 | The Complete Poems and Collected Letters of Adelaide Crapsey |  |
The Two Mothers
The evening before the serpent came,
Just at the hour of the Angelus,
“Body o'me what thing is this,”
Said Eve, sighed Eve,
“That if I be merry and glad,
Or if I be sorry and sad,
I cannot tell;”—and a strange sweet name,
The evening before the serpent came,
Whispered and cried in the heart of Eve.
Just at the hour of the Angelus,
“Body o'me what thing is this,”
Said Eve, sighed Eve,
“That if I be merry and glad,
Or if I be sorry and sad,
I cannot tell;”—and a strange sweet name,
The evening before the serpent came,
Whispered and cried in the heart of Eve.
All alone in Eden's bowers,
Eve went gathering Mary's flowers.
Eve went gathering Mary's flowers.
The evening before the serpent came,
Just at the first hour of the night,
She reached a flagon of crystal bright,
Sweet Eve, Young Eve,
Just at the first hour of the night,
She reached a flagon of crystal bright,
Sweet Eve, Young Eve,
Snow-white, rose-red, a twi-forked flame,
The evening before the serpent came,
Kindled and burnt in the heart of Eve.
The evening before the serpent came,
Kindled and burnt in the heart of Eve.
“Where have you been, my bride, my bride?”
“Through the garden's dusk to the sealèd well
'Neath the green hillside.”
“Through the garden's dusk to the sealèd well
'Neath the green hillside.”
“What did you see, my wife, my wife?”
“A little white dove in the silvern leaves
Of the Tree of Life.”
“A little white dove in the silvern leaves
Of the Tree of Life.”
123
Oh dew! Oh tears! in Eden's bowers
Fell sweet, fell bitter on Mary's flowers.
Fell sweet, fell bitter on Mary's flowers.
| The Complete Poems and Collected Letters of Adelaide Crapsey | |