University of Virginia Library


258

He ceased now, trembling sore, for certainly
A murmur like a gathering wind went by;
Then as it were a strange laugh musical
But mocking, fearful, on his ears did fall.
“Ye hearken, O ye hearken,” cried he then,
“Yet hearkening do ye mock the woes of men?
O speak, speak, yet again O song of mine!
Wilt thou be dumb, now, when this love divine
Meeteth the very Gods, naked, alone,
And unafraid, as though the world were gone
Adown the void?”
Already as he spake
A step across the threshold did he take,
And with his heart a-fire and flaming eyes
He let the fountain of his song arise.