UC-NRLF w I I ^^ ^Ifl' i f f f « # f i "Wr dj ?A Erotica. Of this Edition two hundred and fifty copies have been printed for sale. Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2007 with funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation http://www.archive.org/details/eroticaaOOkennrich Erotica BY ARTHUR CLARK KENNEDY GAY AND BIRD LONDON 1894 if JLnjy TO 324 Contents Life's Beauty : p. I. A Portrait: p. 2. Lord of All : p. 3. A Vision: p. 5. Take Thou My Love: p. 7. Regeneration : p. 8. Love's Guidance : p. lo. Above Sonnenburg : p. 12. The Sleeping Beauty : p. 13. Spring : p. 14. Carpe Diem : p. 16. Star Worship : p. 17. 1 Love My Love : p. 18. Even though I were Dead : p. 21. Had We but Met : p. 22. Question and Answer : p, 24. Once: p. 26. 'Twixt Ivory Pales: p. 28. How Shall I Woo Thee ? p. 30* Possession: p. 32, In Italy: p. 34. Changes : p. 36. An Appeal : p. 37. Love the Voyager: p. 39. A Reflection : p. 41. Oh Love, my Love, I love you so: p. 43, She Walked Through Fire : p. 45. • Kismet : p. 47. My Cot : p. 49. Francesca : p. 51. A Lustrum : p. 53, "One Year Saw Twain Made One:" p. 54. A Queen: p. 55. Who Is She? p. 56. Stay, Oh Day: p. 58. Wert Cold and Chill: p. 60. Love Given and Denied : p. 62. Sweet Contradiction : p. 63. Pear Little Feet : p. 64. Because : p. 65. I Called in Vain : p. 67. Revolution : p. 69. Who Goes Home? p. 70* Life's Beauty All lifers beauty lies in love, Love whose touch transposes Barren field to flowery mead Where the amorini tread Ankle-deep in roses. Let thy glamour, mighty Love, All my youth prolong, Youth that cannot be withstood, Making this my solitude Clamorous with song. A Portrait Shot gold and shadow brown, her glorious hair Seemeth to hold faint sunbeams tangled where Its mazy ringlets cluster o'er a brow Built low and broad, which shines as white as snow. Rose-tinted cheek, straight nose, and pouting mouth, Breath laden with all spices of the south, Whose lips' red luscious ripeness draw my soul Out of my breast. Her form's distracting whole Perfection from the tiny close-set ear O'er shapely neck and bosom which appear Smooth swelling fields to court an amorous kiss (Ah, what a banquet for my soul were this), Melting in gracious lines t'wards hands and feet Fashioned Titania-like for any faery meet — No fault; no flaw; Love spreads a cloudless sky In her unfathomable eyes, till I, Bending my lips to hers, become, alas, aware That in her chin deceit lurks dimpled there. Lord of All To love and be beloved, ^o snatch ripe kisses from red lips of youth Is of a truth Earth's utmost blessing, this even I have proved. To kiss and clasp fresh charms In eager arms, To wring Love's moisture from the inmost core Of a deep heart and hunger still for more, Is to be lord of Love. Sweetheart, when thou and I, In very ecstasy, Transfuse our souls in death. Each panting amorous breath But wafts us to the sky. The goal of our desire We reach with brain on fire, But reach it to expire. Alas, how low the fall When passions duller bum; Then Life begins to spurn Love that will not return; And Death is lord of all A Vision Lo, all her body clothed with love, Meet for the kisses of a King, My lady cometh, and the spring Scatters its sweetness from above. Through gates of horn she issueth, Down pathways of the land of dreams, Her footsteps softly fall, she seems Re-risen from the hand of death. The violets bud beneath her tread, The teeming earth in tongues of flame Spits lambent crocus shoots, with shame Each challenged snowdrop hangs its head. She stands and stretches out to me Her white arms, whiter than desire, Some seven times heated in God's fire ; All Love's alluring bravery Glows in her slight transfigured frame, My heart throbs wildly in my breast. Charged with vague yearnings, long supprest As her lips move to form my name. But ere one syllable can pass Those red lips where my lips have kissed, The vision rolls up like a mist. Or breath that fadeth from a glass, Leaving me lone with longing cries Choked backward, whilst my surcharged sight Aches sparklingly, as closing night Thickens its pressure on my eyes. Take Thou My Love Take thou my love, I give it all to thee As space far-reaching, deep as the deep sea, it grew for thee alone, and only thee, Take thou my love. Heed not the love that others offer thee. Dregs of some other love's satiety, Mere bankrupts are they, spending thriftlessly; Heed not their love. Take, then, my love, 'tis Fate's ordained decree, Let it encompass, thrill through, melt in thee, Making us one to all eternity; Take, then, my love- Regeneration Lo ! Love leaned o'er thy cradle at thy birth, And laid his lips on thine a moment's space, Breathing faint laughter and desire of mirth Into thy soul, and something not of earth Now mocks me from thy face. Fain would I raise an answer in those eyes My hungry eyes look into, but there lurks Low laughter in their depths, like radiant skies That from their azure battlements despise Earth's earnest toilsome works. 8 They float above the knowledge of things gross, Serenely still and smiling through the void, And yet methinks theirs is an unknown loss, Not theirs contrasted peace, nor tempests* toss Followed by calms enjoyed. So will I pray that Love's lips set their seal Once more on thine, that thou be bom again Of this earth earthy ; let Love's lips reveal Secrets of laughter turned to tears and deal Out Love's delicious pain. Love's Guidance Give me thy hand and guide me, Love, Where golden blossoms gem those fields Through which Life's waters gently move Bearing the lilies' silver shields Upon her breast, past lowing herds, Neath shady haunts of building birds Whose carols greet the Spring when yields Nature to Love. lo When Spring is past stay with me, Love, When wolds lie panting under June, When tempering earthward tears to prove Heaven's pity cease to fall, we swoon Wrapped in heat's hazy hanging mist With seeming far-off souls and list To that immeasurable tune Nature plays Love. When whiter weather holds the land In iron chains and shrill alarms The north winds blow, take thou my hand Again, Oh Love, and from all harms Bred errant ways withdraw my feet, Leading me to thy kingdom sweet, Of changeless skies, where in thine arms Enfold me, Love ! II Above Sonnenburg The crumbling ruins of the past Are left behind and on the hill We rest our horses and are still ; Thought alone stirs, while from the vast Stone quarries sounds the clinking drill. So, loved one, leave behind the strife And wreckage of your past ; we'll take Fresh stone from the fair future, make Ourselves a house of light and hfe ; Your eyes were sealed, you now awake. 12 The Sleeping Beauty She slept whilst chains of servitude Were round her rivetted, Her palace walls were hung about With cere-cloths of the dead, The rank weeds sprang within her courts, Wild briars fenced her gate ; For seven long years the spell had worked- Comes then the Prince too late? Lo ! from her fair limbs fall the chains, The rank weeds fade away ; Her Prince awakes her with a kiss And knowledge brings the day. 13 Spring Unchain your heart, cast off the bands Imposed by social customs' care, By laws of man. Be free as air — Shake off those so-called friendly hands That hold you back from following The dictates Nature planted there. List to her voice within your ear ! "Awake arid love, it is the Spring." My Love, awake. It is the Spring ! Let all the envious world roll by, Above us bends the bright blue sky Where mounts the lark on fluttering wing t4 The distant cooing of the dove, The blackbird, linnet, finch and thrush, In madrigals from every bush And varied accents, say "We love." 'Tis good to live, 'tis good to love — God's greatest gift, so freely given, To man below, foretaste of heaven Has come to us, let us then prove Its golden value in the ^scales 'Gainst earthly gold. The merest dross And tinsel seems earth's gold. The loss Of all the world holds dear avails Nothing against such perfect wealth As we in Love's own land to-day Gather with both hands. Let us pray That Love walk hand in hand with Health. Health is for Love a fitting mate, And on such guardian's rainbow wings We well may pass Earth's fiery rings And smile contempt on sordid Fate. tf Carpe Diem Let us leam all that love can teach, Dear heart, while we and love are young ; Too soon, alas. Life's bark will reach Those sandy shores, that thirsty beach, Lashed by the sad wave's tongue. For Love will land us on that strand Strewn with gaunt ribs of former wrecks, If we, indifferent to command. Handle no ropes, but idly stand Along the uncared-for decks. i6 Star Worship Whoso adores a star Must worship it afar, Until one day, mayhap, 'Twill drop into his lap. And then, for such are men, He'll cast it forth again. He only loves a star Who worships it afar. t7 I Love My Love I LOVE my Love because my Love loves me. Ah ! that she did so as I'd fain be loved With love by which the mountains may be moved, Uprooted and cast in the midmost sea. Such love surpassing, deep and broad and high, O'ershadowing all things else in earth, in heaven, Love unalloyed at mom, at noon, at even, Love unalloyed when darkness holds the sky. A Love that overcometh and will prove Itself through storm and sunshine, frost and fire ; A Love which naught can change, which naught can tire, Even Death's self can not destroy such love. i8 So, Sweet, let me set seal upon your mouth And lie within your arms' encircling fold. Gaze in your eyes, and in their depth behold Twin starry loves whilst all the balmy South Gives up her richest spices in your breath, When heart tumultuously doth beat on heart, The while our spirits mingle ne'er to part Wholly again, though earthly ties by Death Are severed, 'tis but for a time, and then Qur spirits will commingle and commune, Each with the other strung to Love's one tune And the sweet memories of what has been. For past and present still to us belong. To you and I, dear Love, then wherefore waste Thoughts on the unknown future, rather taste The sweets of life and do not call it wrong To be too happy. Let us therefore cast An offering to the Gods like those of eld Strove to appease the Deity who held The compensating balances. And last, When this life's cup is drunken to the lees, Leaving its after-taste upon your tongue. You yet will kiss my lips with lips unwrung By bitterness regretful. On my knees 19 C— 2 I pray you, Sweetheart, to be wise In time. You cannot change the Ethiop's dusky skin ! The leopard's spots ! So leave him with his sin Ere his contagion drags you through more slime. The false God whom you worshipped shall lie dead, His groves hewn down, his altar overthrown ; Peace, happiness, and love shall be your own, Three golden halos hung above your head. For you have eaten of the tree of life After the tree of knowledge, and shall live Another life, and all the past shall give Its blackness up, its sorrow, sin, and strife, To form a background for the fair "to be," Which we'll embroider with love's golden skein The story of your past, of false love slain And true love shrined upon its memory. The past shall be a dream ; you will awake And wonder could such things have ever been. Your scars of slavery which now are green Shall be no more. You will arise and take Within your grasp that fellow hand which Fate At length has guided to its destined end. We grope the whole v/orld round until we bend Our steps predoom'd through Love's celestial gate. 20 ^felL. Even though I were Dead Even though I were dead, Cold, and divorced from men, My heart would leap up again In hurried throbs at your tread, Passing it overhead. 21 Had We but Met Ah, Love, had we but met before, When standing at the gate of life, Ere we had opened wide that door — Now, I a husband, you a wife, Have met too late. Ah, say not so. You would have loved me years ago. Then why not now ! What earthly ties Made by mankind can bind our souls Which rush together ! Let us rise Above such bondage. What controls A love like ours ? 'Tis not of earth. But from Promethean fires has birth* 22 'Tis no low-bom material flame, Fanned by the breath of lustful men, That flickers fiercely first, then tame, Then fiercely once again, and then Dies down into grey embers, cold Because this life seems growing old ! Nay, let our love, Sweet, vanquish Time, Cast out all fear, forget the past And its attendant ills — sublime Stretches the future's vista — vast Potentialities therein. To love is surely not a sin ! *Tis far more sinful. Sweet, to me. To yield yourself up to abuse Of lust in guise of love, than be Freely beloved. That man's vile use, Though sanctioned by our social creed. Has left your body poor indeed 23 Question and Answer SHE When Time has robbed me of my years, And tell-tale lines invest my eyes With channels ploughed by dint of tears, Whilst here and there a hair appears Turned silver by Time's sighs. For he has come quite unawares And breathed his sighs upon my head, Whilst I, weighed down with earthly cares, Have recked not of the passing years, But sought my daily bread. 24 Love, will you love me as you say You love me now, when I am old And all my beauty fades away, Like autumn tints when turning gray Leave life a tale near told. HE I love you not for what you were Or what you are, though silver gleams May nestle in your sunny hair, And envious crows plant feet of care About your eyes, my hourly dreams Hold but your image, sweetest heart, Deep set within a shrine of gold. With it I live a Hfe apart Where time is not, and like my art. You never can grow old. 25 Once She kissed me once, 'twas long ago, But something subtle in me stirred As if the vans of some great bird Had fanned my blood into a glow 'Twas something wasteful, wild yet sweet, Intangible, without a name, But through my veins with sudden heat It passed and burst into a flame — 'Twas molten once that lava stream. Ran with red riotings, but now 26 It cannot melt the winter snow That time has piled upon my brow ! Oh ! Time, how long ago it seems Since first I dreamt those golden dreams And in Love's school remained a dunce. YouVe robbed my locks of pristine sheen, But there's one memory always green, Immutable, you cannot steal ; For still, 'twixt dusk and dawn I feel The kiss with which she kissed me once. 27 *Twixt Ivory Pales RONDEAU 'TwiXT ivory pales uprose a precious dome, A shrine thatched over where no man might come, For vestals only could the entrance win To worship her who sat enthroned therein— A Goddess fresh begotten of the foam. Until one day I that way chanced to roam, Half open stood the gateway in the gloom, Revealing splendours of the shrine within 'Twixt ivory pales. 28 Marshalling my forces without beat of drum, The next dark night when Nature' face was dumb, I forced the ward and swiftly entered in Regardless of the sacrilege and sin. The shrine was mine — and now I call it home 'Twi^t ivory pales. 29 How Shall I Woo Thee? How shall I woo thee, Love? Under the lang^rous noon, Bringing thee roses red And redder gold, to spread Speech till thy senses swoon? Or when the twilight falls, With the soft aid Of music, heavenly maid, Scaling thy walls? 30 How shall I win thee, Love? Standing forth in the sun, Claiming thee as the meed Of some heroic deed Greatly dared, greatly done? Or with my wistful eyes. Flattering thy sunny face. Praising thy stately grace, Silence's prize? How shall I wear thee, Love? Throned mid the flaunted crowd, Lifted aloft and crowned With men's applause, the sound Making me proud ? Or shrined within my heart. Hidden where none may come. Under a golden dome Always apart. 31 Possession Around my neck her soft arms twine, My kisses fleck her bosom's snow, Her breath intoxicates like wine, And sends the blood's imperious flow Mantling across my eyes; I know At last that she is wholly mine. And I am hers. Each pulse of me Beats red rebellion, and each vein Swells with an overwhelming sea Of sad, glad, pleasurable pain Pervading every sense, my brain Throbs with a mad intensity. 33 Passing through realms of star and cloud, Scaling the mountains of the moon, My soul ascends, my body bowed O'er her fair form in seeming swoon, Unstrung by Love's almighty tune, Reels far below ; sensations crowd Upon sensations, like the waves Follow waves shorewards, so they beat Upon my being ; each one paves The way for its successor's feet To follow faster, till with heat Made faint, they trip among the graves Of former joys ; confused they fall Dead 'mid dead ashes scattered there. Earthbound once more, and stripped of all Illusions, through the breathless air My soul sinks slowly back, aware Of waiting Sleep's incorporate pall. 33 In Italy Give us the sun and give us love, A western breeze on a sapphire sea, Heaven below and heaven above, Heaven for thee and me. A western breeze to fan our sails Lazily flapping against the mast. Facing the ocean with rippling scales Drawing to port at last. As we hail our casa's whited walls, Where olive-trees gemm'd with the fireflies' light Stand fringing the groves whence Philomel calls To the liquid soul of night. 34 And scents lie heavy upon the air, From orange blossoms cloying the breath, And a soothing hum that numbs the ear Comes from the town beneath. TilFa mist creeps over the hill, shuts down On our home's white walls and o'erhanging eaves, And the nightingales hush as the distant town Puts out her lights and leaves The rest of the night to darkness and love Consecrated to thee and me, Whilst my world spins on about and above, Centred in thee. 35 D-2 Changes The sea is the same, yet not the same, The sky is the same, yet not the sky That was over our heads when we hitherward came Just a year ago, my Love and I. For then, my Love, you loved me true, Blue was the sea and blue the sky, Beautiful both in their azure hue. But colours will fade and love will die. Cold and grey are the sea and sky, Waves are swelling against the shore, Bearing you far from me ; and I List to their crooning of * nevermore.' 36 An Appeal My love is all too great for speech, The words that swell upon my tongue Fall still-bom back, unsaid, unsung ; Canst not divine The mute appeal that shines from each Of my soul's windows, lit within By burning love, yet does not win Return from thine? 37 O, let one answering look appease The thirst of life's parched desert lands, Down the long reaches of whose sands I wander lone, Then shall the wilderness with trees Bud, in whose branches all day long Birds shall awake and break in song For thee mine own. 38 Love the Voyager Young Love unfurled his silken sail, And in his boat of ivory pale Went sliding down the weather. By sunny shores of golden isles Their hills o'ertopped for miles on miles With ruddy helms of heather. Over seas to a shady bay, Where, lotus-locked, enchanted lay He and his boat together, Unwotting of the days that flew In one long monotone of blue, From waning summer's tether. 39 Till heaven darkened, and the rain, Smoking athwart the watery plain, Fell down with wintry weather; Then, like a lark that upward flies, Love swiftly lessened through the skies, On winnowing feather. But the poor boat drifts on, resigned To furies of the wave and wind, And wintry weather. 4a A Reflection Holding a mirror in an idle hand, I chanced to breath thereon, When through the film there gleamed A sudden face that seemed Hers I had made my own Once in that far-off sunny stranger land, Once, and once only, had I held her, kissed Her eyes that through her hair Shone starlike, lit with heat From fires that throbbed and beat In her brown bosom bare, Long blanch'd since then beneath Time's nether mist. 41 I had not thought of her for years on years, Nor thought I of her when I breathed, and brought her back Down memory's vagrant track, Sweet even now as then, But seen, alas, through blurring haze of tears That sprang unbidden to my startled eyes, When that face on my gaze Burned sudden-wise, and I Bent down with a great cry, As in those far-off days I bent to her red mouth 'neath alien skies. Though the film fading from the surface glass Banished her from my mind, It left a sharp regret That rankles even yet Implanted there behind, For that lost day, regret that will not pass. 42 Oh Love, my Love, I love you so Like petals shaken from a rose Beneath the noontide heat, So fell her loving words on him Where he knelt at her feet, In tender accents, sweet and low, " Oh Love, my Love, I love you so 1 " I love you, love me, or I die, Fainting beneath Love's fire Which bums my very life-blood black By breath of my desire. Kiss these my bosoms white as snow. And quench their flame's devouring glow. 43 " Freely I yield myself to you, Throne you my King, my Lord, Your smile a crown of light to me. Your frown a very sword. Oh Love, my Love, I love you so. Your silence strikes me as a blow." Then he replied with heart too full For any sudden speech, By holding up his arms to her, And as each clung to each. Mixed with the fountain's murmurous flow I heard " Oh Love, I love you so !" That long kiss sanctified a year, A month, a week, a day. Perhaps 'twas but an hour, who knows? Time stays for such as they. Love counts not time, but this I know, 'Twas very, very long ago. 44 She Walked Through Fire Pure, untouched, even as she came She passed, unsullied and the same. She walked through fire, a hungry flame Leapt up to lick and lap her o'er, Then backward flung its head in shame. Nor crisped the letters of her name. Along the glowing ashen floor. Spotless amid a motley crew She passed the fiery ordeal through Unhurt, begirt as with a fence Of innocence. 45 Joyous she was, and ever gay, Though an occasional April day Would steal across her heaven. For her The flames were bright and beautiful, And each tongue seemed to minister A pleasant warmth unto her soul ; Her light-breathed laughter drove them back To line the path her feet would track, Her sunny tears reflected them. Ah, happy, happy, wayward child, Bright contradiction, when you smiled Upon the flames, they danced in glee, Or crept to kiss and clasp your knee. As suppliants subdued and tame. How did you pass those fiery ways, And come from out the midmost blaze No smell of burning on your hair ? Because my love o'ershadowed you. Because your heart was pure and true Where'er you were. 46 Kismet We both shed many bitter tears, But married in the after years, And then We once more parted. In the street, As strangers now, we never greet Each other. I saw you walking yesterday, Beside you, slightly streaked with grey, Your brother, Reminding me of years that range Against us. Soon the latest change Will come. 47 O'er you, o'er me, o'er him, o'er all, The summoning funereal To Home. And when Absolved from this world's toil and heat, I wonder shall we ever meet Again ? For in that other world the dead Know each and all things — so 'tis said — And there The words that here Pride could not say For once and all would clear away Despair. 48 My Cot I OWN a dainty little cot Begirt about with roses, Standing in a shady spot Amid most verdant closes. The door was bolted, locked and barred, All entrance was denied there, They vainly sought to force the ward Who tried before I tried there. They tried with gold and silver keys, With vows and protestations, They summoned every art to please, Exotics of all nations. 49 Then others with a diamond tried To cut the window pane, But still the entrance was denied. Their labour was in vain. The house, to whom did it belong. And I possession win? I breathed myself into a song. And so I entered in. SO Francesca Stately she moved, my lady, through the wood, With lingering footfalls following her own thought Which like a child at random, heeding naught, Sped on before, one of a merry brood As yet by Love untaught. Upon the turf I lay in musing mood, Pillowed by some gnarl-rooted forest tree, And watched that vision passing silently As in a dream, till all at once she stood Struck still at sight of me. 51 ;e— 2 Twin starry sapphires swinging in her ears Gave silent challenge to her liquid eyes Which challenged mine awhile in mute surmise Or e'er she spake. — Even so across the years She Cometh to me yet, but veiled, alas, with tears. 52 A Lustrum A LUSTRUM has not sped since first we met. How many shall have ere we meet again? Thou hast gone forth from this our world of pain Leaving me heavy-hearted, with eyes wet, Before my manhood's empty shrine — and yet rd fain believe we did not love in vain. 53 " One Year Saw Twain Made One'* One year saw twain made one And one become as three, Then he remained alone For they had ceased to be. Fair graft and blossom failing left a scarred tree ! — O solitary soul, ^ Not here, nor yet, thy goal. u ^ A Queen A QUEEN — ^he loved her, His queen — ^he moved her For she was human. Ermine robes, jewelled crown, Thrust aside, thrown down, Left but a woman. And did they blame her? Or couJd it shame her? No ! love became her, ii Who Is She? Dear women pass before me in my dreams, Dear women dead whose red lips I have kissed, In sweet succession smiling through a mist Of many unshed tears, but yet it seems One woman stands behind me, who is she? She stands behind me silently. Alas, I cannot see, but feel her presence there. The soft reflected radiance of her hair Lights up the gloom, but still she will not pass. This ever silent woman, who is she ? 56 For hunger of this woman yet unseen, Whose presence felt is seared upon my brain, My heart pervaded by her scent is fain To beat no more for women who have been, Or are, but only for her. Who is she ? St Stay, Oh Day Day is lying dying, Comes the night. Fate is flying, flying, Take thou hold of fate, Or at least by trying To arrest his flight, A short respite buying, Still there may be light, And too late Comes the night. Doth Love but live in daylight? Love is blind. Daylight or the dark Love's electric spark Makes Earth's darkness bright Night is day — day, night, Equal in his sight, Love is blind. Still night will come at last, And the skies Denser shadows cast Where Love lies, Surfeited and weary. While the twilight dreary Deepens, darkens, dies. Life and love are past At the last. 59 Wert Cold and Chill Wert cold and chill In thy death-trance lying, I'd pluck thee still From the midmost dying,! A cure for thine ill With my heart-blood buying. Thy cheeks' pale ashes Should burn and glow, Through lifting lashes Thy soul should show Redeemed from the caches Of under-woe. 60 E'en death^s endeavour Were vain to part, For I'd hold thee ever Against my heart. Allaying its fever And passionate smart. 6i Love Given and Denied A Love, that one would give his soul to win And an hereafter heaven, Denied unto his life's devotion Is lightly given Unto a false emotion. A few low words, soft hand-clasps, shaded eyes Of passing thoughtful carelessness, the prize Falls from its place into * what might have been/ 6«» Sweet Contradiction Sweet contradiction is the soul Of every woman. When I burned With love, poured passionate words, heart whole She laughed, but when aside I turned To note another's wistful look Whence spake a world unutterable, At once she stood between us, took My hand in hers, her bosom rose and fell, Her eyes she kept downcast a little space, And then her lips were lifted to my face. Dear Little Feet Dear little feet which fain must press The ways of this world's wickedness, When older grown, May God send down His brightest rays To guide ye through the stir and stress, Into the paths of prayer and praise Towards His throne. 64 Because Because in years ago Two people lived and loved, Because two hearts were moved By the same mighty throe That thrilled them through and through, A nation is alive. A nation is alive, Though he and she are dead. From that glad marriage-bed Their spirits still survive. And to the ages give Their immortality. 6s Their immortality, Blent in their children's child, Glad, sad or mad, or mild, What was, still is, must be, Like the eternal sea, Ever in ebb and flow. Ever in ebb and flow Their immortality Beats onward like the sea. Because in years ago Two people lov^d, lo ! A nation is alive. 6fe I Called in Vain I CALLED in vain unto the night, To shew me heaven and heaven's God ; I asked the sea who ruled her might As with a rod. I asked of all the winds the same, If they too served this unknown God, And from his footstool went and came, Swayed by his nod. 67 I sought an answer from a star^ But it hung in the voiceless void, And on my quest I wandered far Unsatisfied. Until I whispered to the ground, " O, Mother Earth, canst thou not prove That such exist?" and then I found My heaven, your arms ; my God, your love t 6S Revolution My bed still bears the imprint of thy form, A faint perfume still hangs upon the air, Like dying roses, but no longer warm This breast so wont thy loveHness to wear. Mere outline of what was, the skeleton Of former joyfulness denied me now ; The shrine is empty and no queen upon My heart's throne reigns with love-anointed brow. The queen is dead. Set up another queen. Nay, for their reign is over, and I can No more support such despots. They have been. I'll rule myself, a state republican. 69 Who Goes Home? RONDEAU When "Who goes home?" a voice stentorian calls, Re-echoing through corridors and halls, To faithful Commons met in grave debate. When lights are lowered and the hour is late, Grateful on weary ears that summons falls. Slowly with shadowy footsteps sleep installs Silence within old Westminster's grey walls, Peace reigns in place of party passionate When all go home. 70 When thinner blood through this my body crawls, And slackening sense is bound in Death's dark thralls, Love, shall I find you waiting at the gate With open arms ? Ah ! may that be my fate When I go home. FINIS. 71 r Erratum.— Page Z\, for "flaunted" read "flaunting. 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