Dirge for Aoine and other poems by Nora Chesson [i.e. Nora Hopper] |
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| XI. | LOVE'S SINGER. XI. A Woman's Marriage-song
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 | Dirge for Aoine and other poems |  |
xlvi
LOVE'S SINGER. XI. A Woman's Marriage-song
I have shed my orange blossom:
I have put aside my veil, my head is bare.
I have doffed my snowy shining satin wear.
In my long straight gown of white,
With no garland in my hair,
Am I fair?
Am I fair enough for you, my love, to-night?
I have put aside my veil, my head is bare.
I have doffed my snowy shining satin wear.
In my long straight gown of white,
With no garland in my hair,
Am I fair?
Am I fair enough for you, my love, to-night?
When the music swelled to meet me did I falter?
But my feet kept step with your feet from the altar,
And my heart with yours kept beat.
Now I stay my questing feet—
Now beside your soul mine stands,
And my heart is in your hands
Beating upwards like a flame,
And the sigil set upon it is your name.
But my feet kept step with your feet from the altar,
And my heart with yours kept beat.
Now I stay my questing feet—
Now beside your soul mine stands,
And my heart is in your hands
Beating upwards like a flame,
And the sigil set upon it is your name.
My veil is off: no more my laces cover
The bird that sings so loudly in my bosom.
Can you hear it now the wedding hymns are over?
Than my veil
Does my hair make softer shadow for my face,
This shadow that with kisses you displace,
Till I grow a rose that came to you so pale?
Am I sweet enough without my orange-blossom?
The bird that sings so loudly in my bosom.
Can you hear it now the wedding hymns are over?
Than my veil
Does my hair make softer shadow for my face,
This shadow that with kisses you displace,
xlvii
Am I sweet enough without my orange-blossom?
I have put aside my veil and orange-blossom.
Unclouded, love, I enter into life
As gladly as the moon comes from her shadow
And floods the fen with silver and the meadow.
Now my maids are gone and musicking is over,
And without the door stands sorrow
Bidding hush the bird that's singing in my bosom.
Will my music be as sweet for you to-morrow
When Time has paled the kisses of your wife?
Is my love so strong that you must be my lover
All my life?
Unclouded, love, I enter into life
As gladly as the moon comes from her shadow
And floods the fen with silver and the meadow.
Now my maids are gone and musicking is over,
And without the door stands sorrow
Bidding hush the bird that's singing in my bosom.
Will my music be as sweet for you to-morrow
When Time has paled the kisses of your wife?
Is my love so strong that you must be my lover
All my life?
| Dirge for Aoine and other poems | |