The wounded Eros

by Charles Gibson

BY
CHARLES GIBSON
AUTHOR OF
THE SPIRIT OF LOVE AND OTHER POEMS
WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY
WILLIAM STANLEY BRAITHWAITE

BOSTON
PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR
Printed at the Riverside Press Cambridge
1908
COPYRIGHT, 1908, BY CHARLES GIBSON
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

CONTENTS

Sonnet		Page
	A wingèd God, all powerful to-day	[xxxviii]
[I.]	When in the realm of rich resplendent thought	[1]
[II.]	I dare not tell thee half the love I bear	[2]
[III.]	How shall I woo thee then, O fairest maid	[3]
[IV.]	With kisses would I woo thee first and say	[4]
[V.]	How shall I ever thank thee for the boon	[5]
[VI.]	Is it, in truth, a gift from Heaven’s hand	[6]
[VII.]	What wingèd boy hath caught again my heart	[7]
[VIII.]	Something did tell my soul, though not thy troth	[8]
[IX.]	In what uncertain guise doth passion strive	[9]
[X.]	With how distressed a sentiment my heart	[10]
[XI.]	Now, should I chance to meet thee passing by	[11]
[XII.]	It is a strange and wondrous thing that brings	[12]
[XIII.]	I know not how to cast aside the power	[13]
[XIV.]	I saw thee yester-even, through the maze	[14]
[XV.]	Dost have no heart, sweet one, to visibly	[15]
[XVI.]	Dost cherish something in thy heart for me	[16]
[XVII.]	How delicate a passion in the heart	[17]
[XVIII.]	To me thou art an angel, born to earth	[18]
[XIX.]	Is it then given to some, life’s happiest hours	[19]
[XX.]	Have I not loved thee truthfully enough	[20]
[XXI.]	Shouldst thou, perchance, peruse these simple lines	[21]
[XXII.]	If love too oft repeats itself herein	[22]
[XXIII.]	How true it is that every joy we feel	[23]
[XXIV.]	Yet why repine? ’Tis he who laughs that wins	[24]
[XXV.]	Oh, for the longed-for moment that might bring	[25]
[XXVI.]	Oh heart! hast thou no liberty to gain	[26]
[XXVII.]	Dearest of dearer things, that are to me	[27]
[XXVIII.]	For there is that in man which doth desire	[28]
[XXIX.]	Sweeter than are the flowers of spring, that bloom	[29]
[XXX.]	Consign me not, while honoring thy love	[30]
[XXXI.]	Was it with joy or with time’s false relief	[31]
[XXXII.]	Dost thou not feel some longing in thy breast	[32]
[XXXIII.]	Even could to-day have brought thee unto me	[33]
[XXXIV.]	Dear heart! why dost thou shun my own desire	[34]
[XXXV.]	What fault within me dost thou cultivate	[35]
[XXXVI.]	Loved one, though thou shouldst spurn me as a thing	[36]
[XXXVII.]	Didst have, for me, one fleeting hour of love	[37]
[XXXVIII.]	Ah me! Sad fate doth overcome my soul	[38]
[XXXIX.]	And now what hope have I to touch thine heart	[39]
[XL.]	How often have I asked, through this past year	[40]
[XLI.]	Methinks the saddest of all pains to bear	[41]
[XLII.]	As the wild waves roll o’er some rock-bound coast	[42]
[XLIII.]	While sad at heart, that thou wilt not give me	[43]
[XLIV.]	When clouds disperse, and sunshine fills the sky	[44]
[XLV.]	Should I return, and find once more that thou	[45]
[XLVI.]	What God hath made thee half of graven stone	[46]
[XLVII.]	Canst thou not feel the tragedy of love	[47]
[XLVIII.]	To-morrow I must journey for a space	[48]
[XLIX.]	For what strange purpose hath God sent this longing	[49]
[L.]	How little comfort is there in the thought	[50]
[LI.]	For each long league that bears me far from thee	[51]
[LII.]	When last I saw thee, thou wert uppermost	[52]
[LIII.]	O mighty Prophet, who dost signify	[53]
[LIV.]	If thou hadst felt toward me as I to thee	[54]
[LV.]	Like the soft air of summer is thy smile	[55]
[LVI.]	If every song I sing seems tinged with sadness	[56]
[LVII.]	Like the new moon, cold mistress of the heaven	[57]
[LVIII.]	Ah Love! Couldst thou but greet me every even	[58]
[LIX.]	Love is not passion; nor is passion love	[59]
[LX.]	What subtle fragrance, like some passion flower	[60]
[LXI.]	Unto the sea my love I would compare	[61]
[LXII.]	There is a lovely avenue of trees	[62]
[LXIII.]	Upon the highland spaces greet me, Love	[63]
[LXIV.]	When the red sun sinks toward the western line	[64]
[LXV.]	Whenever thou dost let a passing thought	[65]
[LXVI.]	If in the years to come life bringeth thee	[66]
[LXVII.]	Oh! when the cold, fleet-footed hour of dawn	[67]
[LXVIII.]	If, when thou hast found out that life is sorrow	[68]
[LXIX.]	With what despair thou hast inspired my muse	[69]
[LXX.]	How sweet to me are these soft days of spring	[70]
[LXXI.]	Thou camest unto me last eventide	[71]
[LXXII.]	Yet now I cannot with impunity	[72]
[LXXIII.]	While thou art near to me, my spirit’s bride	[73]
[LXXIV.]	While I gaze in thy dancing eyes, I seem	[74]
[LXXV.]	In springtime, when pale primroses in flower	[75]
[LXXVI.]	With every day that summer doth conceive	[76]
[LXXVII.]	I know a path of velvet green, that sinks	[77]
[LXXVIII.]	No time could hold my heart more fit than this	[78]
[LXXIX.]	Now love returneth with new grace to me	[79]
[LXXX.]	Though summer showers drown the seeds of love	[80]
[LXXXI.]	Like columbine in May, or rose in June	[81]
[LXXXII.]	Cold heart, that hath not felt some passing pain	[82]
[LXXXIII.]	When thou, dear one, hast lived as long as I	[83]
[LXXXIV.]	Strange law, whose reason man doth not possess	[84]
[LXXXV.]	From Thee, Eternal Power, came my life	[85]
[LXXXVI.]	My hope had been, that I might find in thee	[86]
[LXXXVII.]	God, through His offspring Nature, gave me love	[87]
[LXXXVIII.]	With some, the law of love doth work at ease	[88]
[LXXXIX.]	Let not the measure of my love make thine	[89]
[XC.]	All else may die: the leaves that Nature bore	[90]
[XCI.]	O thou, fair youth, to whom the gods have given	[91]
[XCII.]	Believe not, gentle maid, that all is won	[92]
[XCIII.]	Love heeds not time, nor space, nor form, nor woe	[93]
[XCIV.]	Happy my heart, and happier far was I	[94]
[XCV.]	Strive as I would to banish from my mind	[95]
[XCVI.]	Since on thy form hath beauty laid its hand	[96]
[XCVII.]	In those brief moments when thou wert my own	[97]
[XCVIII.]	Let not thy beauty serve thee in the guise	[98]
[XCIX.]	When I alone unto my chamber go	[99]
[C.]	When all the world would smile in summer time	[100]
[CI.]	A little flower in my garden groweth	[101]
[CII.]	My love makes of my life a sad display	[102]
[CIII.]	If in thyself doth all my love reside	[103]
[CIV.]	Though my true love should be my own undoing	[104]
[CV.]	Though thou shouldst not perceive how love in me	[105]
[CVI.]	To thee all life is but a passing pleasure	[106]
[CVII.]	Not clothed in transient beauty nor pale health	[107]
[CVIII.]	No mind have I to tell thee all thou art	[108]
[CIX.]	Oh, Love doth play such wanton tricks with men	[109]
[CX.]	Not all the years of my uncounted pain	[110]
[CXI.]	At least thou canst not say I have not loved	[111]
[CXII.]	Often do I in meditation dream	[112]
[CXIII.]	If thou who readst this verse do find herein	[113]
[CXIV.]	Yet ne’ertheless would I make holiday	[114]
[CXV.]	Oh! well have I examined my defect	[115]
[CXVI.]	Oh! what a thought hath filled my brain this night	[116]
[CXVII.]	And with the morn, though sunrise shall disperse	[117]
[CXVIII.]	Not every prince, nor king, nor emperor liveth	[118]
[CXIX.]	How shall I all thy virtues here recount	[119]
[CXX.]	’Tis strange, how little doth the world perceive	[120]
[CXXI.]	That which we have we value not to-day	[121]
[CXXII.]	Oh, chide me not, if in this life I make	[122]
[CXXIII.]	If thou wert chainèd by the bans of life	[123]
[CXXIV.]	Thou art, in truth, my muse’s only guide	[124]
[CXXV.]	Back from the sculptured chantry of the past	[125]
[CXXVI.]	If all the value of my love is this	[126]
[CXXVII.]	Oh! lay aside thy pen, since thou must sing	[127]
[CXXVIII.]	The Wounded Eros fell upon the ground	[128]
	O thou, fair one, who never shalt be known	[129]

INTRODUCTION

In these Sonnets, the author has set down the record of a passion which makes one more of those stories of the heart written by the poets who have joined the company of Sir Philip Sidney. The company of poets is a glorious one, and the poetic stories are among the most touching expressions of human experience.