The poems of Madison Cawein

I know not where I found you
With your wild hair a-blow,
Nor why the world around you
Would never let me know:
Perhaps 't was Heaven relented;
Perhaps 't was Hell resented
My hope, and grimly vented
Its hate upon me so.

In Shadowland I met you
Where all life's shadows meet;
Within my heart I set you,
A woman bitter-sweet:
No hope for me to win you,
Though I with soul and sinew
Strove on and on, when in you
There was no heart or heat.

Still always, aye, and ever,
Although I knew you lied,
I followed on, but never
Would your fair form abide:

229

With loving arms stretched meward,
As Sirens beckon seaward
To some frail vessel leeward,
Before me you would glide.

But like an evil fairy,
That mocks one with a light,
Now near, you led your airy,
Now far, your fitful flight:
With red-gold tresses blowing,
And eyes of sapphire glowing,
With raiment white and flowing,
You lured me through the night.

To some unearthly revel
Of mimes, a motley crew,
'Twixt Angel-land and Devil-,
You lured me on, I knew,
And lure me still! soft whiling
The way with hopes beguiling,
While dark Despair sits smiling
Behind the eyes of you.

University of Virginia Library

A PHANTASY