THE VISIONARY

Emily Jane Bronte and Charlotte Bronte

Silent is the house,

All are laid asleep,

One alone looks out

O'er the snow wreaths deep.

Watching every cloud,

Dreading every breeze

That whirls the wildering drifts

And bends the groaning trees.

Cheerful is the hearth,

Soft the matted floor,

Not one shivering gust

Creeps through pane and door.

The little lamp burns straight,

Its rays shoot strong and far.

I trim it well to be

The wanderers guiding star,

Frown my haughty sire,

Chide my angry dame,

Set your slaves to spy,

Threaten me with shame.

But neither sire nor dame

Nor prying serf shall know

What angel nightly tracks

That waste of winter snow.

What I love shall come

Like visitant of air,

Safe in secret power

From lurking human snare.

Who loves me no word of mine

Shall e'er betray,

Though for faith unstained

My life must forfeit pay.

Burn then little lamp,

Glimmer straight and clear,

Hush a rusting wind stirs

Methinks the air.

He for whom I wait

Thus ever comes to me,

Strange power! I trust your might,

Trust thou my constancy.

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ZUMMER AN' WINTER

William Barnes  1801-86

When I led by zummer streams

The pride o' Lea, as naighbours thought her,

While the zun, wi' evenen beams,

Did cast our sheades athirt the water;

Winds a-blowen,

Streams a-flowen,

Skies a-glowen,

Tokens ov my jay zoo fleeten,

Heightened it, that happy meeten.

Then, when maid an' man took pleaces,

Gay in winter's Chris'mas dances,

Showen in their merry feaces

Kindly smiles an' glisnen glances;

Stars a-winken,

Day a-shrinken,

Sheades a-zinken,

Brought anew the happy meeten,

That did meake the night too fleeten. 

-o0o-

SONG
John  Clare  1793-1864

Soft falls the sweet evening
Bright shines the one star
The night clouds they're leaning
On mountains afar
The moon in dim brightness
The fern in its lightness
Tinge the valley with whiteness
Both near and afar

O soft falls the evening
Around those sweet glens
The hill's shadows leaning
Half over the glen
There meet me my deary
I'm lonely and weary
And nothing can cheer me
So meet me agen

The gate it clap'd slightly
The noise it was small
The footstep fell lightly
And she pass'd the stone wall
And is it my deary
I'm no longer weary
But happy and cheery
For in thee I meet all

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WHEN THEY BEGIN THE BEGUINE
Cole Porter  1891-1964

When they begin the beguine,
It brings back the sound of music so tender,
It brings back a night of tropical splendour,
It brings back a memory ever green.

I'm with you once more under the stars
And down by the shore an orchestra's playing
And even the palms seem to be swaying,
When they begin the beguine.

To live it again is past all endeavour
Except when that tune clutches my heart,
And there we are swearing to love forever
And promising never, never to part.

What moments divine, what rapture serene,
Till clouds came along to disperse the joys we had tasted
And now when I hear people curse the chance that was wasted,
I know but too well what they mean.

So don't let them begin the beguine,
Let the love that was once a fire remain an ember,
Let it sleep like the dead desire I only remember,
When they begin the beguine.

Oh yes, let them begin the beguine, make them play
Till the stars that were there before return above you,
Till you whisper to me once more, darling I love you,
And we suddenly know what heaven we're in,
When they begin the beguine.

-o0o-

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