The Judgment of the May / Richard Watson Dixon

The Judgment of the May

Come to the judgment, golden threads
     Upon golden hair in rich array;
Many a chesnut shakes its heads,
     Many a lupine at this day.
Many a white rose in our beds
     Waits the judgment of the May.

Oh, like white roses, great white queen,
     Come to the judgment, come to-day.
The white stars on thy robes of green
     Are like white roses on trees in May:
By me thy stars and flowers are seen,
     But now thou seemest far away.

~~
Richard Watson Dixon (1833-1900)
from Christ's Company, and other poems, 1861

[Poem is in the public domain worldwide]

Richard Watson Dixon biography

She walks in beauty / George Gordon, Lord Byron

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 mellowed to the tender light
    Which heaven to gaudy day denies.

One shade the more, one ray the less,
    Had half impaired 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 yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow
    But tell of days in goodness spent
A mind at peace with all below,
    A heart whose love is innocent.

~~
George Gordon, Lord Byron (1788-1824)
from Hebrew Melodies, 1815

[Poem is in the public domain worldwide]

Lord Byron biography

"She Walks in Beauty" read by Marianne Faithfull. Courtesy Marianne Faithfull.