Collected Poems of Alfred Noyes - Vol I

Contents include: THE LOOM OF YEARS 1 IN THE HEART OF THE WOODS 2. ART TRIOLET . 8 A TRIPLE BALLAD OF OLD JAPAN ....... 8 THE SYMBOLIST HAUNTED IN OLD JAPAN . NECROMANCY 12 THE MYSTIC 15 THE FLOWER OF OLD JAPAN 17 APES AND IVORY 48 A SONG OF SHERWOOD 49 THE WORLDS MAY-QUEEN PIRATES 50 ..53 A SONG OF ENGLAND . 55 THE OLD SCEPTIC 57 THE DEATH OF CHOPIN 59 SONG 62 BUTTERFLIES 62 SONG OF THE WOODEN-LEGGED FIDDLER THE FISHER-GIRL 66 67 A SONG OF Two BURDENS 71 EARTH-BOUND 72 ART, THE HERALD 74 THE OPTIMIST 74 A POST-IMPRESSION 76 80 THE BARREL-ORGAN -r . THE LITANY OF WAR 85 THE ORIGIN OF LIFE . . 86 THE LAST BATTLE 88 THE PARADOX 89 v 5 10 11 Vi CONTENTS PAGE THE PROGRESS OF LOVE 94 THE FOREST OF WILD THYME 123 FORTY SINGING SEAMEN 171 THE EMPIRE BUILDERS 175 NELSONS YEAR 177 IN TIME OF WAR . ODE FOR THE SEVENTIETH BIRTHDAY OF SWINBURNE . 180 .186 IN CLOAK OF GREY 188 A RIDE FOR THE QUEEN ISO SONG 191 THE HIGHWAYMAN 192 THE HAUNTED PALACE 196 THE SCULPTOR 200 SUMMER 201 AT DAWN 204 THE SWIMMERS RACE 206 THE VENUS OF MILO . . . 208 THE NET OF VULCAN 209 NIOBE 209 ORPHEUS AND EURYDICE 211 FROM THE SHORE 220 THE RETURN 222 REMEMBRANCE 223 A PRAYER 224 LOVES GHOST 224 ON A RAILWAY PLATFORM 225 OXFORD REVISITED . 226 THE THREE SHIPS 228 SLUMBER-SONGS OF THE MADONNA 230 ENCELADUS 235 IN THE COOL OF THE EVENING 241 A ROUNDHEADS RALLYING SONG 242 VICISTI, GALILEE 243 DRAKE . 246 COLLECTED POEMS EARLY POEMS DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF JAMES PAYN THE LOOM OF YEARS IN the light of the silent stars that shine on the struggling sea, In the weary cry of the wind and the whisper of flower and tree, Under the breath of laughter, deep in the tide of tears, I hear the Loom of the Weaver that weaves the Web of Years. The leaves of the winter wither and sink in the forest mould To colour the flowers of April with purple and white and gold Light and scent and music die and are born again In the heart of a grey-haired woman who wakes in a world of pain. The hound, the fawn and the hawk, and the doves that croon and coo, We are all one woof of the weaving and the one warp threads us through, One flying cloud on the shuttle that carries our hopes and fears As it goes thro the Loom of the Weaver that weaves the Web of Years. The crosiers of the fern, and the crown, the crown of the rose, Pass with our hearts to the Silence where the wings of music close, Pass and pass to the Timeless that never a moment mars, Pass and pass to the Darkness that made the suns and stars. Has the soul gone out in the Darkness Is the dust sealed from sight Ah, hush, for the woof of the ages returns thro the warp of the night Never that shuttle loses one thread of our hopes and fears, As it comes thro the Loom of the Weaver that weaves the Web of Years. 0, woven in one wide Loom thro the throbbing weft of the whole, One in spirit and flesh, one in body and soul, The leaf on the winds of autumn, the bird in its hour to die, The heart in its muffled anguish, the sea in its mournful cry, One with the flower of a day, one with the withered moon, One with the granite mountains that melt into the noon, One with the dream that triumphs beyond the light of the spheres, We come from the Loom of the Weaver that weaves the Web of Years. IN THE HEART OF THE WOODS In the Heart of the woods, I hear it, beating, beating afar, In the glamour and gloom of the night, in the light of the rosy star, In the cold sweet voice of the bird, in the throb of the flower- soft sea . . ...