Favorite Poems by Marie Corelli (1855-1924)

To Fifinetta- by Marie Corelli

If you were the rose-bud, 
  and I were the bee,-
Deep in your fragrant heart 
  Wonders I'd see;
  Close in your petals 
  Quiet I'd lie
Drown'd in your honey
  Gladly I'd die!

If you were a daisy
  And I were the dew,
Lightly I'd tremble
  And sparkle on you,-
  Absorbing all colours
  I'd melt them in one,
And shine on your bosom
  A miniature sun.

Alas for the fancies
  A dreamer may plan!
In spite of romances,
  I am but a man,-
  A man full of ardours,
  And passion and strife,
Just giving you only
  The love of his life!

In Dreamland

A dream of Roses;
  Crimson buds and white
Soft curved, pink-tipped petals,- slender stems,
Glossy green leaves, where drops of dew, like gems,
Hang in clear clusters, quivering in the light
Of some invisible magic star that glows
In mellow beams of radiance o'er each rose,-
While on the heaving bosom of the air
Sweet odours, mixed with sweeter melodies,
Waft me to some high heaven of ecstasies
And hold me in enchanted silence there!
O rare Dream-Roses! Come, dark hours of rest,
For when I sleep they blossom on my breast,
No earthly flowers can rival their rich hues,
No diamonds can match their sparkling dews;
Oh, let me slumber! When I wake they fade
Like wreaths of sunbeams melting into shade,
No mortal hand may pluck those buds divine-
They are a Dream! True, but the Dream is mine!


A dream of Music; 
  Notes that fall and flow
Like rippling waves upon a summer sea-
Deep strains of grand and stately harmony,
Passionate minors, breathing soft and low,
Majestic chords that surge and rise and sweep
Like billows rolling o'er a stormy deep,-
Delicate murmurs,- such as may be heard
Within a rosy-tinted Indian shell,
And plaintive trills, like those which Philomel
Sings in the woods when scarce a leaf is stirred,-
O heavenly music!- O refreshing rain
Of ever-varying melody, come again!
Live in my heart and sing there while I sleep,
I may not hear thee waking; O thou deep
Exhaustless fountain of untold delight,
Play on through all the silence of the Night;
Let me float far down Slumber's magic river
And dwell within my Land of Dreams for ever!


To My Beloved

O love, my love!  I have giv'n you my heart
  Like a rose full-blown,
With crimson petals trembling apart-
  It is all your own-
What will you do with it, Dearest,- say?
Keep it for ever or throw it away?

O Love, my Love!  I have giv'n you my life,
  Like a ring of gold;
Symbol of peace in a world of strife,
  To have and to hold.
What will you do with it, Dearest,- say?
Treasure it always, or throw it away?

I Love, my Love!  Have all your will-
  I am yours to the end;
Be false or faithful- comfort or kill-
  Be lover or friend,-
Where gifts are given they must remain,
I never shall ask for them back again!
                 (From "The Treasure of Heaven"


To A Vision

Come to me in the darkness of the night,-
Come when the very stars are out of sight,-
  Come when no ears can hear
  They gentle footsteps near,
Come in the darkness of the night!

Come to me in the silence of the night,-
Come like a dreaming spirit of delight,-
  Come with they hair undone,
  Gold as the autumn sun,
Come in the silence of the night!

Come with the dewy kisses on they mouth,
Warm as the summer fragrance of the south,-
  Fold me within the bands 
  Of they caressing hands,-
Come with the kisses on thy mouth!

Come to me in the darkness close and deep,
Give me thy lovely soul of love to keep,-
  Bring all life's truth to me,
  Passion and youth to me,-
Lull me upon thy breast to sleep!


Rosalind
"Am not I your Rosalind?"
                     As You Like It, Act iv. sc. I.

Foolish Orlando! not to feel Her nigh
Whose very step the winking daisies know,-
They murmur "Rosalind" with ever sigh
That stirs their petals when the breezes blow,-
Each bird that in the leafy forest flies
Sings of the glory burning in her eyes-
While thou, dull-pated youth and drowsy lover,
Wanderest the wood, unconscious of thy joy,
And lackest eyes within thee to discover
(As birds and flowers have done) the seeming boy.
What! Canst not spy beneath the shepherd's vest
The bounteous wave of Rosalind's fair breast?
As boy she kiss'd thee!  By that touch divine
Wert still in doubt with her sweet lips on thine.
                          (From Four Studies from Shakespeare)


One Rose!

  One- dropped from her breast
    As she passed along,
  Like a fluttering bird from a nest,
    Or the final note of a song-
    As the woman herself, I sware!
With the light of a thousand sunbeams caught in 
  the waves of her gold hair!

  One- white as the snow-
    It fell at her feet,
  When her laughter, clear and low,
    Replied to the fervid heat
  Of my love-words wild and vain,
  And my heart grew numb with pain
As her mirthful mockery crushed my heart, and
  maddened my foolish brain.

  Farewell to my dream!
    I should have known
  That, however fair she may seem,
    Her heart is as cold as stone,
  A mirror of social vice,
  A sparkling nugget of ice,
Valued at "so much" or more, and ready for sale
  at its market price!

  A "Society star"?
    Yes, that is true:
  She is proud; such women are,
    Yet perhaps she will smile on you!
  Your turn will come, maybe,
  Who knows? Perchance you will see
The lying glances, the treacherous smiles she
  lately lavished on me!

  If so, you can say
    You met me to-night:
  Tell her I went my way
    Despising her trumpery slight:
  Man, after all, is king-
  He can laught at the little sting
Of a woman's scorn, when the woman herself is 
  so poor and low a thing!

  One rose!- it will fade
    Ere an hour be past-
  Such hot-house blossoms are only made,
    Like women, to wither fast-
  Its leaves will upcurl and die
  In an odorous, silent sigh,
And only its little ghost will speak of my transient 
  love gone by.

  One rose- it is mine
    To keep for a while-
  I fancy it will not greatly pine
    For the loss of her ladyship's smile-
  By a cluster of diamonds prest,
  'Twas slain on her chilly breast:
Together we'll go, the rose and I- we both have need of rest!


Sailing

Sailing, sailing! Whither?  
  What path of the flashing sea
  Seems best for you and me?
    No matter the way,
    By night or day,
So long as we sail together!

Sailing, sailing! Whither?
  Into the rosy grace
  Of the sun's deep setting-place?
    We need not know
    How far we go,
So long as we sail together!

Sailing, sailing! Whither?
  To the glittering rainbow strand
  Of Love's enchanted land?
    We ask not where,
    In earth or air,
So long as we sail together!

Sailing, sailing! Whither?
  On to the life divine!-
  Your soul made one with mine,
    In Heaven or Hell,
    All must be well,
So long as we sail together!


Good-night! Farewell!

Good-night! farewell! If it should
  chance that nevermore we meet,
Remember that the hours we spent 
  together here were sweet!

Good-night! farewell! If henceforth different 
  ways of life we wend,
Remember that I sought to walk beside you to the 
  end!

Good-night!  farewell! When present things are 
  merged into the past,
Remember that I love you and shall love you to 
  the last!


If I Loved You

If I loved you, and you loved me,
How happy this little world would be-
The light of the day, the dancing hours,
The skies, the trees, the birds the flowers,
Would all be part of our perfect gladness;-
And never a note of pain or sadness
Would jar life's beautiful melody
If I loved you, and you loved me!

"If I loved you!" Why, I scarcely know
How, if I did, the time would go!-
I should forget my dreary cares,
My sordid toil, my long despairs,
I should watch your smile, and kneel at your feet,
And live my life in the love of you, Sweet!-
So mad, so glad, so proud I should be,
If I loved you, and you loved me!

"If you loved me!" Ah, nothing so strange
As that could chance in this world of change!-
As well expect a planet to fall,
Or a queen to serve as a beggar's thrall;-
But if you did,- romance and glory
Might spring from our lives' united story,
And angels might be less happy than we-
If I loved you, and you loved me!

"If I loved you, and you loved me!"
Alas! 'tis a joy we shall never see-
For the world to us is cruel and cold,-
We shall drift along till we both grow old,
Till we reach our waiting graves and die,
Looking back on the days that have passed us by,
When "what might have been" can no longer be,-
When I lost you, and you lost me!