islpa^ers' ft A THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES Wishmakers' Town Wishmakers' Town BY William Young With an Introductory Note by Thomas Bailey Aldrich Copyright, 1885, By Henry Holt & Co. Copyright, 1890, By William Young. Copyright, 1898, By Lamson, Wolffe and Company. All rights reserved. Norivood Press J. S. Cashing & Co. Berwick & Smith Norivood Mass. U. S. A. CONTENTS Page Introductory Note . . . . . . . vii The Bells x The Ringers . . . . . . . 4 The Strollers 6 The Children . . . . . . . 9 The Maidens ........ 12 The Witch 13 The Maidens 14 The Students 16 The Flower-Seller 20 The Triflers 23 The Confidante 25 The Maskers . 27 The Hawker 29 The Conscience-Keeper 34 The Prodigal 36 S04546 vi CONTENTS Page The Workers 39 The Money-Changers 40 The Chess-Players 42 The Pawns 44 The Gossips 47 The Bridal Pair 53 The Philosophers 55 The Gift-Bearers 59 The Mother 70 The Wanderer 71 The Watchers 75 The Victor 79 The Bells 83 Introductory Note A limited edition of this little volume of verse, which seems to me in many respects unique, was issued in 1885, and has long been out of print. The reissue of the book in its present form is in response to the desire of certain readers who have not forgotten the charm which the poem exercised upon them years ago, and, finding the charm still potent, would have others share it. The scheme of the poem, for it is a poem and not simply a series of un- viii INTRODUCTORY NOTE related lyrics, is ingenious and origi nal, and unfolds itself in verse at once strong and delicate, like silver wire. The mood of the poet, and the method of the playwright are obvious through out. Wishmakers' Town a little town situated in the no-man's-land of The Tempest and A Midsummer Night's Dream is shown to us as it awakens, touched by the dawn. The clangor of bells far and near calls the townfolk to their various avocations, the toiler to his toil, the idler to his idleness, the miser to his gold. In swift and picturesque sequence the dramatis personse of the comedy INTRODUCTORY NOTE ix pass before us. Merchants, huxters, players, lovers, gossips, soldiers, vaga bonds, and princes crowd the scene, and have in turn their word of poig nant speech. We mingle with the throng in the streets ; we hear the whir of looms and the din of foundries, the blare of trumpets, the whisper of lovers, the scandals of the market place, and, in brief, are let into all the secrets of the busy microcosm. A con tracted stage, indeed, yet large enough for the play of many passions, as the narrowest hearthstone may be. With the sounding of the curfew, the town is hushed to sleep again, and the cur- x INTRODUCTORY NOTE tain falls on this mimic drama of life, this whimsical Masque of Man. The charm of it all is not easily to be defined. Perhaps if one could name it, the spell were broken. Above the changing rhythms hangs an at mosphere too subtle and elusive for measurement an atmosphere that stipulates an imaginative mood on the part of the reader. The quality which pleases in certain of the lyr ical episodes is less intangible. One readily explains one's liking for so gracious a lyric as The Flower- Seller, to select an example at ran dom. Next to the pleasure that lies INTRODUCTORY NOTE xi in the writing of such exquisite verse is the pleasure of quoting it. I copy the stanzas here, partly for my own gratification, and partly to win the reader to Wishmakers' Town, not knowing better how to do it. THE FLOWER-SELLER Myrtle, and eglantine, For the old love, and the new! And the columbine, With its cap and bells, for folly! And the daffodil, for the hopes of youth ! and the rue, For melancholy ! But of all the blossoms that blow, xii INTRODUCTORY NOTE Fair gallants all, I charge you to win, if ye may, This gentle guest, Who dreams apart, in her wimple of purple and gray, Like the blessed Virgin, with meek head bending low Upon her breast. For the orange flower Ye may buy as ye will : but the violet of the wood Is the love of maidenhood ; And he that hath worn it but once, though but for an hour, He shall never again, though he wander by many a stream, No, never again shall he meet with a flower that shall seem INTRODUCTORY NOTE xiii So sweet and pure ; and forever, in after years, At the thought of its bloom, or the fragrance of its breath, The past shall arise, And his eyes shall be dim with tears, And his soul shall be far in the gardens of Paradise, Though he stand in the shambles of death. I think there is a new generation of readers for poetry in this kind, and to them the book is commended. The author of Wishmakers' Town is the child of his period, and has not escaped the maladie du siecle. The doubt and pessimism that mark xiv INTRODUCTORY NOTE the end of the century find a voice in the bell-like strophes with which the volume closes. It is the dramatist rather than the poet who speaks here. The real message of the poet to man kind is ever one of hope. Amid the problems that perplex and discour age, it is for him to sing " Of what the world shall be When the years have died away." THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH. June, 1898. Wishmakers' Town i THE BELLS Voices I AWAKE! awake! All living things that be, In nest or fold ! All lives that solace take, And dreamful ease, in tent, or wind-blown tree, Or curtain'd couch, your wanderings forsake In the dim realms of unreality ! Awake, for shame Of languor's soft delight ! 2 WISHMAKERS' TOWN Lo, once again earth's heaving disk is roll'd In rosy flame, And through the camps of night, The flying Moon, beneath her splinter'd targe, Sore-stricken by the feather'd shafts of Dawn, And harried by her hounds, like Actaeon, Kneels, Stoops, and wheels Adown the western marge ! Awake to toil ! In wood, and rock-ribb'd hill, And loamy mead, What golden largess lies ! Awake to strife, and far-resounding deed, In love's sweet quest, or honor's high emprise, With trumpets blown, and clash of steed with steed ! WISHMAKERS' TOWN 3 Awake to care, And triumph's frequent foil ! But still pursue ! O hand with strength to take O dauntless heart, to suffer, and to dare O swerveless will, To bend, or else to break To life, to love, to conquest, and to spoil, Awake ! awake ! WISHMAKERS' TOWN II THE RINGERS CEE the world of dome and spire How it gleams, and glows, and glistens, In the Dawn's baptismal fire ! Whilst beneath us and around, Quicken'd by the rain of sound, Wakes the under-world, and listens. And the lark's far carol hear, In the pauses of our clamor; And the wheels, that far and near Now their droning rounds begin ; And the market's busy din; And the smiting of the hammer. WISHMAKERS' TOWN Ah, the morn that once I knew, "When, with sweeter rapture shaken, Sang the lark in yonder blue ! Sang, and soared, the while I waited For a sleeper, still belated, With the waking world to waken! 4 Retro, retro, Sathanas ! Vain unholy thoughts and fancies Backward, backward, blend and pass ! Heaven shield and keep us free From the wizard Memory, And his cruel necromancies ! WISHMAKERS' TOWN III THE STROLLERS Prologue people, before ye turn To your follies, and plots, and treasons, We pray you hear and behold The whimsical Masque of Man, Which shall here be acted and told By your servants yclept THE SEASONS, With its moral, which ye should learn, For sundry and divers reasons, And its melodies new and old, Discoursed by the Pipes of Pan. WISHMAKERS' TOWN For we hold it timely and meet, Thus, at the day's beginning, To ask, in a mode debarr'd To the pundits and the sages, "Whether the day's reward Be properly worth the winning In short, if ye will, to treat Of the current question of wages. 3 And so to your clemency Do we yield us and address us, With due humility; And he that is overwise As some of you needs must be In damning us shall bless us, For the opportunity To cavil and criticise. 8 WISHMAKERS' TOWN VERNALIS Pray you, now, in your dance and rhyme, Follow me deftly, in tune and time. .ffiSTIVUS And prithee, piper, lower thy key, Ever so little, if that may be. AUTUMNUS And mimic the windy woods and rills, As well thou mayest, with fewer trills. HIBERNUS And time thy measures and suit thy tones, Ever so little, to weary bones. OMNES Under the portals, and out, and in ! Now doth our roundel again begin. WISHMAKERS' TOWN IV THE CHILDREN TYTHO be these, in their strange array Green, and russet, and brown, and gray- Trick'd and tatter'd, and thus bedight, Making merry for our delight? Out of the pictures on page and wall, Come to revel or carnival ? Ho, for merry is he that leads, Puffing his cheeks on the tuneful reeds, And blowing and blowing with such a sound, That out of the air, and out of the ground, Birds and blossoms are whisk'd and whirl'd, In flocks and bevies, along the world ! io WISHMAKERS' TOWN Ho, and merry is he that goes Tripping the measure the piper blows ! But ever and ever with shorter strides, And panting, and holding his portly sides, And marching and mincing, as one who could Trip it forever, if but he would ! Nay, but merrier he, the next, Who listens and listens, as half perplext, And catches the measure, by times, per chance, And smiles, and simpers, and fain would dance, And halts, and hobbles, and limps, and sighs, And presses the kerchief against his eyes ! Trip, and amble, and shuffle past! Ho, but the merriest yet, and last! WISHMAKERS' TOWN n Trembling, tottering, how he feigns Ever to writhe with aches and pains! But well we know, by his beard of snow, Him of the holly and mistletoe! 12 WISHMAKERS' TOWN V THE MAIDENS 'T'EACH us, witch-wife, as we pass, How to read the mystic roses. Hold for us the magic glass, Which the coming face discloses. WISHMAKERS' TOWN 13 VI THE WITCH LJIM whose eyes rove everywhere, Like the moths that wheel and hover Pass him by, nor greatly care To be loved by such a lover. But for him whose knitted brows Frown, in scorn of love and laughter She who wins him for a spouse, Shall be spoken of hereafter. 14 WISHMAKERS' TOWN VII THE MAIDENS T">IM, the warning! Choose we, then, Each for each ; and, as a token, Let the numbered leaves, again, Answer, when the choice is spoken. BLUE EYES I a sailor's bride will be. And, at night, upon my pillow, The wind's voice shall seem to me As the roaring of the billow. WISHMAKERS' TOWN 15 BROWN EYES Pleasant be thy dreams, I pray. "With a merchant will I marry : Silks and pearls from far Cathay, Homeward all his ships shall carry. BLACK EYES And a soldier will I wed Bold in love, and stern in duty. When the tourney's lists are spread, He shall crown me Queen of Beauty. GRAY EYES Choose ye whom ye may and will ! Though the king himself implore me, I shall live unwedded still And your husbands shall adore me. 16 WISHMAKERS' TOWN VIII THE STUDENTS "DOR the Graces and the Muses, Mourners, we, whom Fate abuses! Yet, since woman now replaces Both the Muses and the Graces, Why not be content with her? Gaudeamus igitur! THE BOASTER Book-worm, hast thou naught but scorning For the blessings of the morning ? What avails it to be pat in Musty Greek, or monkish Latin ? WISHMAKERS' TOWN 17 Here are volumes yet unread. Heard'st thou what the Gray Eyes said? THE MOCKER Ay, and what a head she carries ! Woe, indeed, if e'er she marries! Sure, I fancy, such a creature, Trim of shape, and sleek of feature, Led the dances, on the heights Of the old Walpurgis nights. THE BOASTER Haply so ; but prithee ponder On her meeker sister, yonder. Sweet it were, with ardor burning, From far field or siege returning, With a soldier's tale to sue The fear-haunted Eyes of Blue. i8 WISHMAKERS' TOWN THE IDLER Sweet ! but sweeter yet, a rover, Heedless of both fame and trover, Over chartless seas to follow Summer, with the flying swallow, Glad, thro' Fortune's smile or frown, With the merry Eyes of Brown ! THE EXEMPLAR Only usefulness is beauty ; Yet, since marriage is a duty Yea, and since the eyes are witness To its fitness or unfitness, And my own some luster lack, I shall mate with Orbs of Black. THE BOASTER Where is he, who in derision Of the Gray first gave decision? WISHMAKERS' TOWN 19 THE IDLER Heed him not : 'tis but his fashion To decry the tender passion. THE EXEMPLAR Mark him, yonder, o'er the way, Bowing to the Eyes of Gray ! 20 WISHMAKERS' TOWN IX THE FLOWER-SELLER TUTYRTLE, and eglantine, For the old love, and the new ! And the columbine, With its cap and bells, for folly ! And the daffodil, for the hopes of youth ! and the rue, For melancholy ! But of all the blossoms that blow, Fair gallants all, I charge you to win, if ye may, This gentle guest, Who dreams apart, in her wimple of purple and gray, WISHMAKERS' TOWN 21 Like the blessed Virgin, with meek head bending low Upon her breast. For the orange flower Ye may buy as ye will : but the violet of the wood Is the love of maidenhood ; And he that hath worn it but once, though but for an hour, He shall never again, though he wander by many a stream, No, never again shall he meet with a flower that shall seem So sweet and pure ; and forever, in after years, At the thought of its bloom, or the fragrance of its breath, 22 WISHMAKERS' TOWN The past shall arise, And his eyes shall be dim with tears, And his soul shall be far in the gardens of Paradise, Though he stand in the shambles of death. WISHMAKERS' TOWN 23 THE TRIFLERS HE "DECAUSE thou wast cold and proud, And as one alone in the crowd, And because of thy willful and wayward look, I thought, as I saw thee above my book, " I will prove if her heart be flesh or stone." And in seeking thine, I have found my own. SHE Because thou wast proud and cold, And because of the story told That never had woman a smile from thee, 24 WISHMAKERS' TOWN I thought, as I glanced, " If he frown on me, Why, be it so! but his peace shall atone." And in troubling thine, I have lost my own. WISHMAKERS' TOWN 25 XI THE CONFIDANTE CAY, dost thou love him? O love, love, love ! How should I know what thy wild words mean? But dost thou love him? As God's above, The man I shall wed I have not yet seen ! But why, if yes, shouldst thou not con fess ? And why, if no, may I not deny? Or, whether the answer be no or yes, Wilt thou trust me no more, as in days gone by ? 26 WISHMAKERS' TOWN For why, but now, when I named his name The name that thy lips have learn'd to shun Was thy cheek, in hue, like the poppy's flame? And why dost thou dream in the noon-day sun? And sister, my sister for such thou art O, where dost thou walk, in the evenings dim? And why hast thou cast me out of thy heart? And, prithee, for whom, if not for him? O, sister, my sister, for wilt thou be, In truth, my sister? believe me well: That I hate myself and love but thee, Is the only secret I have to tell. WISHMAKERS' TOWN 27 XII THE MASKERS CO soon! so soon! Ah, go not yet! Alas, the day whereon we met! Accurst be he who doubts between The rose-leaf and the laurel green ! And yet, for him who doubts, 'tis plain The fairest rose might bloom in vain. Art thou so wise ? Then be it so ! Yet one last kiss! Ah, no! ah, no! 28 WISHMAKERS' TOWN No kiss, no kiss, to comfort me ? Think on the last I gave to thee ! Nor yet to hold thy hand in mine ? Farewell, farewell, without a sign ! And when to meet? Pray God, no more, On the dark river's hither shore ! Nor yet beyond? Ah, who shall tell? But, for this world, farewell, farewell ! WISHMAKERS' TOWN 29 XIII THE HAWKER , buy! Come, buy! Come, buy! Ho ! people of all degrees, And honors and dignities, And stations both low and high ! So that your purses be long, And the ring of your coin be true, There is never a wrong so wrong, That it shall not be reckon'd a right, At your behest, and for you The green shall be green, or be blue, And the blackest of black shall be white. 30 WISHMAKERS' TOWN For 'tis proper to woo, and to wed, And betimes to build castles in Spain And to see them demolish'd again And 'tis proper to bury the dead : And for all things under the sun, There hath been, and shall be a time, And a due and appropriate season. "For all things," said I? Save one! There is never a time for rhyme, And but seldom a season for reason : And ye, within sound of my voice, To whom Fortune the jade! hath been cold, In matters of love or ambition, Be advis'd, and before ye berate her, And consign yourselves straight to perdition, Entreat her again to a choice : But rely on a talisman greater Than reason, or rhyme to wit, GOLD. WISHMAKERS' TOWN 31 GOLD ! GOLD ! Though the poet may sing, And the moralist preach and proclaim, 'Tis the stuff that gives worth to the ring ; 'Tis the stuff that gives weight to the name. It shall bind it shall loose it shall break : It shall sunder the bridegroom and bride, And shall laugh at the bigots who chide : It shall pick it shall choose it shall take : It shall use, and refuse ; and the charms For which Merit and Virtue have striven, It shall give to the lecher's foul arms, If it will ! And, in fine, brief to tell, To have it, and hold it, is Heaven ! And to lack it, or lose it, is Hell ! But what ! do I hear you protest, 'Tis the want of the means to apply it. That robs my discourse of its zest? 32 WISHMAKERS' TOWN And for this have we churches, and schools, And a code that was specially plann'd For the definite purpose ! O fools ! For if poor, ye were wise to deny it Is there one of you here, as ye stand, Who hath not a friend, or a neighbor, With some little treasure in store Some pitiful profit of labor, Which is lonely and fruitless, unmated, And which, by the methods devis'd, May be legally aggregated, And properly capitalized ? Yea, saith not the Good Book itself And its language is not to be shaken, In the veriest tittle or jot Saith it not, on the subject of pelf, That he who hath, shall have more ; Whilst from him who hath not, That which he hath shall be taken? WISHMAKERS' TOWN 33 Wherefore, with traffic and barter, I bid you make haste to fulfill The Scriptural injunction; And to plunder, at your sweet will, Whilst ye quote from the recognized charter, With the proper degree of unction. 34 WISHMAKERS' TOWN XIV THE CONSCIENCE-KEEPER "DEPENT, O ye, predestinate to woe! 'Tis mine to cry albeit, well I wis, Ye may not heed. And ye, elect to bliss, Must e'en be saved, whether I cry or no. And yet, repent ! Repent ye, and atone, In either case. Forswear your wisdom's pride, And pray for faith though some must be denied ! Nor yet by prayer, nor yet by faith alone, WISHMAKERS' TOWN 35 But by your works, attest your penitence. Give to the poor! of whom ye see in me God's almoner and in your charity, Deign to forget not Peter and his pence. 36 WISHMAKERS' TOWN XV THE PRODIGAL pACH in his turn, good brother ! For I hold it a vicious practice For two of a trade to compete, Where the pickings, at best, are but small As here they seem. And the fact is That the odds are but prattle and pother, 'Twixt the beads that are sold in the street, And the beads that are told in the stall. For what hath the vender to vend, Save the remnants and tokens of blisses, To make the mouth water and pine? And what, though in absolute truth, WISHMAKERS' TOWN 37 The pledge be confirm'd, that is penn'd, And the next world be fairer than this is ? Yet, O, for the wine for the wine Of the glorious vintage of youth ! O, subtler and sweeter than honey ! Than the honey of storied Hymettus! O, rare as the perfumes of Ind ! "What to us were the raptures to be, Or the saddest of sins we have sinn'd, Or the sins that at present beset us, Or the want, or the worship of money, Dulcet wine, could we tarry with thee ? Woe is me ! But when spent is thy savor, We must needs be both sober and ruthful : And so, in my garments of sacking, Let me taste of the waters Divine ! 38 WISHMAKERS' TOWN Since their cheapness is now in their favor, And even though spice may be lacking, Were not veal, in its season, more toothful Than a handful of husks with the swine ! WISHMAKERS' TOWN 39 XVI THE WORKERS TJT7HAT is this, that we build? It is Wealth's strong tower: And, when it is finished, the people shall throng to see ; And the kings of the earth shall cringe be fore it, and cower Saith the master. Ay? But where, then, shall we be? 40 WISHMAKERS' TOWN XVII THE MONEY-CHANGERS TJ^HAT news from the East? Good news! The Venetian, again, In despite of the truce, hath been bow- string'd by the Turk. And the Pope and the Emperor, now, shall hardly abstain From the savory broil. There is like to be murderous work! And, moreover, 'tis said that in certain broad districts of France, Where the drouth hath prevail'd, there will scarce be a mouthful of bread, To the good square league. WISHMAKERS' TOWN 41 And, by those most observant, 'tis said Our own crops must be short ! Then, at once, we may look for advance Both in rates of per cent., and in prices of fuel and food ? Why, so I conclude, from the signs that at present appear ; And at once shall distrain on all forfeited bonds. God is good ! And to Him be the praise ! We have need of a prosperous year. 42 WISHMAKERS' TOWN XVIII THE CHESS-PLAYERS l^EIGHBOR of mine, no malice I bear, But pawns and pieces must earn their fare ; And time hangs heavy. So, red or white, Choose thy color, and pitch thy fight. Little the color concerneth me, But say now, what shall the wager be? Lands, or vassals, or good red gold ? Lands, I prithee ; and all is told. WISHMAKERS' TOWN 43 For quickly that which the coffer lacks May be recruited, with toll and tax ; And he that payeth the tax is thrall ; And the lord of the land is the lord of all. Good ! Have at thee ! And, overhead, Guard me Heaven, and help the Red ! And Thou, to the glory of whom I fight, Father of mercies, befriend the White ! WISHMAKERS' TOWN XIX THE PAWNS pRINCE, and Bishop, and Knight, and Dame, Plot, and plunder, and disagree ! O but the game is a royal game ! O but your tourneys are fair to see ! None too hopeful we found our lives ; Sore was labor from day to day ; Still we strove for our babes and wives Now, to the trumpet, we march away ! WISHMAKERS' TOWN 45 " Why ? " For some one hath will'd it so ! Nothing we know of the why or the where To swamp, or jungle, or wastes of snow Nothing we know, and little we care. Give us to kill! since this is the end Of love and labor in Nature's plan ; Give us to kill and ravish and rend, Yea, since this is the end of man. States shall perish, and states be born : Leaders, out of the throng, shall press ; Some to honor, and some to scorn: We, that are little, shall yet be less. Over our lines shall the vultures soar ; Hard on our flanks shall the jackals cry; 46 WISHMAKERS' TOWN And the dead shall be as the sands of the shore ; And daily the living shall pray to die. Nay, what matter! When all is said, Prince and Bishop will plunder still: Lord and Lady must dance and wed. Pity us, pray for us, ye that will ! WISHMAKERS' TOWN 47 XX THE GOSSIPS CO, the usurer's son hath return'd, and will take to himself a wife! Thou art bid to the feast, good neighbor? I cry thee mercy ! Not I ! There are those who have too much knowl edge of a certain page, in the life Of the bride, in the days of her girlhood. But by-gones should be gone by. " Of the bride," dost thou say ? Now truly, of her lord-and-master-elect, 48 WISHMAKERS' TOWN I have heard what is told from the house top ; but better the prodigal son, Than the daughter who hath a secret ! And would'st thou have me suspect ? Marry, go to! Shall I tell thee? But I charge thee repeat it to none. For marvelous strange is the story ; and great is its hero, forsooth ! And -well, of old, didst thou know him, in his student's cap, when he came, With his fellows, under the lindens and we thought him a callow youth ! And there it was that she met him and I leave thee to guess his name. And there it was that she met him how well I recall the morn ! WISHMAKERS' TOWN 49 And once but once from the volume, that seem'd his only delight, He look'd, and their cold eyes counter'd, with glances of equal scorn : And each in the self-same pathway wander'd, again, at night. But dost thou look for the wherefore, that made of the twain a pair? I can think of it but as the spirit that sets the lances a-tilt : Yet I count it a happy fortune and I would it were not so rare That matches the born deceiver with her that is born a jilt! Be that as it may, he was master though she ever denied the yoke But daily her glance was troubled, and her step grew feeble, and slow; 50 WISHMAKERS' TOWN Till what with the strain, or the chafing, the something that bound them broke: And, seeing him fain to desert her, she was fain to say to him, " Go ! " And she came to me, white from the struggle, for I was her dearest friend : But she stood before me defiant, though the salt-drop well'd in her eye; For pride was ever her failing and so it will be to the end ; And she told me the truth, in a measure ; and in part she told me a lie : And prank'd herself in her finest, and was gay, again, with the gay Bold, and simple, and subtle, and gay as never before ; WISHMAKERS' TOWN 51 Till the stale, lack-luster suitor, from the great house over the way, Nursing his kindred secret, in due time, came to the door. Came and while yet she ponder'd, a breath was blown from the wars Rumors of siege and conquest ; and the streets first thrill'd with the name That had once been hers in her fancy and we listen'd, under the stars, To the sound of the herald's trumpet the terrible trumpet of Fame. Then I, that -was witness, noted how the pale lips quiver'd and met, And the proud eye dimm'd, for a moment, with a moisture, never so slight; 52 WISHMAKERS' TOWN And I said, "It is wise, sweet sister; as thou art forgotten, forget!" And even for this wouldst thou think it? hath the vixen held me in spite. Yea, even for this ! But, God save us, I would that the words were unsaid ! And if, to thee, she was stainless, why let her be stainless still ! Nay, yet must I thank my Maker, who hath spared me the wish to wed. And I pray that their lives may be happy but that must be as it will. WISHMAKERS' TOWN 53 XXI HFHOUGH the roving bee, as lightly, Sip the sweets of thyme and clover, Though the moon of May, as whitely, Silver all the greensward over, Yet, beneath the trysting tree, That hath been which shall not be ! 54 WISHMAKERS' TOWN SHE Drip the viols, ne'er so sweetly, With the honey-dew of pleasure Trip the dancers, ne'er so featly, Through the old remembered measure, Yet, the lighted lanthorn round, What is lost shall not be found ! WISHMAKERS' TOWN 55 XXII THE PHILOSOPHERS THE PESSIMIST /"1OD of our fathers ! what monstrous birth Out of the loins of To-day shall spring, To trample the fruitful fields of earth, And pluck the flower, and wear the ring? For the parent barters the child for gold ; And the bidder bids with a jest and a leer ; And the shameless daughter is fain to be sold ; But he that buys her shall find her dear! 56 WISHMAKERS' TOWN And yet, what fitness what righteous grace, In such a union ! Since time began, The sexes have journeyed with equal pace, And the woman is still but the mate of the man ! THE OPTIMIST What does the cynic mutter about? Mark him there, in his sable gown, Like a specter, threading the rout, Ever with sidelong stare and frown ! Once, together, we woo'd a maid : " Which of the twain did her heart pre fer?" Deep, the riddle ! Our court we paid : Pale he turn'd, at her soft demur: WISHMAKERS' TOWN 57 Willy-nilly, I took the kiss ! Which is the richer, he or I ? Which of us will she mourn or miss, A day the longer, after we die ? THE NAMELESS Yonder is he, who taught me, first, The steps that lead to the pit of flame. Merry, the jest ! Be his soul accurst ! Lives he in honor, and I in shame ? And yonder, dreaming his one sad dream, Is he, with whom, in his robes of woe, Spake he the word, over death's dark stream, Willingly, gladly would I go. 58 WISHMAKERS' TOWN Lovers I count on my finger-tips ; Lives, like dice, for my smiles are thrown ; Still, forever, upon my lips, Burns the kiss I never have known ! WISHMAKERS' TOWN . 59 XXIII THE GIFT-BEARERS UEAR us, Dives ! Gifts we bring For thy first-born's christening. Hear! And these, our treasures, see! Nard, and all sweet spicery ! And the subtle frankincense, That shall woo and waft thee hence, Into regions long forbid To the dream-affrighted lid ! Breathe ! nor longer fear to dream, Lapsing with the lapsing stream 60 WISHMAKERS' TOWN Lapsing with the tide that ebbs, Till the shallops' sheeny webs Peer again above the blue, Steering, veering, and the hue Of the sapphire sea is blent With the sapphire firmament. Search, and sail, and tack, and veer ! Nay, the drowsy noon is near. What be these that float and lie Half in sea, and half in sky ? Islands, or the misty shapes Of the Cloud-land's phantom capes? Surely, surely, fairer, these, Than the far Hesperides ! Search, and find, and prove, and know ! Welcome weal or welcome woe ! Fear not thou the glimpses brief WISHMAKERS' TOWN 61 Of the vainly charted reef Nor the sea-shell, blown, for tryst, Through the languors of the mist Nor the navies, long unmann'd, Where they whiten on the strand Nor the veiling tresses, stirr'd With the song Ulysses heard. Grecian, Grecian, wast thou wise ? Passer with averted eyes ! Broken are the myths ; and fled, From Olympus, overhead, God and goddess ; yea, and these, Dwellers by the shoaling seas, Though they linger, linger still Charmers of the weary will, Whatsoever winds may blow Mortal, as thyself, we know. 62 WISHMAKERS' TOWN Mortal by the lips that pine! Neither demon, nor divine ! By the fervor of the kiss Yea, and dear because of this! By the transport of the tear And, because of this, more dear ! By all tokens sweet and fair By the bold limbs, flashing bare ! By the lock's dishevel'd curl ! By the parted teeth of pearl, With the beaker spill'd between, Rarer than the Hippocrene ! - Up ! the mazy dance is wound, To the viol's vibrant sound, And the cithern's smitten string; Faster, closer, pant and cling: Till the wheel within the wheel Of the brain begins to reel Till the heaving bosoms show, WISHMAKERS' TOWN 63 As they heave, and as they glow, Like the leper's spotted o'er; And the wine becomes as gore ; And the sick gorge quivers up, At the dregs within the cup ! Break, and blend, and fade, and change ! And, again, the streaming range Of the salt-waste, dipping far, To a night without a star ! And .flSolus, harping loud, On the sheet and on the shroud ! And Charybdis on the lee By the levin, dread to see Roaring through the cloudy rack ! Hark! And Scylla yelping back! Till, at last, upon the ken, Rimm'd with lifting lights again, 64 WISHMAKERS' TOWN Lo, the welcome, welcome shore ! Chasten'd spirit, fare no more : Scorn of self is noble scorn. Wake ! It is thy marriage-morn ! O, the censer's musky breath ! O, the bride who lingereth ! O, the chanting of the psalm ; And the organ's holy calm ; And the brides-maids pacing slow ; And the great bell, to and fro, Yearning, turning, till the word From the laggard lips be heard ! Doth she answer ? Lift the veil ! Marble ! marble, cold, and pale ! Stilly, faultless, chisel'd fine ! Claim thy purchase all is thine. Claim her ; use her to thy will. WISHMAKERS' TOWN 65 To thy kisses, marble, still ! Kisses neither met nor spurn'd, But received, and unreturn'd ! " Stilly, chilly, Death-in-Life, Who is he should call thee wife?" Doubling, troubling, damned doubt, Shall not searching find thee out ? In the speech, or in the glance ? In the features' stony trance ? Naught of pleasure, naught of pain ; Only passionless disdain ! Saving when the Springtime calls, From the wood beyond the -walls Then the answer in the eye, That forever looks thee by ! Then the tremor of the hand, That thou canst not understand ! Turn thee, turn thee ! Know, at last, Something fair is overpast 66 WISHMAKERS' TOWN Something ! reck not greatly what Here is other food for thought. Let thy latest love be told In the chime of gold on gold ! Hurry ! worry ! warp and weft, Spread the toils of thrift and theft; Parchment pit-falls, and the wiles Of the ledger's mouldy files. Garner malice, garner fear ; Yet the world shall hold thee dear. Garner envy, garner scorn Unto thee, a son is born ! " O, thou Blossom, dear above Every pledge of fancied love ! For, though loveless, shalt thou be Surety of the fruitful tree. Yet, I wonder, wilt thou list WISHMAKERS' TOWN 67 "When the ready curse is hiss'd At the breathing of my name ? Wilt thou praise, or wilt thou blame ? Wilt thou redden, cheek and brow? O, but love me ! only thou ! For my soul is sick of hate Comfortless, and desolate. Now for thee I heap and hoard." Bid the feasters to thy board ! Gather ! gather ! What is here ? Shapes of doubt, and shapes of fear Specters, laid with book and bell Madness, from its padded cell Lo, and here a throat that bleeds ! And the widow's scanty weeds, Ever closer wrapp'd and press'd, For a shelter, at her breast Round the something stark and wan That thou may'st not look upon ! 68 WISHMAKERS' TOWN Make obeisance, sigh, and glance ; Peep, and mutter, and advance ; Leer, and ogle, and retreat ; Hither, thither, cross and meet Brightest eyes may glimmer dull, From the sockets of a skull. Is not this a fit carouse, For the heir to such a house? Heir apparent, after thee, To this goodly company To the sharp-tooth'd rats that gnaw, Nightly, at the coffer's flaw ; And the look that stabs thee thus, Through the eyes of Lazarus ! Haste ! The turrets topple all, Reeling to their windy fall. Clatter ! chatter ! hands about ! Curvet in the ribald rout ! " Mercy ! " dost thou cry ! But, nay, WISHMAKERS' TOWN 69 Shall not JUSTICE have her day ? O, before the sands be run, Be the knavery undone ! From thee, from thee, rend and cast Like a garment, all the Past Garment, foul with smear and smutch ; And thy bony fingers' clutch Loosen! and thy bleeding nails, From thy bolts and from thy bales ! From the plunder of the hearth, From the acres of the earth, Hardly won, and gloated on, Through the dusk and through the dawn ! O, before the round be sped, To the quick, and to the dead, Yield, and render, and restore ! Peace! The bier is at the door. 70 WISHMAKERS' TOWN XXIV THE MOTHER TJT7HY did I bring thee, Sweet, Into a world of sin? Into a world of wonder, and doubt, With sorrow and snares for the little white feet Into a world, whence the going out Is as dark as the coming in ! WISHMAKERS' TOWN 71 XXV THE WANDERER TOINER, joining the oaken seam, * All so lonely, and dusty gray, Shaking thy head, in a waking dream, Where be thy fellows of yesterday? Past and gone from the trodden sill ; Each on his errand : and all for naught ! For men are coming and going still ; But still must the joiner's task be wrought. 72 WISHMAKERS' TOWN Why, well thou sayest, thou mournful wight ! But dost thou remember the students four, Who sang, of old, in the waning light Of the golden evenings, before thy door? And do I remember ? And wast thou one Of that boastful band? For mine eyes are dim. Nay ! for with tempest, and foreign sun, Scarr'd thou seemest, and swarth and grim ! And fair were they ; and they vowed their vows ; And the maidens listen'd, in hut and hall ; And still they talked, as they held carouse, Of what should happen and what befall : WISHMAKERS' TOWN 73 And one must rail at the miser's greed: And he of them, only, hath learn'd to hoard ! And one should win, with the poet's screed, What he hath won with the victor's sword ! And one should journey beyond the foam; And never his eyes beheld the sea ! And one of them, only, should bide at home ; And half I fancy that thou art he ! O vex thee not with the plans I plann'd; But tell me ! what of thy daughter fair? And wears she a ring on the lily hand, So smooth and slender beyond compare ? 74 WISHMAKERS' TOWN For here be jewels of East and West, And here be spoils of the Southern shell, Won, with danger, at love's behest, And who is the giver, her heart shall tell. Now what, to thee, is her lily hand? And what, to thee, was her love so dear? And how shall she care for thy jewels grand, Now that her coffin I fashion here? Why, truly, truly, if these things be, There is never a solace for those that roam, In all that their slumbering eyes may see, More false than the dreams of the coming- home. WISHMAKERS' TOWN 75 XXVI THE WATCHERS MAY, but hark ! Dost thou hear ? And again ! Like the sough of the wind ! Or the thunder! Or the steadily on-coming, gathering rush of the rain ! Or the surges that grind On the sheer Scarped cliffs of the main, With the hoarse caverns bellowing under! Yet at peace are the skies. 76 WISHMAKERS' TOWN -Yea, and fair Is the ripening earth. And behold ! Is yon but the creeper, that trails from the spur of the crag? But the ripple of crimson, that heralds the Autumn, and flies, With the raven and chough, from the vale- guarding crest of the wold? Nay! What, but the flare Of the death-dripping, wind-flutter'd flag, As it writhes, and advances, with tortuous fold upon fold ! To the gates ! to the gates ! It is he! It is he, who, in triumph, from fields red with slaughter and sown With the teeth of the Dragon fell pledges of harvests to be ! Now returns to his own ! WISHMAKERS' TOWN 77 And the profits we may not espy, But we welcome him back, with the brood of the Furies and Hates, That attend on his steps: and we know not the cause, but we cry, As to Csesar of old, Be our praise ! be our homage to thee! To the bells! Let them rock, let them reel, Over roof-tree and dome ! And the balconied gables, arow, Let them burgeon and blossom with stuffs of the Orient loom ! With the hues of the gardens of Schiraz ! And traffic, below, With its burdensome wheel, Let it cease from the pave, and make room For the march of the Brave ! For the multiple murmur that tells 78 WISHMAKERS' TOWN Of the march of the Brave, As it winds, as it sinks, as it swells, And resounds, and out-bursts in the cannon's far-shattering peal ! For behold where he comes! And the daughters of Beauty, unclad, Let them glimmer before him, with timbrel and tabor, and sing Of the fame of his deeds! Let us shout, let us leap, and be glad ! Thou hast conquered our foes ! Thou hast rid us of kings ! BE THOU KING i WISHMAKERS' TOWN 79 XXVII THE VICTOR TDLARE of trumpet, and roll of drum ! Hath the day of my fancy come? Dimly the house-tops seem to sway, Over the mile-long crowded way To the palace portals : and hark ! the cry, "Hail to the victor, who passes by!" 8o WISHMAKERS' TOWN Banner and pennon flutter red, Dyed with the blood that my hands have shed ; And red and white are the roses strewn Under my horse's silver shoon : But O, for the face that I do not see, In casement, or in balcony ! Hides she there, where the shadows lurk, Under the awnings of needle-work? Silent, and pale, with her white hands press'd Over the tumult of her breast? Stands she to gaze? And her eyes, forlorn, Look they in hatred, or pride, or scorn? WISHMAKERS' TOWN 81 Onward ! neither to left, nor right, Let me glance, in the rabble's sight! Neither by word nor sign, reveal The sad, sick brain, in the casque of steel ! Empty pageant, and passing show ! Thus doth the day of my fancy go! These, the guerdon of love's duress Pain, and peril, and weariness ! Better, mayhap, if the foeman's spear Under my cuirass were buried here ! Better, if now, through the gala town, Heralded thus, I were riding down, 82 WISHMAKERS' TOWN As the sweet Saints grant that I soon may ride, Shrouded, and shriven, and satisfied ! Yea, that I never had heard the cry, "Hail to the victor, who passes by!" WISHMAKERS' TOWN 83 XXVIII THE BELLS Voices i pORBEAR! forbear! The midges' dance is spun. O fool of Time, That, with thy puny powers, Did'st dream, within the circuit of the Sun, To prove the promise of our matin chime Thy task forswear, For lo, the darkness lowers! 84 WISHMAKERS' TOWN Thy task forswear, For lo, the day is done ! O, fool of Time Whose voice is one with ours ! The day is done ! Now quake with all thy fears. Thy soul, how often, to the passing bell, The pall, the plume, Hath falter'd forth in tears ! In sighs profound, And shudder'd ori the blast, Yea, but to think upon thy coming knell ! Now it doth sound! Are all thy terrors past? Now it doth sound ! Now yawns the vasty gloom ! WISHMAKERS' TOWN 85 And, tearless now, the brink thou dost not shun? O Riddle, deeper even than thy doom, What hope is thine, that thou dost smile at last? In vain is toil ! To sow, and not to reap ! The thankless earth Becomes the delver's grave. In vain is strife ! to win, and not to keep ! The trickster grasps the laurels of the brave ; And Craft, in turn, to Folly yields its spoil In vain is love ! To plight and then to part! And still to wear the galling mask of mirth ! To know the ill, all other ills above, That mocks the venom of the Slayer's dart, 86 WISHMAKERS' TOWN With subtler pain! O soul, fore-doomed from birth ! O toil-worn brain! O eyes, long used to weep! Yet now ye smile? Then we, too, are in vain! To sleep! to sleep! FINIS THE LIBRARY . UNIVERSITY OP CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES UCLA-Young Research Library PS3367 .W75 y L 009 621 394 7 UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY AA 001 244 764 5