And all thy moans flew o'er my roof, but I have called them down. Wilt thou, O queen, enter my house? 'Tis given thee to enter, And to return: fear nothing; enter with thy virgin feet." IV The eternal gates' terrific porter lifted the northern bar; A land of sorrows and of tears, where never smile was seen. listening 105 Dolours and lamentations, wailing oft beside a dewy grave. 110 She stood in silence, listening to the voices of the ground, Till to her own grave-plot she came, and there she sat down, And heard this voice of sorrow breathed from the hollow pit: "Why cannot the ear be closed to its own destruction? Or the glistening eye to the poison of a smile? 115 Or an eye of gifts and graces showering fruits and coinèd gold? 120 125 THE GARDEN OF LOVE I went to the Garden of Love, And the gates of this chapel were shut, And "Thou shalt not" writ over the door; 5 And I saw it was filled with graves, And tombstones where flowers should be; ΤΟ And priests in black gowns were walking their rounds, And binding with briars my joys and desires. 1794. THE MENTAL TRAVELLER I travelled through a land of men, And heard and saw such dreadful things For there the babe is born in joy And if the babe is born a boy, He's given to a woman old, 5 IO She binds iron thorns around his head; She cuts his heart out at his side, 15 Her fingers number every nerve, And she grows young as he grows old: Till he becomes a bleeding youth, He plants himself in all her nerves An agèd shadow soon he fades, 30 And these are the gems of the human soul, The rubies and pearls of a love-sick eye, 35 The martyr's groan and the lover's sigh. They are his meat, they are his drink; He feeds the beggar and the poor Forever open is his door. 40 His grief is their eternal joy; They make the roofs and walls to ring; A little female babe does spring. And she is all of solid fire And gems and gold, that none his hand But she comes to the man she loves, He wanders weeping far away, Oft blind and age-bent, sore distrest, 55 45 25 |