Brigid on the Blogosphere

I wanted to post a few pieces by a poet called Walter Savage Landor. I reckon he would have been a songwriter if he had lived in this day and age. I find much of his poetry beautiful in a simpler and more accessible way than some of the greats of his time. He has long been forgotten by most. I discovered him in an anthology and was lucky enough to find a volume of his works. I love old books and their old book smell...

God scatters beauty as he scatters flowers
o'er the wide earth, and tells us all are ours.
A hundred lights in every temple burn,
And at each shrine I bend my knee in turn.
Wisdom of Life and Death, part xvii


It often comes into my head
That we may dream when we are dead,
But I am far from sure we do.
O that it were so! then my rest
Would be indeed among the blest;
i should ever dream of you.
Ianthe, part ix


I shall leave him there as he is much preoccupied by death and his lost loves....

And turn to Byron...

She Walks in Beauty

she walks in beauty, like the night
of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that's best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes:
Thus mellow'd to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.

One shade the more, one ray the less,
had half impair'd the nameless grace
Which waves in every raven tress,
Or softly lightens o'er her face;
Where thoughts serenely sweet express
How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.

And on that cheek, and o'er that brow,
So soft, so calm, so eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow,
But tell of days in goodness spent,
A mind at piece with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent!