University of California Berkeley fir , -j f LYRICS OF LIFE AND LOVE LYRICS OF LIFE AND LOVE BY WILLIAM STANLEY BRAITHWAITE BOSTON HERBERT B. TURNER & CO. 1904 Copyright 1904 By HERBERT B. TURNER & COMPANY Published September 1904 T~1OR permission to reprint several pieces in this volume acknowledgment is due to the Christian Endeavor Herald, National Magazine, Colored American Magazine, How- ard Spectator, and others. CONTENTS RHAPSODY 13 OUT OF THE SILENCE OF MY DREAMS ... 14 DIVIDED 15 TO A PERSIAN ROSE, TO E. A. B l6, 17 A DREAM AND A SONG, TO B. V. T. . . . 18 TWO QUESTIONS 19 A LITTLE SONG, TO T. E. S 20 JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL 21 IF I COULD TOUCH 22 EVENING 23, 24 A LEAVE-TAKING, I 25 A LEAVE-TAKING, II 26 KEATS WAS AN UNBELIEVER 27 THE WATCHERS 28 IN A GRAVE-YARD 29 THE LAND OF HOPE-TO-BE 30 A CITY GARDEN 31 SEA LYRIC 32 DISTANCES 33 SONG 34 AN OLD DREAM 35 LOVE IS A STAR 36 ON A PRESSED FLOWER IN MY COPY OF KEATS . 37 WHEN TWILIGHT COMES WITH DREAMS ... 38 THE DEPARTURE OF PIERROTT 3$, 40 LOUISBERG SQUARE 41 APRIL 42 OUT OF THE SUNSET'S RED 43 TWILIGHT AND DREAMS 44 LOVE'S WAYFARING 45, 46 SHE SLEEPS BENEATH THE WINTER SNOW . . 47 LYRIC : WHEN THE STILL SOMBRE EVENING CLOSES DOWN 48, 49 CONTENTS (Continued) CHILD ELSIE 50 A SEA-PRAYER 51 IT WERE AS IF THIS WORLD WERE PARADISE 52 YULE-SONG : A MEMORY 53 VOICE OF THE SEA 54 APRIL'S DREAM 55 ON MUSIC 56 SONG 57 A LYRIC OF AUTUMN 58 MOTHERHOOD 59 TO W. A. W. AND H. H. ON THEIR DEPARTURE TO EUROPE 60 THANKSGIVING 6l LIFE AND DEATH 62 HOLLY BERRY AND MISTLETOE 63 WHEN I BID YOU GOOD-BYE AND GO ... 64 HEART-SONG 65 BY AN INLAND LAKE 66 SONG 67 SONG : TO-NIGHT THE STARS ARE WOOING., LOVE 68 TO-NIGHT ACROSS THE SEA 69 A MEMORY 70 AFTER HARVEST 71 IT'S A LONG WAY 72 I BLOW YOU A KISS 73 SEA-VOICES 74 TO 75 IN MY LADY'S PRAISE 76 NEAR THE END OF APRIL 77 HYMN FOR THE SLAIN IN BATTLE .... 78 A SUMMER NIGHT'S ENCHANTMENT .... 79 IN THE HIGH HILLS ... 80 TO MY MOTHER LYRICS OF LIFE AND LOVE RHAPSODY I AM glad daylong for the gift of song, For time and change and sorrow; For the sunset wings and the world-end things Which hang on the edge of to-morrow. I am glad for my heart whose gates apart Are the entrance-place of wonders, Where dreams come in from the rush and din Like sheep from the rains and thunders. [13] OUT OF THE SILENCE OF MY DREAMS I HEAR a voice that speaks to me Out of the silence of my dreams ; Somewhere from long eternity Where the first white dawn gleams. Night and the stars, day and the sun, Winds and the trumpets of mid-seas, All in one common key they run Through deathless melodies. Take this, my answer for all time Yea, to his speech, to his command ; Surrendering all life of mine Unto his heart and hand. DIVIDED 5 fin IS strange that we should fall apart A And live divided nights and days! What loneliness crowds on the heart, What vacancy in eyes that gaze. Oh ! if there were a little child, Whose innocence had made it wise, Remembrance would have reconciled Its father's face, its mother's eyes. [15] TO A PERSIAN ROSE To E. A. B. IN the world's garden close, Where a wild Eden blows, Where the earth's treasury Hoards by the Arat sea, You grew, a rose. In the flushed lyric dawn, Poignant with scented heat, Gold dew you fed upon, Gleaming like crystals sweet Stars of the lawn. From all the islands blent, One thousand essences, Odors of ravishment Culled from the Eastern seas Filled you with scent. All the East's lavishness Dowered and nurtured you, Till past all loveliness That the East ever knew, Regal you grew. [16] One June in Maenad-mirth The great luxurious Mother Gave you strange, mystic birth, Such as she gave no other You child of earth. Np unguent was too precious For the high gods to give ; No passion too delicious Through which you might not live. To joy and grieve. Long wanton centuries since, In days of Rome and Tyre, Thou mated once a prince Of a great Persian sire For Love's desire. O thou wast more than fair! Thou Rose of Paradise In lips, and cheeks, and hair, All beauty wonder-wise 'Neath those hot skies. [17] A DREAM AND A SONG To B. V. T. A DREAM comes in and a song goes forth; The wind is south and the sun is north The daisies run on the dunes to the sea, And over the world my soul goes free. Ah, over the world to sing and roam In the sun and wind without a home Till a woman's heart shall dream and say: " O song of the dreamer I bid you stay And sing in my heart: make glad my feet To run as the winds do, soft and fleet Over the dunes and down to the sea, Where Love came home in a dream to me." [18] TWO QUESTIONS HEART of the soft, wild rose Hid in a forest close Far from the world away, Sweet for a night and day. Rose, is it good to be sweet, Sun and the dews to greet? Life that is mine to keep In travail, play and sleep Firm on a tossing ball, Drilled to march at a call; Work, love, death these three Life, is there more for me? [19] A LITTLE SONG To T. E. S. A LITTLE song ill worth your while On which to waste more than a smile, Alas, I sing, for love is long A little song. Though life be brief and art outlive What joy or sorrow earth may give, Time, then, might let the years prolong A little song. And it may chance your face will turn Some day, the singer to discern Yea, smile to see who sang so long, A little song. [20] JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL STEEPT in the Muses' youthful, sultry maze, He linkt his own with Shakespeare's lucid days And Camelot came to Cambridge in his heart, Where Rosaline met ancient Britomart. [21] IF I COULD TOUCH IF I could touch your hand to-night And hear you speak one little word, I then might understand your flight Up the star steps, unseen, unheard. If through the mists of gold and gray That tint the weary sunset skies, There shone two stars across the bay That thrilled me like your passionate eyes- If only some small part of you Would speak, or touch, or rise in sight, Death would be then between us two The passing of a summer's night. EVENING AT my window what delight Here to sit and watch the night, Stealing after fleeting day, Soft and quiet all the way. Through my window like a flute's Comes the robin's dying notes, While above me dim and far Silent breaks the evening star. At my window o'er the street, In the twilight calm and sweet, From dim vistas of the past Dreams come to me thick and fast; Some are clothed in bright array, Phantoms of a happier day Some, wan spectral shades assume, Draped in anguished hours of doom. This brief span of years we lease Gives us fewer hours of peace Than it does of strife and toil Therefore when subsides the broil, Let it be but one brief hour, 'Tis a providential dower, Just a stop upon the road Easing us of life's great load. [23] So to-night is one of those Blissful times of blest repose; And in unison I seem With night's universal dream. All is quiet near and far From the lily to the star, And my soul in dreamy ease Strikes the soothing chords of peace. [24] A LEAVE-TAKING, I LET there be one word more Before you go Some sweet old thing Remembering, Alas to know Some hope you fed, some look you gave, Dead now in love's deep grave. So, speak and then depart, And I will keep The best of you forever in my heart. All else shall sleep As if death came and taught them to forget. Only the best Of you shall live without regret, Within my breast. [25] A LEAVE-TAKING, II YOUR hand in mine for a space, Through a brief living sigh ; The red rose white in your face, And a swift good-bye. One moment ! ah, could it be Life's veriest depth and height ! The death of my soul for me And you- well, the red rose white. [26] KEATS WAS AN UNBELIEVER " Keats was not a believer " Biographical Sketch 4 i ~VT EATS was an unbeliever," - so they -IV. read. The critic's words defame the poet's soul ; Nature and Life as one stupendous whole He traced to the source. Thereof a Fountain- head : His worship was where light enshrined the head Of Beauty : for true love and wisdom stole From God to man within her aureole, And God's elect but followed where she lead. Of God's elect was Keats : his earthly duty To sing again the music of creation ; That first of all, God's dream of life was Beauty ; That Beauty is the seed of all salvation : Holiest of all unbelievers, thus, He made " Believing " possible for us. [27] THE WATCHERS TWO women on the lone wet strand (The wind's out with a will to roam) The waves wage war on rocks and sand, (And a ship is long due home.) The sea sprays in the women's eyes (Hearts can writhe like the sea's wild 'foam) Lower descend the tempestuous skies, (For the wind's out with a will to roam.) *' O daughter, thine eyes be better than mine," (The waves ascend high as yonder dome) " North or south is there never a sign ? " (And a ship is long due home.) They watched there all the long night through (The wind's out with a will to roam) Wind and rain and sorrow for two, (And heaven on the long reach home.) [28] IN A GRAVE-YARD IN calm fellowship they sleep Where the graves are dark and deep, Where nor hate nor fraud nor feud Mar their perfect brotherhood. After all was done they went Into dreamless sleep, content, That the years would pass them by, Sightless, soundless, where they lie. Wines and roses, song and dance, Have no portion in their trance The four seasons are as one, Dark of night, and light of sun. [29] THE LAND OF HOPE -TO -BE fTlHERE'S a way to happiness A Up the road of Dreams, Where my soul goes wayfaring By the sleepy streams. Heart that sends your memories In the shape of song, To the land of Hope-to-Be, Is the journey long? Nay, companion of my house, In the longest flight, Distance in desire is drowned As the day in night. Heart and soul go wayfaring Up the road of Dreams, To the land of Hope-to-Be By the sleepy streams. [30] A CITY GARDEN HID in a close and lowly nook In a city yard where no grass grows Wherein nor sun, nor stars may look Full-faced, are planted three short rows Of pansies, geraniums, and a rose. A little girl with quiet, wide eyes, Slender figured, in tattered gown, Whose pallored face no country skies Have quickened to a healthy brown, Made this garden in the barren town. Poor little flowers, your life is hard : No sun, nor wind, nor evening dew. Poor little maid, whose city yard Is a world of happy dreams to you God grant some day your dreams come true. [81] SEA LYRIC OVER the seas to-night, love, Over the darksome deeps, Over the seas to-night, love, Slowly my vessel creeps. Over the seas to-night, love, Waking the sleeping foam Sailing away from thee, love, Sailing from thee and home. Over the seas to-night, love, Dreaming beneath the spars Till in my dreams you shine, love, Bright as the listening stars. [32] DISTANCES JUST where that star above Shines with a cold, dispassionate smile If in the flesh I'd travel there, How many, many a mile ! If this, my soul, should be Unprisoned from its earthly bond, Time could not count its markless flight Beyond that star, beyond! [33] SONG UP and down the beach I wander Here to-night beside the sea, In my ears the ocean-thunder, In my heart the dreams of thee. The sea, the sea is high, love, Dark, dark, O dark, the sky, love, And sad is my heart. In thy outward journey passing Through the narrow gates of night, Was there travail in the massing Of the waters void of light? O the sea, the sea is high, love, Swift surge the waters by, love, And sad is my heart. AN OLD DREAM YOU sang that song beside an olden sea, In some low dream, some hundred years ago; The time, the place is all unknown to me- lt is the feeling in my heart I know. We were two Grecians then, I do believe, And caught a dream some fair god's passion sighed ; Time wandered far, and left our hearts to grieve But somewhere Love lived on, though all else died. Dear, as you sing, it all comes back to me ; The mood, though filled with centuries of strife Is the same ecstasy ; only the sea Seems grown a little weary of its life. No change has come unto your voice and heart, No shadow on your face ; and in your eyes Though Time has kept them from my eyes apart The rapture of sea-dreams and memories. [35] LOVE IS A STAR THIS is the song I sing for you, Out of my heart the melodies rise Life is long for the brave and true, Love is a star to your faithful eyes. This is the dream your heart must hold One in the world is faithful still Here is warmth from the wind and cold, Here is rest from the sea and hill. [36] ON A PRESSED FLOWER IN MY COPY OF KEATS AS Keats' old honeyed volume of romance I oped to-day to drink its Latmos air, I found all pressed a white flower lying where The shepherd lad watched Pan's herd slow ad- vance. Ah, then what tender memories did chance To bring again the day, when from your hair, This frail carnation, delicate and fair, You gave me, that I now might taste its trance. And so to-day it brings a mellow dream Of that sweet time when but to hear you speak Filled all my soul. What waves of passion seem About this flower to linger and to break, Lit by the glamor of the moon's pale beam The while my heart weeps for this dear flower's sake. [37] WHEN TWILIGHT COMES WITH DREAMS OLET the music play a little longer, And sweetheart clasp me closer to your breast. Life is strong, and death ; but love is stronger And sweeter, sweeter, rest. Oh, sweet is rest when love is watching over, And twlight comes with dreams that reassure ; Weaving out of the silences that hover Hopes which must endure. [38] THE DEPARTURE OF PIERROTT WE have housed, my Columbine, With our songs and books and dreams, Quiet and content it seems Through the winter's cloud and shine. In our little attic room Looking o'er the city square, Quite outside the world of care, All unaltered by its gloom, Thou and I, my Columbine, Let the world of men below Unacquainted come and go, In secludedness divine. Ah, those nights, so long, were sweet, And we shall not soon forget Love songs sung in a duet, Far above the city street. And the company 'twas ours To abide in Tennyson, Shelley, Keats, and Emerson Joyed us in those winter hours. [39] So, my Columbine, together We lived the long season through Till March came, whose wild winds blew Us to days of April weather. All the first sweet dreams of Spring Born again of new desires, In me light unquenching fires To be up and wandering. Newer hopes have won my trust I but answer to the call, April smiling over all Fills my soul with wander-lust. There is magic in the stir When our mother April wakes ; Some wild riot in me breaks When I feel the pulse of her. On the slowly greening slopes Something in the hanging haze, Luring, leads my tramping ways On a quest for April Hopes. Nature keeps an open house, I am bidden to her board; And she fills me from her hoard Where the sons of earth carouse. [40] LOUISBERG SQUARE A QUIET little space, set in Upon the sloping hillside, where Comes not the sound of traffic's din To fill the air. The stately houses on each side, The little park which lies between How in seclusion, all abides A quiet dream. [41] APRIL AT morn when light mine eyes unsealed I gazed upon the open field; The rain had fallen in the night The landscape in the new day's light A countenance of grace revealed Upon the meadow, wood and height. The sun's light was a smile of gold, Ere shut by sudden fold on fold Of surging, showering clouds from view; No sooner hid than it broke through A tearful smile upon the wold Where earth reflected heaven's blue. Each separate divided part Of day, was as the threefold art Of God, who dreamed three dreams and made The morning, noon, and night parade In ever changing guise athwart The day's hours, in His dreams arrayed. The sky was as a canvas spun To paint the new spring's nocturns on ; A blended melody of tints The sea's hue, and the myriad hints Of garden-closes, when the sun Hath stamped the work of nature's mints. [42] OUT OF THE SUNSET'S RED OUT of the sunset's red Into the blushing sea, The winds of day drop dead And dreams come home to me. - The sea is still, and apart Is a stillness in my heart. The night comes up the beach, The dark steals over all, Though silence has no speech I hear the sea-dreams call To my heart ; and in reply It answers with a sigh. [43] TWILIGHT AND DREAMS AT the outer edge of the world, Where the long grey mists arise, Between the sunset and the sea I gaze with longing eyes. O the twilight and dreams for me, And the things my fancy paints My hopes the light upon the sea Which slowly faints and faints. The surge and beat of the sea, The mournful and endless dole, They swell with a thousand questionings And overflow my soul. [44] LOVE'S WAYFARING DO you remember, love How long ago it seems When by the pebbled cove, Our sweet, fair dreams Took wing? Alas, how long it is What wasted years between ; What untouched hours of bliss ; And unlived dream Time's sting ! Were not the high tides sweet ! The sails upon the stream The billows' bounding beat, The sea-gull's scream And swing. What murmuring music rose From zephyr's low-tuned chords. To which in love's repose Our hearts made words To sing. [45] Ah, sweet, where is Love gone? To what bourne, east or west, Shall you and I alone Bide his behest Wand'ring ? [46] SHE SLEEPS BENEATH THE WINTER SNOW SHE sleeps beneath the winter snow In Cedar's wintry vale; The winter stars above her shine, The pines about her wail, And icy winds do chill and blow. My Ciceline, my Ciceline, Sleeps deep and low Beneath the snow. I sit beside my fire bright And watch the embers glow, And yet to-night so dark and chill She sleeps beneath the snow. And though the place be hid from sight, My dreams its gloomy darkness fill With Ciceline's my heart is low Beneath the winter snow. [47] LYRIC: WHEN THE STILL SOMBRE EVENING CLOSES DOWN WHEN the still, sombre evening closes down Amid the autumn preludes of the wood, I feel my soul take on its dreamy mood 'Midst nature's gold and brown. The dear old dreams of June blue-bird and rose Have sunk into these sadder phantasies, And once again old buried memories Wake from their long repose. Ah, when I look on Hesper clear and bright, The thought of one dear autumn, sad and cool, Transports me to a bygone forest pool One long gone autumn night. Now that my vision brightens, memory brings That forest opening sere leaves, the sheen Of moonlight which soft stole the leaves be- tween In their down flutterings. [48] How solemn was the scene that solitude! Those fulgent woods our holy marriage house Where Zephyrus sang his choral through the boughs To bless us where we stood. Ah, memory ! dear con j urer of tears ! Bring vividly the vision of that night, When our two hearts pledged by kind nature's rite A union through the years. [49] CHILD ELSIE FOR love of the sea, Child Elsie, Untethered the dory's rope, To ride with native impulse The water's rise and slope. For love of the seaman's maiden, The mew-tides running down, Swept out to sea the dory Afar from the fishing town. [50] A SEA-PRAYER LORD of wind and water Where the ships go down Reaching to the sunrise, Lifting like a crown, Out of the deep-hidden Wells of night and day Mind the great sea-farers On the open way. When the last lights darken On the far coastline, Wave and port and peril Sea-Lord all are thine. [51] IT WERE AS IF THIS WORLD WERE PARADISE IT were as if this world were Paradise, That little hour when by the dancing sea I told thee of the love I had for thee. There seemed a newer glory in the skies When thou didst look with pitying sweet eyes Upon me when I pleaded. I felt that we Did balance in some mystic harmony Of old rose-gardens and low ocean sighs. The sunshine stole some glory from your hair: The sea, the magic of your eyes of blue The grace of all your nature soft and fair Fill'd all the world until an Eden grew; You were a gracious Eve beside me there, And all the world was Paradise with you. [52] YULE-SONG: A MEMORY DECEMBER comes, snows come, Comes the wintry weather; Faces from away come Hearts must be together. Down the stair-steps of the hours Yule leaps the hills and towers Fill the bowl and hang the holly, Let the times be jolly. Day comes, and night comes And the guests assemble Once again the old dream comes That I would dissemble. Falls a shadow 'cross the floor, Seen! and is seen no more. O that memory would forego The hanging of the Mistletoe. [53] VOICE OF THE SEA VOICE of the sea that calls to me, Heart of the woods my own heart loves, I am part of your mystery Moved by the soul your own soul moves. Dream of the stars in the night-sea's dome, Somewhere in your infinite space After the years I will come home, Back to your halls to claim my place. [54] APRIL'S DREAM rTIHE stream's breath tastes of the wood's JL perfume, Filled are the woods with foam: And the sea like a sheet 'neath the summer noon, With the languorous swerve runs home. The beat of a pulse the warm sun stirs In the air, the sea and stream, Beckons the heart and the soul allures Forth, into April's dream. [55] ON MUSIC I CANNOT tell how high my soul takes wing, Nor to what depths in liquid sweets it sinks Yet well I know it suffers from thy sting, As one who of Cyceon mixture drinks. And I can feel a rose-stream thro' me creep, Curving about my senses, as they leap, And swell and rise and fall, As blossoms ambrosial Shook from some full blown orange-tree in spring, Sink wav'ring to the ground And bound Unto the zephyr's piping, in dizzy, dizzy ring ! [56] SONG OVER the long, the wide dark seas, Wandering, goes my dream, Borne on winnowings of the breeze High as the heavens seem. And O, dear love, where the waters foam Further than pulsing star, Wandering still my old dreams roam Far from the shore yea far! [57] A LYRIC OF AUTUMN THERE is music in the meadows, in the air Autumn is here; Skies are gray, but hearts are mellow, Leaves are crimson, brown, and yellow; Pines are soughing, birches stir, And the Gipsy trail is fresh beneath the fir. There is rhythm in the woods, and in the fields, Nature yields : And the harvest voices crying, Blend with Autumn zephyrs sighing; Tone and color, frost and fire, Wings the nocturne Nature plays upon her lyre. [58] MOTHERHOOD WITH what angelic countenance She wonders as she sits alone, With tender fear, and musing glance Because a life is in her own. Ah! if a woman should be loved 'T is when she hears the silent voice, 'T is when an unknown life has moved Her soul to fear and to rejoice. 'T is when amidst life's blithesome scenes, A something speaks she cannot hear, And quells her spirit till it dreams The sacred thing she is to bear. Ah! what is needed most to bless The weary waiting of the time ! Love's duty rendered tireless To cheer her holy state sublime ; A tender presence that would teach Her more than laws of science could ; That, life belongs to each and each, To Fatherhood and Motherhood! [59] TO W. A. W. AND H. H. on their Departure to Europe /^1OOD-BYE, and may your journey be vJ Through nights with pleasant stars above, And may your days upon the sea Your souls with wonder fill and move. By night the lyric-light of stars, By day the pulsing tidal wars. And may you safely reach the port Where sweet the old-world dreams repose In garden, vale, and palace-court, Where long ago the sounds arose Of feudal strife and song took wing When men were brave, and Love was King. And when you shall have made your stay Through summer-moons that filled and waned, May westward autumn lead your way Untroubled, till your home is gained. So may propitious fortune keep And bring you safely o'er the deep. [60] THANKSGIVING MY heart gives thanks for many things; For strength to labor day by day, For sleep that comes when darkness wings With evening up the eastern way. I give deep thanks that I'm at peace With kith and kin and neighbors, too Dear Lord, for all last year's increase, That helped me strive and hope and do. My heart gives thanks for many things; I know not how to name them all. My soul is free from frets and stings, My mind from creed and doctrine's thrall, For sun and stars, for flowers and streams, For work and hope and rest and play For empty moments given to dreams, For these my heart gives thanks to-day. [61] LIFE AND DEATH I RENTED once a house of clay, An object beautiful to see I lighted it with pleasant thoughts And Life 'twas named by Mystery. And when long years therein I lived I moved into a fairer clime, And then my house was named anew For it was christened Death, by Time. [63] HOLLY BERRY AND MISTLETOE THE trees are bare, wild flies the snow, Hearths are glowing, hearts are merry- High in the air is the Mistletoe, Over the door is the Holly Berry. Never have care how the winds may blow, Never confess the revel grows weary Yule is the time of the Mistletoe, Yule is the time of the Holly Berry. [63] WHEN I BID YOU GOOD-BYE AND GO WHEN I bid you good-bye and go I do not want your tears to flow, For I have filled so small a part In your great heart. And I shall sleep below and dream You have been good to let it seem I lived in all your heart your life Without one strife. It cost so little so, be kind To keep a portion in your mind Of me remembering that I gave Up to the grave. HEART-SONG DEAR heart, what tho' I press the need- less throng While high the stars shine in their blue re- treat, If so, I unto thee with heart of song Wend thro' the street. Dear heart, what tho' my song's inaudible Unto this ceaseless, surging, heartless throng Far from the crowd wilt thou not hear it well All the night long? [65] BY AN INLAND LAKE LONG drawn, the cool, green shadows Steal o'er the lake's warm breast, And the ancient silence follows The burning sun to rest. The calm of a thousand summers, And dreams of countless Junes, Return when the lake-wind murmurs Thro' golden, August noons. [66] SONG I WE NT down the ways of the roses this noon, The birds were in tune with the infinite skies, And all my heart sang, " It is June, it is June," And all my soul teemed with the lovely sur- prise, As I went down the ways of the roses this noon. And into my garden the shades bade them come, The wayfaring dreams that came forth of the sun : " Come, rest," said the roses, " ere further ye roam ; " " Be my guests," said my heart, " till the day it be done," As into my garden the shades bade them come. O long the dreams tarried within that sweet place, And unto my heart and the roses they told, How on their long travel they met with a face All clouded with hair of the sun's fairest gold And my heart and the roses sighed in the sweet place. [67] SONG: TO-NIGHT THE STARS ARE WOOING, LOVE TO-NIGHT the stars are wooing, love, The moon is full of languishment ; Low in the eastern firmament Little, the golden waves above My dreams are wand' ring pensive- wise Unto the bourne of echo-sighs Beneath the stars, within the grove. To-night the rose-leaves fell apart, And at their core the sweet dews dwell, While dreams of echo in the shell Conjures the crimson-scented heart. So, love, thy sweet influence steals Upon me, and my spirit heals, And dreams what loveliness thou art. [68] TO-NIGHT ACROSS THE SEA TO-NIGHT I sent a dream across the sea, Beyond the bourne where sky and water meet; Its ghost came back in mournful melody Of waters at my feet. The dream gone out, its ghost abides with me, A visitant of sorrow in my heart ; And ever clings thereto the mystery The mournful seas impart. [69] A MEMORY MY heart to thee an answer makes, O long, slow whisper of the sea, Whose charm of mournful music wakes A dream, a memory. Touched hands, met lips, and soft fair speech Soul's silence to the past replies, When love and hope illumined each, Within a girl's blue eyes. [70] AFTER HARVEST FAINT is the speech of the tired heart To the call of dreams replying, When hope wends home across the fields Where the rose o' the year is dying. O weary head and heart and hands Look up where the sun is dying Love leads you home across the fields To the call of dreams replying. [71] IT'S A LONG WAY IT'S a long way the sea-winds blow Over the sea-plains blue, But longer far has my heart to go Before its dreams come true. It's work we must, and love we must, And do the best we may, And take the hope of dreams in trust To keep us day by day. It's a long way the sea-winds blow But somewhere lies a shore Thus down the tide of Time shall flow My dreams f orevermore. [72] I BLOW YOU A KISS I BLOW you a kiss on the evening wind My dear, wherever you be; Up in the north or down in the south, Or over the rolling sea. I blow you a kiss, but after the kiss Do you know what follows, my dear? Something the wind cannot bring to you Only a little tear. [73] SEA VOICES O'ER the wintry sea, Mingled with its tone Comes a voice to me, That's not the sea's own. Low and soft it is, Near and far away Sad as winds that kiss The sea beyond the bay. Soulless, restless, swell, O what radiant guest, Sad, invisible, Hovers o'er thy breast? Gray rocks and gray sea, Stretch of barren shore, Grief and memory Claim me evermore. [74] TO HALF in the dim light from the hall I saw your fingers rise and fall Along the pale, dusk-shadowed keys, And heard your subtle melodies. The magic of your mastery leant Your soul unto the instrument ; Strange-wise, its spell of power seemed To voice the visions that you dreamed. The music gave my soul such wings As bore me through the shadowings Of mortal bondage ; flight on flight I circled dreams' supremest height. Above were tender twilight skies, Where stars were dreams and memories The long forgotten raptures of My youth's dead fires of hope and love. [75] IN MY LADY'S PRAISE GOD wrought you flesh and hair and eyes From some immortal loom and dyes ; For thou art filled with every rare And precious thing of earth, sky, air. The magical blue of warm June skies Gleams in your calm and sultry eyes ; The unguent of the fragrant fields No sweeter, subtler perfume yields Than the aroma of your breath, Delicate fragrance attarred 'neath The sculptured, firm, white beauty of Your throat, arched stately there above The undulation of your breast That heaves with love's divine unrest. [76] NEAR THE END OF APRIL NEAR the end of April, On the verge of May And O my heart, the woods were dusk At the close of day. Half a word was spoken Out of half a dream, And God looked in my soul and saw A dawn rise and gleam. Near the end of April Twenty Mays have met, And half a word and half a dream Remember and forget. [77] HYMN FOR THE SLAIN IN BATTLE LORD, God of all in Life and Death, The winter's storm, the summer's breath, Of fragrant bloom, whose Mighty hand Decrees the pow'r of sea and land, Hear, Lord, this prayer for those who are Slain in the hour of thund'rous war. Have mercy, Lord, on those who fall Rent by the iron-splintered ball. Reck not their cause was right or wrong, 'Twas Duty led them blind and strong. They shaped not what to war gave rise They make the greatest sacrifice. [78] A SUMMER NIGHT'S ENCHANTMENT THE perfume of the garden blows Fill'd full with scent of musk and rose; The little bay beneath us here Is like a woman's jeweled hair, Studded with sparkling shafts of light Reflected from the diamond' d height. And somewhere in the grove is heard The passion of some love-lorn bird; And } 7 ou, my dear, beside me here With joy around us everywhere. [79] IN THE HIGH HILLS HEIGHT overhead to the deeps Where the gleaming day-star peeps From the bosom of the dawn In God's infinite blue lawn. The wings of the winds are whirled Over the face of the world And the echo of them fills The everlasting hills. [80] PS 3-56 3 W04-