- 1. Vitæ Summa Brevis Spem Nos Vetat Incohare Longam
They are not long, the weeping and the laughter,
Love and desire and hate:
I think they have no portion in us after
We pass the gate.
...
- 2. Vain Resolves
I said: “There is an end of my desire:
Now have I sown, and I have harvested,
And these are ashes of an ancient fire,
Which, verily, shall not be quickened.
...
- 3. Nuns Of The Perpetual Adoration
Calm, sad, secure; behind high convent walls,
These watch the sacred lamp, these watch and pray:
And it is one with them when evening falls,
And one with them the cold return of day.
...
- 4. Non Sum Qualis Eram Bonæ Sub Regno Cynaræ
Last night, ah, yesternight, betwixt her lips and mine
There fell thy shadow, Cynara! thy breath was shed
Upon my soul between the kisses and the wine;
And I was desolate and sick of an old passion,
...
- 5. In Tempore Senectutis
When I am old,
And sadly steal apart,
Into the dark and cold,
Friend of my heart!
...
- 6. Extreme Unction
Upon the eyes, the lips, the feet,
On all the passages of sense,
The atoning oil is spread with sweet
Renewal of lost innocence.
...
- 7. Cease Smiling, Dear! A Little While Be Sad
Dum nos fata sinunt, oculos satiemus Amore
Propertius
Cease smiling, Dear! a little while be sad,
...
- 8. Benedictio Domini
Without, the sullen noises of the street!
The voice of London, inarticulate,
Hoarse and blaspheming, surges in to meet
The silent blessing of the Immaculate.
...
- 9. Amor Profanus
Beyond the pale of memory,
In some mysterious dusky grove;
A place of shadows utterly,
Where never coos the turtle-dove,
...