,v
 
 Desire 
 
 New and Enlarged Edition 
 BY 
 
 CHARLOTTE EATON 
 
 AUTHOR OF 
 "A LAST MEMORY OF ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON" 
 
 Amor Vincit 
 
 NEW YORK 
 DUFFIELD & COMPANY 
 
 1918 
 
 i
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1904, BY 
 G. W. DILLINGHAM COMPANY 
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1918, BY 
 
 DUFPIELD & COMPANY 
 
 All rights reserved
 
 Contents 
 
 The Real Lover . 
 Love Transcendent 
 My Inspiration .. 
 An Explanation . 
 Love's Trilogy .. 
 Love's Prophecy . 
 
 PAGE 
 
 . 5 
 
 . 7 
 
 . 8 
 
 . 9 
 
 . 11 
 
 . 13 
 
 The Jewel 15 
 
 Song of Psappha ... 16 
 
 Attraction 18 
 
 Meditation The Mirror . 19 
 
 Meditation The Bath . 21 
 
 Love's Enchantment . . 23 
 
 Charmides 24 
 
 Adulation 25 
 
 Love's Magic .... 26 
 
 Perfect Love .... 27 
 
 The Perfect Peace . . 28 
 
 The Wish 29 
 
 Charmides 30 
 
 Song of the Body ... 31 
 
 Song of the Spirit ... 33 
 
 Aspasia's Dream ... 35 
 
 Reconciliation .... 36 
 
 Deidre 37 
 
 Song of Affinity ... 38 
 
 Ecstacy 42 
 
 Song of Gratitude ... 44 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Your Worth 46 
 
 A Toast 47 
 
 The Echoing Song . . 48 
 
 The Soul's Reunion . . 49 
 
 The Ashes of Rhodope . 50 
 
 Love's Weapon .... 51 
 
 The Transformation . . 52 
 
 The Voluptuary .... 53 
 
 To a Prostitute .... 55 
 
 The Athlete 56 
 
 Night-on-the-Waters . . 58 
 
 A Realisation .... 60 
 
 The Wooing .... 61 
 
 Love's Rapture .... 62 
 
 Love That Is Exhaustless 67 
 
 The Kiss 68 
 
 Love's Tutelage ... 69 
 
 A Prayer 70 
 
 Advice to a Maiden . . 71 
 
 True Love's Ambition . . 72 
 
 My Love's Picture ... 73 
 
 Rapture 74 
 
 The Fulness of Love . . 75 
 
 Memories 77 
 
 A Sigh 78 
 
 The Charmed Voice . . 79 
 
 Reflection 80 
 
 2135389
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Unspotted from the World 81 
 The Banner of Love . . 82 
 Song Separation ... 83 
 
 Affinity 87 
 
 Love's Assurance ... 88 
 The Soul Invincible . . 89 
 Winged Thoughts ... 90 
 Love's Harvest .... 91 
 To My Own Soul ... 92 
 
 Telepathy 93 
 
 Love Not a Chimera . . 94 
 
 Immortality 95 
 
 Love's Interchange . . 96 
 A Scene Revisited ... 97 
 
 In the Fog 99 
 
 Phantasma 101 
 
 Unrest 103 
 
 Longing 104 
 
 Psappha's Jewel Song . 105 
 Psappha's Dying Song . 107 
 
 An Inquiry 109 
 
 The Heart's Questions . 110 
 Heart Sickness .... Ill 
 Love's Anticipation . . .112 
 
 Forsaken 113 
 
 The Blind Peddler . . .115 
 The Love-Letter .... 117 
 
 The Retort 118 
 
 Futurition 120 
 
 Meditation 122 
 
 Heart Hunger .... 124 
 Self-Conquered . . . 125 
 
 Questions 126 
 
 The Book of Rumi . . .127 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The Flower of Silence . 128 
 
 Vespers 129 
 
 The Return 131 
 
 Absence 133 
 
 Despondency 134 
 
 Song Separation . . . 135 
 
 The Heart Triumphal . . 136 
 
 Renunciation .... 137 
 
 Song 138 
 
 Beings 139 
 
 Earth-Children .... HI 
 
 A Question 143 
 
 The Soul's Answer . . . 143 
 
 Desertion 144 
 
 Inspiration 145 
 
 Song 146 
 
 Onward 147 
 
 On a Line by Robert Louis 
 
 Stevenson 148 
 
 From the Past .... 150 
 
 The Neglected Lover . . 151 
 
 The Separation .... 152 
 The Fulfilment . . . .153 
 
 Repudiation 154 
 
 A Need 156 
 
 Song Weariness . . . 157 
 
 Despair 158 
 
 The Inner Life .... 159 
 
 Compensations .... 160 
 
 Introspection .... 161 
 
 A Cry 162 
 
 Complaint and Answer . 163 
 
 Heart-break 164 
 
 Tranquillity 166
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 Silence ....... 167 
 
 Lament of a Modern Sara 168 
 Love's Masquerade . . . 170 
 
 Meditation 171 
 
 Repletion ..... .173 
 
 Recognition . . . 
 A Visitation . . . 
 Strength in a Name 
 Love's Supremacy . 
 Joy 
 
 174 
 175 
 177 
 178 
 179 
 Wounded . 180 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Dissolution 182 
 
 Life and Death . . . .183 
 Noon-day and Night . . 184 
 To a Disembodied Soul . 185 
 Sclf-Reliance .... 187 
 
 A Cry i 89 
 
 Reverie 191 
 
 A Privilege 194 
 
 The Heart's Epithalamium 196 
 Song of Solitude . . .197
 
 Desire 
 
 THE REAL LOVER 
 
 SUCH fancies as spring from a look, a chance meet- 
 ing, or a conversation snatched in a crowd, 
 
 That often masquerade in love's name, wearing love's 
 honors 
 
 (While each in reality remains ignorant of the true 
 nature of the other), 
 
 Contain no more of love in the eyes of the real lover, 
 
 Than mere compliment can be said to contain sin- 
 cerity. 
 
 Because love, as it is understood by the real lover, 
 
 Is born of the knowledge of the character and the 
 appreciation of the highest qualities of the 
 loved one; 
 
 For as no plant springs suddenly into existence, 
 
 5
 
 6 THE REAL LOVER 
 
 But must first germinate in the soil, putting forth 
 its tender foliage before it can blossom; 
 
 So is the love in the heart of the real lover a product 
 of time, like the flower, 
 
 And this love, once conceived, endures through sepa- 
 ration, 
 
 And is often tested by tears and long anguish of 
 waiting.
 
 LOVE TRANSCENDENT 
 
 HAPPINESS that word conveys no idea of the joy 
 that each senses in the presence of the other, 
 
 It is more it is the fulfilment of that which God saw 
 when He created man and woman. 
 
 A power that is as strong as the law of gravitation 
 or of separation, 
 
 As resistless as the coming in of the tide, 
 
 As necessary as the turning of the earth upon its 
 axis, 
 
 It is the perfection of that harmony in which is en- 
 folded all the harmonies of the life of the 
 Universe, 
 
 That law of love that is its own explanation, and 
 that rules all infinity, 
 
 Before which every human substitute has no weight 
 or reality. 
 
 7
 
 MY INSPIRATION 
 
 You are the breath I take, 
 The thoughts that fill me, 
 The joy that sustains me 
 
 The hope that makes strong my hand in the hour of 
 trouble ; 
 
 You are the lantern guiding me, 
 The compass controlling me, 
 The endeavor that quickens the heart that radiates 
 
 its vitality through me, 
 You are the vision that appraises me of the beauty 
 
 of the things of the earth, 
 And the voice that interprets their purport, 
 And being baptized of the spirit 
 You are the aspiration within me, for the limitless 
 life of the spirit. 
 
 8
 
 AN EXPLANATION 
 
 SOMETHING special and precious, 
 
 Like a separate radiance permeating the hours of 
 
 the day; 
 Something personal, indivisible, yet in reality acting 
 
 upon all, 
 Something that gives zest to the common acts of life, 
 
 making them easier and lighter, 
 That removes all fear from the heart, making the 
 
 mere act of being a delight, 
 Something that imparts a tone to the voice that 
 
 makes others listen more attentively, 
 And an expression to the eyes that holds their eyes 
 
 captive, bright with an asking look, 
 Something that arrests the dream of the sceptic 
 
 even at the height of his illusion, 
 And before which the gold of Plutus becomes less 
 
 essential in his eyes, less satisfying, 
 9
 
 10 AN EXPLANATION 
 
 Something invincible, impregnable, alluring, fasci- 
 nating, 
 
 Supreme in itself, ready to stand against anything, 
 
 Something calm, with the elemental calm, and strong 
 with the elemental strength, 
 
 This is what love is oh Bilito.
 
 LOVE'S TRILOGY 
 
 I LOVE you with the love of the body ; 
 For dear to me above all else is your physical being, 
 The look in the calm eyes that transports me with 
 
 gladness, 
 
 And the smile on the warm lips that reveales the kind- 
 ness of the heart. 
 
 I love you with the love of the intellect; 
 For as the waters of a running brook become lucid to 
 
 the sunbeam, 
 So are your brooding thoughts as crystal to my 
 
 seeing, 
 
 And as dew upon the parched face of the prairies, 
 So in you do I find rest and sweet renewal. 
 
 11
 
 12 LOVE'S TRILOGY 
 
 I love you with the love of the spirit ; 
 That hints of the joy of the earth-life, making it 
 
 perfect and satisfying, 
 And being aware of love's purport, explains the long 
 
 vista of eternity making that also perfect 
 
 and satisfying.
 
 LOVE'S PROPHECY 
 
 BY so many subtle ways shall I hold myself in your 
 
 remembrance, 
 That unconsciously the essence of my thoughts shall 
 
 penetrate to your heart, 
 And entering, shall be projected like the blood 
 
 through every fibre, 
 So that, as easily as you breathe, you will come to 
 
 love me, 
 
 And from far away you will seek me, 
 And you will kneel before me, resting your head upon 
 
 my knees, as of old, yet differently, 
 And your voice will be gentle, your touch tender, and 
 
 your eyes watchful for my well-being, 
 And again our lips will meet in a long kiss, but that, 
 
 too, will be different; 
 13
 
 14 LOVE'S PBOPHECY 
 
 And not until that day is life in its fulness possible to 
 
 either, 
 For only after separation, through infinite faith and 
 
 endurance, 
 Can the human heart enter into the knowledge of its 
 
 birthright of earthly joy.
 
 THE JEWEL 
 
 Kiss my hand again with rapture, Charmides, 
 
 Holding my fingers close to your warm lips, breathing 
 sweetly upon them; 
 
 For in this, more than in precious gifts, do I feel the 
 love of your strong heart for me, 
 
 And know myself to be happier than they who, lack- 
 ing such homage, 
 
 Have worn upon their fingers the large white gem 
 of the Orient. 
 
 15
 
 I LOVE you passionately! 
 
 I love you as I love the sun overhead, 
 
 The earth underfoot, 
 
 The flowers that spring out of the earth, 
 
 The fresh breezes of the sea, 
 
 The morning star, gold-fluctuating Venus, 
 
 Or calm white steadfast Jupiter. 
 
 I love you passionately! 
 
 The brawny beautiful arms made for enfolding, 
 The eyes brown and limpid, brimming over with 
 sweetness. 
 
 It is necessary to me that your heart beats, 
 And that you inhale with conscious pleasure the soft 
 spring air, 
 
 16
 
 SONG OF PSAPPHA 
 
 That you love light, color, action, and are ambitious, 
 That you love the beauty of the human face and 
 
 form, 
 
 And portray them both with mastery; 
 That you grasp that which is not graspable by all, 
 And know that which is not knowable to all; 
 That you have eyes for a purpose, 
 A heart for a purpose, 
 And an inquisitive soul for a purpose.
 
 ATTRACTION 
 
 WHEN you caressed me, I .felt the leaning of the 
 
 heart in the touches, 
 And when you held me to you, my heart went out 
 
 to you and enwrapt you. 
 And when you kissed me, there thrilled through me 
 
 that joy that is wordless like the singing 
 
 of the spirit. 
 
 18
 
 MEDITATION THE MIRROR 
 
 SOMETIMES catching a glimpse of myself nude, in the 
 
 mirror, 
 I am arrested, struck by the line of the shoulders, 
 
 neck or bosom 
 And I gaze intently, becoming absorbed, lost in 
 
 visions of the Figurines of Tanagra, 
 And I dream of the days of Psappha and her com- 
 rade, Bilitis, 
 And the later days of Aspasia, loved of Pericles, 
 
 honored of Phidias ; 
 Virile days when physical defect was held an offense 
 
 equal almost to crime; 
 And I remember also the aerial altitudes of the figures 
 
 in the frescoes of Pompeii, 
 19
 
 20 MEDITATION THE MIRROR 
 
 And I realize more fully that no man of unchaste 
 thought of the human form could have so de- 
 lightfully portrayed it 
 
 And I adjust the mirror to reflect my body as I 
 assume poses like those of the crouching 
 Venuses of Naples, 
 
 Exclaiming to myself and admiring, forgetful that it 
 is my own image that is before me, 
 
 For the strong impersonal emotion of the artist is 
 upon me and I am happy.
 
 MEDITATION THE BATH 
 
 WITHOUT aid of soaps, or sweet-smelling lotion, 
 Each day do I bathe in the clear Croton water, 
 Remaining submerged for long, that my body may 
 
 absorb its invigorating properties, 
 Stretched at ease singing to myself or exercising 
 
 for mere delight in untrammelled action ; 
 After which I walk, breathing deeply the fresh air, 
 
 caring not whither I go, 
 Or sit meditating, the sunshine playing upon my 
 
 loosened hair ; 
 
 And thus do I pass my time, careless of those intel- 
 lectual pursuits that once engrossed me, 
 For although he whom my soul loves is an adept in 
 
 many arts, 
 Understanding well the euphonistic tongues of the 
 
 Orient 
 
 21
 
 22 MEDITATION THE BATH 
 
 And fain would I converse comprehensively with him 
 
 on these subjects, 
 Yet well do I know that neither skill, acquirement, 
 
 nor any native excellence, 
 Can prevail over the heart of man like the possession 
 
 of physical beauty.
 
 LOVE'S ENCHANTMENT 
 
 I WILL kiss you into forgetfulness of the love of the 
 past, and all that pertains to it, 
 
 So that your heart will bound only to the joys of the 
 hour, and the thought of the days to come. 
 
 I will kiss you till the promise on the lips of all others, 
 
 however abundant, 
 Will be as substantial as the thistledown that falls 
 
 upon the running stream. 
 
 And I will commune with you so subtly that, at last 
 knowing me as your counterpart, 
 
 Your spirit will clothe me in its native beauty as my 
 lips cover you with fervent kisses. 
 23
 
 CHARMIDES 
 
 TURN your sweet eyes to me again, Charmides, 
 That I may see the keen delight within them, 
 That satisfies the craving of my heart 
 That so dispels my loneliness of spirit. 
 
 Speak tenderly to me again, Charmides, 
 That I may drink the words like limpid waters, 
 And thrill to their intent as old as song 
 And glow with the response as old as fable. 
 
 Hold me against your heart again, Charmides, 
 Close, close, beyond all protest or resistance, 
 'Till spent with joy I sink away in sleep, 
 Your lips still breathing warm upon my bosom. 
 
 M
 
 ADULATION 
 
 EVERY attribute in you is delightful to me, 
 
 When you stand or sit before me, it is a compliment, 
 
 and every word and act of service, glorious ; 
 Yet though my thoughts caress you, and every fibre 
 
 in me throbs to feel your kisses, 
 Still must I feign indifference and seem reluctant; 
 For, she who loves must needs be wise, 
 Nor spoil by eagerness man's joy in wooing. 
 
 25
 
 LOVE'S MAGIC 
 
 I WILL redeem you from the slough of Mortality that 
 
 enslaves you, 
 Whispering of hope that lies beyond its portals. 
 
 I will reclaim you from the chill of the kiss of the 
 
 loveless, 
 I will wrap you in tenderness with joy I will exalt 
 
 you. 
 
 And I will impart to you the clue that unkeys the 
 
 wells of knowledge, 
 And together we will drink their sweets that are ex- 
 
 haustless. 
 
 26
 
 PERFECT LOVE 
 
 ONE memory, like a fragrance about me your love, 
 One beauty, like an ornament upon me your love, 
 One strength, like a greatness within me your love. 
 
 One belief born of these three: 
 
 That love is imperative in the life of this earth, 
 
 A necessary part of its usefulness, and not an illusion. 
 
 One aim, to make so perfect love's responses 
 That the meeting of our lips will be the brimming of 
 life's fulness. 
 
 27
 
 THE PERFECT PEACE 
 
 As a sea-gull, after long flight, rests upon the face 
 
 of the moving waters, 
 So, after doubt, is my heart resting in the joy of 
 
 the knowledge of your love. 
 
 And as Jupiter shines in a sky too luminous to re- 
 veal his myriad attendants ; 
 
 So the memory of you is as a pearl in the silence of 
 my soul, serene and uncompanioned. 
 28
 
 THE WISH 
 
 I WILL ask no more in the life of this earth, 
 
 Than to behold the sweet eyes of him whom my soul 
 
 loves 
 
 Neither will I strive after any secret desire, 
 The warm breath on his lips will suffice me, 
 For words are as vain as the dust-wreaths of the 
 
 desert, 
 And desires are as phantoms that lead to despair and 
 
 emptiness. 
 
 29
 
 CHARMIDES 
 
 FOLD your arms around me and draw me to you, 
 
 Charmides ! 
 
 As in days past, against your heart, securely, 
 Till the memory of the tragedy of the years has 
 
 become obliterated, 
 And the fear of the realm of indifference that engulfs 
 
 me. 
 
 Fold your arms around me and draw me to you, 
 
 Charmides ! 
 And let your lips pass with rapture over my face, and 
 
 downward to my bosom, 
 That I may realize the passion of love in your heart, 
 
 and its culmination. 
 30
 
 SONG OF THE BODY MEDITATION 
 
 How wonderful are you, oh my body ; 
 
 As a temple well builded and garnished are you, oh 
 
 my body. 
 Reclining in a dim light I saw your emanations and 
 
 they were lustrous, 
 
 Surrounding me as an aura of light that was liquid, 
 And I rejoiced in you exceedingly, oh my body, a 
 
 strong exaltation possessing me, 
 For the miracle of the life in you and about you was 
 
 upon me, and I communed with you, saying, 
 Oh words, that go out of the mouth creating a sep- 
 arate kingdom for the spirit ; 
 Oh thoughts, floating silently about you, attracting 
 
 those responses that are of the affinity, 
 Oh feet, impatient and wary, eager in the pursuit of 
 
 the things that are material, ever hastening, 
 31
 
 32 SONG OF THE BODY MEDITATION 
 
 Oh hands, companions in labor, what from the 
 thoughts and the words, from the comings 
 and the goings, are you preparing for me, 
 and for those whom I love both in the seen 
 and in the unseen? 
 
 But now I am satisfied, I will doubt no more, nor 
 question, but pass onward marvelling, and 
 meditating, 
 
 For nothing is stranger than you, in your activity, 
 oh my body, 
 
 And nothing is more mysterious than you, in your 
 aura, oh my body, 
 
 And nothing is more wonderful than you, in your 
 aspirations, oh my spirit.
 
 SONG OF THE SPIRIT MEDITATION 
 
 I WILL make merry in the possession of my body, 
 joying in its comeliness, 
 
 On draughts of fresh air I will fatten, in the clear 
 waters of the stream I will intoxicate my- 
 self, 
 
 I will delight in the things that are of the body, the 
 kisses from the lips of my lover, the love-em- 
 brace as pure and as essential, 
 
 Refreshing as sea-mists to the temples, delicious as 
 sunshine upon the cheeks, 
 
 I will sing praises for the soul that is in the body, 
 that it is susceptible of change, capable of 
 growth, leaning after righteousness, 
 
 I will seek the humility that is born of the pursuit of 
 wisdom, and the glory that comes of the ful- 
 ness of man's patience, 
 33
 
 34 SONG OF THE SPIRIT MEDITATION 
 
 I will absorb the laws that are eternal and edifying, 
 till all discord and negation fall away from 
 me, defeated, 
 
 I will live freely in the faith that is boundless, await- 
 ing the baptism that is the strength of the be- 
 lieving, 
 
 I will make merry in the possession of my body, joy- 
 ing in its comeliness, v 
 
 On draughts of fresh air I will fatten, in the clear 
 waters of the stream I will intoxicate myself 
 
 For the joys of the life of the body are as the door- 
 ways to the joys of the life of the spirit, 
 
 In their perfection is evolved the birth of the spirit, 
 and the knowledge of the beauty of God's 
 handiwork.
 
 ASPASIA'S DREAM 
 
 WITH rhythmic steps to the sound of music I ap- 
 proach the foot-lights and look out upon a 
 sea of eager faces, 
 
 And I note the effect the illusion of beauty produces, 
 the low murmur of applause, the subdued 
 breathings of swift surprise, 
 
 And I feel the force of the sense-thought that ani- 
 mates them, and I thrill in every fibre in re- 
 sponse to it; 
 
 Yet remembering you, my beloved, I send a prayer 
 inward to my own heart, speaking silently, 
 saying, 
 
 Oh soul, if first you are unable to charm by the joy 
 of the great love that rules you, 
 
 Then this homage that is rendered to the outward, 
 is nothing, 
 
 For the form of clay that captivates the eye only is, 
 of itself, a shadow. 
 35
 
 RECONCILIATION 
 
 I KISSED him on the lips long and tenderly, 
 He because of old hurts protesting somewhat, 
 I, my hand firmly upon his neclc, insisting, 
 Joyful at the renaissance of love surging within him. 
 
 36
 
 DEIDRE 
 
 I SAW in a dream Deidre, the king's daughter, stand- 
 ing at the edge of the enchanted forest ; 
 
 And upon her shoulder was perched the young god 
 Eros, his invisible wings enfolding her, whis- 
 pering of Nathos, 
 
 And while she cast wistful looks backward, remem- 
 bering the past, she yet listened consentingly 
 to his beseechments 
 
 And I saw expressed in her attitude the desire that 
 is the dream of every maiden, the longing for 
 the nuptial, and the far-away lure that is 
 Mother-hood. 
 
 And she was beautiful as she stood thus, uncon- 
 sciously typifying the three ruling passions 
 of the heart. 
 
 37
 
 SONG OF AFFINITY 
 
 OH my beloved ! 
 You are as comforting to my vision 
 
 As a wheat-field undulating to a soft breeze, 
 And gaily decked with scarlet poppies, 
 
 The modesty and perfume of the wild Chieranthus 
 is in your voice, 
 
 And the rich velvet of its petals is in your eyes. 
 
 II 
 
 Oh my beloved! 
 To-day when we met by accident 
 
 on the crowded thoroughfare, 
 
 My spirits went bounding upward like a rocket, 
 Whose many-colored sparks breaking forth at the 
 last, 
 
 38
 
 SONG OF AFFINITY 39 
 
 Were like the laughter of my soul 
 In the satisfaction of beholding you. 
 
 Ill 
 
 As the red Nymphia of Egypt droops, lacking water, 
 So was I perishing from need of you. 
 
 IV 
 
 For you contain all that is necessary to my well- 
 being 
 In thoughts, tastes, pursuits, antipathies, 
 
 Complementing and completing my own disposition, 
 Charming and satisfying me with youth, strength, 
 Symmetry of body, simplicity of manner, 
 
 and captivating courtesy, 
 And all those subtler qualities 
 
 That make for an ideal manhood. 
 
 Oh my beloved ! 
 
 Not only do you appeal to the eyes and to the senses, 
 But also do you delight apd feed the cravings of 
 the soul
 
 40 SONG OF AFFINITY 
 
 By the searching after a higher understanding 
 
 Of beauty in its various phases, 
 And the attitude you assume toward life, 
 
 Absorbing only that which is perfect and spiritual, 
 Separating the superfluous from that which is alone 
 helpful and abiding. 
 
 VI 
 
 Oh my beloved! 
 Do you not feel that in me 
 
 Which responds to you at every point 
 Quiescent, it may be, 
 
 But only waiting to be called into existence, 
 Not love physical, the attraction of the sexes, 
 
 (Though that were not altogether wanting) 
 But that sweet unity of spirit 
 
 Without which life contains no real gladness, 
 An equal and free companionship, 
 
 Giving all, accepting all, having no fear, 
 Coming into knowledge, wisdom, appreciation to- 
 gether, 
 
 Being all things one to the other, 
 Differing, but ever merging.
 
 SONG OF AFFINITY 
 
 vn 
 
 OH my beloved! 
 Like the wind rippling untrammelled over the 
 
 wheat-field, 
 
 So would I caress you. 
 As the poppy glorifies the uniformity of its gold, 
 
 So would I rejoice your heart, 
 As abundant water is to the red Nymphia, 
 
 So would my love for you strengthen and refresh 
 you.
 
 ECSTACY 
 
 OH, these ecstacies that come upon me, 
 
 These delights of the spirit ! 
 
 After communing with strong inspirational beings 
 A long time, in silence I sit, the hours drifting onward 
 
 unheeded, 
 
 Enjoying the laughter within me, 
 Surging through me like music. 
 The past stretching outward, a mirage, whose secret 
 
 is mastered, 
 No pang of regret for its failures, its throes or 
 
 impellings, 
 These too, but a part of the laughter refining the 
 
 senses, 
 These but the tests and the plumbings to temper, not 
 
 conquer. 
 
 42
 
 ECSTACY 
 
 43 
 
 I look on the populous city, its surging endeavor 
 Where souls are submerged in the ceaseless uproar of 
 
 its traffic, 
 The shriek of the derrick, the sound of the rivet, the 
 
 tumult, 
 
 And all its activities hint at, of temporal power, 
 Each striving beneath some illusion of personal 
 
 profit. 
 And I wonder what these things avail, if the heart 
 
 lack its gladness, 
 If holding all riches man fails of the joy of the 
 
 spirit?
 
 SONG OF GRATITUDE 
 
 I THANK God, rejoicing in my heart! 
 
 That I, who spend my days among the brambled 
 byways of the world, 
 
 Should have come upon you, who are of the first mag- 
 nitude among human stars; 
 
 And for those calamities that caused my feet to turn 
 into the obscure byways 
 
 Wherein, by solitude and chastisement, I was made 
 ready to receive you, 
 
 I thank God, rejoicing in my heart, 
 
 And for that in me, whatever it be, that attracted 
 you to me, 
 
 And caused your eyes to rest upon me with love in 
 them, 
 
 I thank God, rejoicing in my heart; 
 
 And for every tender thought that included me, 
 
 44
 
 SONG OF GRATITUDE 45 
 
 Holding me within the sweetness of its radius, 
 
 I thank God, rejoicing in my heart. 
 
 For the inspiration of the knowledge of your exist- 
 ence, 
 
 And the power to comprehend the quality that com- 
 poses you, 
 
 Is a proof of His loving kindness, 
 
 And every moment spent in your presence, 
 
 And every thought of you that lingers in my memory 
 after your departure, 
 
 Is an imperishable jewel dropped from His fingers.
 
 YOUR WORTH 
 
 YOUR words are as a gateway of new life to my body, 
 Discovering vast store-houses of earth's inexhaustible 
 
 treasure ; 
 And your eyes are as the heavens that enfold and- 
 
 sustain me, 
 For in their radiance my spirit floats and is satisfied 
 
 forgetting all self-hood. 
 46
 
 A TOAST 
 
 YOUR lips that for me contain all the sweetness of 
 
 the world! 
 Your eyes that hold within them all the light of the 
 
 world ! 
 And the love of your heart that is my refuge against 
 
 all the storms of the world. 
 47
 
 THE ECHOING SONG 
 
 'As the Bobolink sings out of the fulness of his heart 
 Joyously, for the mere delight of singing, unmindful 
 
 of answer or of praise, 
 
 So will I sing to you, out of the fulness of my love, 
 Even though your jewel heart persuades itself that 
 
 it is indifferent to me; 
 But others, far away in this land, and in distant 
 
 lands, 
 Will acknowledge in rny words the sweetness and the 
 
 endurance of love, 
 And they will be more valiant, more verile because 
 
 of my love for you, 
 
 Girding their lips with my eloquence in their wooing. 
 So will my singing contain more than the joy of the 
 
 song, 
 For it will run like a golden thread through time 
 
 (after I have ceased singing) 
 Touching into melody the lives of many who will 
 
 bless me. 
 
 4S
 
 THE SOUL'S REUNION 
 
 WHAT delight, after the long separation, 
 The meeting of our eyes, the tones of your voice, and 
 the caress in the warm touches ! 
 
 What joy, after the long emptiness, 
 The cup brimming over, each drop like a pearl, fresh 
 from deep sea recesses! 
 
 What calm, after the long unrest, 
 The renewal of life, the repletion, the continual 
 oneness ! 
 
 49
 
 THE ASHES OF RHODOPE 
 
 As Rhodope cast herself into a tomb of ashes, 
 So that no man might look upon her rose-sweet face 
 
 in the decline of its beauty, 
 So would I destroy these, my songs, that are as the 
 
 flower of me, at your command oh Bilito! 
 And bereft, take up the inarticulate life assigned me, 
 With its consuming silence, as bitter as the ashes of 
 
 Rhodope oh Bilito! 
 
 As bitter as the ashes of Rhodope oh Bilito! 
 
 60
 
 LOVE'S WEAPON 
 
 As Penthesilea lay wounded by the spear of Achilles, 
 For her audacious pride in matching her strength 
 
 against his, 
 And only then, in her weakness, did he look upon her 
 
 with longing 
 
 So, despite my vaunted strength was I vanquished, 
 But it was not with spear, or any cruel war imple- 
 ment, 
 
 But with the tender hand of a babe that you pierced 
 my heart Bilito. 
 
 51
 
 THE TRANSFORMATION 
 
 As the wand of Titania, 
 
 Whose touch made real the treasured dreams of the 
 
 fancy, 
 
 So is the magic of your kiss 
 For with your kiss upon my lips, 
 The old earth and the old heavens have passed away, 
 And a new futurity takes shape before me, 
 And I laugh at weakness, pain, and grief, as though 
 
 they were not. 
 
 52
 
 THE VOLUPTUARY 
 
 I LOOKED in the face of the Voluptuary, 
 
 The coarse red flesh, huge jaw, blear eyes, the edges 
 
 of the eye-lids swollen, 
 The great body bent towards me, desiring me, the 
 
 hands soft, the palm lines broken, 
 And I talked with him on equal terms, on the themes 
 
 that most appealed to him. 
 And I saw that he had no conception of hapjpness 
 
 beyond the gratifying of the senses, 
 And that nothing was sacred in his eyes, because all 
 
 things appeared to him through this medium, 
 And that when no longer engrossed by the questions 
 
 relating to the brute nature, 
 His eyes wandered, his fingers drummed upon the 
 
 table, he was distrait, ill at ease. 
 And I saw that all the beauty of the world had no 
 
 actual existence for him, 
 53
 
 54 THE VOLUPTUARY 
 
 That love, chivalry, devotion to an ideal, were as the 
 
 sounding of brass in his ears, 
 Mere trifles to be discounted as having no weight in 
 
 the life of every day. 
 And I saw that the arts, the delights of literature or 
 
 of meditation, 
 The philosopher's joy, or that of the scientist, who 
 
 lives in the thought of the generations to come, 
 Had not entered into the dull fibre of him, even as a 
 
 suspicion ; 
 And my heart yearned in pity over the great creature 
 
 before me, as the heart of a mother might at a 
 
 monster-birth 
 For I saw that the brain was still in the elementary 
 
 state, though he numbered the years of full 
 
 manhood, 
 And that the body so perfect in growth, vigor and 
 
 proportion, 
 Was as the strength of the ox, unchastened by the 
 
 needs of an awakened intelligence.
 
 TO A PROSTITUTE 
 
 I SEE you walking the paths that lead to failure and 
 
 disillusion, 
 And I am powerless to stay you, oh my sister. 
 
 And I see you torn by the brambles, missing the sweet 
 
 savor of the fruits of the heart-life, 
 And I can speak no word, for you will not hear me. 
 
 And because I love you, my spirit strives with you 
 and will not relinquish its tenure, 
 
 And a long time, my face in my hands, I sit wrestling 
 with my anguish. 
 
 55
 
 THE ATHLETE 
 
 As beautiful as a Greek god is he! 
 
 Neck, shoulders, arms, loins well developed 
 
 and perfectly proportioned; 
 Flesh firm, white and hairless ; muscles hard under 
 
 the skin smooth as satin to the touch; 
 Thighs, calves and ankles that in repose are expres- 
 sive of agility rather than giant strength; 
 Feet ample, exquisitely arched, carrying easily the 
 
 weight of the body; 
 Fond of sports and excelling in them, exulting in his 
 
 virility, often for mere delight testing his 
 
 powers of endurance ; 
 Loved by women, they that are impressed most by 
 
 the extrinsic, 
 And are themselves to be won only by outward proofs 
 
 and valuations. 
 
 56
 
 THE ATHLETE 57 
 
 But, when he sues for my love, looking gently upon 
 me, 
 
 Caressing my hands with touches as light as an in- 
 fant's, 
 
 I am as unresponsive as if no womanhood remained 
 within me ; 
 
 For his words are not really sincere, 
 
 Nor is his heart single; 
 
 And lacking these, all excellence of form is as nothing 
 before me.
 
 NIGHT-ON-THE-WATERS 
 
 A STRONG woman embraced me, 
 
 All night holding me closely, her cheek against my 
 
 cheek. 
 I, drawn, as to a magnet, slept soundly at intervals, 
 
 she sleeping not at all, 
 All night, the wash of calm waters upon the ship's 
 
 sides, heard in the semi-darkness, 
 The pulse of the engine, the stoker's shovel feeding 
 
 the furnaces ; 
 At day-break rising together, joyful, quick at 
 
 repartee, laughing merrily, 
 A sense of new life-force budding at the heart of 
 
 each. 
 
 Each absorbing the native qualities of the other, re- 
 sponding to the needs of the other, 
 Gladder because of that interchange, henceforth, each 
 
 conscious of the affinity in the other, 
 58
 
 NIGHT-ON-THE-WATERS 59 
 
 But when on arriving, she left me, my joy went out 
 as a candle that is suddenly extinguished, 
 
 So much her strong presence entered into, and pos- 
 sessed me.
 
 A REALIZATION 
 
 I AM the light of the sun, embodied and made positive, 
 I am here to shine with splendor, knowing no nega- 
 tion, fearing nothing; 
 I am here to shine not only on those I admire, but 
 
 equally on those who are unknown to me; 
 I am here to rejoice not only those who attract me, 
 
 but equally those who repel me ; 
 I am here to overcome evil, for how shall I know 
 
 darkness, that am of the intrinsic quality of 
 
 light? 
 And how shall I know neutrality when the life in me 
 
 is invincible and dauntless? 
 And how shall I know discord when the soul is itself 
 
 of the supreme essence of love? 
 60
 
 THE WOOING 
 
 I WILL attract your warm heart to me, 
 
 I will draw your sweet lips to mine, 
 
 I will hold the blue fire of your eyes captive 
 
 Till the fulness of their desire shall be satisfied. 
 
 I will feel your breath a vital atmosphere about me, 
 
 Your encircling arm as a palace for my body, 
 
 And your tender thoughts as the pathways for my 
 
 feet, 
 
 For, by the power of the love in me I will allure you, 
 Till the peace of my heart shall become your occu- 
 pation. 
 
 61
 
 LOVE'S RAPTURE 
 
 I KISSED his lips! 
 
 And all the sweetness of the world was held 
 
 In that brief rapture of ecstatic joy. 
 
 I kissed his eyes! 
 
 And I seemed floating through the cloudy spheres, 
 Drinking the radiance from the largest stars. 
 
 62
 
 A KISS 
 
 WHEN I kiss your lips ! 
 
 I am as a ripening nectarine, that is warmed through 
 
 and through by the sun's rays, 
 Becoming more delectable both to the eye and to the 
 
 palate, 
 For through your lips, the sunshine and sweetness of 
 
 your heart are drawn unto me, 
 Radiating through my entire being, stimulating and 
 
 perfecting me. 
 
 63
 
 SONG OF APHRODITE 
 
 FEOM the fountain of all Life, richly embellished, 
 
 have I issued, 
 My body perfectly fashioned and colored like the 
 
 pearl and the rose-tints of the sunrise ; 
 The star of clear thought set within me, suffusing 
 
 me with its radiance, like a jewel in a crystal 
 
 casket ; 
 
 And in my mouth a tongue of honey whose eloquence 
 Makes flexible the strong wills of men and their flesh 
 
 to become as wax in my fingers. 
 64
 
 ASPIRATION 
 
 OH to feel your presence ; 
 
 Your loving eyes, lips, hands, each day as part of me, 
 
 Were to know life a victory, not a sufferance. 
 
 To reach your heart; 
 
 To share its impulse, dreams, and aspirations, 
 
 Were to know life full, sweet and eminent. 
 
 65
 
 CHARMIDES 
 
 WHEN I bathe in the clear waters, dashing them over 
 
 me, 
 It is only that my body may remain fair and supple, 
 
 because you loved it Charmides ; 
 And when others kneel before me, as Mark Antony 
 
 knelt before Cleopatra, 
 Fervently uttering those things that are sweet to 
 
 hear from the lips of men, 
 
 It is then that I think most of you Charmides ; 
 And they become as mere spectres that have no sub- 
 stance or meaning, 
 In the presence of the memory of your adoration 
 
 Charmides ; 
 You who have entered into, and become as the very 
 
 fibre and essence of my being. 
 66
 
 LOVE THAT IS EXHAUSTLESS 
 
 I WILL look into your eyes so fondly that uncon- 
 sciously you will absorb the essence of my 
 thought, 
 
 And its strength will .suffuse your being, like a 
 draught that is drunk freely, 
 
 And its joy will remould your purpose, and you will 
 admit me to your soul's sanctuary, sharing 
 its treasures with me; 
 
 And from the courage of your heart, I will weave 
 the purple of the precious web of honor, 
 wherewith to clothe me, 
 
 And from its homage, I will draw the clear waters 
 of life that are exhaustless. 
 67
 
 THE KISS 
 
 I WILL kiss you till your lips are more apt in love's 
 
 responses, 
 And your eyes are more adept in translating love's 
 
 enchantments. 
 
 I will thrill you to new purpose, till your heart 
 craves larger vistas, 
 
 And your language is more lucent with the height- 
 ened joy within you. 
 
 And I will bestow upon you such gifts as you did 
 
 not dream were earthly, 
 So that life will be more valiant, and death will 
 
 have more meaning. 
 68
 
 LOVE'S TUTELAGE 
 
 I WILL beguile your thoughts till they rest ardently 
 
 upon me, 
 
 Instilling into your veins a warm fabric of fancy. 
 I will overcome the barrier of native coldness within 
 
 you, 
 Transforming you to new impulse, hinting of fresh 
 
 endeavor. 
 Upon your lips I will breathe the seal of eloquence 
 
 till they burn to acclaim me, 
 
 And upon your fingers I will weave the web of un- 
 rest, till they seek to caress me ; 
 I will conquer your heart, disclosing its fertile 
 
 sources, 
 And offering you large freedom, you will choose to 
 
 dwell beside me. 
 
 69
 
 A PRAYER 
 
 GIED me with the shield of courage so that failure 
 
 and disillusion may not assail me; 
 Keep complaint from my nostrils, and let the white 
 
 dove of serenity sit brooding within me; 
 Make each day its own recompense, the fulfilment of 
 
 strong being in-drawn in its every breath ; 
 Keep my thoughts above the idol of self-hood, 
 My heart from the snare of vain-glory, 
 And my feet firm upon the highway of Love. 
 
 70
 
 ADVICE TO A MAIDEN 
 
 MY daughter, let your limbs be strong and shapely, 
 
 your mind single, and your heart warm with 
 
 the fruits of cultivated kindness; 
 And let its joy animate your whole being, so that, 
 
 even in passing, men and women alike will be 
 
 attracted to you. 
 And be not concerned as to beauty of feature, or for 
 
 objects of personal adornment, 
 For with kindness alone, you can crown the day witH 
 
 victory, 
 Ruling its every issue by the power of a supreme 
 
 womanhood. 
 
 71
 
 TRUE LOVE'S AMBITION 
 
 I DO not want the plaudits of the populace, 
 
 Nor the praises of the assembly, 
 
 I do not want the patronage of wealthy persons, the 
 sanction of the schools, nor even the approval 
 of my fellow-workers; 
 
 I want one thing only, and that urgently with all the 
 strength that is in me, 
 
 And it is this to be something precious and neces- 
 sary to the life of one whom I love dearly. 
 
 72
 
 MY LOVE'S PICTURE 
 
 YOUR lips, like those that Velasquez painted, 
 
 Of a clear but not too vivid red, and delicately 
 moulded, 
 
 Expressive of the nobility of language in which your 
 thoughts take shape in the mind; 
 
 And your eyes, translucent, ever-changing, yet full 
 of candor, 
 
 Giving veritable glimpses into your beauty-compre- 
 hending spirit, 
 
 Through time and separation, everywhere their 
 gentle influence accompanies me, 
 
 Your eyes as lamps aglow within me, guiding me, 
 
 And the words of your lips remaining as glistening 
 gems in the memory. 
 73
 
 RAPTURE 
 
 ALL night in dreams his warm lips clung to mine, 
 And the strong beating of his heart sustained me, 
 And onward we floated through labyrinths of twi- 
 light mystery, 
 
 Drinking that love- joy that exceeds all voicing. 
 
 74
 
 THE FULNESS OF LOVE 
 
 OFTEN, in happy moments, when the heart beats 
 
 swiftly and ecstatically, 
 
 A feeling of horror steals over me like that of suffo- 
 cation ; 
 And I fear that the heart will break from its very 
 
 excess of joy 
 Then thoughts of the abrupt transition seize upon 
 
 me 
 
 The elemental darkness and silence 
 Or the precipitation into strange undreamed-of 
 
 spheres, 
 The soul unready, leaving imperfect that which was 
 
 to be performed upon this planet. 
 Until at last becoming frightened, I rise quickly to 
 
 distract myself, 
 
 75
 
 76 THE FULNESS OF LOVE 
 
 Putting the happiness that is too strong for me 
 
 away from me 
 Just as I have put sickness, death and disaster away 
 
 from me lest they too should master me.
 
 MEMORIES 
 
 SOMETIMES with smiling lips he thinks of me, 
 And eyes that keep long-treasured souvenirs. 
 
 And his heart urges his strong arms to clasp me, 
 As it holds that longing close within itself. 
 77
 
 A SIGH 
 
 IF I could, by dreaming, create in your heart the 
 need of me, 
 
 If I could, by longing, make your soul responsive; 
 
 And if, by singing, I could produce upon your lips 
 the hunger to kiss my lips ; 
 
 Then would the long silence become replete and sat- 
 isfying, 
 
 Then would the deep solitude of my days content 
 me; 
 
 Then, even though apart from you still, I could live 
 rejoicing. 
 
 78
 
 THE CHARMED VOICE 
 
 As Ashtali doomed to perpetual search for her lost 
 child whom she so dearly loved 
 
 Seeks everywhere, and seeks forever vainly, 
 
 While he, in the wary form of the nightingale ever 
 eluding her 
 
 Pours out the sweet melancholy of her heart upon the 
 world, 
 
 Till in the charm of the singing, she forgets the fu- 
 tility of her quest; 
 
 So, since my heart is destined to continual longing 
 for you, 
 
 May not my words, reflecting a love as unfailing as a 
 mother's, 
 
 Reach you as a bird-voice, touching your heart as 
 unconsciously, 
 
 Awakening within you a sympathy responsive to my 
 loneliness. 
 
 79
 
 REFLECTION 
 
 'As the planet Jupiter, by his brilliance and stead- 
 fastness, 
 Compels even the waters of a turgid stream to reflect 
 
 his beams, 
 
 So, by the intensity of my love-thoughts 
 Condensed and centred upon you, 
 Shall I prevail at last upon your heart 
 That is full of the pure limpid waters of life, 
 To respond to me and to fuse the love you shall draw 
 
 out of me, 
 
 Into the work of your hands, which again 
 Shall be reflected into the lives of others. 
 
 80
 
 UNSPOTTED FROM THE WORLD 
 
 As Ceres wrapped herself in a cloud, 
 
 When wishing to become invisible to the eyes of 
 
 mortals ; 
 
 So, sitting before the foot-lights, 
 Regarded by semi-circles of sensual faces, 
 Shall I wrap myself around in a cloak of indifference, 
 So that the thoughts and desires aroused at the sight 
 
 of my physical being, 
 Shall fall upon me as lightly as the apple-blossom 
 
 falls upon the grass of the orchard. 
 81
 
 THE BANNER OF LOVE 
 
 As she who so fervently loved the king of old time, 
 
 So do I love him who is my king with all love 
 
 And I walk humbly as one whom God has marked for 
 his special favor 
 
 Yet glad beyond all measure in the bounty of that 
 love, 
 
 That I should be filled with the same delight that 
 filled the heart of her of long ago, 
 
 Singing as she sang, with the same joy and inspira- 
 tion, 
 
 Rejoicing, as she rejoiced in the glory and wisdom 
 of Solomon. 
 
 82
 
 SONG SEPARATION 
 
 COME back to me, my beloved, across the waters of 
 
 the sea, 
 
 For my days are as a phantom, that has no stability, 
 And your absence is cruel, as nettles are to the flesh. 
 
 n 
 
 Could the Bobolink sing and know contentment, if 
 
 in his migration he were companionless ? 
 So I am distrait and unsatisfied, 
 For without you there is no completeness in anything. 
 
 in 
 
 As a plant growing in the shadow of a deep wall, 
 
 where no sunlight penetrates, 
 
 Is puny, and fails in the perfection of its fruition, 
 So without the joy of your presence, do the qualities 
 
 within me remain unexpanded. 
 83
 
 SONG SEPARATION 
 
 IV 
 
 For my soul thirsts for you, as the lips of the babe 
 
 without speech, 
 For the breasts of the mother indifferent to all 
 
 substitutes, 
 
 V 
 
 And the admiration of men, and the flatteries of their 
 
 tongues, 
 Are as barren soil, in which no seed is germinate. 
 
 VI 
 
 And the gifts they offer, the roses and the lilies, 
 Are as the Thistle of Scotland, that is prickly and 
 without perfume. 
 
 vn 
 
 Come back to me, my beloved, across the waters of 
 
 the sea, 
 For what is the beauty of the night, without a warm 
 
 hand to clasp your hand in the stillness,
 
 SONG SEPARATION 
 
 85 
 
 Or a cool cheek to be laid against your cheek, 
 On the bed of leaves prepared upon the moist earth? 
 
 VIII 
 
 Or the wonder of the midnight sun of the North 
 lands, 
 
 Or the glory of the stars of the South if the eyes 
 that love your eyes beyond all these are not 
 beside you? 
 
 And what do you find in those places towards which 
 you voyage, 
 
 The Fjords, the promontories, and the lonely hill- 
 sides, 
 
 That is not already mirrored in my soul? 
 
 IX 
 
 And can the simple hearts of the North peasants 
 
 Know and love you any better than I know and love 
 you, 
 
 Whose vision has been clarified in the crucible of the 
 world, 
 
 And reads through the prism of experience and com- 
 parison?
 
 86 SONG SEPAKATION 
 
 X 
 
 Come back to me, my beloved, across the waters of 
 
 the sea, 
 
 That we may not, each, by the vanity of separation, 
 Fail to grasp the true meaning of the life for which 
 
 we were created.
 
 AFFINITY 
 
 WHEN hearts are attuned, 
 
 And minds are companioned 
 
 So that a perfect communion results between two 
 beings, 
 
 Then, if the ocean separates that is nothing; 
 
 Or the forests of the Andes, or the desolate heights 
 of the Dolomites that is nothing; 
 
 For there is no condition arising from the non- 
 propinquity of the body, 
 
 Nor any law existing in the long stretches of the 
 universe, 
 
 That can annul the attraction of two responsive 
 spirits. 
 
 87
 
 LOVE'S ASSURANCE 
 
 Now that I am conscious of the native power within 
 
 me, 
 And know myself to contain those elements that are 
 
 needful to you. 
 
 To feel your warm flesh touching my flesh, 
 And to respond to the thrill of your life-renewing 
 
 kisses, 
 I know to be as essential to your well-being as it is 
 
 essential to my well-being, 
 And that in no other way can we find expression for 
 
 that which we are 
 
 So that I take no thought to the distance now divid- 
 ing our bodies, 
 Nor to the time already spent in the futility of un- 
 
 guided impulse, 
 
 For that which is to be, to the Faithful exists already, 
 And is inalienable, and not to be averted. 
 
 88
 
 THE SOUL INVINCIBLE 
 
 NOT all the matter that composes the mountains of 
 
 this planet, 
 
 Not the waters that fill up the measure of its oceans, 
 Not the catastrophes that occur thereon, by night or 
 
 in tempests. 
 
 Not Arctic wastes, tropic heats, swamps, the desert, 
 Not all the wisdom accumulated by the mind of man 
 
 from the beginning, 
 The austerity of his creeds, the passions of his heart, 
 
 the illusions of his fancy, 
 
 Not these, or anything created or not yet created, 
 Can hinder our souls from uniting. 
 
 89
 
 WINGED THOUGHTS 
 
 SWIFTLY at night, across the waters, my thoughts 
 
 speed to you, 
 
 When after weariness, the need of your love is heav- 
 iest upon me. 
 You, who are as the elements that compose my own 
 
 body, whose spirit is the sustenance of my 
 
 spirit, 
 You, who are the foundation of my active hours, and 
 
 the strength of my passive hours, 
 You, whose memory is as a sanctuary to my pilgrim 
 
 heart, 
 [Whose breath is as living waters to the soles of my 
 
 pilgrim feet 
 You, whose voice wakes sweet promise long dormant 
 
 within me, 
 'And whose eyes distil through me a calm like a 
 
 benediction. 
 
 90
 
 LOVE'S HARVEST 
 
 I KNOW that these love-thoughts I give off to you, 
 
 Will come back to me equal in quality and kind, in 
 the fulness of time, 
 
 Since everywhere throughout this universe is a just 
 law of proportion and measure, 
 
 So that your silence of the long days and nights, 
 proves nothing, 
 
 And that which those less believing than myself call 
 'indifference, proves nothing. 
 
 For I know that these love-thoughts cross the atmos- 
 phere of your brain, like shooting stars, 
 
 And falling into your heart form a world that later I 
 shall inhabit. 
 
 91
 
 TO MY OWN SOUL 
 
 Go out to him, oh spirit, across the distance, and be 
 with him through the darkness ; 
 
 Go out to him, speak gently, and incline his thoughts 
 to you; 
 
 Go out to him, oh spirit, surround him with your sub- 
 stance, 
 
 In the silence enter into the sanctuary of his heart, 
 
 Blending thought with thought, till you stand re- 
 vealed before him. 
 
 93
 
 TELEPATHY 
 
 Is it because your heart leans to me across the dis- 
 tance, sweet love, 
 
 That I dream of you so constantly and so vividly? 
 
 The fervor of its impulse creating a perfect com- 
 munion between us, 
 
 As the wire conveys the electric current to its des- 
 tination. 
 
 Or is it only an idle fancy a dream within a dream 
 
 That you come to me at recuperative moments in the 
 night, 
 
 Absorbing me into your being, like the air you inhale, 
 
 Grafting me by word and touch with your own native 
 qualities, 
 
 So that by day all that I am is the reflex expression 
 of you? 
 
 93
 
 LOVE NOT A CHIMERA 
 
 WHO says that Love is a chimera? 
 
 Do I not live by Love, inhaling it like the oxygen? 
 
 Do I not each day consort with Love, and at night, 
 do I not retire, folding Love to my bosom? 
 
 And do I not waken, still clasping Love, unveiling 
 every motive of the heart to Love's scrutiny? 
 
 And that which Love approves, I follow; but the 
 things Love disapproves, I set aside as fruit- 
 less. 
 
 Anid always my days are gladsome, my nights tran- 
 quil and my soul tastes satisfaction, 
 
 So then, if Love's dictates create at all times happy 
 results for me, 
 
 Why would they not equally create happy results 
 for you? 
 
 94
 
 IMMORTALITY 
 
 WHO says that earthly love is not immortal? 
 
 Is not the soul of my love fused into my soul, 
 
 His thoughts having life in my breath, his heart 
 
 warm in my heart 
 Ever near me sustaining me 
 Through the dark maze of the evils of ignorance, 
 Through days of contention when faith seems illusion, 
 Through days of despair when the struggle seems 
 
 futile, 
 
 Through the tragedy of fear and self-hood that con- 
 fronts one at every hand 
 
 In the world that man (the idol-worshipper) and not 
 
 the God-lover, has created for himself? 
 
 95
 
 LOVE'S INTERCHANGE 
 
 WHY should I not give off the pollen of my solitary 
 
 heart to you, 
 Attracting you to me by a mutual and beautiful 
 
 dependence, 
 As one flower flourishes the better for the color and 
 
 fragrance in the other 
 By contact, each fertilizing the other and bringing 
 
 forth a richer harvest because of that contact ? 
 For surely the well-springs of love and of creative 
 
 genius in you 
 
 Await the demand of an imperative need 
 To call into existence the fulness of their powers, 
 And to restrain you in your arrogance of rich pos- 
 session, 
 From pouring out their saving waters upon desert 
 
 places. 
 
 96
 
 A SCENE REVISITED 
 
 I SAW the little home of my childhood, 
 
 By night, in a soft rain, after many years ; 
 
 And I looked up at the windows, where a dim light 
 
 was burning as of old 
 And it seemed as if I might see my mother's shadow 
 
 crossing the curtain at any moment. 
 And I saw her face, as it grew out of the muffled 
 
 silence of the past, 
 And I heard again the familiar step and the voice 
 
 that called me lovingly by sweet names, 
 And I remembered the want of her widowed years, her 
 
 physical privations, 
 And the neglect and heart-hunger that are harder 
 
 to bear than any of these. 
 And I remembered also, her deserted last years, her 
 
 lonely death-agony, 
 97
 
 98 A SCENE REVISITED 
 
 And a hot pain shot into my eyelids and across my 
 throat, that was like the sting of a scorpion ; 
 
 And I turned and ran through the wet darkness, 
 towards the train that was to bear me away 
 forever, 
 
 Not daring once, to look back at the little house, 
 with the yellow light in the window; 
 
 Hurrying from the past, its scenes, its memories, ter- 
 rified, like a somnambulist pursued, in some 
 awful dream.
 
 IN THE FOG 
 
 WALKING on Piccadilly 
 
 My heart nostalgic for the broad sunshine of 
 America, 
 
 The aspirational hue of the skies, the clear, limpid 
 atmosphere. 
 
 Groping my way through the dense fog, intensely 
 alone, confused and bewildered, 
 
 As one adrift upon a raft in the midst of the sound- 
 ing solitude of the sea, 
 
 The moving multitude on either hand like the waters 
 that threaten to engulf me, 
 
 The brief looks of peering eyes chilling me with in- 
 difference, transmitting a sense of utter defeat 
 and despair, 
 
 99
 
 /100 IN THE FOG 
 
 And the walls of tall buildings looming endlessly like 
 
 annihilating phantoms, 
 In all that vast concourse not one friendly hand to 
 
 grasp my hand, 
 Nor one voice to cheer me with kindly recognition.
 
 PHANTASMA 
 
 I SAW in a dream my lover asleep before me, 
 
 And I approached silently, my heart bounding in 
 
 joyful expectation, 
 
 For I thought each moment to see the dear eyes open- 
 ing to regard me, 
 The quiet lights of intelligent thought suffusing them 
 
 like opal-lights, 
 And I felt the breath from the sweet lips animating 
 
 me, as if it were part of my own being ; 
 And I longed in every fibre to hear again the words 
 
 that were spoken in my ear so gently, long 
 
 ago; 
 But, as I knelt to bestow the kiss of the renewal of 
 
 love, that was burning upon my lips, 
 101
 
 102 PHANTASMA 
 
 As suddenly he vanished, and one by one, in the dim 
 
 light of my chamber, 
 The familiar objects of daily use detached themselves 
 
 drearily.
 
 UNREST 
 
 OUT of the intensity of my longing, my songs take 
 
 shape, 
 And many who know not the pain of their origin, 
 
 write congratulating me, 
 
 And I sigh over these missives, sometimes wearily, 
 For I know that if he whom my soul loves were beside 
 
 me, these words would find no utterance, 
 But would vanish as dewdrops in the sunshine of 
 
 the heart. 
 
 103
 
 LONGING 
 
 INTOLERABLY my heart hungers, 
 
 And its strength is waning in the fervor of its longing. 
 
 As a dewdrop on the edge of a grass-leaf trembles 
 
 My soul upon the surface of my being trembles and 
 hesitates, 
 
 Loath to depart without one glimpse of your reflec- 
 tion, 
 
 To ease for a moment the sting of its earth-need, 
 
 The pain of its love-desire. 
 
 104
 
 PSAPPHA'S JEWEL SONG 
 
 JEWELS have I in plenty ! 
 
 Rare, and of a quality that places them beyond all 
 
 value ! 
 But they are not dug from the mines, nor sold in 
 
 shops ; 
 Neither is the possession of millions a guarantee of 
 
 their possession, 
 
 For my jewels are the faces of my lovers ; 
 That, when alone with myself in the night, float before 
 
 me in the shadows, 
 Lighting me, as first magnitude stars, each shining 
 
 with its own peculiar lustre. 
 The face of Nicias, pale and pure, radiant with the 
 
 fixed fervency of the spirit, 
 That is an opal 
 
 105
 
 106 PSAPPHA'S JEWEL SONG 
 
 And Midas, red-lipped, red-cheeked, moulded exqui- 
 sitely, as if by the hand of Phidias, 
 
 That is a ruby 
 
 Lysander's face, reflecting the swift play of the 
 flights of the intellect, yet sweet with the 
 sunshine of the heart, 
 
 That is a diamond 
 
 And the placid face of Lykas, formed upon the long 
 silences and solitudes of the sea, 
 
 That is a pearl 
 
 And as I commune with these in a luxury of blended 
 memory, 
 
 Entering at intervals into the separate joy in which 
 the love of each wrapped me as in a garment, 
 
 I know myself to be one of the truly blessed ones in 
 the life of this earth; 
 
 And, as I drift away into the delectable darkness of 
 slumber, 
 
 I am content, as a babe that falls asleep on the bosom 
 of its mother.
 
 PSAPPHA'S DYING SONG 
 
 MEN I have loved deeply, 
 
 Kissing their lips, and caressing their flesh with firm 
 
 yet gentle fingers, 
 
 Arid their voices have been better to me than riches, 
 Their faces dearer than any hint of Paradise. 
 Yet like Aeneas of old, full of world-lust they have 
 
 left me, 
 Prizing more highly those baubles to be delved for in 
 
 the rubbish marts of the earth. 
 
 One I loved passionately, 
 
 In whose presence my lips have drunk ineffable sweet- 
 ness. 
 
 Homage I gave him and reverence, reserving no part 
 of me from him, 
 
 But these he took as ashes, offering me in return, 
 indifference. 
 
 107
 
 108 
 
 PSAPPHA S DYING SONG 
 
 One I loved tenderly, 
 
 And my joy I poured out before him in songs of 
 
 adulation, 
 And his breath by day was as a fountain renewing 
 
 me, 
 
 And at night as a seal it lay upon my slumbers, 
 Yet he, too, departed, giving me in return long 
 
 silence, 
 
 ^-> 
 Silence in which the strength of my heart is ebbing, 
 
 Silence in which my soul has grown life-weary.
 
 AN INQUIRY 
 
 WHY should I be disconsolate, when your eyes con- 
 tain all that is of joy upon the earth? 
 
 And why should I be desolate, when your voice trans- 
 forms me into more fruitful being? 
 
 And why should I be loveless, when your caress is 
 as the peace of God poured out upon me? 
 
 109
 
 THE HEART'S QUESTIONS 
 
 MUST I live as if you had never been a reality to me 
 But only as some sweet intangibility that crossed the 
 vision of a night? 
 
 Must I live as if your eyes had never suffused me with 
 
 their effulgence, 
 Or your lips breathed the inspiration of their love 
 
 upon me? 
 
 Must I live as if my body had never vibrated to your 
 
 embraces, 
 Or my spirit absorbed your spirit, as a mirror holds 
 
 the face that looks into it? 
 
 Must I live always in the endurance of long silence? 
 Must I live always in 8enial of that which is most 
 urgent? 
 
 110
 
 HEART SICKNESS 
 
 WHEN it occurs to me that possibly you may be 
 
 indifferent to me, 
 
 That my being lends no light to your footsteps, 
 And my love no warmth to your heart, 
 Then the color of the world lies as ashes before me 
 And the taste of life becomes bitter upon my lips. 
 
 ill
 
 LOVE'S ANTICIPATION 
 
 As I observe the mass of men, 
 
 The paucity of their thoughts about life, that is 
 
 stamped upon their faces, 
 
 And the lack of true courtesy in their bearing to- 
 wards their women-kind, 
 I am repelled by the mediocrity of the qualities that 
 
 compose them, 
 By the civilization, religion, or whatever process that 
 
 evolves them as a result. 
 And I thank God for the love of him upon whom my 
 
 heart has set its choice, 
 As I remember the look in his eyes that are serene with 
 
 the strength of the spirit, 
 And I rejoice that I am a woman and that, through 
 
 his love for me, 
 I may become the mother of a man like unto him. 
 
 112
 
 FORSAKEN 
 
 AN old woman out in the rainstorm, 
 
 Her poor garments wet through, her face wearing a 
 
 look of infinite patience 
 Leaning on a stick she goes, her movements retarded 
 
 by rheumatism, 
 In every detail, giving off her entourage of hopeless 
 
 misery and desolation: 
 And I think of the strong days of her youth when 
 
 her hands wrought useful labors, 
 When being desired of men, her lips gave warm 
 
 kisses, and her womb was fruitful, 
 And I ask myself, why has their strength fallen into 
 
 emptiness, that she is thus destitute? 
 But when it occurs to me that even now she may be 
 
 the mother of children, 
 
 Who being engrossed with their own wants and those 
 
 113
 
 114 FORSAKEN 
 
 of their offspring, are careless of iher 
 
 necessities, 
 For a moment I am filled with a sense of the cruelty 
 
 of Nature's mandates, 
 As I watch the forsaken old woman limping with 
 
 rheumatic feet through the rainstorm.
 
 THE BLIND PEDDLER 
 
 A POOR blind man on Broadway, 
 
 Selling pencils, shoe-laces and matches, 
 
 Still in the prime of life, his body vigorous and 
 
 shapely, 
 Always in the same place, motionless, leaning against 
 
 a rail 
 Something in the patient droop of the lips, still 
 
 cheeks and closed eyelids, that touches one 
 
 deeply, 
 
 Expressing more vividly than words the long resig- 
 nation, and silent separate broodings. 
 All day the active stream of life passes before him, 
 
 yet he is very lonely. 
 All day vibrating to the strenuous life in which he 
 
 takes no part, 
 
 115
 
 . THE BLIND PEDDLER 
 
 And I wonder what his thoughts are as he stands 
 
 there lost in his own isolation, 
 And what the nature of his hopes may be when 
 
 released from his awful earth-darkness.
 
 THE LOVE-LETTER 
 
 A LETTER on the sea is speeding to me ; 
 Soon, with rejoicing heart, I shall receive it, 
 And with impatient fingers break the seal 
 And with impatient fingers break the seal. 
 
 At first the words will seem dim, or as symbols, 
 And yet at once my soul will be transported, 
 Behind them I shall see your blue eyes beaming 
 Behind them I shall see your blue eyes beaming. 
 
 And a sweet sense as of some vital presence, 
 Will hold me spellbound in its fascination ; 
 The love of the warm heart that speaks to mine 
 The love of the warm heart that speaks to mine. 
 
 117
 
 THE RETORT 
 
 Do you for a moment fancy that the mere drudgery 
 of work 
 
 Can satisfy the craving need of happiness in the hu- 
 man heart? 
 
 That in the performing of daily routine can be found 
 a substitute 
 
 For the freedom of thought and act that is needful 
 to the growth of the creative spirit? 
 
 And do you for a moment fancy that going out 
 
 among the masses, 
 Toiling with those who dwell upon the least of things, 
 
 discounting the better, 
 That is, the being valued by the market-price of 
 
 that which the hands perform, 
 118
 
 THE RETORT 
 
 Rather than for any quality of character or intellect? 
 
 For if you believe that these can take the place of 
 love or of comprehensive intercourse, 
 
 Then do you acknowledge yourself as capable only of 
 the functional existence of the brute, 
 
 The higher meaning of life having entirely escaped 
 you 
 
 Otherwise you would not offer these things as essen- 
 tials, sufficient in themselves to live by, 
 
 That are in reality as empty husks, until love has 
 added the sustaining principle.
 
 FUTURITION 
 
 are those who affirm that we are to be forever 
 
 restricted upon this earth, 
 By the action upon our bodies of those laws that 
 
 govern the elements out of which they are 
 
 composed ; 
 That o-ur feet, being drawn by magnetism to the 
 
 earth's crust, they cannot safely deviate from 
 
 their natural course, 
 And that to be truly progressive we must conform to 
 
 the limitations imposed upon us by divine 
 
 authority ; 
 And when accidents occur at sea, or in air-ships, they 
 
 bring these forward as proofs in favor of 
 
 their arguments. 
 
 But I say, that we are here upon this earth to accom- 
 plish that which is to be accomplished, 
 120
 
 FUTURITION" 
 
 121 
 
 That we will overcome those laws that restrain our 
 bodies, making them subservient to our wills, 
 
 That we will walk upon the face of the waters as 
 easily as we now walk over our grass-plots 
 in the fulness of time 
 
 That we will have dominion over the realms of space, 
 by other means than air-ships in the fulness 
 of time 
 
 And that greater things than are yet conceived by the 
 intuitive minds of this century shall become 
 realities. 
 
 For the dawn of that perfect day when man shall 
 enter into the full knowledge of his own na- 
 ture and powers 
 
 Has but just glimmered over this Planet.
 
 MEDITATION 
 
 PEOPLE come to me for sympathy in their troubles, 
 
 Saying that the trials of their lives are insurmount- 
 able, 
 
 And laying before me a sequence of events in which 
 is revealed either a want of judgment, sim- 
 plicity or candor. 
 
 [Wife warring against husband, and vice versa ; child 
 against parent, 
 
 Passing their lives under the debasing influence of 
 strife and the unseemly desire for revenge, 
 
 Disputing over temporal things, each doing violence 
 to the finer sensibilities of the other, 
 
 Unveiling each other's foibles and shortcomings to 
 the casual observer, 
 
 Or dragging each other irreverently through the law 
 courts, 
 
 122
 
 MEDITATION 123 
 
 Forgetful that the flesh bonds are for mutual 
 
 strength and forbearance. 
 And I listen my hands idle, my whole being inert, 
 
 waiting ; 
 But, sometimes, to the hum of the words, my own 
 
 thoughts take flight backward, over the past, 
 And I see again the face of one who was as the breath 
 
 of life to my nostrils ; 
 And taste again the living cup that was snatched 
 
 away, even as it foamed upon my lips ; 
 And feel the desolation that enclosed me as a wilder- 
 ness 
 That, had not the Love, which is as a torch within the 
 
 hand, been mine to guide me, 
 Long might I have wandered, lost in the mazes of that 
 
 ruin. 
 But when I speak the words that are born out of my 
 
 love-memory, 
 
 They seem to understand me very little! 
 And if I say that nothing is insurmountable upon 
 
 this earth, 
 
 Excepting only the vanity of our separate egoism, 
 They seem then also, to understand me just as little.
 
 HEART HUNGER 
 
 I WANT you with the strong want of the heart, 
 
 That for the attainment of its fulness craves the 
 motive of your love, 
 
 And my soul cries out to you with a need that is im- 
 perative, 
 
 For without the response of your heart, I am as a 
 signal sent out across the distance, 
 
 That finding no interpreter falls empty upon the 
 ether. 
 
 134
 
 SELF-CONQUERED 
 
 MY heart goes out to you and finding no refuge, re- 
 turns to me, afflicted, 
 
 My voice cries out to you, and hearing no response, 
 subsides again within me, 
 
 My soul, hovering about you, unsensed, re-enters me 
 in anguish 
 
 And brooding within itself feels that repose that 
 sustains and is uplifting, 
 
 That peace in which is born a source of self-joy that 
 endures and is courageous. 
 125
 
 QUESTIONS 
 
 Is it a dream that I dream of you and love you, 
 That my thoughts dwell on your memory with delight 
 and satisfaction? 
 
 Is it a dream that I need you with such urgence 
 That my heart is often heavy with its freight of 
 over-longing? 
 
 Is it a dream that you realize with gladness 
 That my dreaming is the mirror where your soul finds 
 clear reflection? 
 
 126
 
 THE BOOK OF RUMI 
 
 I HOLD the book of Rumi in my hand, 
 
 And I know that it is not the printer's art whose 
 
 touch so thrills me, 
 But the sense that it is really the hand of Rumi that 
 
 I hold in my hand, 
 That the same life that animated him so long ago, 
 
 animates me now, 
 That in his breath I breathe, with his love I love that 
 
 we are one, I in him, and he in me 
 And I know that the time that divides our physical 
 
 being is nothing 
 That this union that is of no time, yet of all time, 
 
 being born of the spirit, 
 Is the inheritance of those who enter perfectly into 
 
 the joy of the life of this earth, 
 And to such it is also given to come into the knowledge 
 
 of the joy that is not of this earth. 
 
 127
 
 THE FLOWER OF SILENCE 
 
 WHEN your heart was coldest a few pleading 
 words, 
 
 And when most indifferent a few words of tender- 
 ness; 
 
 When loneliest, I spoke to you gently of intimate 
 things ; 
 
 And when despondent, I sang till your heart leaned 
 to catch the meaning, 
 
 As the ear leans to catch the song of the sky-lark, 
 singing high up over the desolation of the 
 Campania, 
 
 And in the productive soil of long silence, that in- 
 tervened, 
 
 A strong seed sprouted and became a tree of majestic 
 proportion, 
 
 Under whose shade I now walk through the heat of 
 the mid-day, 
 
 Inhaling the perfume of its perfect blossom. 
 
 128
 
 VESPERS 
 
 THE faultless tones of the tenor, singing in the 
 
 Stabat Mater 
 Triumphantly to make his voice heard above the 
 
 peal of the organ 
 In their clarity, brought before me the beauty of 
 
 your eyes 
 Their love-expression, the memory of which affects 
 
 me strangely, engrossing me, 
 As at those moments when, contemplating the works 
 
 of some great master, 
 We are touched by the devotion, the untiring zeal that 
 
 their creation reveals; 
 So at all times, are my thoughts of you uplifting 
 
 and inspiring, 
 Effacing from my heart that which is unworthy that 
 
 love-memory. 
 
 129
 
 130 VESPERS 
 
 And all triumph moments in art, nature, or' human 
 
 action, 
 Are as rest to my heart, like your voice speaking 
 
 softly and tenderly.
 
 THE RETURN 
 
 THE very air seems to breathe of you, as I step over 
 the threshold, 
 
 And the long dim hall rich with its carvings and 
 bronzes, 
 
 Recalls sweet tones of your voice, that afterward be- 
 came most dear to me, 
 
 And looks from your dear eyes, the memory of which 
 clings inseparably to certain objects, 
 
 And the warm glow of the drawing room with its 
 orchid-sprays and shimmer of antique pot- 
 teries, 
 
 Where first we came face to face long ago each 
 unsuspecting, 
 
 Of that which, later, each was to become to the other. 
 
 But now, across the glimpses of the quiet street, seen 
 through the windows, 
 131
 
 132 THE RETURN 
 
 The first pale leaves of autumn flutter, adding a wist- 
 
 fulness to my musing, 
 Passing like memories of a tragic past, through the 
 
 substance of a present joy.
 
 ABSENCE 
 
 WITH time so swift-running, 
 
 And youth evanescent, 
 
 And strength unenduring, 
 
 And beauty so frail, 
 
 Oh love, we are losing too much of life's treasure, 
 In being thus absent, the one from the other. 
 
 With danger impending, 
 
 And sorrow surrounding, 
 
 And hope so illusive, 
 
 And joy insecure, 
 
 In being thus parted, oh love, we are losing 
 Life's highest, sincerest, love's sweetest most precious. 
 
 133
 
 DESPONDENCY 
 
 MY days are cheerless, 
 
 My flesh is weary, 
 
 My blood is sluggish, 
 
 My thoughts despondent, 
 
 For your long absence turns my energy to brooding, 
 
 Destroys my vigor and makes void my aspiration. 
 
 My steps are lagging, 
 My toil seems futile, 
 My heart is restless, 
 My words are phantoms, 
 
 For lacking you, I am as a child without guidance, 
 And my soul yearns and is lonely and non-progres- 
 sive. 
 
 134
 
 SONG SEPARATION 
 
 I WANT the beauty of your eyes, 
 The kisses of your lips, 
 The softness of your cheek, 
 The touches of your hand, 
 
 For these would be as sunshine to my heart, here, in 
 these bleak lands of the North, where I am 
 perishing for love. 
 
 I need the clearness of your thoughts, 
 The sincerity of your speech, 
 The nobility of your aims, 
 The devotion of your heart, 
 
 For these would be as warmth to my body here where 
 I am desolate, in these cold lands of the North. 
 135
 
 THE HEART TRIUMPHAL 
 
 I STUDY the beautiful " New Thought " philosophy, 
 And there are moments when I believe myself beyond 
 
 the influence of time, place or personality ; 
 But when I think of you I know that in reality, I am 
 
 merely deluding myself, 
 For that every breath I take is in the resolve that we 
 
 shall meet again, 
 
 And every impulse of the heart has this desire as its 
 nucleus. 
 
 136
 
 RENUNCIATION 
 
 How shall I renounce you for always, 
 
 Going through the years that are void of you? 
 
 You, whose love gave a new meaning to the beating 
 
 of my heart, 
 In whose eyes I seem to see other eyes like yours 
 
 smiling, 
 
 Eyes that are to look upon future generations. 
 You, whose voice vibrates to inaudible echoes, 
 That are the prophecies of the coming of strong men 
 
 and women, 
 To be created out of your love, founding their source 
 
 in me, 
 And to speak *^th your voice, as leaders, to the people 
 
 of other centuries. 
 
 How shall I renounce you for always, 
 Going through the years that are void of you? 
 
 137
 
 SONG 
 
 I WONDER if the spirit of my lover 
 Knows how I languish for his gentle presence, 
 Knows how I miss his thoughtful love and guidance, 
 His high intelligence and sweet protection. 
 
 And if he follows me with eyes of pity, 
 Knowing my trials and dissatisfactions, 
 Knowing the nature of my heart and impulse, 
 Knowing my weakness and imperfect wisdom. 
 
 I wonder if he feels how my soul sickens 
 To loose the mortal bands that hold me earth-bound, 
 To leave this sphere of struggle and contention, 
 This elemental state that's here called living. 
 
 138
 
 BEINGS 
 
 BEINGS of a higher order than our realm, 
 Beings beyond the grasp of our few senses, 
 Floating about us, ethereal, exquisite beings 
 Building and planning, apprising us not of your 
 
 purpose, 
 
 'Aware of us not, nor able to sense our existence, 
 As we in the mortal, can offer no sign of our presence. 
 Beings of unguessed-at regions, wonderful, sentient, 
 
 awakened, 
 
 Out of the flesh-bonds, attuned to a finer sensation, 
 Higher in feeling and action, released from earth 
 
 limits, 
 Unmindful of earth-taint, yet using aright its full 
 
 message, 
 Conscious of life flowing onward and onward and 
 
 onward, 
 
 139
 
 140 BEINGS 
 
 Varied unfoldment eternally changing in aspect; 
 Constant fulfilment of God's Supreme beauty and 
 power. 
 
 Beings of a higher order than our realm, 
 Beings beyond the grasp of our few senses, 
 Surely the feeling heart knows the last day of earth- 
 days, the gladdest 
 Passing out to you, oh subtle unthinkable beings.
 
 EARTH-CHILDREN 
 
 L WE are the spirit of this planet, 
 
 We are the genius of its soil and atmosphere, and are 
 inseparable from them, 
 
 We are the most perfect embodiment of its creative 
 forces, and astral interflow, 
 
 We are the highest expression evolved from its mag- 
 netic chemistry, 
 
 We are immortal, as the floating ephemera allured 
 by the poetry of its poise, is immortal 
 
 We will return to be disembodied, re-absorbed, car- 
 ried forward forever, 
 
 Each minute iota to form other combinations in its 
 inexhaustible laboratories. 
 
 We are the spirit of this planet, 
 
 We are the Law made visible, fulfilling perfectly the 
 role of our unknowable destiny. 
 
 141
 
 A QUESTION 
 
 How is it that the dead often speak to us, 
 
 Intimating in dreams the general trend of events on 
 this earth, and in the spheres outside of this 
 earth, 
 
 But only as signs, half utterances, like the yea and 
 nay of mortal speech, giving no explana- 
 tions ? 
 
 Are they yet under the sway of that immutable law 
 of isolation 
 
 That separates each soul from the inner life of every 
 other soul, while here upon this Planet 
 
 Each guarding within itself the mystery of its in- 
 communicable loneliness ? 
 148
 
 WHY is it that being of the dust, I yet grasp the 
 possibility of immortality? 
 
 Because that belief is mine that offers no finite con- 
 ception or limitation to the Infinite 
 
 And why is it that my feet being bound to the earth's 
 crust, I yet feel equal to limitless ascension? 
 
 Because, asking nothing, content even with non- 
 existence, I yet am pregnant with the fulness 
 of all life 
 
 And why do I feel God's presence animating me 
 closer than a friend more intimate than a 
 parent ? 
 
 Because being bewildered and without gladness, He 
 brought me to the haven of your heart, 
 
 Renewing me in the breath of your lips that is vibrant 
 with His sweetest emanations. 
 143
 
 DESERTION 
 
 I HAVE been ill and abandoned ! 
 
 I have been empty bewildered! 
 
 Yet I know that both joy and abundance existed in 
 
 the world, 
 
 And that only to the seeming, these were not for me ; 
 But, when despairing, I looked into the dim cavern 
 
 of the reservoir, 
 
 Wishing that its cool waters might close over me, 
 Still I drew back, reflecting, 
 For I remembered that already great love had been 
 
 given me, 
 
 And I said : "Because of this memory, I will endure !" 
 
 144
 
 INSPIRATION 
 
 UPSPRINGING through the accumulated dust of dis- 
 couragements, 
 
 Through loneliness, separation, the bitter taste of 
 indifference, 
 
 Through desolation, languor, the blight of long 
 silence, 
 
 Through weakness, heart-hunger, disintegrating dis- 
 cord of outward circumstance, 
 
 Through doubt, denial, and the unspeakable anguish 
 of soul-weariness, 
 
 Through all these, the divine essence of self-joy 
 
 In-welling, out-surging, upspringing. 
 
 145
 
 SONG 
 
 I AM amorous of death, its sweet cessation; 
 
 All day with eyes closed and with clasping fingers, 
 
 I yield myself to its supreme allurement 
 
 I dream of it, invite it, fold it to me. 
 
 The rumble of the traffic of the city 
 That penetrates the calm of my half-slumber, 
 Seems but the seabreak on some distant beaches 
 Faint life-vibrations from some far-off planet. 
 
 I am amorous of death, illusions ended, 
 Freed of all self-hood, pride of acquisition, 
 More than the best life gives I want exemption, 
 Effacement of its toils, quests, non-requitals. 
 
 I am amorous of death, its sweet cessation, 
 Its darkness like a balm upon the eyelids ; 
 Through the strong pulse of day I woo its silence, 
 Commune with it, entice it, fold it to me. 
 
 146
 
 ONWARD 
 
 OUT into the wordless, 
 
 Out into the invisible, 
 
 Away from earth-bonds, memories, disintegrating 
 heart-breaks, soul-eclipses, 
 
 Among the suns, the nebulae, the careering comets, the 
 myriad unguessed-at -mysteries of the eter- 
 nal; 
 
 Free, floating, rejoicing in one's liberty at last; 
 
 Onward moving ever towards some greater and 
 greater experience, 
 
 Filled with the consciousness of God, and satisfied 
 in the perfection of its joy. 
 147
 
 ON A LINE BY ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON 
 
 "To renounce when that shall be necessary and not 
 be embittered." 
 
 I HAVE endured great anguish of spirit, 
 
 I have known desolation, I have known hunger and 
 
 faintness and helpless weakness of body, 
 I have been homeless at night with only the stars for 
 
 companions, 
 I have accepted indifference from one who was dear 
 
 to me, 
 I have seen the death struggle of one as close as the 
 
 heart-beat, 
 Wiping the bright arterial blood from the sweet lips 
 
 the while. 
 I myself have stood face to face with death, my body 
 
 racked with unspeakable pain, 
 I have been quickened with new life, 
 I have known the clutcH of infant hands a my breast; , 
 
 only to feel them falling away into dust also, 
 
 148
 
 ON A LINE BY ROBEBT LOUIS STEVENSON 149 
 
 I have denied myself, cancelling every ambition, 
 
 I have set aside the labor of my hands, accepting 
 failure if need be 
 
 So then if it be necessary to renounce your love, 
 
 In which I have found complete compensation for all 
 these, 
 
 Yet will the firmament encompass me with its immeas- 
 urable serenity 
 
 Yet in the fragrant silences of the flower tongues 
 will I find solace, 
 
 Yet will the knowledge of God's goodness remain 
 audible within me, like the faint echoing of 
 harp melodies.
 
 FROM THE PAST 
 
 WHAT desolation surrounding me ! 
 What loneliness the dust and ashes of life congealed 
 at my heart, and bitter upon my lips. 
 
 What bewilderment of spirit ! 
 
 The memory of child-pain and loss, still sharp upon 
 
 me, 
 Love vanished, the body wasted, its needs pressing, 
 
 stern and absolute. 
 
 What heart-emptiness ! 
 
 Yet over me the stars vibrating, transmitting a sov- 
 ereign calmness, 
 
 And within me a voice, like some dream-influence, 
 speaking of courage. 
 150
 
 THE NEGLECTED LOVER 
 
 IN the despair of your negligence my spirit lan- 
 guishes, 
 
 And my blood runs chill through the desert of the 
 heart, 
 
 For, being by nature compassionate and mindful of 
 the least of all God's creatures, 
 
 In me alone must lie the secret of my woe 
 
 That my words lack the power to attract your 
 thoughts to me, 
 
 Or to quicken into life the wealth of love that lies 
 brooding in your soul. 
 151
 
 THE SEPARATION 
 
 BUT whether we meet again is, after all, of little im- 
 port to either, 
 
 The real issue being that, having met and mingled, 
 
 We are each truly conscious of the full meaning of 
 that soul-confluence, 
 
 That henceforth we go about our lives in such joy- 
 fulness of purpose 
 
 That the desire of a like possession will enter into 
 the hearts of all who behold us. 
 152
 
 THE FULFILMENT 
 
 So perfectly will I love you, in such fulness of meas- 
 ure 
 
 As is seldom accorded as part of the life of this earth ; 
 
 So that at last, realizing me, you will desire and re- 
 spond to me, 
 
 And through the toils of unrest and despair that en- 
 chain you, 
 
 Your spirit will flow out to me, in the silence, to 
 mingle with me. 
 
 153
 
 REPUDIATION 
 
 WHEN you looked at me I felt the creative force 
 that forms and directs the world. 
 
 And when you held my hand I felt the attraction 
 that sustains our planetary system; 
 
 When walking beside you I felt the onward marcH 
 of the stars through eternity, 
 
 And when you spoke the rhythm of that motion 
 seemed audible ; 
 
 When you loved me I knew that incomparable joy 
 that only they know who feel God's presence 
 an active principle about them; 
 
 But when, through misconception, you grew indif- 
 ferent to me still I did not forget, 
 
 And when your lips formed lacerating words still 
 I did not forget, 
 
 154
 
 REPUDIATION 155 
 
 And when you repudiated me still my spirit re- 
 mained serene, 
 
 For I knew that even then I was yet in God's king- 
 dom.
 
 A NEED 
 
 ONLY to see your eyes looking at me 
 And to hear your voice speaking in an accent of ten- 
 derness. 
 
 Only to lay my hand upon your shoulder 
 And to feel the answering touch of your hand with 
 a caress in it. 
 
 To thrill to the joy of your presence, and know it to 
 
 be a reality 
 
 And not merely the creation of an over-fervent spirit. 
 
 156
 
 SONG WEARINESS 
 
 I AM weary of the long intervals that divide us, 
 The long stretches of annihilating silence, 
 I am weary of the days and nights that, lacking you, 
 are as shadows without substance or structure. 
 
 I am weary of the protracted longing, 
 
 Weary of the incertitude of waiting, 
 
 I am weary of the null vision, and the inertia of 
 heart-hunger, 
 
 That wasting the body, makes void the strong pur- 
 pose. 
 
 157
 
 DESPAIR 
 
 I WILL give audience to the sadness that oppresses 
 
 me, 
 As an honored guest I will retain her, communing 
 
 with her bitterness ; 
 For seductive is her voice, musing she stays the swift 
 
 force-thought, 
 And blending in the blood-flow she arrests all strong 
 
 action ; 
 I will yield myself to her, attuning my thoughts to 
 
 her measure, 
 Voicing the soul-weariness that preys upon my 
 
 vigor ; 
 
 I will surfeit upon her, I will pour out my life- 
 anguish before her, 
 I will strive till she subdue me, or I conquer her 
 
 dominion. 
 
 158
 
 THE INNER LIFE 
 
 I HAVE been chastened by anguish, 
 
 And baptized in humiliation; 
 
 I have been desolate as one lost upon the Steppes at; 
 sun-down, 
 
 And lonely beyond all power of expression ; 
 
 I have lain prostrate before bodily weakness, 
 
 And overcome by the greater sorrow of heart empti- 
 ness; 
 
 My lips have fed upon dust and ashes, my soul adrift 
 upon a sea of bitterness ; 
 
 Yet, not for a moment have I lost the sense of the 
 beauty of the world, 
 
 Nor the knowledge of the reality and the sweetness 
 of love. 
 
 159
 
 COMPENSATIONS 
 
 NEVER again to weep tears of anguish, feeling the 
 heart's love unrequited, 
 
 Nor the tender shoots of the life of the spirit chilled 
 in the snows of indifference, 
 
 Never again to know languor, heart-hunger, the bit- 
 ter taste of denial, 
 
 One's strength waning, one's best efforts fruitless. 
 
 Never again to know weakness, unfaith, separation, 
 despair, 
 
 To doubt one's own heart and life's purpose, man's 
 divinity or the reality of God; 
 
 For when one has seen that look in loved eyes, that 
 bespeaks love, 
 
 And heard from warm lips those words that are 
 responsive to the heart, 
 
 In that moment is found full restitution for all these, 
 
 So that even the memory of pain has become oblit- 
 erate. 
 
 160
 
 INTROSPECTION 
 
 AFTER I have looked into your eyes, 
 
 That are colored like the mists after sundown, 
 
 There comes a sadness upon me, 
 
 That is a lonely anguish like the solitude of the death 
 
 hour 
 
 And this is not temporary 
 
 But abides with me for days, and yet for days, 
 All minor thoughts and emotions becoming obliterate 
 In that great surge of regretful memory. 
 
 161
 
 A CRY 
 
 MY voice is as the crying of the wind to his ears, 
 My joy, the whirling of the leaf therein 
 My beauty, as a pebble to be cast into the waters, 
 And my heart, as the dust that lies upon his pathway. 
 
 162
 
 COMPLAINT AND ANSWER 
 
 THE body speaks to itself, complaining 
 Though loved by a great man yet you go unclad in 
 
 silken vesture ! 
 And your feet, though kissed by a strong man, yet 
 
 they are chilled by the damps of the muddy 
 
 highway. 
 
 And the soul responds 
 
 The body that holds itself as my sanctuary takes 
 
 no thought of the texture of its raiment, 
 And the feet that are familiar with the paths that lead 
 
 to Love's treasure-house 
 Are indifferent to the earth-damps, or the form of the 
 
 shoes that confine them. 
 163
 
 HEART-BREAK 
 
 MY heart seems to stand still, 
 
 My throat is contracted almost to suffocation, 
 
 My lips are dry and ineffectual as one mumbling in 
 a delirium; 
 
 My eyes burn at the centre and are heavy-lidded, and 
 no tears rise to assuage their fever; 
 
 My spirit languishes and is weary beyond all expres- 
 sion. 
 
 For that which was as. native as the flow of the blood 
 in the arteries, 
 
 That which was as the rock upon which my joy was 
 founded, 
 
 That one touch of sweetness your love that recon- 
 ciled me to the many trials of life has been 
 withdrawn from me 
 
 And I am as distrait and bewildered as one who, in 
 extremity, is lost upon the sands of the desert ; 
 164
 
 HEART-BREAK 165 
 
 As utterly clreary seems the prospect before me; 
 As utterly without guidance am I; 
 As utterly without courage; 
 As utterly despairing.
 
 TRANQUILLITY 
 
 I WILL sit in the vast silence and not be bewildered, 
 For within me is that knowledge of power that is 
 beyond time or event. 
 
 Though the body be weak and unclasped by the arm 
 
 of protection, 
 Yet within me is that source of strength that is 
 
 greater than anything with which this earth 
 
 is supplied. 
 
 And though I may not hear your voice speaking, yet 
 I am not solitary, 
 
 For within me is that Life that is calmer than earth- 
 life, and that dispels all earth-longing. 
 166
 
 SILENCE 
 
 THEOUGH peril and disaster I have been silent, 
 And I have been silent through great anguish of 
 
 spirit, and through physical privation; 
 I have been silent when failure and indifference 
 
 threatened to overwhelm me, 
 And when death grappled with me ready to annihilate 
 
 me, yet I have been silent. 
 So then if now you withdraw the comfort of your 
 
 love from me, 
 Effacing, in the arrogance of your heart, even the 
 
 memory of its sweetness, 
 
 I can return to the unfailing solace of silence, 
 To the renewing strength of silence, 
 To the supreme effectuality of silence, 
 
 187
 
 LAMENT OF A MODERN SARA 
 
 WHAT shall I do with the burden of my days that I 
 
 may endure them? 
 For my breath is as gall to my nostrils and my words 
 
 fade into emptiness before me, 
 My comings and my goings are as phantoms, the 
 
 work of my hands destitute of profit, 
 Because the love that redeems is withheld from me, my 
 
 womb is barren and my heart disconsolate, 
 Its strength turned fallow, its hope hallucination. 
 For the men of this day are as pigmies in honor, 
 
 revering no longer those attributes that are 
 
 native and intrinsic ; 
 Self-stunned in herb-fumes they wander, self-dwarfeid 
 
 in the carnality of their musings ; 
 Prizing the things that are temporal above those that 
 
 are spiritual and progressive, 
 168
 
 LAMENT OF A MODEEN" SAEA 169 
 
 They barter their inheritance of self- joy for that 
 
 which is indifferent and perishable; 
 What shall I do with the burden of my days that I 
 
 may endure them? 
 For the words of the world are as shadows, deficient 
 
 in wisdom, 
 And the wealth of the world for their baseness 
 
 makes no reparation, 
 And the love of the world is unstable and empty of 
 
 solace.
 
 LOVE'S MASQUERADE 
 
 SINCE your heart is cold and indifferent so that your 
 
 eyes behold in me no fullness, 
 I will acquire the arts of the Siren, wherewith to 
 
 lure you, 
 
 I will disperse in wiles the glory of my womanhood, 
 And in dreams I will cover the jewel of my heart, 
 I will sing in the solitude, I will weave my enchant- 
 ments over you, 
 
 And drawing you to me, I will disarm the indifference 
 that robs worship of its dower. 
 170
 
 MEDITATION 
 
 I TALK with men and women in passing, discussing 
 
 their environment, pursuits, possibilities, 
 And I see them agitating over the temporal, and that 
 
 their mortality seems to them important, 
 And that they cleave to it as a finality; because it 
 
 seems real to them, and vice seems real, and 
 
 failure, and sex degradation also, seems real 
 
 to them; 
 And they dispute over these things, accepting them 
 
 as entities, adjusting themselves to them as 
 
 principals. 
 And money seems real, and it attracts them, as, in 
 
 itself, a desideratum, 
 And some are perplexed in their thoughts, all day, 
 
 to obtain it, and at night they lie sleepless 
 
 upon their pillows; 
 171
 
 172 MEDITATION 
 
 And others have recourse to crime, allying themselves 
 
 with iniquity, in order to obtain it ; 
 And I am depressed after these talks, and sit a long 
 
 time solitary, wearied by the turmoil of the 
 
 dream that is carnal, 
 For I am offended by their projects, as phantoms 
 
 that baffle the growth of the spirit, 
 And to me, the growth of the spirit is as essential as 
 
 the needs of the body, and should have equal 
 
 scope in its manifestation ; 
 
 And I look upward to the Sun, inhaling deeply its 
 full splendor, realizing myself as part of that 
 bounty, 
 Praying silently that no distraction of the flesh may 
 
 sever me in my affinity for the things that are 
 
 God-like ; 
 And I am as one intoxicated of the light and from 
 
 it I absorb only that which is strong and 
 
 salutary, 
 And henceforth, I will impart to others only that 
 
 which is strong and salutary, 
 Allowing as actual in them, only that which is the 
 
 same,
 
 REPLETION 
 
 THINK not I love you less, that I am less assiduous ; 
 'Tis not I love you less, but rather love life less, 
 For the spirit in man, in holding life's high pleasures, 
 Flags and grows less impetuous, less fervid in 
 
 requirement ; 
 
 And, as the rapt face of a flower absorbs the sun- 
 shine, 
 
 So am I thralled in the strong thought of Death. 
 
 ITS
 
 RECOGNITION 
 
 OUT from the dim corridors of time, we for a moment 
 
 met and loitered, 
 And the fire in your eyes, mingling with the fire in 
 
 mine suddenly we comprehended, 
 And our souls clinging together rejoiced exceedingly, 
 
 no more to be indifferent; 
 For in that look was the knowledge that through all 
 
 transitions and experiences, 
 The chief good is, not to lose sight of the personal 
 
 joy. 
 
 174
 
 A VISITATION 
 
 THE Angel spoke to me saying, 
 "Why are you so downcast, oh my sister?" 
 Soothed somewhat by her gracious presence I re- 
 sponded : 
 
 "Because he whom my soul loves, loves not me." 
 And the Angel smiled a radiant joy-smile 
 "There are those who need love, to whom love's gifts 
 
 are precious ; seek them." 
 "But without this love my day is as ashes, and in my 
 
 heart is no strength left for seeking." 
 And again the Angel smiled a wondrous joy-smile. 
 "Is that which is given ungladly, or by solicitation 
 
 to be counted a boon? 
 Or is it expedient to sit sorrowing for some drea 
 
 desire, some web of the fancy, in a world full 
 of perfect things ?" 
 175
 
 176 A VISITATION 
 
 "Assuredly not, oh Spirit." 
 
 "Yet you are disconsolate because that which you 
 
 wish to be, has no being." 
 Silently I assented. 
 "Only they are shadows, who seeing shadows, wander 
 
 in shadows." 
 "I see," I cried at last. "Sweet Sister, I will wipe 
 
 out this dream-desire, this wish for that which 
 
 is not. I will . . . but " 
 The Angel had vanished, and in my heart was a peace 
 
 like the radiance of that joy-memory.
 
 STRENGTH IN A NAME 
 
 WHEN the cares of life become too heavy for me, 
 And I lose faith, fearing to faint by the wayside, 
 Then a name rises to my lips like a deep sigh, 
 And what the charm in the sound is, I know not, but 
 immediately the burden of pain and discour- 
 agement leaves me, 
 
 And the sweetness of memory enthralls me 
 The kind looks I see again 
 
 And the voice that entrances, I hear again speaking, 
 And a gladness returns like that of the homing bird, 
 
 after the storm, 
 
 For I know that we shall meet again, 
 And that love perfect and secure shall achieve its 
 supreme consummation. 
 17T
 
 LOVE'S SUPREMACY 
 
 A LONG time, bitter days had been my portion, 
 
 Days of heart-emptiness and desolation, 
 
 Days in whose loneliness even God seemed absent, 
 
 When my soul longed to hear some love-word spoken, 
 
 And my flesh weakened for some friendly contact 
 
 Days when my feet knew pain and my lips hunger, 
 
 And my ears listened vainly for a footstep ; 
 
 Yet Love's Supremacy was working through me 
 
 Most closely, those faint days of isolation, 
 
 Since, from their bitterness, was born the power 
 
 To draw your heart's love to me through the distance, 
 
 And now, no lor ger sadness is my portion, 
 
 But deep full joyous life, replete with courage, 
 
 And always some sweet hint of a kind presence, 
 
 A pressure on my palm, like your hand guiding, 
 
 A sense that if I leaned a little forward, 
 
 Your breath might warm my forehead or my bosom. 
 
 178
 
 JOY 
 
 AN angel came to me in the darkness and spoke 
 
 gently, saying, 
 " Because of the abyss of long silence that divides 
 
 you, be not afflicted 
 For lie whom your soul loves, loves also, with the love 
 
 of the great heart the strong 1 >ve 
 And those things that are nothing will in due time 
 
 resolve themselves back again into the noth- 
 ingness." 
 And floating away, she lingered in the distance, her 
 
 face as a radiance, singing 
 "Yours be the faith, yours be the love, that triumphs 
 
 through life, and over death. Oh joy, joy, 
 
 joy. . . . 
 
 179
 
 WOUNDED 
 
 THE orange sunset of winter ! 
 
 And the bare branches of the trees like delicate lace- 
 work against it, 
 The snow crisp underfoot, the air clear, penetrating, 
 
 crystalline, 
 
 Walking together side by side, he with effort, 
 His arm linked through my arm for support 
 His face wan with anguish, yet luminous, lovely, 
 
 courageous, 
 
 Along the village street 
 The people regarding us furtively, 
 Some making personal comments in an undertone as 
 
 we pass. 
 Slowly we walk! 
 
 His radiant eyes seeing not at all the village street, 
 nor the villagers, 
 
 180
 
 WOUNDED 
 
 Yet not unconscious of the beauty of the world, 
 
 Nor the salutary influence of the presence of strong 
 human beings, 
 
 Gazing intently into the beyond, without fear or 
 resentment, 
 
 Only a sweet resignation, acceptance, obedience, re- 
 nouncing all, without a murmur or question, 
 love, art, ambition, 
 
 Nor mindful of leaving me comfortless, empty, be- 
 wildered 
 
 Knowing that all will be well with me too, on the 
 morrow. 
 
 Silent we walk, yet not lonely, 
 
 Each comprehending and responding to the quiet 
 musing of the other, 
 
 In that communion that is deeper and beyond the 
 power of words, 
 
 Those rare electric moments, when spirit merges into 
 spirit.
 
 DISSOLUTION 
 
 HE lay before me in the death-struggle, 
 
 His lips moving silently, unable to form the last 
 
 words he would utter ; 
 Yet clearly I knew their meaning, through the glaze 
 
 that obscured his sweet blue eyes, 
 And my soul was mute and bewildered by the bright 
 
 red blood that welled up to his lips from the 
 
 arteries. 
 
 As a mother yearns over the blighted life of her 
 
 infant, so was I stricken and helpless, 
 Lost in an anguish that dazed me, before the cruelty 
 
 of that dissolution, 
 And I could whisper no parting, nor kiss him, or tell 
 
 him how I loved him, though but a few minutes 
 
 remained to me, 
 Nor could I ask him whether he felt God's Presence 
 
 closely enfolding him. 
 
 182
 
 LIFE AND DEATH 
 
 A WEAKNESS in the flesh, 
 
 A languor o'er the spirit, 
 
 A blight upon the heart beat, 
 
 A blemish in the breath, 
 
 Seeking the joy that is not in the mortal, 
 
 Craving the love that is not of the dust. 
 
 Oh the dull, bitter task of disillusion, 
 
 Oh the long-silent anguish of endurance, 
 
 Oh the fatigue, like chaff, before the footsteps ! 
 
 A grayness in the thoughts, 
 A faintness in the speech, 
 An ennui in the memory, 
 A shadow o'er the vision, 
 Then the swift longing for the final out-leap 
 Into the wordless void, the blissful ether. 
 Oh the ecstatic joy of overcoming, 
 Oh the glad miracle of boundless being, 
 Oh the sweet up-lift through the wondrous regions! 
 
 183
 
 NOON-DAY AND NIGHT 
 
 THE broad full noon, 
 
 Its radiance of light ; its warmth ; its power ; 
 
 It's clear calm view ; its speech, its sanity ; 
 
 Its wealth of purpose, effort, energy ; 
 
 Its pride of native hope, that sanctifies 
 
 The burden of its toils ; its love-delights 
 
 That quells its fears, plans its abode and builds 
 
 Its altars till they toVer to Cheop's crown. 
 
 The cold, black night, 
 
 Its tears; its languishment, its stifled sighs,' 
 Its brooding memories, its swift desires, 
 Its phantom fruits of long sped happy hours, 
 Its strange debris of things that never were, 
 Its anguish of the things that seemed to be, 
 Its anguish of the day just spent, and then 
 Its keener anguish of the days to come. 
 
 184
 
 TO A DISEMBODIED SOUL 
 
 DEAREST, 
 
 Are you watching me with your spirit eyes, 
 
 Seeing the pangs and perplexities that at each step 
 
 of the earth-life assail me; 
 Yet having no part in my suffering, 
 Because the reason of things, that is hidden from 
 
 mortal senses, 
 
 The need of the struggle, and its underlying purpose, 
 Is revealed to you and perfectly comprehended? 
 
 Dearest 
 
 Are you standing ever near me, 
 
 Longing with infinite longing to stretch out your 
 
 hand 
 
 And touch me into consciousness of your presence ; 
 Yet because of that immutable law, 
 
 185
 
 186 TO A DISEMBODIED SOUL 
 
 By which no spirit can enter into contact with 
 
 mortal, 
 Withhold, and in patience endure? 
 
 Dearest 
 
 Although in the darkness of the flesh-veiled vision, 
 
 Distracted by the travail of spirit that is the daily 
 
 life of the world, 
 
 Yet will my faith remain steadfast, 
 That, with the first anguish of dissolution, 
 In the dawning light of the succeeding phase of 
 
 existence, 
 Shall your face be made apparent, looking at me 
 
 with welcome, 
 And hand in hand, through scons of time shall we 
 
 move onward together, 
 
 Among the myriad suns and mysteries of the universe, 
 And through the revolving cycles of change and 
 
 revelation, 
 
 Prepare our hearts to receive the ultimate wisdom 
 and perfection of God.
 
 SELF-RELIANCE 
 
 As a stag at bay, I look out upon the world, soli- 
 tary flanked everywhere by discourage- 
 ments, all love withheld from me, 
 
 Yet keeping the serenity of my soul, I stand un- 
 quellcd before it, 
 
 For I know the strife to be unworthy the life in me, 
 inasmuch as it is the outcome of man's crud- 
 ity, and not of his exalted, more spiritual 
 nature, 
 
 And a strong joy possesses me, the joy in the over- 
 coming of the things that are temporal, 
 
 And the courage that is given when face to face with 
 the sharp moments of life, is upon me, 
 
 Arid I know that the law that makes for salvation is 
 working steadily through me, 
 
 That I shall subdue all negation and conquer all 
 indifference, 
 
 187
 
 188 SELF-RELIANCE 
 
 That I shall stem the tide of adverse circumstance, 
 making it subservient to my will, 
 
 And, as Aphrodite new born of the sea-foam, I will 
 rise cleansed from the turmoil of its billows.
 
 A CRY 
 
 STAND back and away from me, crowd not upon me 
 with your shallow judgments and doubtful 
 purposes, 
 
 For I am stifled in the carnality of your thoughts, 
 and by the iniquity of your actions! 
 
 I am a creature new-born a woman meek but intol- 
 erant 
 
 And henceforth, I accept from you only that which 
 is strong and salubrious, 
 
 For one whom I loved, has put indignity upon me, 
 bringing me to the level of his own unright- 
 eousness. 
 
 But now, I am rebellious, I will deny him, and they 
 that are like him, shall be as chaff before my 
 footsteps, 
 
 189
 
 A CKY 
 
 For who is he, that with impunity can bring to 
 emptiness the dower of my womanhood? 
 
 Stand back and away from me, crowd not upon me 
 with your shallow judgments and doubtful 
 purposes, 
 
 For I am stifled by the carnality of your thoughts 
 and by the iniquity of your actions ; 
 
 And until one confronts me who is equal with me in 
 faith and endurance, I will live solitary in 
 the midst of you, 
 
 For knowing the godliness of my nature and func- 
 tion I will withdraw myself from a generation 
 that is loveless.
 
 REVERIE 
 
 I GO about seeking love, according to my knowledge 
 and expectation, and in a degree I know occa- 
 sionally to exist, 
 
 For I am one who urgently needs love's fullness, the 
 faithful-love of the king-husband of Deidre of 
 old, 
 
 Or of the time-tried lover of Aspasia the strong, 
 enfolding, life-enduring love 
 
 And both by the symmetry of my body and the 
 frankness of my speech, do I attract the ad- 
 miration of men, 
 
 And I listen to their flatteries, and to the recital of 
 their ambitions, and in turn I sometimes flat- 
 ter them, 
 
 For I know how by these crude beginnings, the 
 abiding structure is often founded when in- 
 sight penetrates insight 
 191
 
 192 KEVEKIE 
 
 And for a time all goes well, until some crisis-moment 
 arises, when they almost always fail of that 
 which is the due of perfect manhood, 
 
 For I forget that these are not the spontaneous 
 child-men of primitive ages, when chivalry was 
 as the marrow to the bone, 
 
 But the collected, cynical, worldly-wise men of this 
 century; fond of money, absorbed in com- 
 merce, full of self -hood ; 
 
 But when the trial-moment has passed, appearing 
 before me, again do they affirm their love for 
 me; 
 
 And if, by chance, they leave the city for a time, 
 they write, reiterating my praises. 
 
 Yet often I am lonely, and my lips lack nourishment, 
 and my body is languid as with the death- 
 weariness, 
 
 So that, that which they offer me in Love's name 
 seems a mockery, a thing without substance, a 
 shadow's shadow; 
 
 And often, hardly scanning these missives, I lay them 
 upon the bright embers, 
 
 And watch them without sadness, as they dwindle 
 into the nothingness from whence they came, *
 
 BEVEEIE 193 
 
 For I know that there are yet, upon the earth, some 
 
 of like calibre to the heroic men of long ago, 
 And that he who is truly to love me, is one of these, 
 
 and that already he is seeking after me in his 
 
 heart, 
 And from afar he will acknowledge me, and however 
 
 swiftly I may go, will inevitably overtake me.
 
 A PRIVILEGE 
 
 It is a great privilege to have loved some one, 
 
 So much, that your heart beats with the purpose only 
 
 of giving joy to the heart of that person, 
 So much, that no aim or pursuit is considered only as 
 
 it reflects upon his being. 
 As you go imparting brightness to all with whom 
 
 you come in daily contact, 
 Because the gladness of your heart inspires you 
 
 with the desire to be helpful to them 
 So much, that the blood in your veins is to the loved 
 
 one to be transfused into him if need be, 
 So much, that you would renounce life and do so 
 
 gladly, should any good accrue to him by the 
 
 act, 
 So much, that the life of your own soul and body is as 
 
 nothing by comparison, 
 
 194
 
 A PRIVILEGE 195 
 
 This is the love that makes life a victory, 
 
 This is the love that makes immortality a reality, 
 
 This is the love that only is love, 
 
 This is the love after which life only is life, 
 
 And they who have failed of it, have not properly 
 lived, 
 
 Nor can they properly die.
 
 THE HEART'S EPITHALAMIUM 
 
 THIS day, I will kiss the lips of my beloved, 
 
 And I will take him with me into the high places 
 
 where only the elect can enter, 
 I will surround him with my substance, withdrawing 
 
 him from the snare of the idle, and from the 
 
 toils of the iniquitous ; 
 And together we will live serenely, surmounting every 
 
 obstacle, and conquering every tyranny, 
 And we shall know the glory that is the reward of 
 
 the patient, and the strength that is to the 
 
 parents of valiant children, 
 And we will rejoice each in the security of the heart 
 
 of the other, walking as gods upon the earth, 
 
 simply and uprightly. 
 196
 
 SONG OF SOLITUDE 
 
 You and I together! 
 In a solitary place 
 In the midst of primeval nature and within sound of 
 
 the somnolent sea ; 
 Heart to heart 
 Once again primitive man and woman fearless and 
 
 without shame; 
 Yet knowing well the tragic history of the race, and 
 
 the sorrows of the human heart, 
 Whose chief sin is its want of faith in itself, 
 Its disloyalty to itself. 
 
 You and I together! 
 In the midst of primeval nature, 
 
 Divesting ourselves of the barbarity of the life of the 
 so-called civilized man 
 197
 
 198 SONG OF SOLITUDE 
 
 Its accumulated falsities and ignorance, 
 And in the midst of its abundance of light 
 The immensity of its darkness. 
 
 You and I together ! and solitary ; 
 
 But only for a time ! 
 
 For having found peace, through our divine love of 
 
 each other, 
 We love the world, and wish to bestow that peace 
 
 upon it. 
 
 In the midst of primeval nature ! 
 
 Yet our works going out among the struggling 
 masses, 
 
 They speaking for us more vividly than our tongues 
 could speak; 
 
 Dwelling upon and helping onward the grand move- 
 ments of life. 
 
 Showing how to possess the things that are real, 
 
 And to discard all those things whether taught in 
 the schools or in the churches, 
 
 That do not make for its lasting betterment, 
 
 The true worship of God
 
 SONG OF SOLITUDE 199 
 
 Which is the right understanding of humanity. 
 Giving as its highest motive the cultivation and per- 
 fection of itself 
 
 Bringing into the daily life of the people, 
 Health which results only from a proper use and 
 
 respect of nature's laws 
 For only after these have been grasped and insisted 
 
 upon, 
 Will come the need of the beautiful, and the delight 
 
 in perfection ; 
 When the love of Phidias and of Raphael, is fused 
 
 (like health) into the common life, 
 When we are able to follow the teachings of Christ, 
 
 Buddha, and such as they, 
 Then there will be but one nation upon the earth, one 
 
 religion, one brother-hood. 
 
 You and I together ! 
 
 Withdrawing ourselves through love for a time; 
 For only through love can we save 
 And only they can bestow peace, who have found 
 peace.
 
 x-s'Z? 
 
 UC SOUTHERN REGJONALUBRARY FACILITY 
 
 A 000128708 5