TEMPORARY EXHIBITION

ONE HEART, ONE AND CUPID A KISS FOR A POEM OF LOVE IN ENGLISH

I've a Pain in my Head by Jane Austen

'I've a pain in my head' Said the suffering Beckford; To her Doctor so dread. 'Oh! what shall I take for't?'

Said this Doctor so dread Whose name it was Newnham. 'For this pain in your head Ah! What can you do Ma'am?'

Said Miss Beckford, 'Suppose If you think there's no risk, I take a good Dose Of calomel brisk.'--

'What a praise worthy Notion.' Replied Mr. Newnham. 'You shall have such a potion And so will I too Ma'am.'

Love's Secret by William Blake

Never seek to tell thy love,Love that never told can be;For the gentle wind doth moveSilently, invisibly.

I told my love, I told my love,I told her all my heart,Trembling, cold, in ghastly fears.Ah! she did depart!

Soon after she was gone from me,

A traveller came by,Silently, invisibly:He took her with a sigh.

Love and Life by John Wilmot All my past life is mine no more, The flying hours are gone,Like transitory dreams giv'n o'er,Whose images are kept in storeBy memory alone.

The time that is to come is not;How can it then be mine?The present moment's all my lot;And that, as fast as it is got,Phyllis, is only thine.

Then talk not of inconstancy,False hearts, and broken vows;If I, by miracle, can beThis live-long minute true to thee,'Tis all that Heav'n allows.

Love by William Shakespeare

TELL me where is Fancy bred, Or in the heart or in the head? How begot, how nourished? Reply, reply. It is engender'd in the eyes, With gazing fed; and Fancy

dies In the cradle where it lies. Let us all ring Fancy's knell: I'll begin it,--Ding, dong, bell. All. Ding, dong, bell.

Cupid Sleeping by Mary Darby Robinson

[Inscribed to Her Grace the Duchess of Devonshire.]

CLOSE in a woodbine's tangled shade, The BLOOMING GOD asleep was laid; His brows with mossy roses crown'd; His golden darts lay scatter'd round; To shade his auburn, curled head, A purple canopy was spread, Which gently with the breezes play'd, And shed around a soften'd shade. Upon his downy smiling cheek, Adorned with many a "dimple sleek," Beam'd glowing health and tender blisses, His coral lip which teem'd with kisses Ripe, glisten'd with ambrosial dew, That mock'd the rose's deepest hue. His quiver on a bough was hung, His bow lay carelessly unstrung: His breath mild odour scatter'd round, His eyes an azure fillet bound: On every side did zephyrs play, To fan the sultry beams of day; While the soft tenants of the grove,

Attun'd their notes to plaintive Love.

Thus lay the Boywhen DEVONS feet Unknowing reach'd the lone retreat; Surpriz'd, to see the beauteous child Of every dang'rous pow'r beguil'd! Approaching near his mossy bed, Soft whisp'ring to herself she said: " Thou little imp, whose potent art " Bows low with grief the FEELING HEART; " Whose thirst insatiate, loves to sip " The nectar from the ruby lip; " Whose barb'rous joy is prone to seek " The soft carnation of the cheek; " Now, bid thy tyrant sway farewell, " As thus I break each magic spell: " Snatch'd from the bough, where high it

hung, O'er her white shoulder straight she flung The burnish'd quiver, golden dart, And each vain emblem of his art; Borne from his pow'r they now are seen, The attributes of BEAUTY'S QUEEN! While LOVE in secret hides his tears; DIAN the form of VENUS wears!

Love is enough by William Morris

LOVE is enough: though the World be a-waning, And the woods have no voice but the voice of

complaining, Though the sky be too dark for dim eyes to

discover The gold-cups and daisies fair blooming thereunder, Though the hills be held shadows, and the sea a

dark wonder, And this day draw a veil over all deeds pass'd over, Yet their hands shall not tremble, their feet shall not

falter; The void shall not weary, the fear shall not alter These lips and these eyes of the loved and the

lover.

Young Love by Andrew Marvell

Come little Infant, Love me now,While thine unsuspected yearsClear thine aged Fathers browFrom cold Jealousie and Fears.

Pretty surely 'twere to seeBy young Love old Time beguil'd:While our Sportings are as freeAs the Nurses with the Child.

Common Beauties stay fifteen;Such as yours should swifter

move;Whole fair Blossoms are too greenYet for lust, but not for Love.

Love as much the snowy LambOr the wanton Kid does prize,As the lusty Bull or Ram,For his morning Sacrifice.

Now then love me: time may takeThee before thy time away:Of this Need wee'l Virtue make,And learn Love before we may.

So we win of doubtful Fate;And, if good she to us meant,We that Good shall antedate,Or, if ill, that Ill prevent.

Thus as Kingdomes, frustratingOther Titles to their Crown,In the craddle crown their King,So all Forraign Claims to drown.

So, to make all Rivals vain,Now I crown thee with my Love:Crown me with thy Love again,And we both shall Monarchs

prove.

New Love, New Life by Amy Levy

I.

She, who so long has lainStone-stiff with folded wings,Within my heart againThe brown bird wakes and

sings.

Brown nightingale, whose strainIs heard by day, by night,She sings of joy and pain,Of sorrow and delight.

II.

'Tis true,--in other daysHave I unbarred the door;He knows the walks and ways--Love has been here before.

Love blest and love accurstWas here in days long past;This time is not the first,But this time is the last.

OF LOVE: A SONNET by Robert Herrick

How Love came in, I do not know,Whether by th'eye, or ear, or no;Or whether with the soul it came,At first, infused with the same;Whether in part 'tis here or there,Or, like the soul, whole every where.This troubles me; but I as wellAs any other, this can tell;That when from hence she does

depart,The outlet then is from the heart.

Jenny Kissed Me by James Henry Leigh Hunt

Jenny kissed me when we met,Jumping from the chair she sat in;Time, you thief, who love to getSweets into your list, put that in!Say I'm weary, say I'm sad,Say that health and wealth have missed me,Say I'm growing old, but add,Jenny kissed me.

Time of Roses by Thomas Hood

It was not in the Winter Our loving lot was cast; It was the time of roses— We pluck'd them as we pass'd!

That churlish season never frown'd On early lovers yet: O no—the world was newly crown'd With flowers when first we met!

'Twas twilight, and I bade you go, But still you held me fast; It was the time of roses— We pluck'd them as we pass'd!

Bridal Song by John Fletcher

CYNTHIA, to thy power and thee We obey.Joy to this great company! And no dayCome to steal this night away Till the rites of love are ended,And the lusty bridegroom say, Welcome, light, of all befriended!

Pace out, you watery powers below; Let your feet,Like the galleys when they row, Even beat;Let your unknown measures, set To the still winds, tell to allThat gods are come, immortal, great, To honour this great nuptial!

Two Lovers by George Eliot

Two lovers by a moss-grown spring:They leaned soft cheeks together

there,Mingled the dark and sunny hair,And heard the wooing thrushes sing.O budding time!O love's blest prime!

Two wedded from the portal stept:The bells made happy carolings,The air was soft as fanning wings,White petals on the pathway slept.O pure-eyed bride!O tender pride!

Two faces o'er a cradle bent:Two hands above the head were

locked:These pressed each other while they

rocked,Those watched a life that love had

sent.O solemn hour!O hidden power!

Two parents by the evening fire:The red light fell about their kneesOn heads that rose by slow degreesLike buds upon the lily spire.O patient life!O tender strife!

The two still sat together there,The red light shone about their

knees;But all the heads by slow degreesHad gone and left that lonely pair.O voyage fast! O vanished past!

The red light shone upon the floorAnd made the space between them

wide;They drew their chairs up side by

side,Their pale cheeks joined, and said,

"Once more!"O memories!O past that is!

To His Coy Love by Michael Drayton

I pray thee leave, love me no more,Call home the heart you gave me.I but in vain that saint adoreThat can, but will not, save me:These poor half-kisses kill me quite;Was ever man thus served?Amidst an ocean of delightFor pleasure to be starved.

Show me no more those snowy breastsWith azure riverets branched,Where whilst mine eye with plenty

feasts,Yet is my thirst not stanched.O Tantalus, thy pains ne'er tell,By me thou art prevented:'Tis nothing to be plagued in hell,But thus in heaven tormented.

Clip me no more in those dear arms,Nor thy life's comfort call me;O, these are but too powerful charms,And do but more enthral me.But see how patient I am grown,In all this coil about thee;Come, nice thing, let my heart alone,I cannot live without thee!

Confined Love by John Donne

Some man unworthy to be possessorOf old or new love, himself being false or weak,Thought his pain and shame would be lesserIf on womankind he might his anger wreak,And thence a law did grow,One might but one man know;But are other creatures so?

Are Sun, Moon, or Stars by law forbiddenTo smile where they list, or lend away their light?Are birds divorced, or are they chiddenIf they leave their mate, or lie abroad a-night?Beasts do no jointures loseThough they new lovers choose,But we are made worse than those.

Who e'er rigged fair ship to lie in harboursAnd not to seek new lands, or not to deal withal?Or built fair houses, set trees, and arbors,Only to lock up, or else to let them fall?Good is not good unlessA thousand it possess,But dost waste with greediness.

Boldness in Love by Thomas Carew

Mark how the bashful morn in vainCourts the amorous marigold,With sighing blasts and weeping rain,Yet she refuses to unfold.But when the planet of the dayApproacheth with his powerful ray,The she spreads, then she receivesHis warmer beams into her virgin leaves.

So shalt thou thrive in love, fond boy;If thy tears and sighs discoverThy grief, thou never shalt enjoyThe just reward of a bold lover.But when with moving accents thouShalt constant faith and service vow,Thy Celia shall receive those charmsWith open ears, and with unfolded arms.

Love Constrained to Obedience by William Cowper

No strength of nature can sufficeTo serve the Lord aright:And what she has she misapplies,For want of clearer light.

How long beneath the law I layIn bondage and distress;I toll'd the precept to obey,But toil'd without success.

Then, to abstain from outward sinWas more than I could do;Now, if I feel its power within,I feel I hate it too.

Then all my servile works were done

A righteousness to raise;Now, freely chosen in the Son,I freely choose His ways.

"What shall I do," was then the word,

"That I may worthier grow?""What shall I render to the Lord?"Is my inquiry now.

To see the law by Christ fulfilledAnd hear His pardoning voice,Changes a slave into a child,And duty into choice.

Love Lives Beyond The Tomb by John Clare

Love lives beyond the tomb,And earth, which fades like dew!I love the fond,The faithful, and the true.

Love lives in sleep:'Tis happiness of healthy dreams:Eve's dews may weep,But love delightful seems.

'Tis seen in flowers,And in the morning's pearly dew;In earth's green hours,And in the heaven's eternal blue.

'Tis heard in SpringWhen light and sunbeams, warm

and kind,On angel's wingBring love and music to the mind.

And where's the voice,So young, so beautiful, and sweetAs Nature's choice,Where Spring and lovers meet?

Love lives beyond the tomb,And earth, which fades like dew!I love the fond,The faithful, and the true.

Love and Friendship by Emily Bronte

Love is like the wild rose-briar,Friendship like the holly-tree --The holly is dark when the rose-briar

bloomsBut which will bloom most contantly?The wild-rose briar is sweet in the spring,Its summer blossoms scent the air;Yet wait till winter comes againAnd who wil call the wild-briar fair?Then scorn the silly rose-wreath nowAnd deck thee with the holly's sheen,That when December blights thy browHe may still leave thy garland green.

Love's Blindness by Alfred Austin

Now do I know that Love is blind, for I Can see no beauty on this beauteous earth, No life, no light, no hopefulness, no mirth, Pleasure nor purpose, when thou art not nigh. Thy absence exiles sunshine from the sky, Seres Spring's maturity, checks Summer's birth, Leaves linnet's pipe as sad as plover's cry, And makes me in abundance find but dearth. But when thy feet flutter the dark, and thou With orient eyes dawnest on my distress, Suddenly sings a bird on every bough, The heavens expand, the earth grows less and

less, The ground is buoyant as the ether now, And all looks lovely in thy loveliness.

POEMS TAKEN FROM:HTTP://FAMOUSPOETSANDPOEMS.COM/COUNTRY/ENGLAND/ENGLISH_POETS.HTML