Feda with Other Poems :: :: University of Virginia Library

And it was living joy for her to be
Sailing to freedom on that moonlit sea;
And close she clung to him, and could not speak:
Almost he dared to think across her cheek
Blushed the aurora of the dawn of love,
And, never doubting how the end might prove,
Felt such a royal happiness within
That dazed him with excess of joy, to win
At last one thing worth winning, by whose side
What chance might come would all be glorified;
To hold her fast whose every heart-beat thrilled
Like warm blood to his own—life's life fulfilled
In strong, pure, passionate, splendid love, the crown
To which all other hopes and ends bow down,
Because this end is selfless, and above
Mistrust or failure, this that says, “I love.”

And the light sea-wind kissed her eyes to rest,
Laid like a child to slumber on his breast.

She was his own for ever, and a throb
Of joy possessed him, nothing now could rob
His life of triumph,—and he watched her there,
So sweetly young, so innocently fair,
How could she know love's mystic meaning yet!
He was so sure of gladness he could wait.

On! till the moon grew pale as a wan mist,
And the stars faded; then he bent and kissed
Gently the golden hair upon her brow,
And so she woke, and wondering: “Tell me now,
“How far we sail and whither! Oh, I see
“The morn is breaking, tell me, where are we?”

And then he pointed to the lightening East;
“I have a friend in Genoa, a young priest,—
“This is our wedding-morning. He and I
“Faced death together in the fields up North,
“In the old student days—when we went forth
“A crowd of boys with such a heart of fire,
“Knowing the time was come, the long desire
“Waited and wept for, when from sea to sea,
“From Alp to Alp, should Italy be free.

“There is so much that I have yet to tell,—
“These will be tales for winter evenings;—well,
“I fought there too, whose word is alway peace.
“Who labour to the time when wars shall cease,
“And nations learn a nobler law than fear.

“Yet there are burthens that no man may bear:
“I speak not now of kingdoms and their pride,
“And all the blood that falls unjustified,—
“No, not of lands and passions—but the price
“Of freedom must be paid in sacrifice,—
“And unto each his country and his cause
“Is where men suffer, where unequal laws,
“Not self-imposed, breed misery and keep down
“The natural heart-beat, and an alien crown
“Is one mere jewel that a stranger wears,
“And purple robes are dyed with blood and tears.

“How eagerly we mustered then, mere boys,
“Whose gentle ears had never heard the noise
“Of cannon-thunder, boys whose lives were sweet
“With all Hope's promise—how they burned to meet
“The hireling armies, in the Lombard plain,

“And fought not vainly, if it be not vain
“To win for each his natural birthright here;
“To rid the land of alien lords, and clear
“The air of threats and stifled sobs, so he
“Unslaved and unashamed may breathe it free.
“He was struck down there in the field they call
“From Solferino, the last field of all.
“Those days of madness, it was then we knew
“The war was over, and the eagle flew
“Back to his nest beyond the barrier snows.

“How that day ended! the fierce sun that rose
“On battle, waned in storm and sank in clam,
“And the cool fell on weariness, the balm
“Of twilight, the still stars came one by one
“To wonder, and the moon looked down upon
“Pale faces staring upward with blank eyes;
“That summer night was broken with such cries
“As shudder through the memory still; and he
“Lay wounded there under the stars with me
“Unscathed through all the battles.—Ah! how long
“That night was, till the misty dawn grew strong
“Over the eastward mountains, and again

“The sun burned down on all that human pain
“We saw such things about us, child, not well
“For you to listen to or me to tell.
“And yet above the corpses and the blood
“The lark uprose as ever, with its flood
“Of throbbing welcome to the rising sun,
“And the old mountains smiled on battles won
“In calm sad silence,—Then we seemed to feel
“God's presence on the dawn; he tried to kneel,
“And fell back fainting, and lay like one dead:—
“He had been the wildest of us all who led
“The student life together, but from then
“His world was changed, and when we met again
“The Church had claimed him,—once in jest I said:
“He should be priest if ever I was wed.”

And while he spoke the sun had lifted o'er
The silver gleaming waters, and the shore
Grew nearer with its dotted towns, and soon
Their boat was left at anchor,—long ere noon,
With merry jangling of the horses' bells,
They rushed through seashore villages, by dells
Of age-old olive wood, above the bays,

White fringed and sapphire, up steep winding ways
Hewn in the rock side, here and there a town
Of fisher-folk, unburdened of renown,—
Grey-walled and slumbrous,—little worlds may be
With lives lived out in silence by the sea,
Only the gulls to witness,—and they passed;
And each new scene seemed fairer than the last:
A strange new glory lighting up the face
Of desolation! Each small sun-kissed place
Seemed set to witness this his joy, and say,
“Oh well with us, for love has passed this way.”

And in the city of palaces they two
Bound fast their lives together; though he knew
She was so young still, and that love of his
Was pure and holy as an angel's kiss,
Yet so he willed it, that no taint of shame
Should ever breathe upon her gentle name
To bind her fast and justify their flight,
Not ever doubting she had chosen right.
That night, half fearfully, as one who goes
To some high shrine of reverence, and knows
A holy presence near to him, he crept

Into the young wife chamber ere she slept;
So flower-like she lay, so fair, so young,
So like a veil of innocence were hung
The soft, white curtains of her maiden bed
About the tired eyes and golden head,
She seemed to him to be so pure a thing
Love might but hover near with gentle wing,
And holier sleep breathe low his soft-drawn sighs.
He kissed her open lips, and so her eyes
Went up to his and saw love gazing through,
Then gently closed; and this was all of love she knew.

Then there came word to Anton on a day,
Why he had been these many weeks away,
How one was coming in awhile to be
Queen in their little kingdom by the sea,
And Anton's heart misgave him as he read;
“His joy will come between our lives,” he said.