86
POEMS.
Bar roads to feeble feet, and wrap the land
In seeming shadow, thou, too, hast thine own
Sweet valleys full of flowers, for me alone,
Unseen, unknown, undreamed of by the mass,
Who do not know the secret of the Pass.
In seeming shadow, thou, too, hast thine own
Sweet valleys full of flowers, for me alone,
Unseen, unknown, undreamed of by the mass,
Who do not know the secret of the Pass.
Cortina d'Ampezzo, Ampezzo Pass, June22, 1860.
AMREETA WINE.
HE rose up from the golden feast,And her voice rang like the sea;
"Sir Knight, put down thy glass and come
To the battlement with me.
"That was a charmed wine thou drank'st,
Signed white from heaven, signed black from hell.
Alas! alas! for the bitter thing
The sign hath forced thy lips to tell!"
Signed white from heaven, signed black from hell.
Alas! alas! for the bitter thing
The sign hath forced thy lips to tell!"
"Ho here! Ho there! Lift up and bear
My choice wine out," she said;
"That which hath brand of a clasping hand,
And the seal blood-red."
My choice wine out," she said;
"That which hath brand of a clasping hand,
And the seal blood-red."
"Ho here! Ho there! To the castle stair
Bear all that branded wine;
And dash it far, where the breakers are
Whitest, of the brine!
Bear all that branded wine;
And dash it far, where the breakers are
Whitest, of the brine!
"Let no man dare to shrink or spare,
Or one red drop to spill;
Of the endless pain of that wine's hot stain
Let the salt sea bear its fill.
Or one red drop to spill;
Of the endless pain of that wine's hot stain
Let the salt sea bear its fill.
