POEMS. TO ROBERT BROWNING. THERE is delight in singing, though none hear Beside the singer: and there is delight In praising, though the praiser sit alone And see the praised far off him, far above. Shakspeare is not our poet, but the world's, Therefore on him no speech! and brief for thee, Browning! Since Chaucer was alive and hale, No man hath walkt along our roads with step So active, so inquiring eye, or tongue So varied in discourse. IBlu warmer climes Give brighter plumage, stronger wing: the breeze Of Alpine heights thou playest with, borne on Beyond Sorrento and Amalfi, where The Siren waits thee, singing song for song. WALTER SAVAGE LANDOR. ........ POEM S BY ROBERT BROWNING. IN TWO VOLUMES, VOL. I. A NEW EDITION. BOSTON: TICKNOR AND FIELDS. M DCCC LXIII. RIVERSIDE, CAMIBRIDGEP,: STEREOTYPED AND PRINTED Bt H1. O. HOUGHTON AND COMPANY. AUTHOR'S EDITION. To Messrs. TICKNOR AND FIELDS: I take advantage of the opportunity of the publication in the United States of my "Men and Women," for printing which you have liberally remunerated me, to express my earnest desire that the power of publishing in America this and every subsequent work of mine may rest exclusively with your house. I am, my dear Sirs, with high esteem, Yours faithfully, PARIS, Nov 29, 1855. ROBERT BROWNING. MANY of these pieces- were out of print, the rest had been withdrawn from circulation, when the corrected edition, now submitted to the reader, was prepared. The various Poems and Dramas have received the author's most careful revision. DECEMBER, 1848. CONTENTS OF VOLUME I. PAGI PARACELSUS.. 1 PIPPA PASSES. A DRAMA..... 163 KING VICTOR AND KING CHARLES. A TRAGEDY. 231 COLOMBE'S BIRTHDAY. A PLAY... 303 PARACELSUS. PERSONS. AUREOLUS PARACELSUS. FESTUS & ) MICHAL, his Friends. APRILE, an Italian Poet. I.-PARACELSUS ASPIRES. ScENE.- Wiirzburg-a garden in the environs. 1512. FESTUS, PARACELSUS, MICHAL. Par. Come close to me, cldear friends; still closer; thus! Close to the heart which, though long time roll by Ere it again beat quicker, pressed to yours, As now it beats-perchance a long, long timeAt least henceforth your memories shall make Quiet and fragrant as befits their home. Nor shall my memory want a home in yoursAlas, that it requires too well such free VOL. I. 1 2 PARACELSUS. Forgiving love as shall embalm it there For if you would remember me arightAs I was born to be —you must forget All fitful, strange, and moody waywardness Which e'er confused my better spirit, to dwell Only on moments such as these, dear friends! -My heart no truer, but my words and ways More true to it: as Michal, some months hence, Will say, "this autumn was a pleasant time," For some few sunny days; and overlook Its bleak wind, hankering after pining leaves. Autumn would fain be sunny-I would look Liker my nature's truth; and both are frail, And both beloved for all their frailty! _Mich. Aureole! Par. Drop by drop!-she is weeping like a child! Not so! I am content-more than contentNay, Autumn wins you best by this its mute Appeal to sympathy for its decay! Look up, sweet Michal, nor esteem the less Your stained and drooping vines their grapes bow down, Nor blame those creaking trees bent with their fruit, That apple-tree with a rare after-birth Of peeping blooms sprinkled its weal.kamong! Then for the winds-what wind that ever raved Shall vex that ash that overlooks you both, So proud it wears its berries? Ah! at length, The old smile meet for her, the lady of this Sequestered nest! This kingdom, limited PARACELSUS. 3 Alone by one old populous green wall, Tenanted by the ever-busy flies, Gray crickets, and shy lizards, and quick spiders, Each family of the silver-threaded mossWhich, look through, near, this way, and it appears A stubble-field, or a canebrake —a marsh Of bulrush whitening in the sun: laugh now! Fancy the crickets, each one in his house, Looking out, wondering at the world-or best, Yon painted snail, with his gay shell of dew, Travelling to see the glossy balls high up Hung by the caterpillar, like gold lamps! Jlich. In truth we have lived carelessly and well! Par. And shall, my perfect pair-each, trust me, born For the other; nay, your very hair, when mixed, Is of one hue. For whlhere save in this nook Shall you two walk, when I am far away, And wish me prosperous fortune? Stay! Whene'er That plant shall wave its tangles lightly and softly, As a queen's languid and imperial arm Which scatters crowns among her lovers, you Shall be reminded to predict to me Some great success! Ah, see! the sun sinks broad Behind St. Saviour's: wholly gone, at last! Fest. Now, Aureole, stay those wandering eyes awhile! You are ours to-night at least; and while you spoke Of Michal and her tears, the tlought came back That none could leave what he so seemed to love: But that last look destroys my dream-that look! 4 PARACELSUS. As if, where'er you gazed, there stood a star! How far was Wiirzburg, with its church and spire, And garden-walls, and all things they contain, From that look's far alighting? Par. I but spoke And looked alike from simple joy, to see The beings I love best, shut in so well From all rude chances like to be my lot, That, when afar, my weary spirit,-disposed To lose awhile its care in soothing thoughts Of them, their pleasant features, looks, and words,Need never hesitate, nor apprehend Encroaching trouble may have reached them too, Nor have recourse to Fancy's busy aid To fashion even a wish in their behalf Beyond what they possess already here; But, unobstructed, may at once forget Itself in them, assured how well they are. Beside, this Festus knows, he thinks me one Whom quiet and its charms attract in vain, One scarce aware of all the joys I quit, Too fill'd with airy hopes to make account Of soft delights which free hearts garner up: Whereas, behold how much our sense of all That's beauteous proves alike! When Festus learns That every common pleasure of the world Affects me as himself; that I have just As varied appetites for joy derived From common things; a stake in life, in short, PARACELSUS. Like his; a stake which rash pursuit of aims That life affords not, would as soon destroy - He may convince himself, that, this in view, I shall act well advised: and last, because, Though heaven and earth, and all things, were at stake, Sweet Michal must not weep, our parting eve! Fest. True: and the eve is deepening, and we sit As little anxious to begin our talk As though to-morrow I could open it As we paced arm in arm the cheerful town At sun-dawn; and continue it by fits (Old Tritheim busied with his class the while) In that dim chamber where the noon-streaks peer Half frightened by the awful tomes around; And here at home unbosom all the rest From even-blush to midnight: but, to-morrow!. Have I full leave to tell my inmost mind? We two were brothers, and henceforth the world Will rise between us:-all my freest mind?'Tis the last night, dear Aureole! Par. Oh, say on! Devise some test of love-some arduous feat To be performed for you-say on! If night Be spent the while, the better! Recall how oft My wondrous plans, and dreams, and hopes, and fears, Have —never wearied you... oh, no!.. as I Recall, and never vividly as now, Your true affection, born when Einsiedeln And its green hills were all the world to us, 6 PARACELSUS. And still increasing to this night, which ends My further stay at Wiirzburg.. Oh, one day You shall be very proud! Say on, dear friends! Fest. In truth?'Tis for my proper peace, indeed, Rather than yours; for vain all projects seem To stay your course: I said my latest hope Is fading even now. A story tells Of some far embassy despatched to buy The favour of an eastern king, and how The gifts they offered proved but dazzling dust Shed from the ore-beds native to his clime: Just so, the value of repose and love, I meant should tempt you, better far than I You seem to comprehend-and yet desist No whit from projects where repose nor love Have part. Par. Once more? Alas! as I forbode! Fest. A solitary briar the bank puts forth To save our swan's nest floating out to sea. Par. Dear Festus, hear me. What is it you wish? That I should lay aside my heart's pursuit, Abandon the sole ends for which I live, Reject God's great commission-and so die! You bid me listen for your true love's sake: Yet how has grown that love? Even in a long And patient cherishing of the selfsame spirit It now would quell; as though a mother hoped To stay the lusty manhood of the child Once weak upon her knees. I was not born PARACELSUS. 7 Informed and fearless from the first, but shrank From aught which marked me out apart from men: I would have lived their life, and died their death, Lost in their ranks, eluding destiny: But you first guided me through doubt and fear, Taught me to know mankind and know myself; And now that I am strong and full of hope, That, from my soul, I can reject all aims Save those your earnest words made plain to me; Now, that I touch the brink of my design, When I would have a triumph in their eyes, A glad cheer in their voices-Michal weeps, And Festus ponders gravely! Pest. When you deign To hear my purpose.., Par. Hear it? I can say Beforehand all this evening's conference!'Tis this way, Michal, that he uses: first, Or he declares, or I, the leading points Of our best scheme of life, what is man's end, And what God's will-no two faiths e'er agreed As his with mine: next, each of us allows Faith should be acted on as best we may: Accordingly, I venture to submit A plan, in lack of better, for pursuing The path which God's will seems to authorize: Well-he discerns much good in it, avows This motive worthy, that hope plausible, A danger here, to be avoided-there, 8 PARACELSUS. An oversight to be repaired: at last Our two minds go together-all the good Approved by him, I gladly recognize; All he counts bad, I thankfully discard; And nought forbids my looking up at last For some stray comfort in his cautious browWhen, lo! I learn that, spite of all, there lurks Some innate and inexplicable germ Of failure in my schemes; so that at last It all amounts to this-the sovereign proof That we devote ourselves to God, is seen In living just as though there were no God; A life which, prompted by the sad and blind Lusts of the world, Festus abhors the mostBut which these tenets sanctify at once; Though to less subtle wits it seems the same, Consider it how they may. Mich.'Is it so, Festus? He speaks so calmly and kindly —is it so? Par. Reject those glorious visions of God's love. And man's design; laugh loud that God should send Vast longings to direct us; say how soon Power satiates these, or lust, or gold; I know The world's cry well, and how to answer it!