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 ISAAC FOOT
 
 THE COMING OF SPRING 
 AND OTHER POEMS
 
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 THE COMING OF SPRING 
 
 AND 
 
 OTHER POEMS 
 
 .Y>> BY THE LATE 
 
 Af DAVIDSON ARNOTT, MUS. DOC. 
 
 " 'Twill make the going easier to know 
 We did our duty— Here's the end ! 
 ■Well, 'tis better so" 
 
 PRIVATELY PRINTED 
 1910
 
 PREFACE 
 
 Mrs. Arnott has asked me to write a preface to 
 this little book in memory of her husband. 
 
 Dr. Arnott had a gifted and many-sided 
 personality. To the world he was known as a 
 brilliant organist ; but he was far more. He was 
 an omnivorous reader, a thinker, a charming 
 conversationalist, a student both of men and 
 things, and a poet and artist withal. His face, 
 seen in the hurrying crowd, arrested attention. 
 He was generous, affectionate, high-souled. His 
 life measured by years was a brief one. He 
 was cut off with startling suddenness in the 
 mid-manhood of his days, but his friends — and 
 they were many — will always cherish his 
 memory. A man like him cannot die ! 
 
 Without exaggeration il may be said of 
 Dr. Arnott that " the half was not told." This 
 accomplished man, this modest, gentle, innocent,
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Page 
 
 The Coming of Spring 9 
 
 The Lover's Address 
 
 
 
 
 
 15 
 
 Lost .... 
 
 
 
 
 
 17 
 
 Reverie .... 
 
 
 
 
 
 19 
 
 Night .... 
 
 
 
 
 
 21 
 
 To a Snowdrop 
 
 
 
 
 
 22 
 
 Love's Awakening 
 
 
 
 
 
 23 
 
 To A P^ADED Rose 
 
 
 
 
 
 26 
 
 To THE Departing Year 
 
 
 
 
 
 27 
 
 Shadows of Being 
 
 
 
 
 
 28 
 
 A Lament 
 
 
 
 
 
 31 
 
 A Fragment . 
 
 
 
 
 
 33 
 
 Re.morse 
 
 
 
 
 
 34 
 
 Baby .... 
 
 
 
 
 
 36 
 
 A Vision 
 
 
 
 
 
 37 
 
 A Lover's Thoughts . 
 
 
 
 
 
 43 
 
 Conquest 
 
 
 
 
 
 45 
 
 Forsaken 
 
 
 
 
 
 47 
 
 Thoughts .... 
 
 
 
 
 
 50 
 
 A Song 
 
 
 
 
 
 52
 
 Contents 
 
 The Land of Dreams 
 
 The Horseman 
 
 The End 
 
 Ask Yourself 
 
 Declaration . 
 
 Ballintrae 
 
 Love's Declaration 
 
 Cui Bono? 
 
 A Fragment . 
 
 Sunset . 
 
 The Riding . 
 
 Failure . 
 
 To My Wife . 
 
 Hugo 
 
 54 
 5« 
 58 
 tiO 
 HI 
 62 
 63 
 65 
 66 
 67 
 69 
 70 
 71
 
 THE COMING OF SPRING 
 
 I 
 
 Dead lies the maiden in her rest 
 With roses in the golden hair ; 
 Summer departed leaves those lips 
 To cruel winter seated there. 
 Pale the cheeks that once were rosy 
 Flowers that held the perfumed breath, 
 All her form one sculptured posv 
 
 Made for (.ieath. 
 
 II 
 
 Yet Autumn comes in with the dying Rose, 
 Some withered leaves on every bough are seen ; 
 And, trembling with each gust of wind that blows 
 With heedless spite, fall red amid the green. 
 
 Where are the swallows and the nightingale? 
 And where the low sweet utterance of the bee?
 
 10 The Coming of Spring 
 
 The birds we knew are flown ; the song mvist fail : 
 
 And discord mar the treasured melody. 
 
 The leaves are dripping with a mournfiH sound ; 
 
 A heavy moisture hangs upon the grass : 
 
 The flowers that late did blossom, strew the ground 
 
 And gather round our tired feet as we pass. 
 
 Gone are the jovs of summer, all too soon 
 Spent the long sunny hours we loved to roam ; 
 Oh ! for the days, the days that were in June ! 
 Yet, where shall we be when the spring shall come ? 
 
 Yes, ask that question of the wind that blows ; 
 Ask of the deep, has it no voice for thee ? 
 Come death in Life ! I would awhile repose ; 
 Come with the snow that no regrets may be. 
 
 Ill 
 
 To THE North Wind 
 Wild winged steed from the rebellious nortli, 
 That scatterest the red legions of the leaves 
 And strews the dying world ! Thou leapest forth 
 From misty plains that hold the frozen sheaves 
 To wait the gatherer Spring. Oh ! Thou North 
 
 Wind ! 
 What is the prophecy Thou bidd'st us find
 
 The Coming of spring 11 
 
 In thy loud-voiced tones with passion blent ? 
 "What message bear'st thou from the ages spent ? 
 
 IV 
 
 Answer of the North Wind 
 
 There is no prophecy in me, no voice to hear ; 
 No far faint echo do I bring from buried hours, 
 Until the Spring shall come, until the waking 
 
 flowers 
 Shall bloom afresh upon the garland of the year. 
 
 V 
 
 To THE Great World Spirit 
 
 O ! Mighty Soul ! O unapproachable ! 
 O ! heart-dissolving Radiance ! O ! Thou Dream 
 Of all great minds ! Song of prophetic things ! 
 Word of the poet's unimagined rhyme, 
 To make complete the music of his verse. 
 We dare to think we were not made to die. 
 To be, and vanish like the noonday cloud, — 
 Jest for Divinity, sport for the Unknown. 
 
 We seek the sun over the mountain's brow 
 To find the future in the present noiu 
 And in the misty radiance of the m'>rn
 
 12 The Comir.g of Spring 
 
 Find earnest of the day that is to be ; 
 
 And trace the sunlight along leaf and thorn, 
 
 To catch the first long rays that silently 
 
 Steal down the Vale. Say, shall we see 
 
 Someday thy face and live ? Or shall we be 
 
 Lost in Thyself O vast Infinity ? 
 
 And through our tears ourselves in Thee immerse 
 
 To fade into a sunless Universe ? 
 
 VI 
 
 The day is weeping that it brings no joy 
 
 Nor thee an answer. O ! importunate ! 
 
 Yet, lest thou lose thy touch of Him, O man 
 
 Find God within thee. Search thyself and know 
 
 If thou hast not some hope that ere the sun 
 
 Of Intellect shall set, another light 
 
 That never lit the crest of the dark wave 
 
 Nor tipped the pines that stand upon the brow 
 
 Of yon tall mountain shall be born. 
 
 No Spring beyond the Autumn of the Soul ? 
 
 No Summer for the best that is in thee? 
 
 Go, see where Winter reigns in some sad heart ; 
 
 Dispel the clouds of ignorance and vice, 
 
 Wrest Right from wrong. Freedom from tyranny. 
 
 Then shaft thou find that Spring will burst anew.
 
 The Coming of spring 13 
 
 VII 
 
 The Coming of Spring. 
 
 E'en while we speak the East is all aflame, 
 
 The long red rays 
 Embathe the heights, and loud proclaim 
 
 Advent of Day. 
 
 See, all ablaze 
 The new-risen sun pursues his tireless way ; 
 
 And full unfurled 
 
 Above the world 
 The banner of the Spring is borne away. 
 
 VIII 
 
 Spring, Glorious Spring is come ! 
 
 If evermore 
 The changing season pass, 
 
 No Death ! No Death ! 
 
 Is in the breath 
 
 Of the Universe. 
 
 The sweet wind comcth from the Dawn 
 Over the mountains where the snow is gone ; 
 AntI where she casts her spell o'er wood and lea 
 The daisy and the violet shall be.
 
 14 The Coming of Spring 
 
 Can ye not hear the sound 
 Of bursting leaves, and all around 
 In the bright atmosphere 
 Its myriad voices? Hear! 
 O! Hear! 
 
 A law divine no longer writ in sand 
 
 But graven on the rock henceforth shall stand 
 
 A glorious Hope, a Promise unconfined, 
 
 Of prince and peasant, rich and poor divined. 
 
 In the voice of the wind 
 
 Thou shalt find — 
 In the song of the bird 
 
 Shall be heard — 
 
 In the blue of the sky 
 
 Eternally — 
 
 One long, long note of Immortality ! 
 
 Spring, glorious Spring, 
 
 is 
 
 Here!
 
 THE LOVER'S ADDRESS 
 
 I 
 
 A thousand stars the night hath in its keeping, 
 
 A thousand sounds the dreaming summer day ; 
 
 A thousand joyous thoughts, waking or sleeping, 
 
 Have I of thee, my love, my dearest. Say 
 
 If I should try to tell how I do love thee ? 
 
 Earth would not hold it, nor the heavens above thee ? 
 
 Nor books contain the stor}' I would write ; 
 
 Nor pen outlast the tale I could indite. 
 
 Let Love itself declaim — thou wilt surrend thee 
 
 To my embrace — to worship and defend thee ; 
 
 And I would shield thee from the world's alarms 
 
 Thou who didst hold me with a thousand charms ; 
 
 I would give all my being to caress thee ; 
 
 And heaven itself forswear, just to possess thee. 
 
 II 
 
 And when the night shall look upon our wooing 
 Antl when the stars shall hear th' exchanged now ; 
 
 15
 
 16 The Lover's Address 
 
 Count me not all unworthy mine undoing, 
 When thou shalt feel my kiss upon thy brow. 
 Night shall be no more night ; nor shall I languish 
 In hours of doubt, of weary pain and anguish ; 
 No more the world shall go in sable guise, 
 Thy love shall turn it to a Paradise, 
 A land of bright philosophy and truth, 
 Fair-pictured in the visioned brain of youth ; 
 And in the Kingdom of my heart I'll set thee, 
 To crown thee Queen, and never to forget thee, 
 With thee content to be, my waiting ended, 
 The years will pass, a pageant proud and splendid.
 
 LOST 
 
 In an old garden set around 
 With poppies and bright lily flowers, 
 I watch the ancient sun-dial's face, 
 Whose finger marks the passing hours. 
 
 Yet must its shadows point in vain, 
 Sweet lovely maid that once I knew ; 
 For thou wilt never come again 
 To trust the strong, to doubt the true. 
 
 With eyes like stars, when stillest deeps 
 Their lustrous purity enfold ; 
 Where light within a shadow sleeps. 
 Love that is hidden, yet half told. 
 
 Thou lost one ! here I fling to-day 
 The cup of pleasure in the stream ; 
 But years shall have no power to stay 
 The sweet enchantment of my dream. 
 
 17
 
 18 Lost 
 
 There is no bright philosophy 
 To hope can lend a llngerinf^ charm, 
 Make faith of thine inconstancy, 
 Or youthful trust on age attend. 
 
 For there are some have clasped in theirs 
 Your hands ; and other lips have kissed, 
 And other voices whispered prayers 
 Where I have sought, and seeking, missed \
 
 REVERIE 
 
 I 
 
 'Tis not the sighs breathed in a summer night 
 When the worn heart is hugging all its pain ; 
 'Tis not the tears shed in a grey twilight 
 Can melt the spirit into youth again 
 
 II 
 
 'Tis not in fields of cowslip and bluebell, 
 Where deep embathed in solitude we've lain; 
 'Tis not where laughter casts her joyous spell 
 O'er hearts that never felt an ache or pain. 
 
 Ill 
 
 'Tis not in Pleasure's gilded ray to light 
 The blinded eyes of sickened sense and brain, 
 'Tis not when Passion clasps the golden night 
 And holds the trembling moment in its chain. 
 
 19
 
 20 Reverie 
 
 IV 
 
 There where we lie soft soothed by summer 
 
 showers, 
 Lulled by the west winds' requiem sad and deep ; 
 Where Spring shall be our coverlet ; and flowers 
 Shall fold our being into quiet sleep.
 
 NIGHT 
 
 I 
 
 Like a sleeping child that's startled in its dream, 
 The quivering waters creep 
 
 Stirred by the moon's pale beam. 
 
 II 
 
 Like tears in the night that happy children weep, 
 Soft falls the shadowy rain 
 
 In murmuring ocean's sleep. 
 
 Ill 
 
 The dew of night hangs chill upon my brain 
 And life's sad, shattered hf)pes — 
 A rusted chain. 
 
 21
 
 TO A SNOWDROP 
 
 I 
 
 Flower of modest purity ! 
 Earliest fruit of winter's pain, 
 Nestled in security, 
 From bitter winds and chilly rain. 
 
 II 
 
 Like a star dropt from the sky 
 Or a pearl from ocean's bed, 
 In thy hoary setting lie. 
 Silver snows on Winter's head. 
 
 Ill 
 
 Silent ! speak yet to my heart 
 That in sorrow long hath lain ; 
 Bid a warmer impulse start ; 
 It will wake to life again. 
 
 22
 
 LOVE'S AWAKENING 
 
 I 
 
 The scent of a rose ; 
 
 A maiden's kiss ; 
 The twilight's close; 
 
 The dreamy bliss 
 Of a summer night 
 
 When the day is done 
 And the west wind falls 
 
 Behind the li^ht 
 Of the setting sun ; 
 
 When the evening calls 
 On the soul to weep, 
 
 And borne on the Harp's 
 Sweet silver tone, 
 
 Love's dreamful sleep, 
 Like a tired spirit 
 
 Drops gently down.
 
 24 Love's Awakening 
 
 II 
 
 The foam on the crest 
 
 Of the throbbing sea, 
 When the ocean's breast 
 
 Heaves restlessly ; 
 And the wild waves cry 
 
 To the stars that cling 
 In the midnight sky, 
 
 When sad winds sing ; 
 And the petrel screams 
 
 Like a demon sprite 
 Through the rain that streams 
 
 Into the night : 
 Faint sounds that lie 
 
 Beyond the space 
 Of stars, long hurl'd 
 
 From th' ethereal sky, 
 And breathe from the face 
 
 Of the Primal world. 
 
 Ill 
 
 This is the Spirit 
 
 Of water and air 
 That moving bear it 
 
 Everywhere. —
 
 Love's A-wakening 25 
 
 The wandering star 
 
 The lingering beam 
 That stra3S afar 
 
 With affrighted gleam : 
 This is the Spirit 
 
 That wakes the mirth 
 That ever near it 
 
 Haunts the new birth 
 From the sunless sphere 
 
 And the starless night 
 Of our youthful fear 
 
 Love's new Delight. 
 
 B
 
 TO A FADED ROSE 
 
 1 
 
 Thou dearest Rose ! Child of the sun and earth ! 
 Thou droop'st thy head 'mid thy companions' mirth, 
 Thy bloom is past and all thy freshness shed, 
 Thy leaves are fallen, and thy brightness dead. 
 
 II 
 
 Ah ! wherefore, wherefore wert thou dear to me ? 
 We now must part in tears — and silently : 
 Thou can'st no more afford a fragrance sweet. 
 For dead thou art, thy little life complete. 
 
 Ill 
 
 I lift thee up and press thee to my heart, 
 But no affection can new life impart ; 
 For what thou wert, and wcrt but yesterday, 
 I'll hold thee dear and love thee tentlerlv. 
 
 26
 
 TO THE DEPARTING YEAR 
 
 I 
 
 'TwERE Strange if I should grieve at thy departing, 
 Fitful and flying, bleak and barren year ! 
 And though my careworn heart with grief is 
 
 smarting, 
 And though, fast down my cheek falls tear on tear, 
 'Tis not for what thou wert, but might have been : 
 A setting sun that through the rain is seen. 
 
 II 
 
 Thim brought'st me hope; but, ah ! that hope was 
 
 broken : 
 Bright dreams of joy that glow'd but for a day : 
 Thou brought'st me love, alas! it ne'er was spoken. 
 But left its unsuspected sting with me. 
 If vouth and yearning should be false to-day. 
 Why should I grieve that you now pass away ? 
 
 27
 
 SHADOWS OF BEING 
 
 I 
 
 We sob in sleep, and die upon a dream ; 
 
 We bask in sunHght ; mount upon a beam 
 Of night's pale radiance, born of moonlight's gleam, 
 
 II 
 
 We laugh the hours away ; weep in the years 
 
 Too deep for joy ; too shallow for our tears ; 
 One little moment play ; then night appears. 
 
 Ill 
 
 We seek for hope where climbs yon glimmering 
 dawn, 
 Exulting clasp it, but to find it gone ; 
 And brood in sadness where the sun had shone. 
 
 IV 
 
 Where strays the Day's luxurious beam, we feel 
 
 Irradiate being; when the soft winds steal 
 The sorrow from our hearts, we'd fain conceal. 
 
 28
 
 Shadozjus of Being 29 
 
 V 
 
 Where sighs the wind swept grass, and daisies peep ; 
 Where birds seek covert, and where insects creep, 
 We make shrill laughter, till we drop to sleep. 
 
 VI 
 
 Where white seas break upon the winding shore, 
 
 Deep baying caverns answer th' ocean's roar, 
 A voice rising and falling evermore. 
 
 VII 
 
 And that, like the echo of a long spent cry 
 
 That drooping wails along the windy sky 
 Makes mournful prophecy of destiny. 
 
 VIII 
 
 A shimmering spectre, fitful Phantasy 
 
 That floats upon the wind's sad minstrelsy 
 Shadows of being ; grief and ecstasy. 
 
 IX 
 
 We plume our wings, lialf dreaming, seek for room 
 Lil;c twilight mf)ths, newborn from the dark 
 womb 
 Of summer night — to light upon a tomb.
 
 30 Shadoivs of Being 
 
 X 
 
 Pale pleasure strews her gems beside a grave, 
 
 While misery counts them o'er. TIiL-re let them 
 rave 
 Till Death's dark Hnger steals the boon they crave.
 
 A LAMENT 
 
 I 
 
 I did not dream that thou could'st die 
 
 While I remained ; 
 I did not dream that thou could'st fail 
 
 While I sustained; 
 I thou<;ht thy cheek that burnt with hectic flush 
 Was tinted bj' the summer morning's blush ! 
 Ah me ! 'tis liut a half-told tale 
 That in the telling broke, and breaking died. 
 
 II 
 
 I saw thy life a vision fair ; 
 
 But could not stay 
 The hand of chill mortality 
 
 That on it lay : 
 I knew not that thy face so lily pale, 
 Thv form, were lovely dreams that soon would fail ; 
 That like a sad, wild melody 
 Would drc^p tf) sleep and die upon the air. 
 
 31
 
 32 y} Lament 
 
 III 
 
 If I had dreamt that thou could'st die 
 
 These tears were less ; 
 Had felt prophetic touch of this 
 
 Bleak nothingness : 
 Ah ! then I had not grieved, as now inv grief 
 Must weep its fill nor hope to know relief ; 
 Then had I thought thy spirit's bliss 
 Content enou'^h, and part, not hopelessly.
 
 A FRAGMENT 
 
 The leaf is fallen, 
 The seed is sped ; 
 The bow is broken 
 The arrow fled, 
 The song is sung, 
 And the cadence spent ; 
 The word is spoken. 
 The heart is rent. 
 
 33
 
 REMORSE 
 
 Inconstant vision of the viewless air ; 
 
 That veiled within ethereal mists doth lurk 
 
 In night's seclusion, to disturb my soul ; 
 
 Avaunt ! and free my fast imprison'd gaze 
 
 Thou Spectre of the Past ! Immortal woe 
 
 Fills up this cup of never ending pain, 
 
 Of mortal agony and deep remorse. 
 
 And yet ! ah me ! The vv-rong that was so dear, 
 
 Whose serpent windings and whose shiny grasp 
 
 In fiendish foul caresses holds my soul. 
 
 And drags it down to woe's yet deeper woe ! 
 
 Turn from my sight those sad and tearful eyes' 
 
 Remorseful gaze : 'Tis Hell's most hellish thought 
 
 That passion's clasping yields the soul but this, 
 
 A half-spent agony and bootless pain. 
 
 Depart into the nerveless shivering vault 
 
 The vasty hollows of the outer deep 
 
 Where dark oblivion sits upon the tomb 
 
 34
 
 Remorse 35 
 
 Of long spent ages, peopled with echoes 
 Of unremembered years. Disclose not here 
 Where the pale moon doth pour her liquid rays 
 Into the breathing chasm of the night, 
 Passion's corruption, skeletons of sin. 
 Away, and let me dream the last few hours 
 That lie within the dark. That when the day 
 Shall rise to drink the last dews of the night, 
 I still may sleep ; and sleeping still may dream.
 
 BABY 
 
 Little one, my pink and white 
 Flower, painted with the light 
 Of three summers past ; 
 Pretty tendrils 
 Apt to cling : 
 Grey eyes that tell true ; 
 Blue eyes that speak rue ; 
 Which they arc, I cannot tell, 
 Can you ? 
 
 36
 
 A VISION 
 
 I 
 
 In the silence of the shadows 
 
 In the darkness of the night 
 
 I was longing, longing, longing 
 
 I was longing for the light. 
 
 And the night it was so dreary 
 And mv heart it was so weary 
 Weary, weary, weary, 
 Wearv of the night. 
 
 II 
 
 In mv soul's despairing wonder, 
 In my heart's exceeding pain 
 I had feared to meet the morrow 
 W'liile I longed for it again. 
 And sorely I was lying 
 On my couch, ruul satily sighing 
 Sighing, sighing, sighing. 
 Sighing for the Hgiit. 
 
 37
 
 38 A Vision 
 
 III 
 
 And the shadows but grew dimmer 
 
 And darker still my brain 
 As I thought of all the sorrow 
 That the day would bring again, 
 For a grief was o'er it creeping 
 That left my spirit weeping, 
 Weeping, weeping, weeping. 
 Weeping in the night. 
 
 IV 
 
 But more restless and more weary 
 
 As sleep forsook her throne 
 Still I lay, and lay and listened 
 To the winter wind's low moan. 
 And it seemed to speak of dying 
 But no hope it offered, crying, 
 Crying, crying, crying. 
 Crying in the night. 
 
 V 
 
 In the darkness of the shadow 
 O'er the turf upon the ground. 
 
 The snow lay on the meadow 
 
 Like a shroud it wrapped it round :
 
 A Vision 39 
 
 As the midnight hour was ringing 
 I heard a strange voice singing, 
 Singing, singing, singing. 
 Singing in the night. 
 
 VI 
 
 And a spirit to my chamber 
 
 Came and walked upon the floor. 
 And it sighed and stood beside me 
 As it pointed to the door. 
 
 And in spectral voice and hollow 
 It conjured me to follow. 
 To follow, follow, follow, 
 Follow in its flight. 
 
 VI 
 
 But it seemed to cower ami tremble 
 
 And it seemed so full of fears, 
 That I looked and saw the features 
 Beauty half concealctl with tears. 
 I beheld it in its sadness, 
 Tho' my brain burnt with its madness, 
 Madness, madness, madness, 
 Madness of despair.
 
 40 A Vision 
 
 And the features I remembered, 
 
 I had known long years ago 
 When the bright sun of youthful life 
 Burnt with too fierce a iilow. 
 
 And I strove that name long banished 
 To name — but ah — it vanished, 
 Vanished, vanished, vanished. 
 Vanished in the night. 
 
 IX 
 Then I rose and tried to follow 
 As it passed out on the stair, 
 But so swift it flew I lost it 
 As it mingled with the air. 
 
 Through the blinding sleet I hasted 
 Though my efforts all w^ere wasted, 
 Wasted, wasted, wasted, 
 In that falling sleet and snow. 
 
 X 
 
 Still 1 hastened to the Clmrchj'ard 
 And methought I heard a moan 
 
 As affrighted still I followed 
 Till I sank upon a stone ;
 
 A Vision 41 
 
 Then my powers all were shattered 
 And my senses all were scattered, 
 Scattered all and shattered 
 As I fell upon that stone. 
 
 XI 
 
 When the morning and the dawning 
 
 Rose upon me as I lay 
 I remembered what had happened 
 How I came to he astray. 
 
 But I looked, and lo ! that name 
 Was engraven in deathlv flame, 
 In letters black engraven, 
 Engraven on that stone. 
 
 XII 
 
 And the night's dread apparition 
 Still haunts me with its sound. 
 And when sleepless — still at midnight 
 That spirit on its round 
 Still calls me as I ponder 
 To wander and to wander. 
 It beckons me to wander 
 To wander in the night.
 
 4A A Vision 
 
 XIII 
 
 All the peace from life has vanished, 
 
 All its hope — but not its pain ; 
 And the bitter, bitter memory 
 Still haunts my soul again. 
 
 l^ut if death should be the nii^ht 
 That will bring my spirit light. 
 Then I'm longing, longing, longing, 
 I'm longing for t!ie nigiit.
 
 A LOVER'S THOUGHTS 
 
 I 
 
 A Rose ! 
 
 And underneath each petal was a kiss ; 
 
 The message this 
 
 Of Love, 
 My lady sweet, one day did send to me. 
 
 II 
 
 Her hand ! 
 
 Snow-white divinity, blue-veined and warm, 
 
 Nor aught of harm can be 
 
 Can be 
 
 Within the texture of that purity. 
 
 Ill 
 
 Her eyes ! 
 Ah God ! Desire and worship mingled dwell 
 Within the spell 
 Of that 
 Dear face round wrapped with saintly mystery. 
 
 43
 
 44 A Lover's Thoughts 
 
 IV 
 
 Those lips ! 
 
 Her soul's sweet instuments. Ah ! doubly sweet 
 
 On mine to meet 
 
 And feel 
 
 What, speaking not, they but more surely tell. 
 
 V 
 
 Her kiss ! 
 All Heaven and Hell In that one moment spent 
 In longing blent. 
 Her lips 
 Through my whole soul their passion did imprint. 
 
 VI 
 
 Her vow ! 
 As links of steel those words of tender sound 
 That chain me round 
 With joy. 
 And bind all heaven to nie in my content.
 
 CONQUEST 
 
 Thou art to me what thou wert ever, dear ; 
 
 A spirit pure, apart, not to be held. 
 
 Thou beautous soul of pride and gentleness ! 
 
 Sweet noonday radiance o'er the poet's dream 
 
 Of bright affinities, and changing things 
 
 And twilight longings to embrace the dawn, 
 
 Thou blest inspirer of all loveliness 
 
 That day and night can show ! Sweet effluence 
 
 Of that divinest music which doth lie 
 
 Beyond the planet's course ! I would not hold, 
 
 And yet I would, thy fair sweet form, and fear 
 
 To touch and lose thee. Then should'st thou 
 
 approach 
 I would cry out, and kneeling worship still. 
 To bind thee closer in the losing thee. 
 And I would be a monk, thou should'st not see 
 The tears that I would weep — sweet sainted one ! 
 Till, gazing on thy face, those deep dark eyes 
 
 45
 
 46 Conquest 
 
 Burn up my spirit and my brain grows wild 
 And laughter of my madness rend the bars 
 Of that poor cell where I thought rest would be. 
 And then 1 would subdue myself, and thee, 
 And passion gain an immortality, 
 Then would 1 speak and thou would'st silent be 
 And trusting, feel that 1 did love thee well 
 As thou, confessing, would'st absolve me then. 
 Priest, and petitioner, and maid in one.
 
 FORSAKEN 
 
 Let fall the spark and gather the flame ; 
 We sow the passion to reap t!ie shame. 
 
 Call it divine! — a mortal lust, 
 For men to trail it in the dust. 
 
 Let sorrow lie and grief be hid ; 
 Decay shall weave its coverlid. 
 
 And whether we sever the Gordian knot 
 With a sabre cut, or God know what 
 
 Of reckless living, with hope to be 
 Forgot as a passing mystery : 
 
 No poison cup nor shock of steel 
 
 Can open the secret nf that which we feel. 
 
 When joy sliail e'er succeed to pain. 
 Sorrow must wrap it round again, 
 
 47
 
 48 Forsaken 
 
 Hope may be born to grow to fear ; 
 Despair shall meet it everywhere. 
 
 The flower doth live until the night 
 Casts it aside, as useless, quite. 
 
 The petals fall, the beauty gone — 
 The thorn lasts when the flower is done. 
 
 Spoken in music, or writ in gold 
 A tale that is all too quickly told. 
 
 Why should you heed or comprehend ? 
 The story cometh to an end. 
 
 Read on forsooth ! the chance that's spurned 
 Hath no recalling — the page is turned. 
 
 The hour is past. We dream — and then 
 The world is calling us again. 
 
 The world is calling us again. 
 Youth and maiden, women and men. 
 
 Men and women, and youth and maid ; 
 And what is it all, when all is said ? 
 
 Scarlet lips and an open shame. 
 
 And marriage that never brings a name.
 
 Forsaken 49 
 
 Blue eyes under the golden hair 
 Challenging all that men may dare. 
 
 So youth is over ; its wrong and right ; 
 And passion is losing its last pale light. 
 
 The shadows flicker, the embers die, 
 
 And the hopes of a life in the dust must lie.
 
 THOUGHTS 
 
 I 
 
 If it is daybreak when the mists arise 
 
 Upon the grass ; 
 If it is morning when the first surprise 
 
 Of light doth pass ; 
 We can but hope that light and mist will hold 
 Until the book is closed, the hand 
 That held the pen is cold. 
 
 II 
 
 If it is noonday when the sun is high 
 
 Above the spheres ; 
 If it is manhood to be linked with nigh 
 
 Two score years ; 
 The sun must sink and manhood reach its prime ; 
 And both are fullest of desire 
 When comes the setting time. 
 
 50
 
 Thoughts 51 
 
 III 
 
 If it is evening when the red sun shines 
 
 Across the vault ; 
 If it is sadness when our vouth declines, 
 
 'Tis not our fault 
 That cold despair must follow all delights ; 
 And that the jewel of the day 
 Is set between two lights. 
 
 IV 
 
 Yet it is something to have had our youth, 
 
 Striving and work. 
 Something that other hearts have proved our truth 
 
 We did not shirk ; 
 'Twill make the going easier to know 
 We did our duty — Here's the end ! 
 Well, it is better so.
 
 A SONG 
 
 The cold salt spray blows in from the sea, 
 
 The wind, the wind, it is calling me 
 
 Hear it, it calls and calls again 
 
 And the light comes down with the driving rain. 
 
 Ah ! Let me go, nor stay my feet 
 
 Though my path lies under the rain and sleet. 
 Not here may it be ; and not on thy breast 
 Shall I soothe this longing or find a rest 
 For I must seek what I long have sought 
 A peace I must find where thou art not. 
 
 The strath is yonder, the deep morass. 
 The fearsome sights of the mountain pass 
 And I must go ere the day be here 
 Or the white fire of the dawn appear. 
 Away my love nor stay my feet 
 
 Though the night should weave me a winding sheet. 
 Not here may it be — etc. 
 
 52
 
 A Song 53 
 
 The wail of the sea and the spinurift wild 
 Shall sing in my heart, thou lovely child ; 
 And this sound in a while shall come back to me 
 And I shall remember, and think of thee. 
 Away ! Beloved ! Ah seek thy home — 
 See ! the moon is gone and the dav is come. 
 Not here mav it be — etc.
 
 THE LAND OF DREAMS 
 
 The sheen upon the green grass 
 The red upon the sky 
 The blue that tints the violet 
 All these must fade and die. 
 O fair love ! O fond love ! 
 Eyes where the lovelight gleams 
 Lift vour glass, before we pass 
 Into the land of dreams. 
 
 The gold upon thy head love, 
 
 The light within thine eye 
 
 The pink upon thy cheek love. 
 
 All these must fade and die. 
 
 O fair love ! O fond love ! 
 
 Life is a fading flower. 
 
 Give nie your hand, and where we stand. 
 
 Pledge fealty to this hour. 
 
 One thing is thine and mine love 
 For thee and me to try : 
 
 54
 
 The Land of Dreains 55 
 
 A love that is divine love 
 
 And lives eternally. 
 
 O fair love ! O fond Un e ! 
 
 It is not hard meseems, 
 
 The passing out together love 
 
 Into the land of dreams.
 
 THE HORSEMAN. 
 
 My love, he passed in the driving mist 
 And as a shadow did speed away ; 
 I saw his face, and his harness bright, 
 In his eyes I saw a strange light 
 Like the light of the moon — 
 
 A light as keen 
 As the light of an arrcjw or burnished steel, 
 The light of the blood flecked moon. 
 
 Oh ! when will I meet him ? 
 
 Beyond the ken 
 Of those who live within the glen. 
 
 For blood was on the horse's feet 
 And blood was on its mane, 
 And blocjd was on his corselet 
 The blood from his breast ta'en. 
 
 56
 
 The Horseman 57 
 
 But down in the glen 
 And beside the burn 
 
 I weep ! I watch for his return — 
 Return that will never be. 
 Saw ye the path where the stream runs dry? 
 Saw ye the red glow in the sky ? 
 Abune the path w^here the stream runs dry 
 'Twas there they spak' the twain that met, 
 'Twas there they fought till the sun was set. 
 I broke my heart ere the morning came, 
 I tore my soul as I went hame ; 
 The patch was red ; — but a redder shame 
 Came to my cheek for another's name. 
 For he was faithless that faith might be, 
 And I was faithless to faithful be. 
 
 So there in the glen 
 
 l^own by the burn 
 I weep and watch for his return. 
 But ne'er in the body will he be ; 
 A ghaist, a ghaist will he come to nie, 
 A cold embrace will be mine for him 
 And the kiss that lies on the iipless riir. 
 When my own dear love shall keep his tryst 
 My soul will be with the Holy Christ.
 
 THE Ex\TD 
 
 The night is gone ; 
 
 My dream is done ; 
 Alas ! for the night that wore it ; 
 
 The badge of love 
 
 From my breast is torn ; 
 Alas ! for the breast that bore it. 
 
 It matters little ; 
 
 It matters not 
 In the least, that a life is broken, 
 
 But what will count 
 
 When the sum is told 
 Is the fact of the promise spoken. 
 
 She little recked ; 
 
 For she never cf)uld 
 Atone for her soul's sweet sinning; 
 
 But let it go 
 
 For what she thought — 
 A love not worth the winning. 
 
 53
 
 The End 59 
 
 A dagger into 
 
 My breast was driven ; 
 My heart was the sheath that hid it ; 
 
 The hand I clasped 
 
 The hand I kissed, 
 Well I—That was the hand that did it.
 
 ASK YOURSELF 
 
 Hast thou no longing to be such as this? 
 Hast ne'er a secret hope, a thought, desire? 
 No fairer light is in the world, I wis ; 
 Nor thou, nor I, to things more great aspire. 
 
 I would that thou and I could be as those 
 That look upon the stars from the brown earth, 
 Drink in their tranquil light, and in the day 
 Sleep through dull sounds of laughter and of mirth. 
 
 60
 
 DECLARATION 
 
 I came from out the dark, 
 I am — and will not be ; 
 I could not choose but come 
 Just to be one with thee. 
 
 Thou art my life, my all, 
 Thou art my life, my soul, 
 Thou'rt all the world to me — 
 The Universe — the Whole. 
 
 I hold yuu to my heart 
 With joy that's like to pain ; 
 You go not till we meet 
 One with the wind and rain. 
 
 61
 
 BALLINTRAE 
 
 Ballintrae ! sweet Ballintrae ! 
 
 I leave thy shores for we must part ; 
 
 Yet joy alone has been with me, 
 
 While on thy cliffs I laid my heart ; 
 
 Near the green earth I felt thy truth 
 
 Renew the fever of the stream 
 
 That flowed within the veins of youth ; 
 
 And in thy clasp renewed my dream. 
 
 Ballintrae ! wild Ballintrae ! 
 
 Wild, for yon white winged water's roll 
 
 Gives prophecy of things that lie 
 
 Beyond the current of the soul 
 
 For me ; and so though no\v we part 
 
 And though I leave, as friend must leave 
 
 A friend the dearest. Nature's art 
 
 Will make me hope and still believe. 
 
 62
 
 LOVE'S DECLARATION 
 I 
 
 My heart is like the pale starbeam 
 Tliat drops down to the sea, 
 
 Mingling with each returning gleam 
 As I must with thee. 
 
 II 
 
 My heart is like the sweet south wind 
 That pauses in its flight, 
 
 To drink the fragrance of the day 
 That glides into the night. 
 
 Ill 
 
 My heart is like the dewdrop's ray 
 Soft glancing on the flower, 
 
 To mingle its tlivinity 
 
 With summer's tender shower. 
 
 63
 
 64 Love's Declaration 
 
 IV 
 
 My heart is like the rainbow's sheen 
 Grey clouds and misty sea ; 
 
 These mingle in one lovely scene 
 As I must with thee.
 
 cm BONO? 
 
 I 
 
 In the wind it is 
 
 And in the rain : — 
 
 That Arctic silence 
 
 The soul of pain ; 
 
 To my heart I take it 
 
 And though it break it 
 
 I would not for worlds give it back again. 
 
 II 
 
 So love is nought ; 
 
 With a promise bought 
 
 Just in the terror 
 
 Of losing thee. 
 
 For thou ! the nearest 
 
 That wert the dearest 
 
 Can never, ah ! never come back to me. 
 
 In the wind it is 
 And in the rain. 
 
 65
 
 A FRAGMENT 
 
 The Bridge ! oh it seemed weary ! 
 Weary as I to-night ; 
 With twin lights faintly burning 
 And round its pillars turning 
 
 The plash of water 
 
 The flow of stream 
 That wore themselves into my dream. 
 
 The river ! it was weary ! 
 Weary as I to-night ! 
 Yet this was mine in dreaming 
 That life holds but the seeming 
 
 Of joy or care 
 
 Of love or pain, 
 For the tide will come to us all again. 
 
 66
 
 SUNSET 
 
 The glorious West ! 
 The glistening sea ! 
 The wondrous splendour of Sun ! 
 Look ! and come to me. 
 
 The glorious West ! 
 The coming blue night ! 
 The sound of the sinking sun ! 
 Listen ! and hold me fast. 
 
 The ghjrious West ! 
 The spangled vest 
 Of heaven is worn to-night ! 
 
 Darling! you'll come to mc. 
 
 The glorious West 
 And the long, long hope 
 That lies on the wide witle sea 
 
 67
 
 68 Sunset 
 
 Along the shimmering line of light- 
 The careless trail of the falling sun. 
 Oh ! come to me now 
 And hold me fast 
 Or love is lost to-night.
 
 THE RIDING 
 
 Oh ! the wondrous ride 
 From worry and trouble — 
 
 The saddle and horse that meet you ! 
 Oh ! the lifting tide 
 From a world that's double 
 
 And drunk with grief to greet you! 
 
 Oh ! the wondrous life 
 
 In the wild sea's strife ! 
 The boat and the sail and the winding ! 
 
 Oh ! the gait and the stride 
 
 In a laughing tide ! 
 The danger and longing, and minding. 
 
 But the looking back 
 
 O'er the cross-ward tack ! 
 Oh ! the pity of all the going ! 
 
 The way is at end, 
 
 The story done : 
 And a finish to all the doing. 
 
 69
 
 J. Ramsay Robb, Printer, Liverpool.
 
 
 DATE 
 
 : DUE 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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 CAYLORO 
 
 
 
 PRINTEDIN US A.
 
 UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL UBRARY FACILITY 
 
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