Helen Redeemed and Other Poems | Page 8

in whose girth

Lie sea
and land; to Gaia next, their spouse,
And next to Heré, mistress of my
house,
Traitress, and thine, for grace upon my faring:
For thou wert

by to hear me, false arm bearing
Upon my shoulder, glowing, lying
cheek
Next unto mine. Ay, and thou prayedst, with meek
Fair
seeming, prosperous send-off and return.
Tell me what then, tell all,
and let me learn
With what pretence that dog-souled slaked his thirst

In thy sweet liquor. Tell me that the first."
Then Helen lifted up her
head, and beamed
Clear light upon him from her eyes, which seemed

That blue which, lying on the white sea-bed
And gazing up, the
sunbeam overhead
Would show, with green entinctured, and the warp

Inwoven of golden shafts, blended yet sharp;
So that a glory mild
and radiant
Transfigured them. Upon him fell aslant
That lovely
light, while in her cheeks the hue
Of throbbing dawn came sudden.
So he knew
Her best before she spoke; for when she spoke
It was as
if the nightingale should croak
In April midst the first young leaves,
so bleak,
So harsh she schooled her throat, that it should speak
Dry
matter and hard logic--as if she
Were careful lest self-pity urged a
plea
Which was not hers to make; or as one faint
And desperate
lays down all his argument
Like bricks upon a field, let who will
make
A house of them; so drily Helen spake
With a flat voice.
"Thou hadst been nine days gone,
Came my lord Alexandros, Priam's
son,
And hailed me in the hall whereas I sat,
And claimed his
guest-right, which not wondering at
I gave as fitting was. Then came
the day
I was beguiled. What more is there to say?"
Fixt on her
fingers playing on the wall
Her eyes were. But the King said: "Tell
me all.
Thou wert beguiled: by his desire beguiled,
Or by thine
own?" She shook her head and smiled
Most sadly, pitying herself.
"Who knoweth
The ways of Love, whence cometh, whither goeth

The heart's low whimper? This I know, he loved

Me then, and
pleasured only where I moved
About the house. And I had pleasure
too
To know of me he had it. Then we knew
The day at hand when
he must take the road
And leave me; and its eve we close abode

Within the house, and spake not. But I wept."
She stayed, and
whispering down her next word crept:
"I was beguiled, beguiled."
And then her lip
She bit, and rueful showed her partnership
In

sinful dealing.
But he, in his esteem
Bleeding and raw, urged on. "To Kranai's deme

He took thee then?"
Speechless she bent her head
Towards her tender breasts whereon,
soft shed
As upon low quiet hills, the dawn light played,
And
limned their gentle curves or sank in shade.
So gazing, stood she
silent, but the King
Urged on. "From thence to Ilios, thou willing,

He took thee?"
Then, "I was beguiled," again
She said; and he, who felt a worthier
strain
Stir in his gall compassion, and uplift
Him out of knowledge,
saw a blessed rift
Upon his dark horizon, as tow'rds night
The low
clouds break and shafted shows the light.
"Ten years beguiled!" he
said, "but now it seems
Thou art----" She shook her head. "Nay, now
come dreams; Nay, now I think, remember, now I see."
"What callest
thou to mind?" "Hermione,"
She said, "our child, and Sparta my own
land,
And all the honour that lay to my hand
Had I but chosen it, as
now I would"--
And sudden hid her face up in her hood,
Her
courage ebbed in grief, all hardness drowned
In bitter weeping.
Noble pity crowned
The greater man in him; so for a space
They
wept together, she for loss; for grace
Of gain wept he. "No more," he
said, "my sweet,
Tell me no more."
"Ah, hear the whole of it
Before my hour is gone," she cried. But he

Groaning, "I dare not stay here lest I see
Him take thee again."
Both hands to fold her breast,
She shook her head; like as the sun
through mist
Shone triumph in her eyes. "Have no more fear
Of
him or any----" Then, hearing a stir
Within the house, her finger
toucht her lip,
And one fixt look she gave of fellowship

Assured--then turned and quickly went her way;
And his light vanisht

with her for that day.
FOURTH STAVE
THE APOLOGY OF HELEN
O singing heart, O twice-undaunted lover!
O ever to be blest, twice
blest moreover!
Twice over win the world in one girl's eyes,
Twice
over lift her name up to the skies;
Twice to hope all things, so to be
twice born--
For he lives not who cannot front the morn
Saying,
"This day I live as never yet
Lived striving man on earth!" What if
the fret
Of loss and ten years' agonizing snow
Thy hairs or leave
their tracery on thy brow,
Each line beslotted by the demon hounds

Hunting thee down o' nights? Laugh at thy wounds,
Laugh at thy eld,
strong lover, whose blood flows
Clear from the fountain, singing as it
goes,
"She loves, and so I live and shall not die!
Love on, love her:
'tis immortality."
Once more before the sun he greeted her:
She
glowed her joy; her mood was calm