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ON NAMING A HOUSE HEN I a householder became I had to give my house a name. I thought I'd call it "Poplar Trees," Or "Widdershins" or "Velvet Bees," Or "Just Beneath a Star." I thought of "House Where. Plumbings Freeze," Or "As You Like it," "If You Please," Or "Nicotine" or "Bread and Cheese," "Full Moon" or "Doors Ajar." But still I sought some subtle charm, Some rune to guard my roof from harm And keep the devil far; I thought of this, and I was saved! I had my letter-heads engraved The House Where Brown Eyes Are. A HALLOWE'EN MEMORY DO you remember, Heart's Desire, The night when Hallowe'en first came? The newly dedicated fire, The hearth unsanctified by flame1? How anxiously we swept the bricks (How tragic, were the draught not right!) And then the blaze enwrapped the sticks And filled the room with dancing light. We could not speak, but only gaze, Nor half believe what we had seen Our home, our hearth, our golden blaze, Our cider mugs, our Hallowe'en ! And then a thought occurred to me We ran outside with sudden shout And looked up at the roof, to see Our own dear smoke come drifting out. And of all man's felicities The very subtlest one, say I, Is when, for the first time, he sees His hearthfire smoke against the sky. And of all man's felicities The very subtlest one, say I, Is when, for the first time, he sees His hearthfire smoke against the sky. REFUSING YOU IMMORTALITY IF I should tell, unstinted, Your beauty and your grace, All future lads would whisper Traditions of your face; If I made public tumult Your mirth, your queenly state, Posterity would grumble That it was born too late. I will not frame your beauty In bright undying phrase, Nor blaze it as a legen...
