 | Rivers to the Sea |  |
3. III
110
111
OVER THE ROOFS
I
OH chimes set high on the sunny tower
Ring on, ring on unendingly,
Make all the hours a single hour,
For when the dusk begins to flower,
The man I love will come to me! . . .
Ring on, ring on unendingly,
Make all the hours a single hour,
For when the dusk begins to flower,
The man I love will come to me! . . .
But no, go slowly as you will,
I should not bid you hasten so,
For while I wait for love to come,
Some other girl is standing dumb,
Fearing her love will go.
I should not bid you hasten so,
For while I wait for love to come,
Some other girl is standing dumb,
Fearing her love will go.
II
Oh white steam over the roofs, blow high!
Oh chimes in the tower ring clear and free !
Oh sun awake in the covered sky,
For the man I love, loves me I . . .
Oh chimes in the tower ring clear and free !
Oh sun awake in the covered sky,
For the man I love, loves me I . . .
112
Oh drifting steam disperse and die,
Oh tower stand shrouded toward the south,—
Fate heard afar my happy cry,
And laid her finger on my mouth.
Oh tower stand shrouded toward the south,—
Fate heard afar my happy cry,
And laid her finger on my mouth.
III
The dusk was blue with blowing mist,
The lights were spangles in a veil,
And from the clamor far below
Floated faint music like a wail.
The lights were spangles in a veil,
And from the clamor far below
Floated faint music like a wail.
It voiced what I shall never speak,
My heart was breaking all night long,
But when the dawn was hard and gray,
My tears distilled into a song.
My heart was breaking all night long,
But when the dawn was hard and gray,
My tears distilled into a song.
IV
I said, "I have shut my heart
As one shuts an open door,
That Love may starve therein
And trouble me no more."
As one shuts an open door,
That Love may starve therein
And trouble me no more."
113
But over the roofs there came
The wet new wind of May,
And a tune blew up from the curb
Where the street-pianos play.
The wet new wind of May,
And a tune blew up from the curb
Where the street-pianos play.
My room was white with the sun
And Love cried out in me,
"I am strong, I will break your heart
Unless you set me free."
And Love cried out in me,
"I am strong, I will break your heart
Unless you set me free."
114
A CRY
OH, there are eyes that he can see,
And hands to make his hands rejoice,
But to my lover I must be
Only a voice.
And hands to make his hands rejoice,
But to my lover I must be
Only a voice.
Oh, there are breasts to bear his head,
And lips whereon his lips can lie,
But I must be till I am dead
Only a cry.
And lips whereon his lips can lie,
But I must be till I am dead
Only a cry.
115
CHANCE
How many times we must have met
Here on the street as strangers do,
Children of chance we were, who passed
The door of heaven and never knew.
Here on the street as strangers do,
Children of chance we were, who passed
The door of heaven and never knew.
116
IMMORTAL
So soon my body will have gone
Beyond the sound and sight of men,
And tho' it wakes and suffers now,
Its sleep will be unbroken then;
But oh, my frail immortal soul
That will not sleep forevermore,
A leaf borne onward by the blast,
A wave that never finds the shore.
Beyond the sound and sight of men,
And tho' it wakes and suffers now,
Its sleep will be unbroken then;
But oh, my frail immortal soul
That will not sleep forevermore,
A leaf borne onward by the blast,
A wave that never finds the shore.
117
AFTER DEATH
Now while my lips are living
Their words must stay unsaid,
And will my soul remember
To speak when I am dead?
Their words must stay unsaid,
And will my soul remember
To speak when I am dead?
Yet if my soul remembered
You would not heed it, dear,
For now you must not listen,
And then you could not hear.
You would not heed it, dear,
For now you must not listen,
And then you could not hear.
118
TESTAMENT
I SAID, "I will take my life
And throw it away;
I who was fire and song
Will turn to clay."
And throw it away;
I who was fire and song
Will turn to clay."
"I will lie no more in the night
With shaken breath,
I will toss my heart in the air
To be caught by Death."
With shaken breath,
I will toss my heart in the air
To be caught by Death."
But out of the night I heard,
Like the inland sound of the sea,
The hushed and terrible sob
Of all humanity.
Like the inland sound of the sea,
The hushed and terrible sob
Of all humanity.
Then I said, "Oh who am I
To scorn God to his face?
I will bow my head and stay
And suffer with my race."
To scorn God to his face?
I will bow my head and stay
And suffer with my race."
119
GIFTS
I GAVE my first love laughter,
I gave my second tears,
I gave my third love silence
Thru all the years.
I gave my second tears,
I gave my third love silence
Thru all the years.
My first love gave me singing,
My second eyes to see,
But oh, it was my third love
Who gave my soul to me.
My second eyes to see,
But oh, it was my third love
Who gave my soul to me.
120
121
| Rivers to the Sea | |