"Dark eyes are dearer far
Than those that mock the hyacinthine bell."
Blue! 'Tis the life of heaven, -the domain
Of Cynthia, -the wide palace of the sun, -
The tent of Hesperus, and all his train, -
The bosomer of clouds, gold, gray, and dun.
Blue! 'Tis the life of waters: -Ocean
May rage, and foam, and fret, but never can
Subside, if not to dark-blue nativeness.
Blue! gentle cousin of the forest-green,
Married to green in all the sweetest flowers -
Forget-me-not, -the blue-bell, -and, that queen
Of secrecy, the violet: what strange powers
Hast thou, as a mere shadow! But how great,
When in an Eye thou art alive with fate!
