University of Virginia Library


20

TRANCE.

I

My body sleeps: my heart awakes.
In search of thee my dreams have roved
Dim slumber's deeps. The last wave breaks,
And brings me to thy breast beloved.
O stretch thy gracious hand to me,
Thro' sleep, thro' night! I hear the rills,
And hear the leopard in the hills,
And down the dark am drawn to thee.

II

The vineyards and the villages
Were silent in the vales, the rocks.
I follow'd past the myrrhy trees,
And by the footsteps of the flocks.
Wild honey, dropt from stone to stone
Where bees have been, my path suggests.
The winds are in the eagles' nests.
The stars are hid. I walk alone.

III

The stars are hid, the moon is set,
Ah wilt thou let me die forlorn?
Upon my hair the dews are wet.
Upon the rocks my feet are torn.

21

With kisses, never kist, alas!
My lips are parcht: with tears unshed
Mine eyes are dim: and, faint, I tread
With dizzy step the mountain pass.

IV

My path is lost: my staff is gone:
My strength is spent: my lamp is out.
O love, the night is well nigh done.
The camphor clusters all about
Gleam chilly-white, and I can see
The far off dawn. O haste, O haste,
And draw me from the unshelter'd waste,
And draw me from the world to thee!