 | Under the dawn |  |
60
LOVE'S FLIGHT.
I went a sailing, sailing,
With my lady bright,
Wings failing, and plumes paling,
Through the night.
With my lady bright,
Wings failing, and plumes paling,
Through the night.
By many misty meadows
Devoid of bloom,
And dim blue shadows,
Cleaving the gloom;
Devoid of bloom,
And dim blue shadows,
Cleaving the gloom;
By many green hedges,
And rivers, and broad lakes,
By whose edges
The fen-grass quakes;
And rivers, and broad lakes,
By whose edges
The fen-grass quakes;
By many tall mountains,
Snowy and sublime,
And sweet flower-circled fountains,
Whose ripple is a rhyme;
Snowy and sublime,
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Whose ripple is a rhyme;
By many moons, and flaming
Immense red trees,
We flew together, aiming
Our flight at these;
Immense red trees,
We flew together, aiming
Our flight at these;
By many wrinkled oceans,
Crawling at our feet,
We fluttered, and the motions
Of our plumes were sweet;
Crawling at our feet,
We fluttered, and the motions
Of our plumes were sweet;
Through high exulting airs
We went, and smiled,
Remembering soft prayers
When a child—
We went, and smiled,
Remembering soft prayers
When a child—
For we saw them seated
As angels, yellow and red,
In the skies, and greeted
Each familiar head;
As angels, yellow and red,
In the skies, and greeted
Each familiar head;
Lost to us for ever,
Unanswered, so we thought,
Trembling backward never,
Upward hurled for nought.
Unanswered, so we thought,
Trembling backward never,
Upward hurled for nought.
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But my gentle lady
Seized my hands, and said,
“Rest, as in some shady
Hollow of sweet bed”—
And then first she made me
Aware that I was dead!
Seized my hands, and said,
“Rest, as in some shady
Hollow of sweet bed”—
And then first she made me
Aware that I was dead!
| Under the dawn | |