'Twixt Earth and Stars

<SPAN name="startofbook"></SPAN> <h1><i>'TWIXT EARTH<br/> AND STARS.</i></h1> <hr class="chap" /> <p class="center huge">'TWIXT EARTH<br/> AND STARS <ANTIMG class="inline" style="width:auto; height:1em;" src="images/i_titlepage.jpg" alt="Decoration" /></p> <p class="center big">POEMS</p> <p class="center">BY</p> <p class="center big">MARGUERITE RADCLYFFE-HALL</p> <p class="center mt4">JOHN AND EDWARD BUMPUS LTD.<br/> 350 OXFORD STREET, LONDON, W.</p> <p class="center">MCMVI</p> <hr class="chap" /> <p class="center big"><small>DEDICATED TO</small><br/> MY INSPIRATION</p> <hr class="chap" /> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">I know that through the waves of air,</div> <div class="verse">Some part of all I feel for you,</div> <div class="verse">Must surely travel swift and true,</div> <div class="verse">Towards the heart for which I care</div> <div class="verse">So dumbly, and before it lay</div> <div class="verse">The words my lips shall never say.</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>IN A GARDEN</h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">In the garden a thousand roses,</div> <div class="verse indent2">A vine of jessamine flower,</div> <div class="verse">Sweetpeas in coquettish poses,</div> <div class="verse indent2">Sweetbrier with its fragrant dower.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">There are hollyhocks tall and slender,</div> <div class="verse indent2">And marigolds gay and fair,</div> <div class="verse">And sunflowers in glowing splendour,</div> <div class="verse indent2">Geraniums rich and rare;</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">And the wee, white, innocent daisy,</div> <div class="verse indent2">Half hidden amid the lawn;</div> <div class="verse">A bee grown drowsy and lazy—</div> <div class="verse indent2">On honey he's drunk since dawn—</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Is reposing with wings extended</div> <div class="verse indent2">On some soft, passionate rose,</div> <div class="verse">Aglow with a blush more splendid</div> <div class="verse indent2">Than ever a fair cheek knows.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">While a thrush, in the ivy swinging</div> <div class="verse indent2">That clusters over the gate,</div> <div class="verse">Athrob with the spring is singing,</div> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</SPAN></span> <div class="verse indent2">And ardently calls his mate.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">For the spirit of all sweet odours</div> <div class="verse indent2">The soul of a June unborn</div> <div class="verse">Has hallowed my humble garden,</div> <div class="verse indent2">And whispered to me since dawn.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">And the flowers in a prayer of rapture,</div> <div class="verse indent2">Bent low to that spell divine,</div> <div class="verse">Are wafting their sweetest incense</div> <div class="verse indent2">In clouds, at his sunlit shrine.</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>IF YOU WERE A ROSE AND I WERE THE SUN<br/> <small>(<i>Song</i>)</small></h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">If you were a Rose and I were the Sun</div> <div class="verse indent2">What then, little girl, what then?</div> <div class="verse">I'd kiss you awake when day had begun,</div> <div class="verse indent2">My sweet little girl, what then?</div> <div class="verse">I'd waken you out of your valley of dreams</div> <div class="verse">And open your heart with my passionate beams,</div> <div class="verse">'Till you lifted your face to my ruddiest gleams,</div> <div class="verse indent2">My own little girl, yes then.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">If you were the Earth and I were the Dew,</div> <div class="verse indent2">What then, little girl, what then?</div> <div class="verse">Why surely the thing all lovers would do,</div> <div class="verse indent2">My sweet little girl, what then?</div> <div class="verse">I'd steal through the twilight, o'er valley and lea,</div> <div class="verse">And flood you with kisses, both tender and free</div> <div class="verse">'Till the soul in you throbbed with the love that's in me,</div> <div class="verse indent2">My own little girl, yes then.</div> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</SPAN></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">But I am a man and you are a maid,</div> <div class="verse indent2">What then, little girl, what then?</div> <div class="verse">You're cold in your pride, and I am afraid,</div> <div class="verse indent2">My sweet little girl, what then?</div> <div class="verse">If you cannot love me and I cannot die</div> <div class="verse">There's nothing in life but the ghost of a sigh,</div> <div class="verse">And the day growing dark 'neath a colourless sky;</div> <div class="verse indent2">My own little girl, yes then.</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>DRIFTING</h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">It is sweet to lie in a boat,</div> <div class="verse indent2">And drift with the languid stream,</div> <div class="verse">With body and soul afloat</div> <div class="verse indent2">The lake of a perfect dream.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">It is sweet in the afternoon,</div> <div class="verse indent2">With just the breath of a breeze,</div> <div class="verse">If the time be the month of June</div> <div class="verse indent2">And the birds sing low in the trees.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">And the mind has a pleasant thought,</div> <div class="verse indent2">And the heart has a fond desire,</div> <div class="verse">And the soul is a tissue wrought</div> <div class="verse indent2">Of youth, and it's golden fire.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">And the limbs are both clean and strong,</div> <div class="verse indent2">And able to rest with joy,</div> <div class="verse">And our time in the world is long,</div> <div class="verse indent2">With nothing that can destroy</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">The rapture of God's green earth,</div> <div class="verse indent2">The throb and the ecstasy</div> <div class="verse">That springs into life with birth,</div> <div class="verse indent2">And lives through eternity.</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>TO ——</h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Dear heart! I was going away,</div> <div class="verse indent2">Could you not have spared me an hour</div> <div class="verse">Of all your bountiful day?</div> <div class="verse indent2">No moment, no word, no flower</div> <div class="verse">To keep; not even a tear?</div> <div class="verse">My soul was so thirsty, dear!</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>LOVE TRIUMPHANT</h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Ere the first grief was born</div> <div class="verse">Love was.</div> <div class="verse">And after griefs are gone</div> <div class="verse">Love still shall triumph on.</div> <div class="verse">Ere the first grief was born</div> <div class="verse">Love was.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">In Eden grief became</div> <div class="verse">Love's slave.</div> <div class="verse">For in the dust and woe</div> <div class="verse">Lost Adam still could know</div> <div class="verse">Fond recompense, and so</div> <div class="verse">Did grief become Love's slave.</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>MY ROSE</h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">A Rose! but what can it say,</div> <div class="verse indent2">So tender, and sweet, and dumb;</div> <div class="verse">What part of my love convey,</div> <div class="verse indent2">What thrill of the joys to come?</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">I send it, but how shall you,</div> <div class="verse indent2">Dear heart, ever understand</div> <div class="verse">That rapturous tear of dew,</div> <div class="verse indent2">It drops on your strong white hand?</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Or know that my lips have pressed</div> <div class="verse indent2">Those petals until they blush,</div> <div class="verse">Or feel that my heart has blessed</div> <div class="verse indent2">The flower that your touch may crush?</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>IF ONLY</h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Oh! if one could only learn not to care,</div> <div class="verse">To be utterly indifferent storm or fair;</div> <div class="verse">And to say there's always pain</div> <div class="verse">With the joy, I don't complain,</div> <div class="verse">For the sunshine draws the rain</div> <div class="verse indent6">Everywhere.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Oh! if one could only learn not to feel;</div> <div class="verse">To be absolutely callous, false or real;</div> <div class="verse">And to let the world go by,</div> <div class="verse">With a laugh to cap its sigh,</div> <div class="verse">With a jest to meet its lie,</div> <div class="verse indent6">Cold as steel.</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>CONFESSION</h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Within the portals of thy shrine</div> <div class="verse">Before thy presence, dearest mine,</div> <div class="verse">I kneel, beseeching thee to bless</div> <div class="verse">My penitence, while I confess,</div> <div class="verse">And can a saint do any less?</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">If I have sinned as others do,</div> <div class="verse">All human hearts the wide world through</div> <div class="verse">Are erring things, and then with me</div> <div class="verse">My greatest wrong was loving thee,</div> <div class="verse">Wilt thou condemn my constancy?</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Look down, dear heart, and let thine eyes</div> <div class="verse">Commend my soul to Paradise.</div> <div class="verse">He little sins, who sins in this</div> <div class="verse">That to obtain eternal bliss</div> <div class="verse">Seeks the communion of a kiss.</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>SUNLIGHT ON DISTANT HILLS<br/> <small>(<span class="smcap">Ledbury</span>)</small></h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">But a moment since and the sun was shining</div> <div class="verse indent2">Over the hills that I see from my room.</div> <div class="verse">And now the rain and the mist come driving</div> <div class="verse indent2">Out of the West, in a cloud of gloom.</div> <div class="verse">Over the woods, and meadows, and gardens,</div> <div class="verse indent2">Hurries the storm like the hand of Doom.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">But a moment hence and the clouds shall vanish;</div> <div class="verse indent2">Breaking and drifting and all asunder.</div> <div class="verse">And lo! in their midst will the sky be lying</div> <div class="verse indent2">Calm and blue with a peaceful wonder</div> <div class="verse">Nothing may alter, though sorrow and tempest</div> <div class="verse indent2">Torture the Earth, as she trembles under.</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>MY LOVE</h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">My love is a bird with a broken wing,</div> <div class="verse indent2">Alone in a stormy night;</div> <div class="verse">My love is a lark that forgets to sing</div> <div class="verse indent2">And dies with the morning light.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">My love is a rose that the wind has torn,</div> <div class="verse indent2">And crushed with a breath of pain;</div> <div class="verse">My love is song with the sweetness gone,</div> <div class="verse indent2">A tune with a lost refrain.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">My love is a ghost that has missed its way,</div> <div class="verse indent2">A spirit from Heaven cast;</div> <div class="verse">My love is a joy of a bygone day,</div> <div class="verse indent2">The soul of a burning past.</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>A MEMORY</h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">No, I have not forgotten you,</div> <div class="verse indent2">Although I went my way</div> <div class="verse">Unanswered, as you wished me to,</div> <div class="verse indent2">With none to bid me stay.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">For in my heart there is a space</div> <div class="verse indent2">Whose door you closed to me,</div> <div class="verse">Locked in the memory of your face;</div> <div class="verse indent2">Then took away the key.</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>TO ——</h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">What you deny me, you gave;</div> <div class="verse indent2">You cannot take it again</div> <div class="verse">In life and after the grave</div> <div class="verse indent2">There is something that even then,</div> <div class="verse">Death will not kill or destroy,</div> <div class="verse indent2">It is so with the hearts of men.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Even your pride cannot rob</div> <div class="verse indent2">My life of its blessed past;</div> <div class="verse">You cannot recall one throb,</div> <div class="verse indent2">One glance of the many cast</div> <div class="verse">From those dear, passionate eyes;</div> <div class="verse indent2">These things will be mine to the last.</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>ON THE MOUNTAIN</h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Below and above, yes, over and under us,</div> <div class="verse indent2">Swift clouds hover, and speed and fly;</div> <div class="verse">Nothing we see that can hurt or sunder us</div> <div class="verse indent2">Here in the arms of the circling sky.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Surely we two must belong to each other,</div> <div class="verse indent2">Silently mated where none are nigh</div> <div class="verse">Save God our Father, and Earth our Mother,</div> <div class="verse indent2">And sweetest of all, dear,—You and I.</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>TO ——</h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">When she turns aside to pass us by,</div> <div class="verse indent2">With a little smile or a glance only</div> <div class="verse">We are all alone, my Heart and I,</div> <div class="verse indent2">We are all alone, and very lonely.</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>THE PRAYER</h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">There stood beside the road a shrine,</div> <div class="verse indent2">In whose quaint, vaulted shadow smiled</div> <div class="verse">With eyes of tenderness divine,</div> <div class="verse indent2">The Blessed Virgin and Her Child.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">And I, who wandered all alone,</div> <div class="verse indent2">Along a rough and weary way,</div> <div class="verse">Felt that a great desire had grown</div> <div class="verse indent2">Within my heart, to kneel and pray.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">But lo! my voice had lost the power</div> <div class="verse indent2">To utter words so deep and sweet,</div> <div class="verse">And so, I breathed them in a flower,</div> <div class="verse indent2">And left it, at the Virgin's feet.</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>IF</h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">If all the words you spoke, dear,</div> <div class="verse">Were every one untrue,</div> <div class="verse">There can be nothing good, dear,</div> <div class="verse">In earth, or sun, or dew;</div> <div class="verse">And all the world's a lie, dear,</div> <div class="verse indent4">Because of you.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">If all the smiles you gave, dear,</div> <div class="verse">Were only to beguile,</div> <div class="verse">Why then there's nothing sweet, dear,</div> <div class="verse">In any human smile;</div> <div class="verse">And what we deem most fair, dear,</div> <div class="verse indent4">Is only vile.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">If every kiss that lingered</div> <div class="verse">Upon the lips you pressed,</div> <div class="verse">Was but an empty token,</div> <div class="verse">More fickle than the rest;</div> <div class="verse">I wish that I had died, dear,</div> <div class="verse indent4">For death were best.</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>A LAMENT</h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Like a song that is sung, like a tale that is told,</div> <div class="verse indent2">The life in me hushes the voice of its gladness;</div> <div class="verse">Youth walks by my side, but his hands have grown cold,</div> <div class="verse indent2">And deep in his eyes lurks the shadow of sadness.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Alas! for the flowers that never come to me;</div> <div class="verse indent2">Alas! for the morning again, now day closes;</div> <div class="verse">The joy of a love is as nothing, for through me</div> <div class="verse indent2">There passes the deep-wounding thorn of the roses.</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>TO ——</h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">The wind's on the hill,</div> <div class="verse">The sun's on the lea,</div> <div class="verse">The lark's on the wing</div> <div class="verse">And the dawn's on the sea,</div> <div class="verse">And the rapture that springeth of Love, is on me.</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>THOUGHTS</h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Ah! the kiss of the sweet night air,</div> <div class="verse">And the still, deep eyes of the cloudy skies,</div> <div class="verse">Grown dim with peace:</div> <div class="verse">Peace, the angel of death, that is everywhere.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Ah! the bliss of the soul at rest,</div> <div class="verse">And of eyes that weep growing calm in sleep,</div> <div class="verse">Hushéd by night:</div> <div class="verse">Night, the shadow of death, that in blessing is blessed.</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>SHIPS</h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Fair ships, happy and free,</div> <div class="verse">Smile on the lonely sea,</div> <div class="verse">Only to fade again</div> <div class="verse">Into the mist and rain.</div> <div class="verse indent6">Ah! me.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Thus do bright hopes appear</div> <div class="verse">On life's vast ocean drear;</div> <div class="verse">Hopes that beguile the mind,</div> <div class="verse">And passing leave behind</div> <div class="verse indent6">A tear.</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>THE DREAM-CHILD</h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">There is a child who will come to me,</div> <div class="verse">Often at dusk, when my mind is free.</div> <div class="verse">She is the child that I used to be,</div> <div class="verse indent4">When I was only nine.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Over her hair is a wreath of flowers,</div> <div class="verse">Those are the thoughts of the golden hours</div> <div class="verse">Spent in the glory of childhood's bowers,</div> <div class="verse indent4">Fancy, those thoughts were mine!</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Butterflies whiter than flakes of snow</div> <div class="verse">Hover around her lips, and oh!</div> <div class="verse">They are the prayers that I used to know,</div> <div class="verse indent4">God may remember still.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">God who they tell us will not forget</div> <div class="verse">Even a penitent child's regret!</div> <div class="verse">Now I am callous of prayers, and yet—</div> <div class="verse indent4">Ah, how I hope that He will.</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>THE DAY</h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">The day walks over the mountains,</div> <div class="verse">To the splash of a thousand fountains,</div> <div class="verse">To the song of a million streams.</div> <div class="verse">Her hair is unbound and flowing,</div> <div class="verse">Her eyes are as bluebells growing</div> <div class="verse">In a valley of shade and dreams.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Her breast, than the snow is whiter,</div> <div class="verse">Her lips, than the poppies brighter,</div> <div class="verse">Her limbs are as strong white fire.</div> <div class="verse">Thus she comes from the sky above her</div> <div class="verse">To the arms of the Earth her lover,</div> <div class="verse">In a splendour of warm desire.</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>FROM MY SOUL</h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Oh! but to find expression for the thoughts,</div> <div class="verse">So marvellous and yet so undefined,</div> <div class="verse">That flow from out the palpitating soul</div> <div class="verse indent4">To consecrate the mind.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Oh! but to have the gift to put in words,</div> <div class="verse">That potent passion, that divine desire,</div> <div class="verse">That thrills the aching spirit with unrest</div> <div class="verse indent4">And sets the brain on fire.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Oh! God, but once to rise above the flesh,</div> <div class="verse">To breathe our inmost thoughts in one vast sigh</div> <div class="verse">Of rapture. Oh! to realise ourselves,</div> <div class="verse indent4">And at that moment ... die.</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>WE</h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">We who are made</div> <div class="verse">Brave yet afraid,</div> <div class="verse">Happy yet sad,</div> <div class="verse">Good and yet bad,</div> <div class="verse">Sane and yet mad,</div> <div class="verse">What can we do?</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Turmoil and strife,</div> <div class="verse">Passion and life,</div> <div class="verse">Love and desire,</div> <div class="verse">Can these inspire</div> <div class="verse">Spiritual fire?</div> <div class="verse">How can we live?</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Stumbling feet,</div> <div class="verse">Tasks incomplete,</div> <div class="verse">Longings that kill</div> <div class="verse">Even the will,</div> <div class="verse">Left to fulfil,</div> <div class="verse">How can we die?</div> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</SPAN></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Little have we</div> <div class="verse">Bond and yet free,</div> <div class="verse">Strong and yet weak,</div> <div class="verse">Proud and yet meek,</div> <div class="verse">Save but to seek</div> <div class="verse">God in it all.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">God with His hands</div> <div class="verse">Holds all the lands;</div> <div class="verse">Rules every sea,</div> <div class="verse">Sets the winds free,</div> <div class="verse">Counts every tree,</div> <div class="verse">Makes every leaf.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Then shall we fear?</div> <div class="verse">He placed us here.</div> <div class="verse">If God commands</div> <div class="verse">God understands,</div> <div class="verse">Ponders, and plans;</div> <div class="verse">Knowing it all.</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>TO SINGERS</h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Sing with your intellect and soul combined;</div> <div class="verse indent2">Not all technique, nor yet all wild emotion,</div> <div class="verse">Thus shall you touch the heart and please the mind,</div> <div class="verse indent2">Winning a real and merited devotion.</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>THE MAY TREE</h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">A garden in the month of May,</div> <div class="verse">The fading of a golden day</div> <div class="verse indent2">Upon the tulip flowers.</div> <div class="verse">An anthem sung by little birds,</div> <div class="verse">The sigh more eloquent than words</div> <div class="verse indent2">Of earth to listening hours.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">And shadows ... like the fringe that lies</div> <div class="verse">On cheek, at close of drowsy eyes,</div> <div class="verse indent2">And paths, grown damp with dew;</div> <div class="verse">And secret places, where to tread</div> <div class="verse">Were to disturb the bridal bed</div> <div class="verse indent2">Of creatures born anew.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">And fairer than each living thing</div> <div class="verse">That stirs with longings of the Spring,</div> <div class="verse indent2">A May tree, bearing flower.</div> <div class="verse">Like some young nymph the sunlight charms</div> <div class="verse">She stretches forth her slender arms,</div> <div class="verse indent2">New decked with leafy dower.</div> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</SPAN></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">While through her wondrous, living form</div> <div class="verse">The sap of life leaps strong and warm,</div> <div class="verse indent2">Awaking from repose</div> <div class="verse">The folded buds to know the Spring,</div> <div class="verse">It seems I almost hear them sing</div> <div class="verse indent2">For rapture as it flows.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Ay! and it seems as though my heart</div> <div class="verse">Strained upward, but to take some part</div> <div class="verse indent2">In that sweet hymn of praise;</div> <div class="verse">As though my pulses quicker beat,</div> <div class="verse">To see perfection so complete</div> <div class="verse indent2">Revealéd to my gaze.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">As though the problem of unrest</div> <div class="verse">Were solved at last, in this behest</div> <div class="verse indent2">To silently fulfil;</div> <div class="verse">And deeper still, my soul perceives</div> <div class="verse">The mighty Presence that conceives</div> <div class="verse indent2">Such beauty at Its will.</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>PURGATORY</h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">She said, "I want to live no matter what</div> <div class="verse">The penalty, give me on earth the lot</div> <div class="verse indent4">I most desire.</div> <div class="verse">Let me drink deep of love, of joy, of life.</div> <div class="verse">Scatter the roses, let the wine run rife</div> <div class="verse">Dear Gods above, and then let fall the knife</div> <div class="verse indent4">I will expire."</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">The Gods smiled sadly, very well they knew</div> <div class="verse">Her ardent spirit could ascend the blue,</div> <div class="verse indent4">And force their will.</div> <div class="verse">Such weak old Deities these latter days</div> <div class="verse">Could but comply to her imperious ways.</div> <div class="verse">With woeful doubts they showed the flowery maze</div> <div class="verse indent4">Of rapturous ill.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">And she was happy: with that hot content</div> <div class="verse">That burns away the flesh, that ravishment</div> <div class="verse indent4">Of youth grown bold.</div> <div class="verse">Until one morn the roses of her bed</div> <div class="verse">Were turned to nettles, all the joy was dead,</div> <div class="verse indent4">The passion cold.</div> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</SPAN></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">She cried, "Now let me die, to live a day</div> <div class="verse">Were Purgatory. See the awful way</div> <div class="verse indent4">I gaze upon."</div> <div class="verse">The Gods were silent; powerless to avert</div> <div class="verse">The consequence, grown wearily inert.</div> <div class="verse indent4">So—she lived on.</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>TO ——</h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">The sound of the waves is the sound of tears,</div> <div class="verse indent2">And the wind that drifts on the sea</div> <div class="verse">Is the restless ghost of the bygone years,</div> <div class="verse indent2">With their pain and their ecstasy.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">The far white ships with their shining sails</div> <div class="verse indent2">Are the hopes of a faithful heart,</div> <div class="verse">Sent forth to fight through the storm and gales,</div> <div class="verse indent2">With never a guiding chart.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">And what of the pilot who stands above</div> <div class="verse indent2">And steadfastly holds the wheel?</div> <div class="verse">Oh! he is the man who believed in love</div> <div class="verse indent2">Before he forgot to feel.</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>A SPRING POSY</h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">A spray of blossoms, and as well</div> <div class="verse">Some violets, gathered yesterday</div> <div class="verse">From leafy wood and shaded dell,</div> <div class="verse">Sweet children of a fruitful May;</div> <div class="verse">Dear minstrels of that silent lay</div> <div class="verse">More potent than an organ's swell.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">And now they're withered! all the joy</div> <div class="verse">Has gone for ever, and the scent;</div> <div class="verse">Relentless fingers can alloy</div> <div class="verse">So much of nature's sentiment,</div> <div class="verse">So many strains of deep content,</div> <div class="verse">It takes so little to destroy.</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>AWAKENING</h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">To open both your drowsy eyes,</div> <div class="verse">To stretch your limbs and realise</div> <div class="verse indent4">That day is here.</div> <div class="verse">To watch the dancing, shifting beam</div> <div class="verse">Of sun, awake yet half in dream,</div> <div class="verse">Uncertain if the fitful gleam</div> <div class="verse indent4">Be far or near.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">To turn with soft, contented sigh,</div> <div class="verse">And through the window watch the sky,</div> <div class="verse indent4">All opal blue.</div> <div class="verse">To feel the air steal in the room,</div> <div class="verse">Made fragrant by the soft perfume</div> <div class="verse">Of lime-trees, when their scented bloom</div> <div class="verse indent4">Is damp with dew.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">To hear the rustling voice of leaves,</div> <div class="verse">The chirp of birds beneath the eaves,</div> <div class="verse indent4">But now awake.</div> <div class="verse">The tiny hum of timid things</div> <div class="verse">That fly with gauzy, fragile wings,</div> <div class="verse">Where yet the dusk to daylight clings,</div> <div class="verse indent4">When mornings break.</div> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</SPAN></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">To feel the soul look forth and smile,</div> <div class="verse">Contented with each fruitful mile</div> <div class="verse indent4">That it beholds.</div> <div class="verse">To hear the heart beat loud and strong,</div> <div class="verse">In unison with Nature's song,</div> <div class="verse">That echoes tremulous and long</div> <div class="verse indent4">While dawn unfolds.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">To know yourself a thing complete,</div> <div class="verse">With strength of mind and limb replete,</div> <div class="verse indent4">With vast desire;</div> <div class="verse">A creature made to dominate</div> <div class="verse">The lesser things of earth, a fate</div> <div class="verse">On whom the universe must wait,</div> <div class="verse indent4">With force entire.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">And then to cry in deep delight</div> <div class="verse">God made the world and made it right;</div> <div class="verse indent4">Dear Heaven above!</div> <div class="verse">Was ere completeness so complete,</div> <div class="verse">Was ever sweetness half so sweet,</div> <div class="verse">Was ever loving half so meet;</div> <div class="verse indent4">Thank God for love.</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>SHE IS DEAD</h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Well! She is dead and gone,</div> <div class="verse indent2">God willed it so.</div> <div class="verse">Died ere her child was born,</div> <div class="verse indent2">Ever to know.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Dead! oh, how still and cold!</div> <div class="verse indent2">Yet full of rest.</div> <div class="verse">She was not very old</div> <div class="verse indent2">Still, it was best.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Hush, chide her not, not now,</div> <div class="verse indent2">Save by a tear,</div> <div class="verse">Dropped on that marble brow</div> <div class="verse indent2">So smooth and dear.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Pity her as she lies</div> <div class="verse indent2">There all alone;</div> <div class="verse">Tenderly close her eyes,</div> <div class="verse indent2">Sorrowful grown.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Yes; she has sinned maybe,</div> <div class="verse indent2">Willing to fall,</div> <div class="verse">Yet now forgive ... ah! see,</div> <div class="verse indent2">Death atones all.</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>TO ——</h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Dear, if you were in this city,</div> <div class="verse">In this misty, dreary city,</div> <div class="verse">With its sombre walls and towers—</div> <div class="verse">All its poorer streets and byways,</div> <div class="verse">All its richer streets and highways,</div> <div class="verse">All the buildings stern and old,</div> <div class="verse">And the river deep and cold,</div> <div class="verse">Would become as summer to me,</div> <div class="verse">Decked with sweet, perfuming flowers.</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>THE WHOLE OF IT</h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">A joy that passes, a pain that stays,</div> <div class="verse indent6">Such is life.</div> <div class="verse">A moment's rapture, then weary days,</div> <div class="verse indent6">Years of strife,</div> <div class="verse indent6">Such is life.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">A kiss of passion, a sigh of pain,</div> <div class="verse indent6">Such is love.</div> <div class="verse">A flash of splendour, then night again,</div> <div class="verse indent6">God above,</div> <div class="verse indent6">Such is love!</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">A sudden blindness, a creeping fear,</div> <div class="verse indent6">Such is death.</div> <div class="verse">An awful vastness, an unknown sphere,</div> <div class="verse indent6">Choking breath,</div> <div class="verse indent6">And then ... death.</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>A SONG</h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">A cloud is over the sun,</div> <div class="verse indent2">The wind is laden with rain,</div> <div class="verse">A frost has smitten the flowers;</div> <div class="verse indent2">The time of Winter is pain.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">But kiss me and I shall live,</div> <div class="verse indent2">The sun shall nourish the plain,</div> <div class="verse">The dawn be happy with birds</div> <div class="verse indent2">And love bring Summer again.</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>IF LIKE THE BIRD</h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">If like the bird who sits and swings</div> <div class="verse">Upon a branch, and blithely sings,</div> <div class="verse">I could but spread two faithful wings,</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">And by their aid could smoothly skim</div> <div class="verse">The highest peaks, the summits dim,</div> <div class="verse">Until I reached the sunlight's rim,</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Would I not then in pity gaze</div> <div class="verse">Upon the turmoil and the maze</div> <div class="verse">Of earth, and all its foolish ways?</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>A FRAGMENT</h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Chance made me look at you,</div> <div class="verse indent2">Chance was no friend!</div> <div class="verse">Sight made me worship you,</div> <div class="verse indent2">Time without end.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Had I been only blind</div> <div class="verse indent2">What had I cared,</div> <div class="verse">And thus, afflicted sore</div> <div class="verse indent2">How much been spared!</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>AN EVEN PSALM</h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">With silent feet all wet with dew,</div> <div class="verse indent2">Comes evening full of soft repose,</div> <div class="verse">To kiss the valley deep and blue,</div> <div class="verse indent2">With wistful lips, and eyes that close.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Her breath is soft, and full of peace,</div> <div class="verse indent2">Her arms outstretchéd to caress</div> <div class="verse">Fling benedictions without cease,</div> <div class="verse indent2">She seems a spirit borne to bless.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">And as the evening to the earth,</div> <div class="verse indent2">Came love to me, a boon most rare;</div> <div class="verse">Hushed every sorrow at its birth,</div> <div class="verse indent2">And turned complaining into prayer.</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>A BUTTERFLY</h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">A butterfly hovered over a flower,</div> <div class="verse indent10">In a bower,</div> <div class="verse">With the joy of life at his lips for an hour.</div> <div class="verse">With the rose's petals against his wings,</div> <div class="verse">And the rose's perfume that steals and clings</div> <div class="verse">Touching every breath with a wondrous power.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Then the Night came on, and the wind blew cold</div> <div class="verse indent10">O'er the wold.</div> <div class="verse">The butterfly shivered, grown tired and old;</div> <div class="verse">The rose closed her passionate eyes and slept,</div> <div class="verse">While death to her lover in silence crept;</div> <div class="verse">He died of a joy untold.</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>DISAPPOINTMENT</h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">How little there is that e'er goes right</div> <div class="verse">In this old world of ours.</div> <div class="verse">Anticipation? a vague delight;</div> <div class="verse">Reality? well, the rose with a blight,</div> <div class="verse">The thorn that comes with the flowers.</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>TO THE SEA</h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">What can I sing to thee</div> <div class="verse">Oh! thrice-beloved sea?</div> <div class="verse">What words can paint thy grace,</div> <div class="verse">The beauty of thy face,</div> <div class="verse">Enrapt with ecstasy?</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Fling up thy foamy arms,</div> <div class="verse">Laden with cooling balms,</div> <div class="verse">And touch me where I stand</div> <div class="verse">Here on the yearning land,</div> <div class="verse">With soft embrace that calms.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">I gaze into thine eyes,</div> <div class="verse">Where mystic shadow lies,</div> <div class="verse">And lovelights glow and gleam</div> <div class="verse">Within their emerald beam,</div> <div class="verse">And passion lives and dies—</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Until my heart grows still</div> <div class="verse">Beneath thy magic will,</div> <div class="verse">And I can hear and see</div> <div class="verse">Naught but thy song and thee,</div> <div class="verse">That seems the world to fill.</div> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</SPAN></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Upon thy swelling breast</div> <div class="verse">Restless and yet at rest,</div> <div class="verse">My spirit floats and sings,</div> <div class="verse">While Summer laughs and springs</div> <div class="verse">From off thy snow-white crest.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Behold my hot desire</div> <div class="verse">For thee to quench the fire,</div> <div class="verse">With dewy kiss that slips</div> <div class="verse">From thy divine, wet lips,</div> <div class="verse">Making my joy entire.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Lift up thine endless song,</div> <div class="verse">And echo it along</div> <div class="verse">Until all space rejoice,</div> <div class="verse">In thine enchanted voice,</div> <div class="verse">That sounds so sweet and strong.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Until the rocks and beach</div> <div class="verse">Break forth in answering speech,</div> <div class="verse">And every listening shell</div> <div class="verse">Some praise of thee can tell;</div> <div class="verse">Some joy of thee can teach.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Oh, sea that knows no death!</div> <div class="verse">Oh, life-inspiring breath!</div> <div class="verse">The heart of me would praise</div> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</SPAN></span> <div class="verse">The glory of thy days,</div> <div class="verse">Thine evenings, fathomless.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">The soul in me would sing</div> <div class="verse">To that eternal Spring</div> <div class="verse">Beneath thy heaving breast,</div> <div class="verse">Where lurk the depths of rest,</div> <div class="verse">The end of everything.</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>AFTER ALL?</h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">The gladness and the pain,</div> <div class="verse">The sunshine and the rain,</div> <div class="verse">The laughter and the sigh,</div> <div class="verse">They all must pass and die;</div> <div class="verse indent2">And in the by-and-by,</div> <div class="verse">Who'll care to question why?</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>YOU</h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">You have my thoughts and know it not.</div> <div class="verse">The livelong day I think of you,</div> <div class="verse">The still, dark night I dream of you,</div> <div class="verse">Each moment's life I live to you,</div> <div class="verse indent4">And yet you know it not.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">You have my heart and know it not,</div> <div class="verse">Its every beat is love for you,</div> <div class="verse">Each sigh a drop of blood for you,</div> <div class="verse">Its ceaseless ache regret for you,</div> <div class="verse indent4">And yet you know it not.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">You have my soul and know it not,</div> <div class="verse">It makes you God and worships you,</div> <div class="verse">Forgets its claim on Heaven for you,</div> <div class="verse">Forsakes its hope of life for you,</div> <div class="verse indent4">And yet—you know it not.</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>REMEMBER</h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Remember, sweet! some evening when you sit</div> <div class="verse">With idle hands, and book but half read through;</div> <div class="verse">When those dear eyes of yours find incomplete</div> <div class="verse">The landscape deep in shade and wet with dew;</div> <div class="verse">When that clear mind of yours goes wandering out</div> <div class="verse">To seek contentment, ay, and finds no rest;</div> <div class="verse">When those grave thoughts of yours are filled with doubt,</div> <div class="verse">And vague mistrust of all the world deems best;</div> <div class="verse">Remember!—for one hour we conquered fate;</div> <div class="verse">Filled in the blanks and set the puzzle right;</div> <div class="verse">We were complete, a glorious, living whole,</div> <div class="verse">A perfect cadence of supreme delight—</div> <div class="verse">I think eternity was ours that night.</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>AN ECHO</h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">In passion's hour I met you,</div> <div class="verse">And now that from my soul I'm old,</div> <div class="verse">Whene'er I watch the pale young moon,</div> <div class="verse">Or misty glow of sunset gold,</div> <div class="verse">Some echo of the past comes back,</div> <div class="verse">Like wild, sweet song o'er lonely track</div> <div class="verse">Lest I should e'er forget you.</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>FLOWER LOVE</h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">"Where is she?" sighed the rose-trees,</div> <div class="verse">The honeysuckle creepers,</div> <div class="verse">The pansies, and the lilies,</div> <div class="verse indent2">And the little hidden flowers.</div> <div class="verse">"We are lonely here without her,</div> <div class="verse">In the sunlight, in the twilight,</div> <div class="verse">In the daytime, in the night-time,</div> <div class="verse indent2">Through the solitary hours."</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">"I know not," said the young wind,</div> <div class="verse">"Yet will I surely seek her,</div> <div class="verse">And whisper low your message</div> <div class="verse indent2">Oh faithful-hearted few.</div> <div class="verse">For men may kiss in passing,</div> <div class="verse">And the world forget its passion,</div> <div class="verse">But the soil, remembers ever,</div> <div class="verse indent2">And the love of flowers is true."</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>THE FOND LOVER</h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">I am but little in your sight,</div> <div class="verse">A passing thought, a fleeting light</div> <div class="verse indent2">That gone, forgotten lies.</div> <div class="verse">The humble pastime, that you chose</div> <div class="verse">To honour, as you might a rose,</div> <div class="verse indent2">O'er which you cast your eyes.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Were I some simple, lifeless thing,</div> <div class="verse">A book you read, an oft-worn ring,</div> <div class="verse indent2">A favourite flower you wear,</div> <div class="verse">I might be close to you and know</div> <div class="verse">The rapture and the living glow</div> <div class="verse indent2">Of lips, and breast, and hair.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">But as it is, the earth you press,</div> <div class="verse">The clinging texture of your dress,</div> <div class="verse indent2">The jewel on your hand</div> <div class="verse">Know more of Heaven and joys therein</div> <div class="verse">Than I, whose soul has never been</div> <div class="verse indent2">Where it could understand.</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>ROSES FALL</h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">One by one the roses' petals fall to earth;</div> <div class="verse">Though God's sun is still above them,</div> <div class="verse">And the ardent breezes love them</div> <div class="verse indent4">They must die.</div> <div class="verse">Ere their greatest joy is born,</div> <div class="verse">Lo! they wither and are gone;</div> <div class="verse">Like a rose my hope must perish</div> <div class="verse indent4">In a sigh.</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>A FRAGMENT</h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">If you were just one street away,</div> <div class="verse indent4">One only!</div> <div class="verse">I know that in my heart I'd say</div> <div class="verse indent4">I'm lonely.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">But with the world between us two</div> <div class="verse indent4">A-lying,</div> <div class="verse">I hear my soul cry out, "For you</div> <div class="verse indent4">I'm dying!"</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>DISSATISFACTION</h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Our love is near akin unto regret;</div> <div class="verse">We love, and are beloved again, and yet</div> <div class="verse">There oft is something that we lack.</div> <div class="verse">So Life is very near akin to Death,</div> <div class="verse">We live and laugh awhile, yet with each breath</div> <div class="verse">Something is passing, that will ne'er come back.</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>ONE EVENING</h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">The damp, sweet smell of the earth after rain,</div> <div class="verse indent2">A golden rift in the sky,</div> <div class="verse">The deepening twilight, the purple plain,</div> <div class="verse indent8">And you and I.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">The strange, still hush of the slumbering world,</div> <div class="verse indent2">The mist in the wood close by,</div> <div class="verse">A deer that nibbles a leaf dew-pearled,</div> <div class="verse indent8">And you and I.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">The falling rain has left tremulous lakes</div> <div class="verse indent2">Where the shattered branches lie;</div> <div class="verse">The storm has bowed the tree till it breaks,</div> <div class="verse indent8">And you and I!</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Yet the green earth smiles through the tears she wept;</div> <div class="verse indent2">With one long, rapturous sigh</div> <div class="verse">The Noon in the arms of Night has crept,</div> <div class="verse indent8">And you and I?</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>TO ——</h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">I thought that I might see you, sweet,</div> <div class="verse indent2">That after all this weary year</div> <div class="verse">By some good fortune we might meet,</div> <div class="verse indent2">And kiss each other here.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">I told my heart to bide awhile,</div> <div class="verse indent2">And not to faint with vain regret;</div> <div class="verse">I even forced my lips to smile,</div> <div class="verse indent2">My conscience to forget.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">I killed depression as it rose,</div> <div class="verse indent2">And built new castles on the sand;</div> <div class="verse">This was the place my fancy chose</div> <div class="verse indent2">That I should hold your hand.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">And I have held your hand, my dear,</div> <div class="verse indent2">A second, daring not to press</div> <div class="verse">Your finger-tips, in mortal fear</div> <div class="verse indent2">To meet your eyes; and yet I bless</div> <div class="verse indent2">That little moment none the less.</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>MY SOUL, THE DEATHLESS</h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Hush! my soul is singing;</div> <div class="verse">Through the still night ringing</div> <div class="verse indent2">Sounds its voice.</div> <div class="verse">Till the dark in wonder</div> <div class="verse">Seemeth cleft asunder,</div> <div class="verse indent2">And the stars rejoice.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">E'en the air is breathless,</div> <div class="verse">For my soul, the deathless,</div> <div class="verse indent2">Sings of thee.</div> <div class="verse">Beats its wings of fire,</div> <div class="verse">In the vast desire</div> <div class="verse indent2">For eternity.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Lifts its eyes of splendour</div> <div class="verse">Full of deep surrender</div> <div class="verse indent2">For thy sake.</div> <div class="verse">Bids me let it press thee</div> <div class="verse">In its arms, and bless thee</div> <div class="verse indent2">Till thy love awake.</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>WHAT AM I?</h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">What am I to presume to say</div> <div class="verse">Were you good or bad,</div> <div class="verse">Was I wrong or right?</div> <div class="verse">After all life's only a day</div> <div class="verse">And perhaps—a night.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">What am I to set up for Judge?</div> <div class="verse">Shall I wound myself</div> <div class="verse">With a vain regret?</div> <div class="verse">Our fleeting pleasure if Time begrudge</div> <div class="verse">Can he not forget?</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">The thrill of it all is past we know,</div> <div class="verse">Say we both were right,</div> <div class="verse">And we both were wrong,</div> <div class="verse">There's little enough joy here below,</div> <div class="verse">And love's none too long.</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>WHAT A PITY!</h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">What a pity that all our wishes,</div> <div class="verse indent2">And most of our prayers are vain;</div> <div class="verse">When we strive to recall a pleasure,</div> <div class="verse indent2">Or crave to forget a pain.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">When the motives we deemed sufficient,</div> <div class="verse indent2">Seem paltry, and mean, and weak;</div> <div class="verse">And the goal we'd have lost our soul for,</div> <div class="verse indent2">Is that which we least would seek.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">And the pride of those vast ambitions,</div> <div class="verse indent2">That rendered our hopes so great</div> <div class="verse">Has become but the coal-black cinders,</div> <div class="verse indent2">Consumed in the fire of fate.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">What a pity! that blind with folly,</div> <div class="verse indent2">We fancied all incomplete</div> <div class="verse">Every flower of the true contentment,</div> <div class="verse indent2">That grew by our careless feet;</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Nor did pause in our path, to gather</div> <div class="verse indent2">The fruits of a gracious Spring;</div> <div class="verse">Or to seek in our hearts the anthem</div> <div class="verse indent2">We called on the world to sing.</div> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</SPAN></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Ah, well! maybe God will remember,</div> <div class="verse indent2">As payment of many debts,</div> <div class="verse">The penance of sad non-attainments,</div> <div class="verse indent2">The sackcloth of vain regrets.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">And perhaps the Recording Angel</div> <div class="verse indent2">May wipe out the faults of years</div> <div class="verse">With the hem of His shining garment,</div> <div class="verse indent2">Grown damp with a sinner's tears.</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>SONG</h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Good-morning, sweet! a thousand little birds</div> <div class="verse indent2">Their requiem to you sing;</div> <div class="verse">And tender flowers, with soft, perfuming words</div> <div class="verse indent6">Their greetings bring.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Good-morning, sweet! this faithful heart of mine</div> <div class="verse indent2">Offers devotion vast as Heaven above,</div> <div class="verse">Beneath thy window, worships at thy shrine;</div> <div class="verse indent6">Good-morning, love.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Good-morning, sweet! the glory of the day</div> <div class="verse indent2">Is naught compared to thee;</div> <div class="verse">Come forth and smile, with rapture bright and gay,</div> <div class="verse indent6">That I may see.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Good-morning, sweet! look up that I may live,</div> <div class="verse indent2">Kiss me that I may taste of Heaven here,</div> <div class="verse">The joys of Paradise are thine to give,</div> <div class="verse indent6">Good-morning, dear!</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>TIREDNESS</h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">It is weary, weary this waiting,</div> <div class="verse indent2">For that which can never be.</div> <div class="verse">It is dreary, dreary this mating,</div> <div class="verse indent2">With tears and despondency.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">And methinks if beneath the grasses,</div> <div class="verse indent2">There was somewhere, both still and deep,</div> <div class="verse">I would close my eyes to the morning,</div> <div class="verse indent2">And thankfully fall asleep.</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>ON THE LAGOON</h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">A gondola, the still lagoon;</div> <div class="verse indent2">A Summer's night, an August moon;</div> <div class="verse">The splash of oars, a distant song,</div> <div class="verse indent2">A little sigh, and—was it wrong?</div> <div class="verse">A kiss, both passionate and long.</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>A MORNING ON COMO</h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">A symphony in pink and blue,</div> <div class="verse indent2">A rhapsody of sun and dew,</div> <div class="verse">A virgin Venus born anew,</div> <div class="verse indent2">Lay Como in the morning.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">And—"Would to Heaven some Muse divine</div> <div class="verse indent2">Could guide this erring pen of mine,"</div> <div class="verse">I cried, "to paint such grace as thine,</div> <div class="verse indent2">Sweet Como in the morning!"</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>IN ROME</h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Daybreak. The heavy rumble in the street</div> <div class="verse">Of waggons, journeyed from the sun-baked plains;</div> <div class="verse">A laugh, an oath, as chance acquaintance meet;</div> <div class="verse">The bark of dogs, the crack of whip and reins;</div> <div class="verse">And then, with booming of combined refrains,</div> <div class="verse">The ringing, swinging, singing bells of Rome.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Sunset, and purple shadows o'er the dome</div> <div class="verse">Of sky above St Peter's; and the square</div> <div class="verse">As silent as a graveyard, and as dumb.</div> <div class="verse">Within the church, a peasant deep in prayer;</div> <div class="verse">And like a challenge through the languid air</div> <div class="verse">The ringing, swinging, singing bells of Rome.</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>TO ——</h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">The day is warm and mellow,</div> <div class="verse">The fields are gold and yellow,</div> <div class="verse">And in the misty distance</div> <div class="verse">The hills are purple blue.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">The Spring is up and stirring,</div> <div class="verse">The pheasant's wing is whirring,</div> <div class="verse">And there is nothing lacking</div> <div class="verse">In all the world, but you.</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>HOPES</h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Our hopes are like the mountains that arise,</div> <div class="verse">And to our dim, imperfect, human eyes</div> <div class="verse">Seem in their splendid height to touch the skies.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Yet when we've toiled up, many a weary day,</div> <div class="verse">We find the summit, desolate and grey,</div> <div class="verse">And lo! the Heavens, still smiling, far away.</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>A MEMORY</h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Ah, dear! how memory stirs,</div> <div class="verse indent2">Of meadows and soft-voiced thrushes</div> <div class="verse">Of winds that sang amid firs,</div> <div class="verse indent2">Or piped on the cool, damp rushes.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Of twilights and early dawns,</div> <div class="verse indent2">And times when the earth is fairest;</div> <div class="verse">Of gardens with dewy lawns,</div> <div class="verse indent2">And flowers when their scent is rarest.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Of noontide and humming bees,</div> <div class="verse indent2">That gather the love of roses;</div> <div class="verse">Of night-time and sighing trees,</div> <div class="verse indent2">And clouds where the moon reposes.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">And, dearest,—of just we two,</div> <div class="verse indent2">Alone in this world of splendour,</div> <div class="verse">Where everything lived for you,</div> <div class="verse indent2">In glorious, sweet surrender.</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>THE RIVER</h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Oh, river! sweet river, how placidly you wander,</div> <div class="verse indent2">Yet bearing on your bosom so many lovers' vows;</div> <div class="verse">Cannot the throb of passion arouse one wave in answer,</div> <div class="verse indent2">Or stir to sighing cadence your silent willow boughs?</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Must always—for ever, your brow be smooth and tranquil,</div> <div class="verse indent2">Though hearts may break in anguish, or burn with ecstasy?</div> <div class="verse">Is there no secret message that may arouse your wonder</div> <div class="verse indent2">At all this vast emotion that thrills Eternity?</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Some day though, oh, river! you too shall feel the magic</div> <div class="verse indent2">Of all your depths awakened, of every tide set free;</div> <div class="verse">Remember us in that time, we loving ones who sought you,</div> <div class="verse indent2">When you have left the meadows for the embracing sea!</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>TO ——</h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Let not the morning break ere I shall say</div> <div class="verse indent2">"Thou art the Sun that brightens all the day,</div> <div class="verse">Thou art the Rose that perfumes all the air,</div> <div class="verse indent2">Thou art the Soul of all that is most fair."</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Let not the evening fall ere I shall say</div> <div class="verse indent2">"Thou art the Star that guides me on my way,</div> <div class="verse">Thou art the Moon whose beams are everywhere,</div> <div class="verse indent2">Thou art my rest, my blessing, and my prayer."</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>SHALL I COMPLAIN?</h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Shall I complain because the rain</div> <div class="verse indent2">Has spoiled the flowers?</div> <div class="verse">Shall I despair because the air</div> <div class="verse indent2">Is damp with showers?</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Shall I forget, that even yet</div> <div class="verse indent2">New buds will spring?</div> <div class="verse">And shall I sigh while still there's by</div> <div class="verse indent2">One bird to sing?</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>TO ——</h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">But, let me tell you all I feel,</div> <div class="verse">And then, if you must still deny</div> <div class="verse">No tears shall dim my sight, no sigh</div> <div class="verse">Shall pass my lips, I'll only kneel</div> <div class="verse">Before you in the dust and say,</div> <div class="verse">"Tread on me, as you go your way."</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>MISTRESS SPRING<br/> <small>(<i>Song</i>)</small></h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Sweet Mistress Spring, all decked in green,</div> <div class="verse indent2">How fresh you look this morning;</div> <div class="verse">'Tis sure a year since we have seen</div> <div class="verse indent2">Such flowers your brow adorning.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">And will you come and walk with me?</div> <div class="verse indent2">I'll prove an ardent lover,</div> <div class="verse">Beneath the boughs of some kind tree</div> <div class="verse indent2">We'll seek convenient cover.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">There will I praise with light refrain</div> <div class="verse indent2">Your most enchanting weather,</div> <div class="verse">While you shall make a daisy chain,</div> <div class="verse indent2">To bind our hearts together.</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>WHAT'S WRONG?</h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">There's something wrong with the world to-day,</div> <div class="verse indent2">What can it be, what can it be?</div> <div class="verse">The morn is at six, and the year's at May,</div> <div class="verse indent2">So mayhap that something is wrong with me.</div> <div class="verse indent4">But there's something wrong,</div> <div class="verse indent4">With the joyous song</div> <div class="verse indent2">Of the thrush in the apple-tree.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">There's something gone from my heart I trow!</div> <div class="verse indent2">That then is why, that then is why</div> <div class="verse">The flower seems dead on the orchard bough,</div> <div class="verse indent2">And never a sunbeam is in the sky.</div> <div class="verse indent4">There's something gone,</div> <div class="verse indent4">And the light of the dawn</div> <div class="verse indent2">Is the dimmer when you're not by.</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>GENTLE DAME PRISCILLA <small>(<i>Song</i>)</small></h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse indent4">Gentle Dame Priscilla</div> <div class="verse indent4">At her wheel is singing,</div> <div class="verse">Singing of her lover, very far away.</div> <div class="verse indent4">Would I were that lover,</div> <div class="verse indent4">From my hiding springing</div> <div class="verse">I would stop her singing in my own fond way.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse indent4">Gentle Dame Priscilla</div> <div class="verse indent4">At her wheel is spinning</div> <div class="verse">Fancies of her lover, who has gone to sea.</div> <div class="verse indent4">Would I were that lover,</div> <div class="verse indent4">Honey-tongued and winning,</div> <div class="verse">It were then no sinning though I kissed her free.</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>TO THE NIGHTINGALE</h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Oh Nightingale, has that pale star heard you</div> <div class="verse">Sobbing your passion into a song?</div> <div class="verse">Has she deigned to stoop from her throne of splendour,</div> <div class="verse">Deigned to pity your life's surrender,</div> <div class="verse">Deigned to throw you a beam-smile tender,</div> <div class="verse">You who have waited and loved so long?</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Oh Nightingale, is your wondrous music</div> <div class="verse">Cleaving the depths of the dark apart,</div> <div class="verse">Born of a hope that is wearily dying?</div> <div class="verse">Is she ever and aye denying</div> <div class="verse">That for which you are always sighing?</div> <div class="verse">Do you sing with a broken heart?</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>A MORNING THOUGHT</h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Wind and mist of the upland places,</div> <div class="verse">Thrill and hush of the cloud-swept spaces,</div> <div class="verse">Glow of sky that the sun embraces,</div> <div class="verse indent8">Over a world of dew.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Purple-dusk of the sweet Scotch heather,</div> <div class="verse">Golden gorse, in the summer weather,</div> <div class="verse">Hand in hand, you and I together,</div> <div class="verse indent8">If it were only true!</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>TO-DAY</h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">To-day is a bumper of golden wine,</div> <div class="verse indent4">Drink deep, deep, deep!</div> <div class="verse">While the earth is green, and the cup is thine,</div> <div class="verse">For there cometh an hour when a man must weep,</div> <div class="verse">And there cometh a time when a man must sleep,</div> <div class="verse indent4">So drink deep, deep, deep.</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>LOVE'S COMMAND</h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Love lifted up his eyes to mine,</div> <div class="verse indent2">And in their depth did I behold</div> <div class="verse">A flame, so potent yet divine</div> <div class="verse indent2">That all the world besides seemed cold.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">"Dear love," I cried, "come enter in</div> <div class="verse indent2">And warm my heart with living fire."</div> <div class="verse">Love answered, "First cast out the sin</div> <div class="verse indent2">And rid my dwelling of desire."</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>CHANCE MEETING</h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">I looked up! you were standing there close beside me,</div> <div class="verse">And just for a second our glances met,</div> <div class="verse">And lingered, and mingled, and mingled yet.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">I went on: you had turned and the spell was broken.</div> <div class="verse">My temples throbbed, and my hands were cold.</div> <div class="verse">I was longing, hopeless, and almost old.</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>ITALIAN SPRING</h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse indent10">It is the Spring!</div> <div class="verse indent10">And what could be</div> <div class="verse indent10">So sweet a thing</div> <div class="verse indent10">As early Spring</div> <div class="verse indent10">In Italy?</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">To make the boon more wondrous rare</div> <div class="verse">You've caught the sunlight in your hair,</div> <div class="verse">And, happy slave, it dances there.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">To steal the splendour from the skies,</div> <div class="verse">You draw their colour to your eyes,</div> <div class="verse">Like deep blue lakes of Paradise.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse indent10">It is the Spring!</div> <div class="verse indent10">And what could be</div> <div class="verse indent10">So sweet a thing</div> <div class="verse indent10">As early Spring</div> <div class="verse indent10">In Italy,</div> <div class="verse indent10">And you with me!</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>TO ——</h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Oh! the awful pity of it all,</div> <div class="verse">That I ever learned to care for you,</div> <div class="verse">That we ever chanced to meet at all,</div> <div class="verse">Since we neither of us could be true.</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>THE DIRGE OF A LONELY GARDEN</h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">"I am a garden, alone, alone!</div> <div class="verse indent2">Oh little Swallow pity me.</div> <div class="verse">Over my paths have the lichens grown,</div> <div class="verse indent2">Oh little Swallow pity me.</div> <div class="verse">Down by the river the reeds are dank,</div> <div class="verse">Close to the portal the grass is rank;</div> <div class="verse">Nettles take birth on the lily bank.</div> <div class="verse indent2">Oh little Swallow pity me.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">"Once in the earliest days She came,</div> <div class="verse indent2">Oh little Swallow pity me,</div> <div class="verse">Sowing the seeds of my after fame,</div> <div class="verse indent2">Oh little Swallow pity me.</div> <div class="verse">Beautiful hands she had, and lo!</div> <div class="verse">All that they touched would thrill and grow</div> <div class="verse">Up to the sun of her eyes, aglow,</div> <div class="verse indent2">Oh little Swallow pity me.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">"Beautiful feet she had, that fell</div> <div class="verse indent2">Oh little Swallow pity me,</div> <div class="verse">Like the caress of one loved well,</div> <div class="verse indent2">Oh little Swallow pity me.</div> <div class="verse">Over the lawn at the twilight hour</div> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</SPAN></span> <div class="verse">Sometimes she wandered to pluck a flower,</div> <div class="verse">Sometimes she paused in the jasmine bower.</div> <div class="verse indent2">Oh little Swallow pity me.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">"Then she would speak to me, sweet my own!</div> <div class="verse indent2">Oh little Swallow pity me,</div> <div class="verse">Words from her heart to my heart alone,</div> <div class="verse indent2">Oh little Swallow pity me.</div> <div class="verse">Tender, and ardent, and secret things,</div> <div class="verse">Sprang to her lips, as the water springs</div> <div class="verse">Up from the earth where the blue mist clings.</div> <div class="verse indent2">Oh little Swallow pity me.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">"I am a garden grown desolate,</div> <div class="verse indent2">Oh little Swallow pity me.</div> <div class="verse">I of them all, will remember yet,</div> <div class="verse indent2">Oh little Swallow pity me.</div> <div class="verse">Summer may come and summer may go,</div> <div class="verse">I of them all who have known her, know</div> <div class="verse">Love cannot die, though the loved one go.</div> <div class="verse indent2">Oh little Swallow pity me!"</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>RESIGNATION</h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">I asked you for your love again,</div> <div class="verse">And I presumed too much it seemed.</div> <div class="verse">The happiness of which I dreamed</div> <div class="verse">Was but a jest, to laugh at then?</div> <div class="verse">A trifle, that your wanton eyes</div> <div class="verse">Beheld, yet would not recognise.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">"I will be just your friend," I said,</div> <div class="verse">"'Twere better thus to be content</div> <div class="verse">Than everlasting banishment."</div> <div class="verse">You scarcely paused to turn your head.</div> <div class="verse">Not needed, I had ceased to be</div> <div class="verse">A thing for your utility!</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">I went my way, as others do.</div> <div class="verse">These are not days to rant, and weep.</div> <div class="verse">What pain there was I buried deep,</div> <div class="verse">Together with my thoughts of you;</div> <div class="verse">And in that grave they lie apart,</div> <div class="verse">Unmourned, save by a breaking heart.</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>ACCUSATION</h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">How dare you cease to be my friend!</div> <div class="verse">You who have held my heart and mind</div> <div class="verse">Within your hand, a spell combined</div> <div class="verse">Of passion and the joys that rend</div> <div class="verse">Cast over all that once was me,</div> <div class="verse">I would not if I could, go free.</div> <div class="verse">I tell you to the depth of Hell,</div> <div class="verse">My spirit, following in your wake,</div> <div class="verse">Shall suffer for its folly's sake</div> <div class="verse">Those torments which are yours, and dwell</div> <div class="verse">Beside you through Eternity.</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</SPAN><br/><SPAN name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>A SEA CYCLE</h2> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</SPAN><br/><SPAN name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</SPAN></span></p> <h3>I</h3> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">In at your cabin window,</div> <div class="verse indent2">Under the drifting sky,</div> <div class="verse">Softly, and all on tiptoe</div> <div class="verse indent2">Winds that are passing by</div> <div class="verse">Steal with a tender longing,</div> <div class="verse indent2">Pause, with a yearning sigh,</div> <div class="verse">Kiss you—and then in rapture</div> <div class="verse indent2">Folding their pinions die.</div> </div></div> </div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</SPAN></span></p> <h3>II</h3> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">There is something divinely happy,</div> <div class="verse indent2">And something divinely fair,</div> <div class="verse">At work in the world this morning,</div> <div class="verse indent2">Its spirit is everywhere.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">I'm filled with a sense of youngness,</div> <div class="verse indent2">My limbs are alive and strong,</div> <div class="verse">My heart with a throb of gladness</div> <div class="verse indent2">Re-echoes the Ocean's song.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">The sun is a splendid halo,</div> <div class="verse indent2">That sets on the brow of earth,</div> <div class="verse">The wind is the flute of silver</div> <div class="verse indent2">He tunes to his strains of mirth.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">The waves are abrim with laughter,</div> <div class="verse indent2">The ship is a soul set free;</div> <div class="verse">And out through this perfect weather</div> <div class="verse indent2">You'll presently come to me.</div> </div></div> </div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</SPAN></span></p> <h3>III</h3> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">I pledged you in a cup of wine,</div> <div class="verse">And every passion that was mine</div> <div class="verse">I melted in that nectar rare,</div> <div class="verse">To drink to you, I swear—I swear!</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">I pledged you in the cup of life,</div> <div class="verse">Its inmost essence, hot and rife,</div> <div class="verse">I caught from drops my heart bled there,</div> <div class="verse">To drink to you, I swear—I swear!</div> </div></div> </div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</SPAN></span></p> <h3>IV</h3> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Listen, dear heart, awhile, till I repeat</div> <div class="verse">In all my life, there never was so sweet</div> <div class="verse">An hour as this; so perfectly complete,</div> <div class="verse">So full of joy, so deep and so replete</div> <div class="verse">With ardent things. Alas! that time is fleet.</div> </div></div> </div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</SPAN></span></p> <h3>V</h3> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Good-night! until to-morrow, dear;</div> <div class="verse">You go to rest, and I still here</div> <div class="verse">Will dream of all you do and say;</div> <div class="verse">Will contemplate, as lovers may,</div> <div class="verse">Each thing you've touched, with eyes that find</div> <div class="verse">Your form in all you leave behind.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Your presence, and the joy that fills</div> <div class="verse">The heart and soul with countless thrills</div> <div class="verse">Is still beside me, and the ship</div> <div class="verse">Throbs out with every rise and dip</div> <div class="verse">The words that uttered once shall be</div> <div class="verse">My music through eternity.</div> </div></div> </div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</SPAN></span></p> <h3>VI</h3> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Let me forget the land,</div> <div class="verse indent2">The turmoil and the strife</div> <div class="verse">Of cities; let me stand</div> <div class="verse indent2">Alone with you and life.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Encircled by the sky,</div> <div class="verse indent2">Uplifted by the sea,</div> <div class="verse">The world is you, and I,</div> <div class="verse indent2">Then give yourself to me!</div> </div></div> </div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</SPAN></span></p> <h3>VII</h3> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Don't speak! a word would mar it all,</div> <div class="verse indent2">Just put your hand in mine.</div> <div class="verse">This silence seems of Heaven, to fall</div> <div class="verse indent2">From thence, a thing Divine.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Be still! to move would seem profane,</div> <div class="verse indent2">So magic is the night,</div> <div class="verse">All hushed, yet throbbing with a vein</div> <div class="verse indent2">Of passionate delight.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Look up! and let your gaze enfold</div> <div class="verse indent2">My face that bends above,</div> <div class="verse">And in my ardent eyes behold</div> <div class="verse indent2">The ecstasy of love.</div> </div></div> </div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</SPAN></span></p> <h3>VIII</h3> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">I take my heart with trembling hands,</div> <div class="verse indent2">Unworthy vassal though it be,</div> <div class="verse">Sad wanderer in many lands,</div> <div class="verse indent2">Such as it is I offer thee,</div> <div class="verse">And will not even dare complain</div> <div class="verse">Shouldst thou this sorry gift disdain.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Yet oh! be sure that every sigh,</div> <div class="verse indent2">Each beat of anguish deep and sore,</div> <div class="verse">Has grown a dagger thrust, which I</div> <div class="verse indent2">Must bear for all that's gone before;</div> <div class="verse">And bearing it will learn to know</div> <div class="verse">The cleansing agony of woe.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">And this remember, ere you turn</div> <div class="verse indent2">Your head away in silent pride,</div> <div class="verse">The soul is young that still can learn</div> <div class="verse indent2">New truths that Love has simplified;</div> <div class="verse">And being young may still attain</div> <div class="verse">Perfection, through repentant pain.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Then stoop to pity; do not close</div> <div class="verse indent2">The gate of Paradise and rest,</div> <div class="verse">To one whose spirit seeks repose</div> <div class="verse indent2">Within that haven of the blest;</div> <div class="verse">But rather fling the portal wide</div> <div class="verse">And draw the pilgrim safe inside.</div> </div></div> </div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</SPAN></span></p> <h3>IX</h3> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">The past is like an empty dream;</div> <div class="verse indent2">The people in it are not real;</div> <div class="verse">The joys and sorrows only seem</div> <div class="verse indent2">As phantom hands I cannot feel.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">I will not even count the hours,</div> <div class="verse indent2">That lie between those yesterdays</div> <div class="verse">And what my present life embowers,</div> <div class="verse indent2">Of love and all its golden ways.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">All that I am, my soul, my mind,</div> <div class="verse indent2">And all I ever hope to be</div> <div class="verse">I fling, with scarce a look behind</div> <div class="verse indent2">Into this present ecstasy.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">I have not even one regret</div> <div class="verse indent2">To waste upon those lagging years,</div> <div class="verse">Too colourless to feign forget,</div> <div class="verse indent2">Too soulless for repentant tears.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">No sigh, though life should end for me</div> <div class="verse indent2">To-day; so potent is the bliss</div> <div class="verse">Of love, I think eternity</div> <div class="verse indent2">Is held embodied in a kiss.</div> </div></div> </div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</SPAN></span></p> <h3>X</h3> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">If every rose that ever blew,</div> <div class="verse indent2">All fragrant with the breath of Spring,</div> <div class="verse">Were here, aglow with sun and dew,</div> <div class="verse indent2">With ardent petals shimmering—</div> <div class="verse">What would their beauty count to me,</div> <div class="verse">Have I not lived to look on thee?</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">If every note of music born,</div> <div class="verse indent2">Each wistful cadence low and sweet,</div> <div class="verse">Were all combined from night till dawn</div> <div class="verse indent2">To render melody complete—</div> <div class="verse">Why should my throbbing sense rejoice</div> <div class="verse">That once has listened to thy voice?</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Nor do I think that Paradise</div> <div class="verse indent2">Could dim with raptured awe my gaze,</div> <div class="verse">Unfolding to my dazzled eyes—</div> <div class="verse indent2">The marvel of untrodden ways;</div> <div class="verse">For know I not of Heaven a part</div> <div class="verse">Since I have found thy living heart?</div> </div></div> </div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</SPAN></span></p> <h3>XI</h3> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Oh, my beloved! though I live</div> <div class="verse">A thousand years upon the earth,</div> <div class="verse">And though each pleasure take its birth</div> <div class="verse">From me; though it be mine to give all</div> <div class="verse">Rapture, every thrill and joy</div> <div class="verse">Known unto gods; though I destroy</div> <div class="verse">All ills, and overcome e'en death</div> <div class="verse">Within the vapour of a breath,</div> <div class="verse">That from thy lips passed into mine,</div> <div class="verse">Fire-tipped, of earth, yet all divine</div> <div class="verse">Would be contained more ecstasy,</div> <div class="verse">To chain the soul eternally</div> <div class="verse">With fetters woven of thy kiss—</div> <div class="verse">Than in Mahomet's realms of bliss—</div> <div class="verse">Nay more—of Heaven I ask but this.</div> </div></div> </div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</SPAN></span></p> <h3>XII</h3> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Over the silent waters</div> <div class="verse indent2">Flashes the beacon light,</div> <div class="verse">Sharp as a strong, white dagger</div> <div class="verse indent2">Cleaving the breast of Night.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Beacon of hope and safety!</div> <div class="verse indent2">See, we are near the land,</div> <div class="verse">Come and stand close beside me,</div> <div class="verse indent2">Give me your dear, white hand.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Here in the wind and darkness,</div> <div class="verse indent2">Under the sighing mast,</div> <div class="verse">Let us forget the future</div> <div class="verse indent2">Let us condone the past.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">God in His high, blue Heaven,</div> <div class="verse indent2">Counting the falling tears,</div> <div class="verse">Grants us this fleeting present,</div> <div class="verse indent2">Out of the endless years.</div> </div></div> </div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</SPAN></span></p> <h3>XIII</h3> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">The land! The land! it is the end</div> <div class="verse">Of all my dreams; the sudden bend</div> <div class="verse">Along the road, and face to face</div> <div class="verse">I stand with some deserted place,</div> <div class="verse">Where Death, and Darkness grow apace.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">The land! The land! with beating heart</div> <div class="verse">I am awake, alone, apart;</div> <div class="verse">To gaze upon the nearing shore,</div> <div class="verse">And know that all that's gone before</div> <div class="verse">Means nothing to you any more.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">The land! The land! Oh, blessed sea!</div> <div class="verse">Lift up your arms and cover me;</div> <div class="verse">One long caress upon your breast!</div> <div class="verse">You know me, I have stood confessed</div> <div class="verse">Before you, now I fain would rest.</div> </div></div> </div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</SPAN></span></p> <h3>XIV</h3> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Oh, Time! There's much I could forgive;</div> <div class="verse">E'en though you told me that to live</div> <div class="verse">Another hour it was denied,</div> <div class="verse">I think I'd lay my life aside</div> <div class="verse">With few regrets, and scarce a sigh,</div> <div class="verse">It would not be so hard to die.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">But like a thief steals in the night,</div> <div class="verse">You robbed me; what was mine by right</div> <div class="verse">Your ruthless hands have snatched away;</div> <div class="verse">The passions that were yesterday</div> <div class="verse">You've cankered with your deadly rust,</div> <div class="verse">And turned a living heart to dust.</div> </div></div> </div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</SPAN></span></p> <h3>XV</h3> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Ah! if but once again to hear</div> <div class="verse">The song of waves against the keel!</div> <div class="verse">The sound of winds upon the sea,</div> <div class="verse">To watch the moonlight, and to feel</div> <div class="verse">Your hand in mine; to have you steal</div> <div class="verse">More close, more close, till senses reel,</div> <div class="verse">And all the deep, unfathomed bliss</div> <div class="verse">Of Life and Death were in your kiss.</div> </div></div> </div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</SPAN></span></p> <h3>XVI</h3> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">I have striven for three whole years to forget;</div> <div class="verse">I have prayed, ay, grovelled to God; and yet</div> <div class="verse">At the glimpse of a pictured face, of a form</div> <div class="verse">That suggested yours—like a blighting storm</div> <div class="verse">The Past rose up, and in anguish cried,</div> <div class="verse">"Oh, fool! I live, it was You who died."</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <p class="center big mt2"><i>The Riverside Press Limited, Edinburgh</i></p> <div class="transnote"> <h2>Transcriber's Notes</h2> <p>Minor punctuation and printer errors repaired.</p> </div> <SPAN name="endofbook"></SPAN> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />