Poem by George Meredith

Modern Love. Sonnet 23. 'Tis Christmas Weather

'Tis Christmas weather, and a country house
Receives us; rooms are full: we can but get
An attic-crib. Such lovers will not fret
At that, it is half-said. The great carouse
Knocks hard upon the midnight's hollow door,
But when I knock at hers, I see the pit.
Why did I come here in that dullard fit?
I enter, and lie couched upon the floor.
Passing, I caught the coverlet's quick beat: --
Come, Shame, burn to my soul! and Pride, and Pain --
Foul demons that have tortured me, enchain!
Out in the freezing darkness the lambs bleat.
The small bird stiffens in the low starlight.
I know not how, but shuddering as I slept,
I dreamed a banished angel to me crept:
My feet were nourished on her breasts all night.

1. King Harald's Trance
2. Nature and Life
3. Alternation
4. Empdeocles
5. Modern Love. Sonnet 16. In our Old Shipwrecked Days

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