Endymion: Book Ii Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: AABCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJKK LLMMNNOOGGGGNGPPQQLL RRN NNNNNNNNGGOOLLGGSSNN S SNNNNNNGGNNGGGGNNSSS SSSTTUULLSSVVSSSSSSW WSSLLUUNNNNNNXXSSNNL LGGYYGG NNGGGGLLGGNNSNNGGSSN NNNSLSSULSSSSSSZZYYL LSSSSSSSSGGA2A2NNSSB 2B2NNNNLLSSGGGGSSSSG GNNSSLLS SSSN NSSSSNNSSLLC2C2NNNND 2D2E2E2F2F2G2G2NNGGS SNNNNSSUUSSGGSSSSSSS SH2I2J2J2LLK2K2LLO OSSLLSSSSLLNNLLGGL2L 2GGSSGGNNSSSSNNSSM2M 2NVNNSSSSNNNNNNB2 B2GGNNGGSSNNSSUULLN NNNNNN2N2LLNNLU USSF2F2NNNNLLU USSUUSSSSLL UUSNSSF2F2UUNNO2O2SS SSF2F2SSUUUUUUUULSLN NP2P2UUNN LLSSNSLLLLNNUULLNNA2 A2SSNNNNUULLSSK2K2LL SSUUNNLLSSUUSSLLB2B2 LLNNSSSSUULLSSSSSLG2 G2SSUUUUNNQ2Q2LLLLUU UULLSSSSSSR2R2SSNN LLNNGUNNUUNNUUSSLLUU UUSSSSSSSSUUSSNNZZSS NNA2A2SSLLSSGLUU SSSSNNLLSSNNLLNNUUNN SSNNNNNNSSNNLLNNC2C2 SSNNSSD2D2LLNNS2SUUS SNNNNSU SNNSSUUSSNNT2T2SSSSS SP2P2 UUSSNNNNSSNNUUSSYYUU NNNNSSUUU2U2NNLLSSS SSSLLNNSSUULLV2V2SSS SNNSSB2B2NNSSUUNNSSN NSSSSLLSSUULLNNNNUUL LSSSSSSSSUUW2W2NNUUL SNNSSUUNNP2P2UUSSNNN NUUOOYYNNUUSSONNNF2F 2UUB2B2SSR2R2SN SSSSSA2A2OONNLLNNSSS SSSUUSSB2B2 NNSSSSUUX2X2NNSSSYY2 SSSSUUSSNNOOSSLLSSOO LLLLNNSSSSSSLLNNSSSS OONNUUSSSSSSNNNNUUOS NNNNL LOOUUUUUUZ2Z2N2SSSSS SSSLLSSUUUUNNNNA3A3S SSNSSOOSSNNLLSSOONNL SUUJ2J2NNSSNNA2A2NNS SSSLLB3B3C3X2NN SSSSSS

O Sovereign power of love O grief O balm	A
All records saving thine come cool and calm	A
And shadowy through the mist of passed years	B
For others good or bad hatred and tears	C
Have become indolent but touching thine	D
One sigh doth echo one poor sob doth pine	D
One kiss brings honey dew from buried days	E
The woes of Troy towers smothering o'er their blaze	E
Stiff holden shields far piercing spears keen blades	F
Struggling and blood and shrieks all dimly fades	F
Into some backward corner of the brain	G
Yet in our very souls we feel amain	G
The close of Troilus and Cressid sweet	H
Hence pageant history hence gilded cheat	H
Swart planet in the universe of deeds	I
Wide sea that one continuous murmur breeds	I
Along the pebbled shore of memory	J
Many old rotten timber'd boats there be	J
Upon thy vaporous bosom magnified	K
To goodly vessels many a sail of pride	K
And golden keel'd is left unlaunch'd and dry	L
But wherefore this What care though owl did fly	L
About the great Athenian admiral's mast	M
What care though striding Alexander past	M
The Indus with his Macedonian numbers	N
Though old Ulysses tortured from his slumbers	N
The glutted Cyclops what care Juliet leaning	O
Amid her window flowers sighing weaning	O
Tenderly her fancy from its maiden snow	G
Doth more avail than these the silver flow	G
Of Hero's tears the swoon of Imogen	G
Fair Pastorella in the bandit's den	G
Are things to brood on with more ardency	N
Than the death day of empires Fearfully	G
Must such conviction come upon his head	P
Who thus far discontent has dared to tread	P
Without one muse's smile or kind behest	Q
The path of love and poesy But rest	Q
In chaffing restlessness is yet more drear	L
Than to be crush'd in striving to uprear	L
Love's standard on the battlements of song	R
So once more days and nights aid me along	R
Like legion'd soldiers	N
	-
Brain sick shepherd prince	N
What promise hast thou faithful guarded since	N
The day of sacrifice Or have new sorrows	N
Come with the constant dawn upon thy morrows	N
Alas 'tis his old grief For many days	N
Has he been wandering in uncertain ways	N
Through wilderness and woods of mossed oaks	N
Counting his woe worn minutes by the strokes	N
Of the lone woodcutter and listening still	G
Hour after hour to each lush leav'd rill	G
Now he is sitting by a shady spring	O
And elbow deep with feverous fingering	O
Stems the upbursting cold a wild rose tree	L
Pavilions him in bloom and he doth see	L
A bud which snares his fancy lo but now	G
He plucks it dips its stalk in the water how	G
It swells it buds it flowers beneath his sight	S
And in the middle there is softly pight	S
A golden butterfly upon whose wings	N
There must be surely character'd strange things	N
For with wide eye he wonders and smiles oft	S
	-
Lightly this little herald flew aloft	S
Follow'd by glad Endymion's clasped hands	N
Onward it flies From languor's sullen bands	N
His limbs are loos'd and eager on he hies	N
Dazzled to trace it in the sunny skies	N
It seem'd he flew the way so easy was	N
And like a new born spirit did he pass	N
Through the green evening quiet in the sun	G
O'er many a heath through many a woodland dun	G
Through buried paths where sleepy twilight dreams	N
The summer time away One track unseams	N
A wooded cleft and far away the blue	G
Of ocean fades upon him then anew	G
He sinks adown a solitary glen	G
Where there was never sound of mortal men	G
Saving perhaps some snow light cadences	N
Melting to silence when upon the breeze	N
Some holy bark let forth an anthem sweet	S
To cheer itself to Delphi Still his feet	S
Went swift beneath the merry winged guide	S
Until it reached a splashing fountain's side	S
That near a cavern's mouth for ever pour'd	S
Unto the temperate air then high it soar'd	S
And downward suddenly began to dip	T
As if athirst with so much toil 'twould sip	T
The crystal spout head so it did with touch	U
Most delicate as though afraid to smutch	U
Even with mealy gold the waters clear	L
But at that very touch to disappear	L
So fairy quick was strange Bewildered	S
Endymion sought around and shook each bed	S
Of covert flowers in vain and then he flung	V
Himself along the grass What gentle tongue	V
What whisperer disturb'd his gloomy rest	S
It was a nymph uprisen to the breast	S
In the fountain's pebbly margin and she stood	S
'Mong lilies like the youngest of the brood	S
To him her dripping hand she softly kist	S
And anxiously began to plait and twist	S
Her ringlets round her fingers saying Youth	W
Too long alas hast thou starv'd on the ruth	W
The bitterness of love too long indeed	S
Seeing thou art so gentle Could I weed	S
Thy soul of care by heavens I would offer	L
All the bright riches of my crystal coffer	L
To Amphitrite all my clear eyed fish	U
Golden or rainbow sided or purplish	U
Vermilion tail'd or finn'd with silvery gauze	N
Yea or my veined pebble floor that draws	N
A virgin light to the deep my grotto sands	N
Tawny and gold ooz'd slowly from far lands	N
By my diligent springs my level lilies shells	N
My charming rod my potent river spells	N
Yes every thing even to the pearly cup	X
Meander gave me for I bubbled up	X
To fainting creatures in a desert wild	S
But woe is me I am but as a child	S
To gladden thee and all I dare to say	N
Is that I pity thee that on this day	N
I've been thy guide that thou must wander far	L
In other regions past the scanty bar	L
To mortal steps before thou cans't be ta'en	G
From every wasting sigh from every pain	G
Into the gentle bosom of thy love	Y
Why it is thus one knows in heaven above	Y
But a poor Naiad I guess not Farewel	G
I have a ditty for my hollow cell	G
	-
Hereat she vanished from Endymion's gaze	N
Who brooded o'er the water in amaze	N
The dashing fount pour'd on and where its pool	G
Lay half asleep in grass and rushes cool	G
Quick waterflies and gnats were sporting still	G
And fish were dimpling as if good nor ill	G
Had fallen out that hour The wanderer	L
Holding his forehead to keep off the burr	L
Of smothering fancies patiently sat down	G
And while beneath the evening's sleepy frown	G
Glow worms began to trim their starry lamps	N
Thus breath'd he to himself Whoso encamps	N
To take a fancied city of delight	S
O what a wretch is he and when 'tis his	N
After long toil and travelling to miss	N
The kernel of his hopes how more than vile	G
Yet for him there's refreshment even in toil	G
Another city doth he set about	S
Free from the smallest pebble bead of doubt	S
That he will seize on trickling honey combs	N
Alas he finds them dry and then he foams	N
And onward to another city speeds	N
But this is human life the war the deeds	N
The disappointment the anxiety	S
Imagination's struggles far and nigh	L
All human bearing in themselves this good	S
That they are sill the air the subtle food	S
To make us feel existence and to shew	U
How quiet death is Where soil is men grow	L
Whether to weeds or flowers but for me	S
There is no depth to strike in I can see	S
Nought earthly worth my compassing so stand	S
Upon a misty jutting head of land	S
Alone No no and by the Orphean lute	S
When mad Eurydice is listening to 't	S
I'd rather stand upon this misty peak	Z
With not a thing to sigh for or to seek	Z
But the soft shadow of my thrice seen love	Y
Than be I care not what O meekest dove	Y
Of heaven O Cynthia ten times bright and fair	L
From thy blue throne now filling all the air	L
Glance but one little beam of temper'd light	S
Into my bosom that the dreadful might	S
And tyranny of love be somewhat scar'd	S
Yet do not so sweet queen one torment spar'd	S
Would give a pang to jealous misery	S
Worse than the torment's self but rather tie	S
Large wings upon my shoulders and point out	S
My love's far dwelling Though the playful rout	S
Of Cupids shun thee too divine art thou	G
Too keen in beauty for thy silver prow	G
Not to have dipp'd in love's most gentle stream	A2
O be propitious nor severely deem	A2
My madness impious for by all the stars	N
That tend thy bidding I do think the bars	N
That kept my spirit in are burst that I	S
Am sailing with thee through the dizzy sky	S
How beautiful thou art The world how deep	B2
How tremulous dazzlingly the wheels sweep	B2
Around their axle Then these gleaming reins	N
How lithe When this thy chariot attains	N
Is airy goal haply some bower veils	N
Those twilight eyes Those eyes my spirit fails	N
Dear goddess help or the wide gaping air	L
Will gulph me help At this with madden'd stare	L
And lifted hands and trembling lips he stood	S
Like old Deucalion mountain'd o'er the flood	S
Or blind Orion hungry for the morn	G
And but from the deep cavern there was borne	G
A voice he had been froze to senseless stone	G
Nor sigh of his nor plaint nor passion'd moan	G
Had more been heard Thus swell'd it forth Descend	S
Young mountaineer descend where alleys bend	S
Into the sparry hollows of the world	S
Oft hast thou seen bolts of the thunder hurl'd	S
As from thy threshold day by day hast been	G
A little lower than the chilly sheen	G
Of icy pinnacles and dipp'dst thine arms	N
Into the deadening ether that still charms	N
Their marble being now as deep profound	S
As those are high descend He ne'er is crown'd	S
With immortality who fears to follow	L
Where airy voices lead so through the hollow	L
The silent mysteries of earth descend	S
	-
He heard but the last words nor could contend	S
One moment in reflection for he fled	S
Into the fearful deep to hide his head	S
From the clear moon the trees and coming madness	N
	-
'Twas far too strange and wonderful for sadness	N
Sharpening by degrees his appetite	S
To dive into the deepest Dark nor light	S
The region nor bright nor sombre wholly	S
But mingled up a gleaming melancholy	S
A dusky empire and its diadems	N
One faint eternal eventide of gems	N
Aye millions sparkled on a vein of gold	S
Along whose track the prince quick footsteps told	S
With all its lines abrupt and angular	L
Out shooting sometimes like a meteor star	L
Through a vast antre then the metal woof	C2
Like Vulcan's rainbow with some monstrous roof	C2
Curves hugely now far in the deep abyss	N
It seems an angry lightning and doth hiss	N
Fancy into belief anon it leads	N
Through winding passages where sameness breeds	N
Vexing conceptions of some sudden change	D2
Whether to silver grots or giant range	D2
Of sapphire columns or fantastic bridge	E2
Athwart a flood of crystal On a ridge	E2
Now fareth he that o'er the vast beneath	F2
Towers like an ocean cliff and whence he seeth	F2
A hundred waterfalls whose voices come	G2
But as the murmuring surge Chilly and numb	G2
His bosom grew when first he far away	N
Descried an orbed diamond set to fray	N
Old darkness from his throne 'twas like the sun	G
Uprisen o'er chaos and with such a stun	G
Came the amazement that absorb'd in it	S
He saw not fiercer wonders past the wit	S
Of any spirit to tell but one of those	N
Who when this planet's sphering time doth close	N
Will be its high remembrancers who they	N
The mighty ones who have made eternal day	N
For Greece and England While astonishment	S
With deep drawn sighs was quieting he went	S
Into a marble gallery passing through	U
A mimic temple so complete and true	U
In sacred custom that he well nigh fear'd	S
To search it inwards whence far off appear'd	S
Through a long pillar'd vista a fair shrine	G
And just beyond on light tiptoe divine	G
A quiver'd Dian Stepping awfully	S
The youth approach'd oft turning his veil'd eye	S
Down sidelong aisles and into niches old	S
And when more near against the marble cold	S
He had touch'd his forehead he began to thread	S
All courts and passages where silence dead	S
Rous'd by his whispering footsteps murmured faint	S
And long he travers'd to and fro to acquaint	S
Himself with every mystery and awe	H2
Till weary he sat down before the maw	I2
Of a wide outlet fathomless and dim	J2
To wild uncertainty and shadows grim	J2
There when new wonders ceas'd to float before	L
And thoughts of self came on how crude and sore	L
The journey homeward to habitual self	K2
A mad pursuing of the fog born elf	K2
Whose flitting lantern through rude nettle briar	L
Cheats us into a swamp into a fire	L
Into the bosom of a hated thing	O
	-
What misery most drowningly doth sing	O
In lone Endymion's ear now he has caught	S
The goal of consciousness Ah 'tis the thought	S
The deadly feel of solitude for lo	L
He cannot see the heavens nor the flow	L
Of rivers nor hill flowers running wild	S
In pink and purple chequer nor up pil'd	S
The cloudy rack slow journeying in the west	S
Like herded elephants nor felt nor prest	S
Cool grass nor tasted the fresh slumberous air	L
But far from such companionship to wear	L
An unknown time surcharg'd with grief away	N
Was now his lot And must he patient stay	N
Tracing fantastic figures with his spear	L
No exclaimed he why should I tarry here	L
No loudly echoed times innumerable	G
At which he straightway started and 'gan tell	G
His paces back into the temple's chief	L2
Warming and glowing strong in the belief	L2
Of help from Dian so that when again	G
He caught her airy form thus did he plain	G
Moving more near the while O Haunter chaste	S
Of river sides and woods and heathy waste	S
Where with thy silver bow and arrows keen	G
Art thou now forested O woodland Queen	G
What smoothest air thy smoother forehead woos	N
Where dost thou listen to the wide halloos	N
Of thy disparted nymphs Through what dark tree	S
Glimmers thy crescent Wheresoe'er it be	S
'Tis in the breath of heaven thou dost taste	S
Freedom as none can taste it nor dost waste	S
Thy loveliness in dismal elements	N
But finding in our green earth sweet contents	N
There livest blissfully Ah if to thee	S
It feels Elysian how rich to me	S
An exil'd mortal sounds its pleasant name	M2
Within my breast there lives a choking flame	M2
O let me cool it among the zephyr boughs	N
A homeward fever parches up my tongue	V
O let me slake it at the running springs	N
Upon my ear a noisy nothing rings	N
O let me once more hear the linnet's note	S
Before mine eyes thick films and shadows float	S
O let me 'noint them with the heaven's light	S
Dost thou now lave thy feet and ankles white	S
O think how sweet to me the freshening sluice	N
Dost thou now please thy thirst with berry juice	N
O think how this dry palate would rejoice	N
If in soft slumber thou dost hear my voice	N
Oh think how I should love a bed of flowers	N
Young goddess let me see my native bowers	N
Deliver me from this rapacious deep	B2
	-
Thus ending loudly as he would o'erleap	B2
His destiny alert he stood but when	G
Obstinate silence came heavily again	G
Feeling about for its old couch of space	N
And airy cradle lowly bow'd his face	N
Desponding o'er the marble floor's cold thrill	G
But 'twas not long for sweeter than the rill	G
To its old channel or a swollen tide	S
To margin sallows were the leaves he spied	S
And flowers and wreaths and ready myrtle crowns	N
Up heaping through the slab refreshment drowns	N
Itself and strives its own delights to hide	S
Nor in one spot alone the floral pride	S
In a long whispering birth enchanted grew	U
Before his footsteps as when heav'd anew	U
Old ocean rolls a lengthened wave to the shore	L
Down whose green back the short liv'd foam all hoar	L
Bursts gradual with a wayward indolence	N
	-
Increasing still in heart and pleasant sense	N
Upon his fairy journey on he hastes	N
So anxious for the end he scarcely wastes	N
One moment with his hand among the sweets	N
Onward he goes he stops his bosom beats	N
As plainly in his ear as the faint charm	N2
Of which the throbs were born This still alarm	N2
This sleepy music forc'd him walk tiptoe	L
For it came more softly than the east could blow	L
Arion's magic to the Atlantic isles	N
Or than the west made jealous by the smiles	N
Of thron'd Apollo could breathe back the lyre	L
To seas Ionian and Tyrian	U
	-
O did he ever live that lonely man	U
Who lov'd and music slew not 'Tis the pest	S
Of love that fairest joys give most unrest	S
That things of delicate and tenderest worth	F2
Are swallow'd all and made a seared dearth	F2
By one consuming flame it doth immerse	N
And suffocate true blessings in a curse	N
Half happy by comparison of bliss	N
Is miserable 'Twas even so with this	N
Dew dropping melody in the Carian's ear	L
First heaven then hell and then forgotten clear	L
Vanish'd in elemental passion	U
	-
And down some swart abysm he had gone	U
Had not a heavenly guide benignant led	S
To where thick myrtle branches 'gainst his head	S
Brushing awakened then the sounds again	U
Went noiseless as a passing noontide rain	U
Over a bower where little space he stood	S
For as the sunset peeps into a wood	S
So saw he panting light and towards it went	S
Through winding alleys and lo wonderment	S
Upon soft verdure saw one here one there	L
Cupids a slumbering on their pinions fair	L
	-
After a thousand mazes overgone	U
At last with sudden step he came upon	U
A chamber myrtle wall'd embowered high	S
Full of light incense tender minstrelsy	N
And more of beautiful and strange beside	S
For on a silken couch of rosy pride	S
In midst of all there lay a sleeping youth	F2
Of fondest beauty fonder in fair sooth	F2
Than sighs could fathom or contentment reach	U
And coverlids gold tinted like the peach	U
Or ripe October's faded marigolds	N
Fell sleek about him in a thousand folds	N
Not hiding up an Apollonian curve	O2
Of neck and shoulder nor the tenting swerve	O2
Of knee from knee nor ankles pointing light	S
But rather giving them to the filled sight	S
Officiously Sideway his face repos'd	S
On one white arm and tenderly unclos'd	S
By tenderest pressure a faint damask mouth	F2
To slumbery pout just as the morning south	F2
Disparts a dew lipp'd rose Above his head	S
Four lily stalks did their white honours wed	S
To make a coronal and round him grew	U
All tendrils green of every bloom and hue	U
Together intertwin'd and trammel'd fresh	U
The vine of glossy sprout the ivy mesh	U
Shading its Ethiop berries and woodbine	U
Of velvet leaves and bugle blooms divine	U
Convolvulus in streaked vases flush	U
The creeper mellowing for an autumn blush	U
And virgin's bower trailing airily	L
With others of the sisterhood Hard by	S
Stood serene Cupids watching silently	L
One kneeling to a lyre touch'd the strings	N
Muffling to death the pathos with his wings	N
And ever and anon uprose to look	P2
At the youth's slumber while another took	P2
A willow bough distilling odorous dew	U
And shook it on his hair another flew	U
In through the woven roof and fluttering wise	N
Rain'd violets upon his sleeping eyes	N
	-
At these enchantments and yet many more	L
The breathless Latmian wonder'd o'er and o'er	L
Until impatient in embarrassment	S
He forthright pass'd and lightly treading went	S
To that same feather'd lyrist who straightway	N
Smiling thus whisper'd Though from upper day	S
Thou art a wanderer and thy presence here	L
Might seem unholy be of happy cheer	L
For 'tis the nicest touch of human honour	L
When some ethereal and high favouring donor	L
Presents immortal bowers to mortal sense	N
As now 'tis done to thee Endymion Hence	N
Was I in no wise startled So recline	U
Upon these living flowers Here is wine	U
Alive with sparkles never I aver	L
Since Ariadne was a vintager	L
So cool a purple taste these juicy pears	N
Sent me by sad Vertumnus when his fears	N
Were high about Pomona here is cream	A2
Deepening to richness from a snowy gleam	A2
Sweeter than that nurse Amalthea skimm'd	S
For the boy Jupiter and here undimm'd	S
By any touch a bunch of blooming plums	N
Ready to melt between an infant's gums	N
And here is manna pick'd from Syrian trees	N
In starlight by the three Hesperides	N
Feast on and meanwhile I will let thee know	U
Of all these things around us He did so	U
Still brooding o'er the cadence of his lyre	L
And thus I need not any hearing tire	L
By telling how the sea born goddess pin'd	S
For a mortal youth and how she strove to bind	S
Him all in all unto her doting self	K2
Who would not be so prison'd but fond elf	K2
He was content to let her amorous plea	L
Faint through his careless arms content to see	L
An unseiz'd heaven dying at his feet	S
Content O fool to make a cold retreat	S
When on the pleasant grass such love lovelorn	U
Lay sorrowing when every tear was born	U
Of diverse passion when her lips and eyes	N
Were clos'd in sullen moisture and quick sighs	N
Came vex'd and pettish through her nostrils small	L
Hush no exclaim yet justly mightst thou call	L
Curses upon his head I was half glad	S
But my poor mistress went distract and mad	S
When the boar tusk'd him so away she flew	U
To Jove's high throne and by her plainings drew	U
Immortal tear drops down the thunderer's beard	S
Whereon it was decreed he should be rear'd	S
Each summer time to life Lo this is he	L
That same Adonis safe in the privacy	L
Of this still region all his winter sleep	B2
Aye sleep for when our love sick queen did weep	B2
Over his waned corse the tremulous shower	L
Heal'd up the wound and with a balmy power	L
Medicined death to a lengthened drowsiness	N
The which she fills with visions and doth dress	N
In all this quiet luxury and hath set	S
Us young immortals without any let	S
To watch his slumber through 'Tis well nigh pass'd	S
Even to a moment's filling up and fast	S
She scuds with summer breezes to pant through	U
The first long kiss warm firstling to renew	U
Embower'd sports in Cytherea's isle	L
Look how those winged listeners all this while	L
Stand anxious see behold This clamant word	S
Broke through the careful silence for they heard	S
A rustling noise of leaves and out there flutter'd	S
Pigeons and doves Adonis something mutter'd	S
The while one hand that erst upon his thigh	S
Lay dormant mov'd convuls'd and gradually	L
Up to his forehead Then there was a hum	G2
Of sudden voices echoing Come come	G2
Arise awake Clear summer has forth walk'd	S
Unto the clover sward and she has talk'd	S
Full soothingly to every nested finch	U
Rise Cupids or we'll give the blue bell pinch	U
To your dimpled arms Once more sweet life begin	U
At this from every side they hurried in	U
Rubbing their sleepy eyes with lazy wrists	N
And doubling overhead their little fists	N
In backward yawns But all were soon alive	Q2
For as delicious wine doth sparkling dive	Q2
In nectar'd clouds and curls through water fair	L
So from the arbour roof down swell'd an air	L
Odorous and enlivening making all	L
To laugh and play and sing and loudly call	L
For their sweet queen when lo the wreathed green	U
Disparted and far upward could be seen	U
Blue heaven and a silver car air borne	U
Whose silent wheels fresh wet from clouds of morn	U
Spun off a drizzling dew which falling chill	L
On soft Adonis' shoulders made him still	L
Nestle and turn uneasily about	S
Soon were the white doves plain with necks stretch'd out	S
And silken traces lighten'd in descent	S
And soon returning from love's banishment	S
Queen Venus leaning downward open arm'd	S
Her shadow fell upon his breast and charm'd	S
A tumult to his heart and a new life	R2
Into his eyes Ah miserable strife	R2
But for her comforting unhappy sight	S
But meeting her blue orbs Who who can write	S
Of these first minutes The unchariest muse	N
To embracements warm as theirs makes coy excuse	N
	-
O it has ruffled every spirit there	L
Saving love's self who stands superb to share	L
The general gladness awfully he stands	N
A sovereign quell is in his waving hands	N
No sight can bear the lightning of his bow	G
His quiver is mysterious none can know	U
What themselves think of it from forth his eyes	N
There darts strange light of varied hues and dyes	N
A scowl is sometimes on his brow but who	U
Look full upon it feel anon the blue	U
Of his fair eyes run liquid through their souls	N
Endymion feels it and no more controls	N
The burning prayer within him so bent low	U
He had begun a plaining of his woe	U
But Venus bending forward said My child	S
Favour this gentle youth his days are wild	S
With love he but alas too well I see	L
Thou know'st the deepness of his misery	L
Ah smile not so my son I tell thee true	U
That when through heavy hours I used to rue	U
The endless sleep of this new born Adon'	U
This stranger ay I pitied For upon	U
A dreary morning once I fled away	S
Into the breezy clouds to weep and pray	S
For this my love for vexing Mars had teaz'd	S
Me even to tears thence when a little eas'd	S
Down looking vacant through a hazy wood	S
I saw this youth as he despairing stood	S
Those same dark curls blown vagrant in the wind	S
Those same full fringed lids a constant blind	S
Over his sullen eyes I saw him throw	U
Himself on wither'd leaves even as though	U
Death had come sudden for no jot he mov'd	S
Yet mutter'd wildly I could hear he lov'd	S
Some fair immortal and that his embrace	N
Had zoned her through the night There is no trace	N
Of this in heaven I have mark'd each cheek	Z
And find it is the vainest thing to seek	Z
And that of all things 'tis kept secretest	S
Endymion one day thou wilt be blest	S
So still obey the guiding hand that fends	N
Thee safely through these wonders for sweet ends	N
'Tis a concealment needful in extreme	A2
And if I guess'd not so the sunny beam	A2
Thou shouldst mount up to with me Now adieu	S
Here must we leave thee At these words up flew	S
The impatient doves up rose the floating car	L
Up went the hum celestial High afar	L
The Latmian saw them minish into nought	S
And when all were clear vanish'd still he caught	S
A vivid lightning from that dreadful bow	G
When all was darkened with Etnean throe	L
The earth clos'd gave a solitary moan	U
And left him once again in twilight lone	U
	-
He did not rave he did not stare aghast	S
For all those visions were o'ergone and past	S
And he in loneliness he felt assur'd	S
Of happy times when all he had endur'd	S
Would seem a feather to the mighty prize	N
So with unusual gladness on he hies	N
Through caves and palaces of mottled ore	L
Gold dome and crystal wall and turquois floor	L
Black polish'd porticos of awful shade	S
And at the last a diamond balustrade	S
Leading afar past wild magnificence	N
Spiral through ruggedest loopholes and thence	N
Stretching across a void then guiding o'er	L
Enormous chasms where all foam and roar	L
Streams subterranean tease their granite beds	N
Then heighten'd just above the silvery heads	N
Of a thousand fountains so that he could dash	U
The waters with his spear but at the splash	U
Done heedlessly those spouting columns rose	N
Sudden a poplar's height and 'gan to enclose	N
His diamond path with fretwork streaming round	S
Alive and dazzling cool and with a sound	S
Haply like dolphin tumults when sweet shells	N
Welcome the float of Thetis Long he dwells	N
On this delight for every minute's space	N
The streams with changed magic interlace	N
Sometimes like delicatest lattices	N
Cover'd with crystal vines then weeping trees	N
Moving about as in a gentle wind	S
Which in a wink to watery gauze refin'd	S
Pour'd into shapes of curtain'd canopies	N
Spangled and rich with liquid broideries	N
Of flowers peacocks swans and naiads fair	L
Swifter than lightning went these wonders rare	L
And then the water into stubborn streams	N
Collecting mimick'd the wrought oaken beams	N
Pillars and frieze and high fantastic roof	C2
Of those dusk places in times far aloof	C2
Cathedrals call'd He bade a loth farewel	S
To these founts Protean passing gulph and dell	S
And torrent and ten thousand jutting shapes	N
Half seen through deepest gloom and griesly gapes	N
Blackening on every side and overhead	S
A vaulted dome like Heaven's far bespread	S
With starlight gems aye all so huge and strange	D2
The solitary felt a hurried change	D2
Working within him into something dreary	L
Vex'd like a morning eagle lost and weary	L
And purblind amid foggy midnight wolds	N
But he revives at once for who beholds	N
New sudden things nor casts his mental slough	S2
Forth from a rugged arch in the dusk below	S
Came mother Cybele alone alone	U
In sombre chariot dark foldings thrown	U
About her majesty and front death pale	S
With turrets crown'd Four maned lions hale	S
The sluggish wheels solemn their toothed maws	N
Their surly eyes brow hidden heavy paws	N
Uplifted drowsily and nervy tails	N
Cowering their tawny brushes Silent sails	N
This shadowy queen athwart and faints away	S
In another gloomy arch	U
	-
Wherefore delay	S
Young traveller in such a mournful place	N
Art thou wayworn or canst not further trace	N
The diamond path And does it indeed end	S
Abrupt in middle air Yet earthward bend	S
Thy forehead and to Jupiter cloud borne	U
Call ardently He was indeed wayworn	U
Abrupt in middle air his way was lost	S
To cloud borne Jove he bowed and there crost	S
Towards him a large eagle 'twixt whose wings	N
Without one impious word himself he flings	N
Committed to the darkness and the gloom	T2
Down down uncertain to what pleasant doom	T2
Swift as a fathoming plummet down he fell	S
Through unknown things till exhaled asphodel	S
And rose with spicy fannings interbreath'd	S
Came swelling forth where little caves were wreath'd	S
So thick with leaves and mosses that they seem'd	S
Large honey combs of green and freshly teem'd	S
With airs delicious In the greenest nook	P2
The eagle landed him and farewel took	P2
	-
It was a jasmine bower all bestrown	U
With golden moss His every sense had grown	U
Ethereal for pleasure 'bove his head	S
Flew a delight half graspable his tread	S
Was Hesperean to his capable ears	N
Silence was music from the holy spheres	N
A dewy luxury was in his eyes	N
The little flowers felt his pleasant sighs	N
And stirr'd them faintly Verdant cave and cell	S
He wander'd through oft wondering at such swell	S
Of sudden exaltation but Alas	N
Said he will all this gush of feeling pass	N
Away in solitude And must they wane	U
Like melodies upon a sandy plain	U
Without an echo Then shall I be left	S
So sad so melancholy so bereft	S
Yet still I feel immortal O my love	Y
My breath of life where art thou High above	Y
Dancing before the morning gates of heaven	U
Or keeping watch among those starry seven	U
Old Atlas' children Art a maid of the waters	N
One of shell winding Triton's bright hair'd daughters	N
Or art impossible a nymph of Dian's	N
Weaving a coronal of tender scions	N
For very idleness Where'er thou art	S
Methinks it now is at my will to start	S
Into thine arms to scare Aurora's train	U
And snatch thee from the morning o'er the main	U
To scud like a wild bird and take thee off	U2
From thy sea foamy cradle or to doff	U2
Thy shepherd vest and woo thee mid fresh leaves	N
No no too eagerly my soul deceives	N
Its powerless self I know this cannot be	L
O let me then by some sweet dreaming flee	L
To her entrancements hither sleep awhile	S
Hither most gentle sleep and soothing foil	S
For some few hours the coming solitude	S
	-
Thus spake he and that moment felt endued	S
With power to dream deliciously so wound	S
Through a dim passage searching till he found	S
The smoothest mossy bed and deepest where	L
He threw himself and just into the air	L
Stretching his indolent arms he took O bliss	N
A naked waist Fair Cupid whence is this	N
A well known voice sigh'd Sweetest here am I	S
At which soft ravishment with doating cry	S
They trembled to each other Helicon	U
O fountain'd hill Old Homer's Helicon	U
That thou wouldst spout a little streamlet o'er	L
These sorry pages then the verse would soar	L
And sing above this gentle pair like lark	V2
Over his nested young but all is dark	V2
Around thine aged top and thy clear fount	S
Exhales in mists to heaven Aye the count	S
Of mighty Poets is made up the scroll	S
Is folded by the Muses the bright roll	S
Is in Apollo's hand our dazed eyes	N
Have seen a new tinge in the western skies	N
The world has done its duty Yet oh yet	S
Although the sun of poesy is set	S
These lovers did embrace and we must weep	B2
That there is no old power left to steep	B2
A quill immortal in their joyous tears	N
Long time in silence did their anxious fears	N
Question that thus it was long time they lay	S
Fondling and kissing every doubt away	S
Long time ere soft caressing sobs began	U
To mellow into words and then there ran	U
Two bubbling springs of talk from their sweet lips	N
O known Unknown from whom my being sips	N
Such darling essence wherefore may I not	S
Be ever in these arms in this sweet spot	S
Pillow my chin for ever ever press	N
These toying hands and kiss their smooth excess	N
Why not for ever and for ever feel	S
That breath about my eyes Ah thou wilt steal	S
Away from me again indeed indeed	S
Thou wilt be gone away and wilt not heed	S
My lonely madness Speak my kindest fair	L
Is is it to be so No Who will dare	L
To pluck thee from me And of thine own will	S
Full well I feel thou wouldst not leave me Still	S
Let me entwine thee surer surer now	U
How can we part Elysium who art thou	U
Who that thou canst not be for ever here	L
Or lift me with thee to some starry sphere	L
Enchantress tell me by this soft embrace	N
By the most soft completion of thy face	N
Those lips O slippery blisses twinkling eyes	N
And by these tenderest milky sovereignties	N
These tenderest and by the nectar wine	U
The passion O lov'd Ida the divine	U
Endymion dearest Ah unhappy me	L
His soul will 'scape us O felicity	L
How he does love me His poor temples beat	S
To the very tune of love how sweet sweet sweet	S
Revive dear youth or I shall faint and die	S
Revive or these soft hours will hurry by	S
In tranced dulness speak and let that spell	S
Affright this lethargy I cannot quell	S
Its heavy pressure and will press at least	S
My lips to thine that they may richly feast	S
Until we taste the life of love again	U
What dost thou move dost kiss O bliss O pain	U
I love thee youth more than I can conceive	W2
And so long absence from thee doth bereave	W2
My soul of any rest yet must I hence	N
Yet can I not to starry eminence	N
Uplift thee nor for very shame can own	U
Myself to thee Ah dearest do not groan	U
Or thou wilt force me from this secrecy	L
And I must blush in heaven O that I	S
Had done it already that the dreadful smiles	N
At my lost brightness my impassion'd wiles	N
Had waned from Olympus' solemn height	S
And from all serious Gods that our delight	S
Was quite forgotten save of us alone	U
And wherefore so ashamed 'Tis but to atone	U
For endless pleasure by some coward blushes	N
Yet must I be a coward Horror rushes	N
Too palpable before me the sad look	P2
Of Jove Minerva's start no bosom shook	P2
With awe of purity no Cupid pinion	U
In reverence veiled my crystaline dominion	U
Half lost and all old hymns made nullity	S
But what is this to love O I could fly	S
With thee into the ken of heavenly powers	N
So thou wouldst thus for many sequent hours	N
Press me so sweetly Now I swear at once	N
That I am wise that Pallas is a dunce	N
Perhaps her love like mine is but unknown	U
O I do think that I have been alone	U
In chastity yes Pallas has been sighing	O
While every eve saw me my hair uptying	O
With fingers cool as aspen leaves Sweet love	Y
I was as vague as solitary dove	Y
Nor knew that nests were built Now a soft kiss	N
Aye by that kiss I vow an endless bliss	N
An immortality of passion's thine	U
Ere long I will exalt thee to the shine	U
Of heaven ambrosial and we will shade	S
Ourselves whole summers by a river glade	S
And I will tell thee stories of the sky	O
And breathe thee whispers of its minstrelsy	N
My happy love will overwing all bounds	N
O let me melt into thee let the sounds	N
Of our close voices marry at their birth	F2
Let us entwine hoveringly O dearth	F2
Of human words roughness of mortal speech	U
Lispings empyrean will I sometime teach	U
Thine honied tongue lute breathings which I gasp	B2
To have thee understand now while I clasp	B2
Thee thus and weep for fondness I am pain'd	S
Endymion woe woe is grief contain'd	S
In the very deeps of pleasure my sole life	R2
Hereat with many sobs her gentle strife	R2
Melted into a languor He return'd	S
Entranced vows and tears	N
	-
Ye who have yearn'd	S
With too much passion will here stay and pity	S
For the mere sake of truth as 'tis a ditty	S
Not of these days but long ago 'twas told	S
By a cavern wind unto a forest old	S
And then the forest told it in a dream	A2
To a sleeping lake whose cool and level gleam	A2
A poet caught as he was journeying	O
To Phoebus' shrine and in it he did fling	O
His weary limbs bathing an hour's space	N
And after straight in that inspired place	N
He sang the story up into the air	L
Giving it universal freedom There	L
Has it been ever sounding for those ears	N
Whose tips are glowing hot The legend cheers	N
Yon centinel stars and he who listens to it	S
Must surely be self doomed or he will rue it	S
For quenchless burnings come upon the heart	S
Made fiercer by a fear lest any part	S
Should be engulphed in the eddying wind	S
As much as here is penn'd doth always find	S
A resting place thus much comes clear and plain	U
Anon the strange voice is upon the wane	U
And 'tis but echo'd from departing sound	S
That the fair visitant at last unwound	S
Her gentle limbs and left the youth asleep	B2
Thus the tradition of the gusty deep	B2
	-
Now turn we to our former chroniclers	N
Endymion awoke that grief of hers	N
Sweet paining on his ear he sickly guess'd	S
How lone he was once more and sadly press'd	S
His empty arms together hung his head	S
And most forlorn upon that widow'd bed	S
Sat silently Love's madness he had known	U
Often with more than tortured lion's groan	U
Moanings had burst from him but now that rage	X2
Had pass'd away no longer did he wage	X2
A rough voic'd war against the dooming stars	N
No he had felt too much for such harsh jars	N
The lyre of his soul Eolian tun'd	S
Forgot all violence and but commun'd	S
With melancholy thought O he had swoon'd	S
Drunken from pleasure's nipple and his love	Y
Henceforth was dove like Loth was he to move	Y2
From the imprinted couch and when he did	S
'Twas with slow languid paces and face hid	S
In muffling hands So temper'd out he stray'd	S
Half seeing visions that might have dismay'd	S
Alecto's serpents ravishments more keen	U
Than Hermes' pipe when anxious he did lean	U
Over eclipsing eyes and at the last	S
It was a sounding grotto vaulted vast	S
O'er studded with a thousand thousand pearls	N
And crimson mouthed shells with stubborn curls	N
Of every shape and size even to the bulk	O
In which whales arbour close to brood and sulk	O
Against an endless storm Moreover too	S
Fish semblances of green and azure hue	S
Ready to snort their streams In this cool wonder	L
Endymion sat down and 'gan to ponder	L
On all his life his youth up to the day	S
When 'mid acclaim and feasts and garlands gay	S
He stept upon his shepherd throne the look	O
Of his white palace in wild forest nook	O
And all the revels he had lorded there	L
Each tender maiden whom he once thought fair	L
With every friend and fellow woodlander	L
Pass'd like a dream before him Then the spur	L
Of the old bards to mighty deeds his plans	N
To nurse the golden age 'mong shepherd clans	N
That wondrous night the great Pan festival	S
His sister's sorrow and his wanderings all	S
Until into the earth's deep maw he rush'd	S
Then all its buried magic till it flush'd	S
High with excessive love And now thought he	S
How long must I remain in jeopardy	S
Of blank amazements that amaze no more	L
Now I have tasted her sweet soul to the core	L
All other depths are shallow essences	N
Once spiritual are like muddy lees	N
Meant but to fertilize my earthly root	S
And make my branches lift a golden fruit	S
Into the bloom of heaven other light	S
Though it be quick and sharp enough to blight	S
The Olympian eagle's vision is dark	O
Dark as the parentage of chaos Hark	O
My silent thoughts are echoing from these shells	N
Or they are but the ghosts the dying swells	N
Of noises far away list Hereupon	U
He kept an anxious ear The humming tone	U
Came louder and behold there as he lay	S
On either side outgush'd with misty spray	S
A copious spring and both together dash'd	S
Swift mad fantastic round the rocks and lash'd	S
Among the conchs and shells of the lofty grot	S
Leaving a trickling dew At last they shot	S
Down from the ceiling's height pouring a noise	N
As of some breathless racers whose hopes poize	N
Upon the last few steps and with spent force	N
Along the ground they took a winding course	N
Endymion follow'd for it seem'd that one	U
Ever pursued the other strove to shun	U
Follow'd their languid mazes till well nigh	O
He had left thinking of the mystery	S
And was now rapt in tender hoverings	N
Over the vanish'd bliss Ah what is it sings	N
His dream away What melodies are these	N
They sound as through the whispering of trees	N
Not native in such barren vaults Give ear	L
	-
O Arethusa peerless nymph why fear	L
Such tenderness as mine Great Dian why	O
Why didst thou hear her prayer O that I	O
Were rippling round her dainty fairness now	U
Circling about her waist and striving how	U
To entice her to a dive then stealing in	U
Between her luscious lips and eyelids thin	U
O that her shining hair was in the sun	U
And I distilling from it thence to run	U
In amorous rillets down her shrinking form	Z2
To linger on her lily shoulders warm	Z2
Between her kissing breasts and every charm	N2
Touch raptur'd See how painfully I flow	S
Fair maid be pitiful to my great woe	S
Stay stay thy weary course and let me lead	S
A happy wooer to the flowery mead	S
Where all that beauty snar'd me Cruel god	S
Desist or my offended mistress' nod	S
Will stagnate all thy fountains tease me not	S
With syren words Ah have I really got	S
Such power to madden thee And is it true	L
Away away or I shall dearly rue	L
My very thoughts in mercy then away	S
Kindest Alpheus for should I obey	S
My own dear will 'twould be a deadly bane	U
O Oread Queen would that thou hadst a pain	U
Like this of mine then would I fearless turn	U
And be a criminal Alas I burn	U
I shudder gentle river get thee hence	N
Alpheus thou enchanter every sense	N
Of mine was once made perfect in these woods	N
Fresh breezes bowery lawns and innocent floods	N
Ripe fruits and lonely couch contentment gave	A3
But ever since I heedlessly did lave	A3
In thy deceitful stream a panting glow	S
Grew strong within me wherefore serve me so	S
And call it love Alas 'twas cruelty	S
Not once more did I close my happy eyes	N
Amid the thrush's song Away Avaunt	S
O 'twas a cruel thing Now thou dost taunt	S
So softly Arethusa that I think	O
If thou wast playing on my shady brink	O
Thou wouldst bathe once again Innocent maid	S
Stifle thine heart no more nor be afraid	S
Of angry powers there are deities	N
Will shade us with their wings Those fitful sighs	N
'Tis almost death to hear O let me pour	L
A dewy balm upon them fear no more	L
Sweet Arethusa Dian's self must feel	S
Sometimes these very pangs Dear maiden steal	S
Blushing into my soul and let us fly	O
These dreary caverns for the open sky	O
I will delight thee all my winding course	N
From the green sea up to my hidden source	N
About Arcadian forests and will shew	L
The channels where my coolest waters flow	S
Through mossy rocks where 'mid exuberant green	U
I roam in pleasant darkness more unseen	U
Than Saturn in his exile where I brim	J2
Round flowery islands and take thence a skim	J2
Of mealy sweets which myriads of bees	N
Buzz from their honied wings and thou shouldst please	N
Thyself to choose the richest where we might	S
Be incense pillow'd every summer night	S
Doff all sad fears thou white deliciousness	N
And let us be thus comforted unless	N
Thou couldst rejoice to see my hopeless stream	A2
Hurry distracted from Sol's temperate beam	A2
And pour to death along some hungry sands	N
What can I do Alpheus Dian stands	N
Severe before me persecuting fate	S
Unhappy Arethusa thou wast late	S
A huntress free in At this sudden fell	S
Those two sad streams adown a fearful dell	S
The Latmian listen'd but he heard no more	L
Save echo faint repeating o'er and o'er	L
The name of Arethusa On the verge	B3
Of that dark gulph he wept and said I urge	B3
Thee gentle Goddess of my pilgrimage	C3
By our eternal hopes to soothe to assuage	X2
If thou art powerful these lovers pains	N
And make them happy in some happy plains	N
	-
He turn'd there was a whelming sound he stept	S
There was a cooler light and so he kept	S
Towards it by a sandy path and lo	S
More suddenly than doth a moment go	S
The visions of the earth were gone and fled	S
He saw the giant sea above his head	S

John Keats

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