Chapter I: Front Matter

BY THE SAME AUTHOR

TWO GENTLEMEN IN TOURAINE.

(_By Richard Sudbury._)

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THE SPIRIT OF LOVE AND OTHER POEMS.

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THE WOUNDED EROS.

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OF THIS EDITION 500 COPIES HAVE BEEN
PRINTED OF WHICH THIS IS NO....

_Music to hear, why hear’st thou music sadly?_
_Sweets with sweets war not, joy delights in joy:_
_Why lov’st thou that which thou receiv’st not gladly,_
_Or else receiv’st with pleasure thine annoy?_
SHAKESPEARE, Sonnet VIII.]

THE WOUNDED EROS

Sonnets

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