 | Egypt |  |
55
IN MEMORY OF I. ALBENIZ
Dear Friend, in death's distance you yet seem so nigh
That you laugh with my laughter and sigh with my sigh;
If I see a fair picture or hear a sweet tune,
I feel you are with me, companion so boon!
That you laugh with my laughter and sigh with my sigh;
If I see a fair picture or hear a sweet tune,
I feel you are with me, companion so boon!
So boon in the best sense; such conversance lies
In the sound of the voice and the glance of the eyes;
So boon in the better conceit of the word,
When the good is still seen and the good is still heard:
In the sound of the voice and the glance of the eyes;
So boon in the better conceit of the word,
When the good is still seen and the good is still heard:
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For good you would find in the commonest weed
That grows by the wayside and has the most need
To be recognised, loved; by compassion and grace
You saw the good look in the worst featured face.
That grows by the wayside and has the most need
To be recognised, loved; by compassion and grace
You saw the good look in the worst featured face.
Yet an artist at heart and an artist in deed,
You condemned without sparing who sowed the wrong seed;
Yourself never sowed but was healthy and strong
And kept within bounds, the perfection of song.
You condemned without sparing who sowed the wrong seed;
Yourself never sowed but was healthy and strong
And kept within bounds, the perfection of song.
It was mine to afford you, a privilege great,
Some stories of fortune and favour and fate,
And these with your music you led up so high,
That, no longer of earth, they became of the sky.
Some stories of fortune and favour and fate,
And these with your music you led up so high,
That, no longer of earth, they became of the sky.
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Alas! what poor tribute to beauty and force,
Can I on your record of labour endorse,
How poorly emblazon the scroll of your years
Which were free from all stain, till I blurred them with tears!
Can I on your record of labour endorse,
How poorly emblazon the scroll of your years
Which were free from all stain, till I blurred them with tears!
I am wearier grown since you passed from my sight
Through the mist of ascent to the mountains of light,
For though well-beloved by the friends that remain,
I need the friend most who comes never again.
Through the mist of ascent to the mountains of light,
For though well-beloved by the friends that remain,
I need the friend most who comes never again.
You were gentle and true, and no woman could be
A guide of such patience as you were to me,
For still on the mountains the steep track you traced
And were never content save we evenly paced.
A guide of such patience as you were to me,
For still on the mountains the steep track you traced
And were never content save we evenly paced.
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So we evenly paced; if I loitered behind,
You rallied my heart with your courage of mind,
And still pointed up where the great ones have trod
If not to the feet, to the footsteps of God.
You rallied my heart with your courage of mind,
And still pointed up where the great ones have trod
If not to the feet, to the footsteps of God.
Farewell, and farewell; and when I too can burst
From this chrysalis world to another less curs'd,
May you, as of old, with my coming elate,
By the side of my mother my footsteps await.
From this chrysalis world to another less curs'd,
May you, as of old, with my coming elate,
By the side of my mother my footsteps await.
| Egypt | |