Helen of Troy | Page 8

bear him off in flight
Erelong, erelong.
The Shrine
There is no lord within my heart,
Left silent as an empty shrine

Where rose and myrtle intertwine,
Within a place apart.
No god is there of carven stone
To watch with still approving eyes

My thoughts like steady incense rise;
I dream and weep alone.

But if I keep my altar fair,
Some morning I shall lift my head
From
roses deftly garlanded
To find the god is there.
The Blind
The birds are all a-building,
They say the world's a-flower,
And still
I linger lonely
Within a barren bower.
I weave a web of fancies
Of tears and darkness spun.
How shall I
sing of sunlight
Who never saw the sun?
I hear the pipes a-blowing,
But yet I may not dance,
I know that
Love is passing,
I cannot catch his glance.
And if his voice 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