|
And she was called Gracia because she was fairest among women. And many men sought her, but she loved one only
—THE LEGEND OF HEZLUD.
|
|
SPRING
ACROSS the street, across the grass,Across my life I watch her pass. No pure star on a dusky height Hath eyes more bright, No lily on her emerald bed A statelier head, No dewdrop on the beaded thorn More radiantly doth glow apart! O, she doth shine all these to scorn Fair are they all—star, flower, and dew; She is the green bud breaking thro’ The winter of my heart. Two violets, seeking Paradise, Have hid themselves within her eyes. Her lips are roses. She doth wear A sunbeam woven in her hair. And of the foam-flake of the sea Her cheek and neck and bosom be.
And like a reed the low wind sways |
|
SUMMER
And now the world recedes. Time, Space, are fleeting.All things but thee, O Love, have ceased to be. Here where thy heart against my heart is beating, And like a charm thy white arms compass me; And on thy blue-veined breasts my head is lying, And all about my face is blown thy hair. Here let Love speak his full heart in sweet sighing, For speech were powerless now to voice his prayer. Softly thy breath, like scent of violets blowing, Steals o’er my cheek with slow, delicious pain. Drink whilst thou canst the goblet crowned and flowing, For hours like these will never come again. |
|
AUTUMN
There is no bud of Spring about this forest,And in our hearts, too, are the autumn leaves. Where are the wings, O Love, on which thou soarest? Meeter art thou to toil and bind the sheaves.
But there is mellower light upon our faces, |
|
WINTER
The slow bell tolls across the square:She doth not hear its rise and swell. The frosts of age have silvered there The clusters of her sun-gold hair: She sleepeth well.
Strange city echoes here are sent
A touch, a joy, a something there
Beyond these days of care and ruth |