Teresa and Other Poems By James Rhoades |
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WAGES
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| XV. |
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| XVIII. |
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| XX. |
| XXI. |
| XXII. |
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 | Teresa and Other Poems |  |
40
WAGES
It is weary to be waking
In the grey before the dawn,
When birds about the lawn
Are silence breaking.
‘Can maiden-vows be mended?
Or a soul with slaying ended?
No; nor of death be won
The undoing of deeds done.’
So ring the bird-notes blended
In the grey before the dawn.
In the grey before the dawn,
When birds about the lawn
Are silence breaking.
‘Can maiden-vows be mended?
Or a soul with slaying ended?
No; nor of death be won
The undoing of deeds done.’
So ring the bird-notes blended
In the grey before the dawn.
He came to my white pillow
In the dusk before the dawn,
When winds from off the lawn
Were in the willow.
With kiss of fire he cleft me,
And of God's face bereft me:
But I cried, ‘No lie shall screen us;
Is it love or death between us?’
Without one word he left me
In the dusk before the dawn.
In the dusk before the dawn,
When winds from off the lawn
Were in the willow.
With kiss of fire he cleft me,
And of God's face bereft me:
But I cried, ‘No lie shall screen us;
Is it love or death between us?’
Without one word he left me
In the dusk before the dawn.
I stole where he was sleeping
In the dark before the dawn,
When mists along the lawn
Were slowly creeping.
He woke, and horror filled him,
And he shrieked; but kisses stilled him.
At my heart hell-fire was licking,
In my hand a death-blade pricking:
Oh, I kissed to sleep and killed him
In the dark before the dawn.
In the dark before the dawn,
When mists along the lawn
Were slowly creeping.
41
And he shrieked; but kisses stilled him.
At my heart hell-fire was licking,
In my hand a death-blade pricking:
Oh, I kissed to sleep and killed him
In the dark before the dawn.
| Teresa and Other Poems | |