 | Along the trail |  |
LOVE AND CHANGE
One Lover
Forever? Ah, too vain to hope, my sweet,
That love should linger when all else must die!
No prayer can stay his wings, if he will fly,
Nor longing lure him back to find our feet,
Weeping for old disloyalties. The heat
That glows in the uplifting of thine eye,
Dims and grows cold ere yet the day pass by;
Nor ever will the dusk of love repeat
The dawn's pearl-rapture. Ay, it is the doom
Of love that it must watch its own decay.
Petal by petal from the voluptuous bloom
Drops withering, till the last is blown away.
The night mists rise and shroud the bier of day,
And we are left lamenting in the gloom.
That love should linger when all else must die!
No prayer can stay his wings, if he will fly,
Nor longing lure him back to find our feet,
Weeping for old disloyalties. The heat
That glows in the uplifting of thine eye,
Dims and grows cold ere yet the day pass by;
Nor ever will the dusk of love repeat
The dawn's pearl-rapture. Ay, it is the doom
Of love that it must watch its own decay.
Petal by petal from the voluptuous bloom
Drops withering, till the last is blown away.
The night mists rise and shroud the bier of day,
And we are left lamenting in the gloom.
Another Lover
“Love is eternal,” sang I long ago
Of some light love that lasted for a day;
But when that whim of hearts was puffed away,
And other loves that following made as though
They were the very deathless, lost the glow
Youth mimics the divine with, and grew gray,
I said, “It is a dream,—no love will stay.”
Angels have taught me wisdom; now I know,
Though lesser loves, and greater loves, may cease,
Love still endures, knocking at myriad gates
Of beauty,—dawns and call of woodland birds,
Stars, winds, and waters, lilt of luted words
And worshipped women,—till it finds its peace
In the abyss where Godhead loves and waits.
Of some light love that lasted for a day;
But when that whim of hearts was puffed away,
And other loves that following made as though
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Youth mimics the divine with, and grew gray,
I said, “It is a dream,—no love will stay.”
Angels have taught me wisdom; now I know,
Though lesser loves, and greater loves, may cease,
Love still endures, knocking at myriad gates
Of beauty,—dawns and call of woodland birds,
Stars, winds, and waters, lilt of luted words
And worshipped women,—till it finds its peace
In the abyss where Godhead loves and waits.
A Third Lover
My love for you dies many times a year,
And a new love is monarch in his place.
Love must grow weary of the fairest face;
The fondest heart must fail to hold him near.
For love is born of wonder, kin to fear—
Things grown familiar lose the sweet amaze;
Grown to their measure, love must turn his gaze
To some new splendor, some diviner sphere.
But in the blue night of your endless soul
New stars globe ever as the old are scanned;
Goal where love will, you reach a farther goal,
And the new love is ever love of you.
Love needs a thousand loves, forever new,
And finds them—in the hollow of your hand.
And a new love is monarch in his place.
Love must grow weary of the fairest face;
The fondest heart must fail to hold him near.
For love is born of wonder, kin to fear—
Things grown familiar lose the sweet amaze;
Grown to their measure, love must turn his gaze
To some new splendor, some diviner sphere.
But in the blue night of your endless soul
New stars globe ever as the old are scanned;
Goal where love will, you reach a farther goal,
And the new love is ever love of you.
Love needs a thousand loves, forever new,
And finds them—in the hollow of your hand.
1897
| Along the trail | |