr style="width: 65%;" /> <h2>ContentsTHE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE.</h2> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> I. </div> <div class="stanza"> Half a league, half a league, Half a league onward, All in the valley of Death Rode the six hundred. 'Forward, the Light Brigade!' 'Charge for the guns!' he said: Into the valley of Death Rode the six hundred. </div> <div class="stanza"> II. </div> <div class="stanza"> 'Forward, the Light Brigade!' Was there a man dismay'd? Not tho' the soldier knew Some one had blunder'd: Their's not to make reply, Their's not to reason why, Their's but to do and die: Into the valley of Death Rode the six hundred. </div> <div class="stanza"> III. </div> <div class="stanza"> Cannon to right of them, Cannon to left of them, Cannon in front of them Volley'd and thunder'd; Storm'd at with shot and shell, Boldly they rode and well, Into the jaws of Death, Into the mouth of Hell Rode the six hundred. </div> <div class="stanza"> IV. </div> <div class="stanza"> Flash'd all their sabres bare, Flash'd as they turn'd in air, Sabring the gunners there, Charging an army, while All the world wonder'd: Plunged in the battery-smoke Right thro' the line they broke; Cossack and Russian Reel'd from the sabre-stroke Shatter'd and sunder'd. Then they rode back, but not Not the six hundred. </div> <div class="stanza"> V. </div> <div class="stanza"> Cannon to right of them, Cannon to left of them, Cannon behind them Volley'd and thunder'd; Storm'd at with shot and shell, While horse and hero fell, They that had fought so well Came thro' the jaws of Death, Back from the mouth of Hell, All that was left of them, Left of six hundred. </div> <div class="stanza"> VI. </div> <div class="stanza"> When can their glory fade? O the wild charge they made! All the world wondered. Honor the charge they made! Honor the Light Brigade, Noble six hundred! </div> </div> <div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/illus15.jpg" width-obs="492" height-obs="650" alt=""BOLDLY THEY RODE AND WELL."" title="" /> "BOLDLY THEY RODE AND WELL."</div> <hr style="width: 65%;" /> <h2>ContentsFROM "THE MAY QUEEN."</h2> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> You must wake and call me early, call me early, mother dear; To-morrow 'ill be the happiest time of all the glad New-year; Of all the glad New-year, mother, the maddest merriest day; For I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother, I'm to be Queen o' the May. </div> <div class="stanza"> There's many a black black eye, they say, but none so bright as mine; There's Margaret and Mary, there's Kate and Caroline: But none so fair as little Alice in all the land they say, So I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother, I'm to be Queen o' the May. </div> </div> <div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/illus16.jpg" width-obs="484" height-obs="650" alt="THE MAY QUEEN." title="" /> THE MAY QUEEN.</div> <hr style="width: 65%;" /> <h2>ContentsSONG FROM "THE PRINCESS."</h2> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> As thro' the land at eve we went, And pluck'd the ripen'd ears, We fell out, my wife and I, O we fell out I know not why, And kiss'd again with tears, And blessings on the falling out That all the more endears, When we fall out with those we love And kiss again with tears! For when we came where lies the child We lost in other years, There above the little grave, O there above the little grave, We kiss'd again with tears. </div> </div> <div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/illus17.jpg" width-obs="496" height-obs="650" alt=""O THERE ABOVE THE LITTLE GRAVE, WE KISS'D AGAIN WITH TEARS."" title="" /> "O THERE ABOVE THE LITTLE GRAVE, WE KISS'D AGAIN WITH TEARS."</div> <hr style="width: 65%;" /> <h2>ContentsFROM "HAROLD."</h2> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> Tostig. What for Norway then? He looks for land among us, he and his. </div> <div class="stanza"> Harold. Seven feet of English land, or something more, Seeing he is a giant. </div> <div class="stanza"> Tostig. That is noble! That sounds of Godwin. </div> <div class="stanza"> Harold. Come thou back, and be Once more a son of Godwin. </div> <div class="stanza"> Tostig (turns away). O brother, brother, O Harold— </div> <div class="stanza"> Harold (laying his hand on Tostig's shoulder). Nay then, comethou back to us! </div> <div class="stanza"> Tostig (after a pause turning to him). Never shall any man say that I, that Tostig Conjured the mightier Harold from the North To do the battle for me here in England, Then left him for the meaner! thee!— Thou hast no passion for the House of Godwin— Thou hast but cared to make thyself a king— Thou hast sold me for a cry— Thou gavest thy voice against me in the Council— I hate thee, and despise thee, and defy thee. Farewell for ever! [Exit. </div> <div class="stanza"> Harold. On to Stamford-bridge! </div> </div> <div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/illus18.jpg" width-obs="452" height-obs="650" alt=""NAY THEN, COME THOU BACK TO US!"" title="" /> "NAY THEN, COME THOU BACK TO US!"</div> <hr style="width: 65%;" /> <h2>ContentsFROM "THE REVENGE."</h2> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> And the sun went down, and the stars came out far over the summer sea, But never a moment ceased the fight of the one and the fifty-three. Ship after ship, the whole night long, their high-built galleons came, Ship after ship, the whole night long, with her battle-thunder and flame; Ship after ship, the whole night long, drew back with her dead and her shame. For some were sunk and many were shatter'd, and so could fight us no more— God of battles, was ever a battle like this in the world before? </div> <div class="stanza"> And the night went down, and the sun smiled out far over the summer sea, And the Spanish fleet with broken sides lay round us all in a ring; But they dared not touch us again, for they fear'd that we still could sting, So they watch'd what the end would be. And we had not fought them in vain, But in perilous plight were we, Seeing forty of our poor hundred were slain, And half of the rest of us maim'd for life In the crash of the cannonades and the desperate strife; And the sick men down in the hold were most of them stark and cold, And the pikes were all broken or bent, and the powder was all of it spent; And the masts and the rigging were lying over the side. </div> </div> <div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/illus19.jpg" width-obs="512" height-obs="650" alt=""SHIP AFTER SHIP, THE WHOLE NIGHT LONG, WITH HER BATTLE-THUNDER AND FLAME."" title="" /> "SHIP AFTER SHIP, THE WHOLE NIGHT LONG, WITH HER BATTLE-THUNDER AND FLAME."</div> <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

1 of 2

2 of 2

Update Required To play the media you will need to either update your browser to a recent version or update your Flash plugin.