Dream-Songs for the Belovèd

Chapter 9: THE HAPPY SHEPHERD

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About This Book

An intimate collection of lyrical poems that weave dreamlike imagery, devotional longing, and quiet philosophical reflection. The speaker addresses a beloved presence and considers love as both gift and transformative occupation, often finding silence and music in place of conventional expression. Imagery moves between night, pastoral meadows, classical myth, and fogbound streets to explore memory, beauty, loss, and the creative impulse. Forms vary from short lyrics and sonnet-like pieces to longer idylls and mythic narratives, shifting voice between intimate address and contemplative reportage. The overall mood balances tenderness and austerity, repeatedly returning to themes of spiritual vision and the limits of language.

THE HAPPY SHEPHERD

(Old Love-Lilt)

Hither when I see to stray

Her pink dress

With her flock round it prest

As she were a rose in snow:

Then my heart within my breast

Like a lamb to and fro

On a hill of green doth play

For happiness.

Meward when I hear her sing

And impress

All sweet airs that do flow

Round her head with airs more sweet:

Little songs my heart doth blow,

Gay and glad, half-complete,

Like the snatches piped by spring

For happiness.