 | Dreams and days |  |
VI
They crossed the hills; they came to where
Through an arid gloom the river Chaudière
Fled like a Mænad with outstreaming hair;
And there the soldier sank, and died.
Through an arid gloom the river Chaudière
Fled like a Mænad with outstreaming hair;
And there the soldier sank, and died.
53
Death-dumb he fell; yet ere life sped,
Child-like on her knee he laid his head.
She strove to pray; but all words fled
Save those their love had sanctified.
Child-like on her knee he laid his head.
She strove to pray; but all words fled
Save those their love had sanctified.
And then her voice rose waveringly
To the notes of a mother's lullaby;
But her song was only “Ah, must thou die?”
And to her his eyes death-still replied.
To the notes of a mother's lullaby;
But her song was only “Ah, must thou die?”
And to her his eyes death-still replied.
| Dreams and days | |