 | Poems and Sonnets |  |
183
MY LOVE.
MEDIÆVAL.
My Love is of the summer, she
Is bound about her brow with hair
As golden as the sun-lit air
Upon a base of porphyry;
Is bound about her brow with hair
As golden as the sun-lit air
Upon a base of porphyry;
A summer Queen she seems to be,
Her feet caress the grasses fair,
And they in turn obeisance bear,
And blossoms bend before her knee;
Her feet caress the grasses fair,
And they in turn obeisance bear,
And blossoms bend before her knee;
She hath a wondrous way with me,
She glances at me, and I wear
A silent mien, content to share
Her sweet complaisant company.
She glances at me, and I wear
A silent mien, content to share
Her sweet complaisant company.
184
My Love is of the autumn, she
Hath black-brown hair and subtle eyes,
Green as the green-grey Northern skies,
Her face is good for man to see;
Hath black-brown hair and subtle eyes,
Green as the green-grey Northern skies,
Her face is good for man to see;
I strove, alas! I failed to flee,
As effort flutters down and dies
Like a shot swallow, and low lies,
So I succumbèd quietly;
As effort flutters down and dies
Like a shot swallow, and low lies,
So I succumbèd quietly;
With meadow-sweet and fern did we
In Love's unending Folly wise
Make garlands, weave together ties
That left me shorn of liberty.
In Love's unending Folly wise
Make garlands, weave together ties
That left me shorn of liberty.
My Love is of the spring-time, she
Is gentle as the opening flowers,
And lays a sense of cooling showers
Upon a forehead fever-free;
Is gentle as the opening flowers,
And lays a sense of cooling showers
Upon a forehead fever-free;
185
Under an Elm's gigantic lee
We sat and laughed aside the hours
With pouting time-regardless powers,
And tears of changing ecstasy;
We sat and laughed aside the hours
With pouting time-regardless powers,
And tears of changing ecstasy;
She hath blue eyes, she hath the key
To open green May-scented bowers,
She hath the songs of birds for dowers,
And nosegays folded full of glee.
To open green May-scented bowers,
She hath the songs of birds for dowers,
And nosegays folded full of glee.
My Love is of the winter, she
Is queen of the dim blue-gray land
Where the auroral streamers stand,
And, roseate, stride across the sea;
Is queen of the dim blue-gray land
Where the auroral streamers stand,
And, roseate, stride across the sea;
The daughter of the winter, he
Her cheeks with bitter frosts hath fanned,
And made my Lady keen-eyed, and
Next beautiful in turn to thee
Her cheeks with bitter frosts hath fanned,
And made my Lady keen-eyed, and
Next beautiful in turn to thee
186
My Goddess of the graces three
Who hast the autumn to command,
And hast the eyes so subtly planned,
Holding three separate shades in fee.
Who hast the autumn to command,
And hast the eyes so subtly planned,
Holding three separate shades in fee.
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