 | Under the dawn |  |
56
FREEDOM.
PHŒBUS TO MARGARET.
Thou art mine, my lady, now—
Eyes, and heart, and hands, and brow;
Let him sound the bitter trumpet of his loss,
As we cross the swollen river,
And the waves that climb and quiver,
Laughing at the fiery crested heads they toss.
Eyes, and heart, and hands, and brow;
Let him sound the bitter trumpet of his loss,
As we cross the swollen river,
And the waves that climb and quiver,
Laughing at the fiery crested heads they toss.
Thou art mine, my lady, now!
Let him agonize, and bow,
And stand staring on the shore with feeble hands,
As we leave his face behind,
Mute, and thunderstruck, and blind,
And his feet that spurn and violate the sands.
Let him agonize, and bow,
And stand staring on the shore with feeble hands,
As we leave his face behind,
Mute, and thunderstruck, and blind,
And his feet that spurn and violate the sands.
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Thou art mine, my lady, now!
And therefore do I vow,
By thy lips pressed close, and tender, and thrice sweet,
That I will be to thee
Not a husband such as he,
But a lover everlasting, as is meet.
And therefore do I vow,
By thy lips pressed close, and tender, and thrice sweet,
That I will be to thee
Not a husband such as he,
But a lover everlasting, as is meet.
For a husband is a fool,
And they learn in that slow school
Lisps, and faint infirm emotions, and cold words;
But ours is such a life
As the merry mad-cap strife
'Mong the reckless, loud, and violent-hearted birds.
And they learn in that slow school
Lisps, and faint infirm emotions, and cold words;
But ours is such a life
As the merry mad-cap strife
'Mong the reckless, loud, and violent-hearted birds.
MARGARET TO PHŒBUS.
Thou art mine, my Phœbus! I
Have ta'en courage to deny
And make havoc of the popular foul creed;
And I do it with a loud,
Loving heart; I build my shroud,
And I pierce myself, and bruise myself, and bleed—
Have ta'en courage to deny
And make havoc of the popular foul creed;
And I do it with a loud,
Loving heart; I build my shroud,
And I pierce myself, and bruise myself, and bleed—
With my own unwavering hands,
Leaving husband and fair lands,
And a palace, and a city, for thy sake;
Counting this a thing of course,
So I add to thy sweet force
What of love my circled loving hands can take.
Leaving husband and fair lands,
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Counting this a thing of course,
So I add to thy sweet force
What of love my circled loving hands can take.
So I carry unto thee
The true golden heart of me,
Unpurchased and unshaken by his gold;
For, in that I am thine,
I swear that I will shine
As no wife, but as thy true love from of old.
The true golden heart of me,
Unpurchased and unshaken by his gold;
For, in that I am thine,
I swear that I will shine
As no wife, but as thy true love from of old.
For a wife is but a dame
Who conceals, for very shame,
The absence of the quality of love;
But, Phœbus, thou and I
Are as tender birds that fly,
Winged with tender floating plumage, up above.
Who conceals, for very shame,
The absence of the quality of love;
But, Phœbus, thou and I
Are as tender birds that fly,
Winged with tender floating plumage, up above.
PHŒBUS TO MARGARET.
There to tarry and be strong,
And to hurl a sinking song
On the heads of listening loveless churls beneath;
For our children, as a crown,
Some clear message sending down,
Some clear silver note of warning we bequeath.
And to hurl a sinking song
On the heads of listening loveless churls beneath;
For our children, as a crown,
Some clear message sending down,
Some clear silver note of warning we bequeath.
59
In the trees and in the blue,
Where, Margaret, I and you,
In the trees and in the heavens—you and I—
Shall ascend, and, being strong,
Dart an arrow of gold song,
To awake a timid people by-and-by.
Where, Margaret, I and you,
In the trees and in the heavens—you and I—
Shall ascend, and, being strong,
Dart an arrow of gold song,
To awake a timid people by-and-by.
That these may be as we,
And may hearken, and may see
Love's true guerdon, Love's true victory and crown;
And may burst the iron bands
With a might of iron hands,
Breaking battlements and walls of custom down;
And may hearken, and may see
Love's true guerdon, Love's true victory and crown;
And may burst the iron bands
With a might of iron hands,
Breaking battlements and walls of custom down;
That Love may be as free
As the blue unfettered sea,
Having wings as are an eagle's, and her eyes
Bent in red unflinching gaze,
Through the mists and severed haze,
Towards the circle of the sun about to rise.
As the blue unfettered sea,
Having wings as are an eagle's, and her eyes
Bent in red unflinching gaze,
Through the mists and severed haze,
Towards the circle of the sun about to rise.
| Under the dawn | |