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102
LOVE AND DEATH.
I.
Of all the songs the birds sang,
But one remains with me,
The song to which the words rang
Of an ancient elegy.
But one remains with me,
The song to which the words rang
Of an ancient elegy.
Of all the powers that moved me,
My heart remembereth
But one, even Love, that loved me,
And one that hated, Death.
My heart remembereth
But one, even Love, that loved me,
And one that hated, Death.
Why call the voices yonder
That stirred my soul of yore?
Leave me to dream and ponder
And image o'er and o'er
That stirred my soul of yore?
Leave me to dream and ponder
And image o'er and o'er
103
The haloed hair that crowned her
With a crown of Paradise,
The grace that flowed around her
From the sweet and suasive eyes,
With a crown of Paradise,
The grace that flowed around her
From the sweet and suasive eyes,
The voice as soft and tender
As the still sea on the sands,
The supple form and slender,
And the little loving hands.
As the still sea on the sands,
The supple form and slender,
And the little loving hands.
106
III.
Far up a lonely mountain glen
That sleeps between the folded hills,
There lies a glade unknown to men,
Where even the brook her babbling stills.
That sleeps between the folded hills,
There lies a glade unknown to men,
Where even the brook her babbling stills.
The brook becomes a brimming pool,
And beech and oak with meeting shade
Whisper across the waters cool
The blisses of that quiet glade.
And beech and oak with meeting shade
Whisper across the waters cool
The blisses of that quiet glade.
The solitary dewfalls wet
Green turf below, green leaves above;
And there, 'mid those green leaves, was set
The dwelling of a gentle dove.
Green turf below, green leaves above;
And there, 'mid those green leaves, was set
The dwelling of a gentle dove.
107
To that sweet bird, that peaceful place,
With winged steps my feet would fly;
And there we dreamed away the days,
The happy days, my dove and I.
With winged steps my feet would fly;
And there we dreamed away the days,
The happy days, my dove and I.
One eve I hasted to the grove;
My thought would fain my feet outrun;
But as I neared the place of love
A sudden cloud obscured the sun:
My thought would fain my feet outrun;
But as I neared the place of love
A sudden cloud obscured the sun:
No murmured welcome could I hear;
The pulses of my heart were quelled:
And lo, upon the streamlet clear
A floating feather I beheld.
The pulses of my heart were quelled:
And lo, upon the streamlet clear
A floating feather I beheld.
A thunderbolt had cleft the oak
Wherein my bird had built her nest:
No other tree had felt the stroke
But that one home, that only breast.
Wherein my bird had built her nest:
No other tree had felt the stroke
But that one home, that only breast.
108
That glade shall never greet again
My feet that wander wearily,
Nor sound nor sight appease my pain,
Since my loved bird is lost to me.
My feet that wander wearily,
Nor sound nor sight appease my pain,
Since my loved bird is lost to me.
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