Poems. (Privately Printed.): First Trial Book (partial), Princeton/Taylor (bound with Penkill Proof Copy 2)

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Document Title: Poems. (Privately Printed.): First Trial Book (partial), Princeton/Taylor (bound with Penkill Proof Copy 2)

Author: Dante Gabriel Rossetti

Date of publication: 1869 September 30 (late September)

Printer: Strangeways and Walden

The full Rossetti Archive record for this transcribed document is available.

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Note: This note is by William Bell Scott.

D. G. R.'s Poems

as intended to be issued 1869

Proofs left at Penkill, afterwards saved

(see note at end.)

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Note: This note is by William Bell Scott. AB is Alice Boyd.

DGR left Penkill 18 Sept. 1869

WBS 13 October

AB 20 November

POEMS.

(Privately Printed).

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Sig. B

Note: Page numbering is at center top, although this page is unnumbered.

POEMS.

TROY TOWN.*

Helen knelt at Venus' shrine,
( O Troy Town!)
Saying, ‘A little gift is mine,
A little gift for a heart's desire.
Hear me speak and make me a sign , !
( O Troy's down,
Tall Troy's on fire!)

‘Look, I bring thee a carven cup;
( O Troy Town!)
10See it here as I hold it up,—
Shaped it is to the heart's desire,
Fit to fill when the gods would sup.
( O Troy's down,
Tall Troy's on fire!)

Transcribed Footnote (page [1]):

* Herodotus says that Helen offered in the temple of Venus a

cup made in the likeness of her own bosom.

page: 2

Note: The page numbering begins here at center top.

‘It was moulded like my breast;
( O Troy Town!)
He that sees it may not rest,
Rest at all for his heart's desire.
O give ear to my heart's behest!
20 ( O Troy's down,
Tall Troy's on fire!)

‘See my breast, how like it is;
( O Troy Town!)
See it bare for the air to kiss , !
Is the cup to thy heart's desire?
O for the breast, O make it his!
( O Troy's down,
Tall Troy's on fire!)

‘Yea, for my bosom here I sue;
30 ( O Troy Town!)
Thou must give it where 'tis due,
Give it there to the heart's desire.
Whom do I give my bosom to?
( O Troy's down,
Tall Troy's on fire!)

‘Each twin breast is an apple sweet!
( O Troy Town!)
Once an apple stirred the beat
Of thy heart with the heart's desire:—
40Say, who brought it then to thy feet?
( O Troy's down,
Tall Troy's on fire!)

page: 3

‘They that claimed it then were three:
( O Troy Town!)
For thy sake two hearts did he
Make forlorn of the heart's desire.
Do for him as he did for thee!
( O Troy's down,
Tall Troy's on fire!)

50‘Mine are apples grown to the south,
( O Troy Town!)
Grown to taste in the days of drouth,
Taste and waste to the heart's desire:
Mine are apples meet for his mouth!’
Added Text(
O Troy's down,
Tall Troy's on fire!)

Venus looked on Helen's gift,
( O Troy Town!)
Looked and smiled with subtle drift,
60Saw the work of her heart's desire:—
‘There thou kneel'st for Love to lift!’
( O Troy's down,
Tall Troy's on fire!)

Venus looked in Helen's face,
( O Troy Town!)
Knew far off an hour and place,
And fire lit from the heart's desire;
Laughed and said, ‘Thy gift hath grace!’
( O Troy's down,
70 Tall Troy's on fire!)

page: 4

Cupid looked on Helen's breast,
( O Troy Town!)
Saw the aching heart its guest, heart within its nest,
Saw the flame of the heart's desire;
There his arrow stood confess'd , .
( O Troy's down,
Tall Troy's on fire!)

Cupid took another dart,
( O Troy Town!)
80Fledged it for another heart,
Winged the shaft with the heart's desire,
Drew the string and said, ‘Depart!’
( O Troy's down,
Tall Troy's on fire!)

Paris turned upon his bed,
( O Troy Town!)
Turned upon his bed and said,
Dead at heart with the heart's desire, —
‘O to clasp her golden head!’
90 ( O Troy's down,
Tall Troy's on fire!)

page: 5

EDEN BOWER.

It was Lilith the wife of Adam:
( Eden bower's in flower.)
Not a drop of her blood was human,
But she was made like a soft sweet woman.

Lilith stood on the skirts of Eden;
( And O the bower and the hour!)
She was the first that thence was driven;
With her was hell and with Eve was heaven.

In the ear of the Snake said Lilith:—
10 ( Eden bower's in flower.)
‘To thee I come when the rest is over;
A snake was I when thou wast my lover.

‘I was the fairest snake in Eden:
( And O the bower and the hour!)
By the earth's will, new form and feature
Made me a wife for the earth's new creature.

‘Take me thou as I come from Adam:
( Eden bower's in flower.)
Once again shall my love subdue thee;
20The past is past and I am come to thee.

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‘O but Adam was born for thrall to Lilith!
( And O the bower and the hour!)
All the threads of my hair are golden,
And there in a net his heart was holden.

‘O and Lilith was born for queen of Adam!
( Eden bower's in flower.)
All the day and the night together
My breath could shake his soul like a feather.

‘What great joys had Adam and Lilith!—
30 ( And O the bower and the hour!)
Sweet close rings of the serpent's twining,
As heart in heart lay sighing and pining.

‘What bright babes had Lilith and Adam!—
( Eden bower's in flower.)
Shapes that coiled in the woods and waters,
Glittering sons and jewelled daughters.

‘O thou God, the Lord God of Eden!
( And O the bower and the hour!)
Say, was this fair body for no man,
40That from of Adam's flesh thou mak'st him a woman?

‘O thou Snake, the King-snake of Eden!
( Eden bower's in flower.)
God's strong will our necks are under,
But thou and I may cleave it in sunder.

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‘Help, sweet Snake, sweet lover of Lilith!
( And O the bower and the hour!)
And let God learn how I loved and hated
Man in the image of God created.

‘Help me once against Eve and Adam!
50 ( Eden bower's in flower.)
Once for one hour this great Help me once for this one endeavour,
And then my love shall be thine for ever!

‘Strong is God, the fell foe of Lilith:
( And O the bower and the hour!)
Nought in heaven or earth may affright him;
But join thou with me and we will smite him.

‘Strong is God, the great God of Eden:
Eden bower's in flower.)
Over all he made he hath power;
60But lend me thou thy shape for an hour!

‘Lend thy shape for the love of Lilith!
( And O the bower and the hour!)
Look, my mouth and my cheek are ruddy,
And thou art cold, and fire is my body.

‘Lend thy shape for the hate of Adam!
( Eden bower's in flower.)
That he may wail my joy that forsook him,
And curse the day when the bride-sleep took him.

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‘Lend thy shape for the shame of Eden!
70 ( And O the bower and the hour!)
Is not the foe-God weak as the foeman
When love grows hate in the heart of a woman?

‘Would'st thou know the heart's hope of Lilith?
( Eden bower's in flower.)
Come then close till thy heart doth glisten
Added TextBring thy gemmed head close till it glisten
Along my breast, and lip me and listen.

‘Am I sweet, O sweet Snake of Eden?
( And O the bower and the hour!)
Then ope thine ear to my warm mouth's cooing
80And learn what deed remains for our doing.

‘Thou didst hear when God said to Adam:—
( Eden bower's in flower.)
“Of all this wealth I have made thee warden;
Thou'rt free to eat of the trees of the garden:

‘“Only of one tree eat not in Eden;
( And O the bower and the hour!)
All save one I give to thy freewill,—
The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.”

‘O my love, come nearer to Lilith!
90 ( Eden bower's in flower.)
In thy sweet folds w bind me and bend me,
And let me feel the shape thou shalt lend me!

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‘In thy shape I'll go back to Eden;
( And O the bower and the hour!)
In these coils that Tree will I grapple,
And stretch this crowned head forth by the apple.

‘Lo, Eve bends to the breath of Lilith!
( Eden bower's in flower.)
O how then shall my heart desire
100All her blood as food to its fire!

‘Lo, Eve bends to the words of Lilith!—
( And O the bower and the hour!)
“Nay, this tree's fruit,—why should ye hate it,
Or Death be born the day that ye ate it?

‘“Nay, but on that great day in Eden,
( Eden bower's in flower.)
By the help that in this wise Tree is,
God knows well ye shall be as He is.”

‘Then Eve shall eat and give unto Adam;
110 ( And O the bower and the hour!)
And then they both shall know they are naked,
And their hearts ache as my heart hath achèd.

‘Then they shall ‘Aye, let them hide in the trees of Eden,
( Eden bower's in flower.)
As in the cool of the day in the garden
God shall walk without pity or pardon.

page: 10

‘ Hear thou, Eve, Hear, thou Eve, the man's heart in Adam!
( And O the bower and the hour!)
Of his brave words hark to the bravest:—
120“This the woman gave that thou gavest.”

‘Hear Eve speak, yea, list to her, Lilith!
( Eden bower's in flower.)
Let thine heart hear Feast thine heart with words that shall sate it:—
“This the serpent gave and I ate it.”

‘O proud Eve, cling close to thine Adam,
( And O the bower and the hour!)
Driven forth as the beasts of his naming
By the sword that for ever is flaming.

‘Know, thy path is known unto Lilith!
130 ( Eden bower's in flower.)
While the blithe birds sang at thy wedding,
There her tears grew thorns for thy treading.

‘O my love, O thou Love-snake of Eden!
( And O the bower and the hour!)
O to-day and the day to come after!
Loose me, love,—give breath to my laughter!

‘O bright Snake, the Death-worm of Adam!
( Eden bower's in flower.)
Wreathe thy neck with my hair's bright tether,
140And wear my gold and thy gold together!

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‘On that day on the skirts of Eden,
( And O the bower and the hour!)
In thy shape shall I glide back to thee,
And in my shape for an instant view thee.

‘But when thou'rt thou and Lilith is Lilith,
( Eden bower's in flower.)
In what bliss past hearing or seeing
Shall each one drink of the other's being!

‘With cries of “Eve!” and “Eden!” and “Adam!”
150 ( And O the bower and the hour!)
How shall we mingle our love's caresses,
I in thy folds, coils, and thou in my tresses ? !

‘With those names, ye echoes of Eden,
( Eden bower's in flower.)
Fire shall cry from my heart that burneth,—
“Dust he is and to dust returneth!”

‘Yet to-day, thou master of Lilith,—
( And O the bower and the hour!)
Wrap me round in the coils form I'll borrow
160And let me tell thee of sweet to-morrow.

‘In the planted garden eastward in Eden,
( Eden bower's in flower.)
Where the river goes forth to water the garden,
The springs shall dry and the soil shall harden.

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‘Yea, where the bride-sleep fell upon Adam,
( And O the bower and the hour!)
None shall hear when the storm-wind whistles
Through roses choked among thorns and thistles.

‘Yea, beside the east-gate of Eden,
170 ( Eden bower's in flower.)
Where God joined them and none might sever,
The sword turns this way and that for ever.

‘What of Adam cast out of Eden?
( And O the bower and the hour!)
Lo! with care like a shadow shaken,
He tills the hard earth whence he was taken.

‘What of Eve too, cast out of Eden?
( Eden bower's in flower.)
Nay, but she, the bride of God's giving,
180Must yet be mother of all men living.

‘Lo, God's grace, by the grace of Lilith!
( And O the bower and the hour!)
To Eve's womb, from our sweet to-morrow,
God shall greatly multiply sorrow.

‘Fold me fast, O God-snake of Eden!
( Eden bower's in flower.)
What more prize than love to impel thee?
Grip and lip my limbs as I tell thee!

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Lo! two babes for Eve and for Adam!
190 ( And O the bower and the hour!)
Lo! sweet Snake, the travail and treasure,—
Two men-children born for their pleasure!

‘The first is Cain and the second Abel:
( Eden bower's in flower.)
The soul of one shall be made thy brother,
And thy tongue shall lap the blood of the other.’
( And O the bower and the hour!)

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Note: This note is by William Bell Scott. A short horizontal line was drawn beneath it.

The intention of publishing was

first entertained on D. G.'s return to

London, when first paging began with

the printing of the “Troy Town” and “Eden Bower,”

placed at the end of the present volume.

Then one or two poems, particularly the

sonnet “ After the French Liberation of Italy ”

page 194. were withdrawn.

“The Stream's Secret,” the stream being

the Penwhapple, Penkill Glen, was written

before leaving Penkill, also “Farewell to the

Glen,” but printed after our leaving.

In this volume, the following [?] afterwards

withdrawn, are preserved for private satis-

-faction only.

Dennis Shand. P 53.

A Song and Music. P.84.

To Mary in Summer. P 102.

Sonnets.

On the site of a Mulberry Tree. P.191.

After the French Liberation of Italy. P.194.

Electronic Archive Edition: 1

Source File: 1-1870.tb1penk.trox.rad.xml

Copyright: Used with permission of Princeton University. From the Princeton University Library, Department of Rare Books and Special Collections. All rights reserved. Redistribution or republication in any medium requires express written consent from Princeton University Library. Permissions inquiries should be addressed to Associate University Librarian, Rare Books and Special Collections, Princeton University Library.