Helen of Troy | Page 8

should call me?And I with groping dim?Should reach his place of calling?And stretch my arms to him,
The wind would blow between my hands?For Joy that I shall miss,?The rain would fall upon my mouth?That his will never kiss.
Love Me
Brown-thrush singing all day long?In the leaves above me,?Take my love this little song,?"Love me, love me, love me!"
When he harkens what you say,?Bid him, lest he miss me,?Leave his work or leave his play,?And kiss me, kiss me, kiss me!
The Song for Colin
I sang a song at dusking time?Beneath the evening star,?And Terence left his latest rhyme?To answer from afar.
Pierrot laid down his lute to weep,?And sighed, "She sings for me,"?But Colin slept a careless sleep?Beneath an apple tree.
Four Winds
"Four winds blowing thro' the sky,?You have seen poor maidens die,?Tell me then what I shall do?That my lover may be true."?Said the wind from out the south,?"Lay no kiss upon his mouth,"?And the wind from out the west,?"Wound the heart within his breast,"?And the wind from out the east,?"Send him empty from the feast,"?And the wind from out the north,?"In the tempest thrust him forth,?When thou art more cruel than he,?Then will Love be kind to thee."
Roundel
If he could know my songs are all for him,?At silver dawn or in the evening glow,?Would he not smile and think it but a whim,
If he could know?
Or would his heart rejoice and overflow,?As happy brooks that break their icy rim?When April's horns along the hillsides blow?
I may not speak till Eros' torch is dim,?The god is bitter and will have it so;?And yet to-night our fate would seem less grim
If he could know.
Dew
I dream that he is mine,?I dream that he is true,?And all his words I keep?As rose-leaves hold the dew.
O little thirsty rose,?O little heart beware,?Lest you should hope to hold?A hundred roses' share.
A Maiden
Oh if I were the velvet rose?Upon the red rose vine,?I'd climb to touch his window?And make his casement fine.
And if I were the little bird?That twitters on the tree,?All day I'd sing my love for him?Till he should harken me.
But since I am a maiden?I go with downcast eyes,?And he will never hear the songs?That he has turned to sighs.
And since I am a maiden?My love will never know?That I could kiss him with a mouth?More red than roses blow.
"I Love You"
When April bends above me?And finds me fast asleep,?Dust need not keep the secret?A live heart died to keep.
When April tells the thrushes,?The meadow-larks will know,?And pipe the three words lightly?To all the winds that blow.
Above his roof the swallows,?In notes like far-blown rain,?Will tell the little sparrow?Beside his window-pane.
O sparrow, little sparrow,?When I am fast asleep,?Then tell my love the secret?That I have died to keep.
But Not to Me
The April night is still and sweet?With flowers on every tree;?Peace comes to them on quiet feet,
But not to me.
My peace is hidden in his breast?Where I shall never be,?Love comes to-night to all the rest,
But not to me.
Hidden Love
I hid the love within my heart,?And lit the laughter in my eyes,?That when we meet he may not know?My love that never dies.
But sometimes when he dreams at night?Of fragrant forests green and dim,?It may be that my love crept out?And brought the dream to him.
And sometimes when his heart is sick?And suddenly grows well again,?It may be that my love was there?To free his life of pain.
Snow Song
Fairy snow, fairy snow,?Blowing, blowing everywhere,?Would that I?Too, could fly?Lightly, lightly through the air.
Like a wee, crystal star?I should drift, I should blow?Near, more near,?To my dear?Where he comes through the snow.
I should fly to my love?Like a flake in the storm,?I should die,?I should die,?On his lips that are warm.
Youth and the Pilgrim
Gray pilgrim, you have journeyed far,?I pray you tell to me?Is there a land where Love is not,?By shore of any sea?
For I am weary of the god,?And I would flee from him?Tho' I must take a ship and go?Beyond the ocean's rim.
"I know a port where Love is not,?The ship is in your hand,?Then plunge your sword within your breast?And you will reach the land."
The Wanderer
I saw the sunset-colored sands,?The Nile like flowing fire between,?Where Rameses stares forth serene,?And Ammon's heavy temple stands.
I saw the rocks where long ago,?Above the sea that cries and breaks,?Bright Perseus with Medusa's snakes?Set free the maiden white like snow.
And many skies have covered me,?And many winds have blown me forth,?And I have loved the green bright north,?And I have loved the cold sweet sea.
But what to me are north and south,?And what the lure of many lands,?Since you have leaned to catch my hands?And lay a kiss upon my mouth.
I Would Live in Your Love
I would live in your love as the sea-grasses live in the sea, Borne up by each wave as it passes, drawn down by