 | Sursum Corda |  |
19
HELEN.
I am Helen, and my name
Is a glory and a shame;
For my beauty was earth's crown,
And my sin shook cities down.
Is a glory and a shame;
For my beauty was earth's crown,
And my sin shook cities down.
Oh! the days, and oh! the dances,
When I was queen,
By the glamour of my glances
And the splendour of my spleen.
My life was all romances,
And no dull days between.
When I was queen,
By the glamour of my glances
And the splendour of my spleen.
My life was all romances,
And no dull days between.
From the golden dais
Where I reigned alone,
As a woman's way is,
I descended to a throne.
Where I reigned alone,
As a woman's way is,
I descended to a throne.
20
And my life, that lately
Leapt as a mountain stream,
Now crept still and stately
As a river in a dream.
Leapt as a mountain stream,
Now crept still and stately
As a river in a dream.
He came!
In his eyes was flame;
And a new desire,
Unknown by name,
The godhead dire
No god can tame,
Took all my frame
With fire.
In his eyes was flame;
And a new desire,
Unknown by name,
The godhead dire
No god can tame,
Took all my frame
With fire.
The years, the ten swift years are fled:
Troy is fall'n, and on my head
Fall'n the guilt. Her princes dead
In the darkness throng me round,
Showing each his bleeding wound.
Troy is fall'n, and on my head
Fall'n the guilt. Her princes dead
In the darkness throng me round,
Showing each his bleeding wound.
21
No word speaking,
No wrath wreaking,
They pass in silence one by one;
And when I think the dream is done,
Lo, the white-haired king appears,
Kneeling as he bathes in tears
The hands that slew his son.
No wrath wreaking,
They pass in silence one by one;
And when I think the dream is done,
Lo, the white-haired king appears,
Kneeling as he bathes in tears
The hands that slew his son.
| Sursum Corda | |