Poetry Favourites Two shall be born the whole world apart and speak in different tongues and have no thought Each of the other's being and no heed, and these, o'er unknown seas to unknown lands Shall cross, escaping wreck, defying death and all unconsciously shape every act And bend each wandering step to this one end that one day out of darkness they shall meet And read life's meaning in each other's eyes. And two shall walk some narrow way of life so nearly side by side that should one turn Ever so little space to left or right they needs must stand acknowledged, face to face And yet with wistful eyes that never meet and groping hands that never clasp, and lips Calling in vain to ears that never hear, they seek each other all their weary days And die unsatisfied, and that is fate Susan Marr Spalding She walks in beauty, like the night Of cloudless climes and starry skies; And all that's best of dark and bright Meet in her aspect and her eyes: Thus mellow'd to that tender light Which heaven to gaudy day denies. One shade the more, one ray the less, Had half impair'd the nameless grace Which waves in every raven tress, Or softly lightens o'er her face; Where thoughts serenely sweet express How pure, how dear their dwelling-place. And on that cheek, and o'er that brow, So soft, so calm, yet eloquent, The smiles that win, the tints that glow, But tell of days in goodness spent, A mind at peace with all below, A heart whose love is innocent! Lord Byron If I love I will love beyond today- beyond the sensuous tingling of the body- beyond the imprisoned slavery of the mind- I will love freely as love was meant to be- like the white wings of a gull on a journey to the sun- like the wonder of tomorrow and the wonder of a thousand tomorrows with the faith of a thousand yesterdays which have freed me to love this way. Nan Witcomb What is this life if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare. No time to stand beneath the boughs And stare as long as sheep or cows. No time to see, when woods we pass, Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass. No time to see, in broad daylight, Streams full of stars, like skies at night. No time to turn at Beauty's glance, And watch her feet, how they can dance. No time to wait till her mouth can Enrich that smile her eyes began. A poor life this if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare. William Henry Davies Remember me when I am gone away, Gone far away into the silent land; When you can no more hold me by the hand, Nor I half turn to go yet turning stay. Remember me when no more day by day You tell me of our future that you planned: Only remember me; you understand It will be late to counsel then or pray. Yet if you should forget me for a while And afterwards remember; do not grieve: For if the darkness and corruption leave A vestige of the thoughts that once I had, Better by far you should forget and smile Than that you should remember and be sad. Christina Rossetti Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate: Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer's lease hath all too short a date: Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, And often is his gold complexion dimm'd; And every fair from fair sometime declines, By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd; But thy eternal summer shall not fade Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest; Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade, When in eternal lines to time thou growest: So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, So long lives this and this gives life to thee. William Shakespeare Out of the night that covers me Black as the pit from pole to pole I thank whatever gods may be For my unconquerable soul In the fell clutch of circumstance I have not winced or cried allowed Under the bludgeonings of chance My head is bloody but unbowed Beyond this place of wrath and tears Looms but the horror of the shade And yet the menace of the years Finds and shall find me unafraid It matters not how straight the gate How charged with punishment the scroll I am the master of my fate I am the captain of my soul William Ernest Henley So what is love? If thou would'st know The heart alone can tell Two minds with but a single thought Two hearts that beat as one And whence comes love? Like morning bright Love comes without thy call And how dies love? A spirit bright Love never dies at all William Blake I slept and dreamed that life was beauty I woke and found that life was duty Was then the dream a shadowy lie? Toil on, sad heart courageously And thou shall find thy dream to be A noonday light and truth to thee Ellen S Hooper To see a world in a grain of sand And heaven in a wild flower Hold infinity in the palm of your hand And eternity in an hour Perhaps some day the sun will shine again And I shall see that still skies are blue And feel once more that I do not live in vain Although bereft of you William Blake