A Child of the People And Other Poems. By James Chapman Woods |
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 | A Child of the People |  |
143
MASKED.
Faint lights and shades that skim the plain,
And in the purple woodland blend,
Are emblems of Love's loss and gain
For you and me, fair friend.
And in the purple woodland blend,
Are emblems of Love's loss and gain
For you and me, fair friend.
Your soul gives colour to your eyes,
Your face of shifting cloud and sun;
My soul, responsive, takes the guise
Of that it gazes on;
Your face of shifting cloud and sun;
My soul, responsive, takes the guise
Of that it gazes on;
But yours is April, with a sound
Of sobbing rain that spoils the tune,
While mine, beneath its mask, were found
Fierce as a fiery June.
Of sobbing rain that spoils the tune,
While mine, beneath its mask, were found
Fierce as a fiery June.
Yet, since your love is of the Spring,
I will not seem to love you more,
Lest, deeming love a light-won thing,
You set by it small store.
I will not seem to love you more,
Lest, deeming love a light-won thing,
You set by it small store.
But love will ripen, Spring will grow
To steadfast Summer, and the days
That dawned with chequered gloom and glow,
Burst out in cloudless blaze.
To steadfast Summer, and the days
That dawned with chequered gloom and glow,
Burst out in cloudless blaze.
144
Till then I but reflect your face,
And echo back each varying tone,
Hiding my rose-heart in its place
Till yours be fuller blown.
And echo back each varying tone,
Hiding my rose-heart in its place
Till yours be fuller blown.
| A Child of the People | |