Selections from Songs of a Bayadere and Songs of a Troubadour By Evelyn Douglas [i.e. J. E. Barlas] |
 |
|
The Priest of Love.
|
|
| I. |
| II. |
 | Selections from Songs of a Bayadere and Songs of a Troubadour |  |
27
The Priest of Love.
In Sicily in the days of art
A painter prince held sway,
Who loved one lady with all his heart
And dreamed of her night and day.
A painter prince held sway,
Who loved one lady with all his heart
And dreamed of her night and day.
She was a girl of scarce thirteen,
And he was but a youth;
Yet he sware none other should be his queen,
And kept his oath with truth.
And he was but a youth;
Yet he sware none other should be his queen,
And kept his oath with truth.
And still as she grew he built her a home,
That the years less long might seem,
Out on an island, girt with the foam,
Beautiful as a dream.
That the years less long might seem,
Out on an island, girt with the foam,
Beautiful as a dream.
28
And he called the masters from every part,
Of temper, and tint, and tone,
Who moulded in metal miraculous art,
Or wrought it in colour or stone,
Of temper, and tint, and tone,
Who moulded in metal miraculous art,
Or wrought it in colour or stone,
All carvers of wood and silver and gold,
All weavers that loved the loom,
To make her a palace of perfect mould,
And fill it with tender bloom.
All weavers that loved the loom,
To make her a palace of perfect mould,
And fill it with tender bloom.
And he sent for marbles out of the isles,
Rose-red and white as snow,
And made a dome that shone for miles
In the ruddy evening glow.
Rose-red and white as snow,
And made a dome that shone for miles
In the ruddy evening glow.
And the palace grew, and the maiden grew
In stature and beauty and grace
Year by year—for shape and for hue,
A wonderful woman's face.
In stature and beauty and grace
Year by year—for shape and for hue,
A wonderful woman's face.
29
And ever of marbles from far-off isles,
Like music soft and slow,
Rose fluted pillars and fretted piles,
And hung in the wave below,
Like music soft and slow,
Rose fluted pillars and fretted piles,
And hung in the wave below,
With many a cupola poised above,
And many a sculptured frieze,
That filled with anguish of hopeless love
The amorous ocean breeze.
And many a sculptured frieze,
That filled with anguish of hopeless love
The amorous ocean breeze.
And he hung rich arras about the place,
Wrought in a distant clime,
With love, and passion, and war, and the chase,
And gods of the olden time;
Wrought in a distant clime,
With love, and passion, and war, and the chase,
And gods of the olden time;
And he steeped his brush in the hues of love,
His soul in the poet's themes,
And filled the walls and the ceilings above
With forms as fair as dreams;
His soul in the poet's themes,
And filled the walls and the ceilings above
With forms as fair as dreams;
30
And he melted his heart to heavenly hues,
And bathed the grainèd glass
In burning reds and beautiful blues,
And greens as soft as grass;
And bathed the grainèd glass
In burning reds and beautiful blues,
And greens as soft as grass;
And he fetched rare marbles from far-off isles
For the sculptors, as white as snow,
Who made them smile immortal smiles,
With love immortal glow.
For the sculptors, as white as snow,
Who made them smile immortal smiles,
With love immortal glow.
And the palace grew and the maiden grew
In beauty side by side;
And when both were perfect in form and hue,
And ready—the maiden died.
In beauty side by side;
And when both were perfect in form and hue,
And ready—the maiden died.
Then he shut himself up in the palace alone,
With the statues and his despair,
And his young dead bride as cold as stone,
And fired it, and perished there.
With the statues and his despair,
And his young dead bride as cold as stone,
And fired it, and perished there.
31
And the red flame shone to the far-off isles
Over the ocean-flow,
And the sky was red for miles and miles,
And the sea lay red below.
Over the ocean-flow,
And the sky was red for miles and miles,
And the sea lay red below.
| Selections from Songs of a Bayadere and Songs of a Troubadour | |