 | Carmina crucis |  |
xi
L'ENVOI.
Bring me no snowdrops cold,
No violets dim with dew,
But flowers of burning hue,
The rose, the marigold,
The steadfast sunflower bold,
Before His steps to strew.
Bring flowers of fragrant scent,
Grey lavender and musk,
With clinging woodbines dusk,
Bring jonquils, and the frail narcissus bent,
Bring odours, incense bring,
That I may rise and sing
A song which I have made unto my Lord the King.
No violets dim with dew,
But flowers of burning hue,
The rose, the marigold,
The steadfast sunflower bold,
Before His steps to strew.
Bring flowers of fragrant scent,
Grey lavender and musk,
With clinging woodbines dusk,
Bring jonquils, and the frail narcissus bent,
Bring odours, incense bring,
That I may rise and sing
A song which I have made unto my Lord the King.
And let the air be still;
Summer and death are silent! now I hear
No stir among the hedge-rows once so shrill
With song, no cuckoo near;
But o'er the field the lark
Hangs like a quivering spark
Of joy, that breaks in fire
Of rapture and desire;
And from the wood a dove
Moans between grief and love,
While none doth of her hidden wound enquire.
Summer and death are silent! now I hear
No stir among the hedge-rows once so shrill
With song, no cuckoo near;
But o'er the field the lark
Hangs like a quivering spark
Of joy, that breaks in fire
Of rapture and desire;
And from the wood a dove
Moans between grief and love,
While none doth of her hidden wound enquire.
xii
The heavens above are clear
In splendour of the sapphire, cold as steel,
No warm soft cloud floats over them, no tear
Will fall on earth to tell us if they feel;
But ere the pitiless day
Dies into evening grey,
Along the western line
Rises a fiery sign
That doth the glowing skies incarnadine.
In splendour of the sapphire, cold as steel,
No warm soft cloud floats over them, no tear
Will fall on earth to tell us if they feel;
But ere the pitiless day
Dies into evening grey,
Along the western line
Rises a fiery sign
That doth the glowing skies incarnadine.
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