Songs of Two | Page 3

wood should bloom
anew.
Come, let us sleep, Perchance
God's countenance,
Like
thine above thy flowers, smiles through
The night upon us two.
VERSES MY FRIEND
I have a friend who came,--I know not how,
Nor he. Among the
crowd, apart,
I feel the pressure of his hand, and hear
In very truth

the beating of his heart.
My soul had shut the door of abode,
So poor it seemed for any guest

To tarry there a night,--until he came,
Asking, not entertainment,
only rest.
Our hands were empty,-his and mine alike,
He says--until they joined.
I see
The gifts he brought; but where were mine
That he should say
"I too have need of thee?"
Without the threshold of his heart I wait
Abashed, afraid to enter
where
So radiant a company do meet,
Yet enter boldly, knowing I
am there.
Whether his hand shall press my latch to-night,

To-morrow, matters not. He came
Unsummoned, he will come again;
and I,
Though dead, shall answer to my name.
And yet, dear friend, in whom I rest content,
Speak to me now--lest
when we meet
Where tears and hunger have no grace,
A little word
of friendship be less sweet.
ON NE BADINE PAS AVEC LA MORT
1
The dew was full of sun that morn
_(Oh I heard the doves in the
ladyricks coop!)_
As he crossed the meadows beyond the corn,

Watching his falcon in the blue.
How could he hear my song so far,--

The song of the blood where the pulses are!
Straight through the
fields he came to me,
_(Oh I saw his soul as I saw the dew!)_
But I
hid my joy that he might not see,
I hid it deep within my breast,
As
the starling hides in the maize her nest.
2
Back through the corn he turned again,
_(Oh little he cared where his
falcon flew!)_
And my heart lay still in the hand of pain,
As in

winter's hand the rivers do.
How could he hear its secret cry,
The
cry of the dove when the cummers die!
Thrice in the maize he turned
to me,
_(Oh I saw his soul as I saw the dew!)_
But I hid my pain
that he might not see--
I hid it deep as the grave is made,
Where the
heart that can ache no more is laid.
3
Last night, where grows the river grass,
_(Oh the stream was dark
though the moon was new!)_
I saw white Death with my lover pass,

Side by side as the troopers so.
"Give me," said Death, "thy purse
well-filled,
And thy mantle-clasp which the moonbeams gild;
Save
the heart which beats for thy dear sake,"
_(Oh I saw my heart as I saw
the dew!)_
"All life hath given is Death's to take."
Dear God! how
can I love thy day
If thou takest the heart that loves away!
ITER SUPREMUM
Oh, what a night for a soul to go!
The wind a hawk, and the fields in
snow;
No screening cover of leaves in the wood,
Nor a star abroad
the way to show.
Do they part in peace, soul with its clay?
Tenant and landlord, what
do they say?
Was it sigh of sorrow or of release
I heard just now as
the face turned gray?
What if, aghast on the shoreless main
Of Eternity, it sought again

The shelter and rest of the Isle of Time,
And knocked at the door of
its house of pain!
On the tavern hearth the embers glow,
The laugh is deep and the
flagons low;
But without, the wind and the trackless sky,
And night
at the gates where a soul would go!
ON THE FLY-LEAF OF THE RUBAIYAT

Deem not this book a creed, 't is but the cry
Of one who fears not
death, yet would not die;
Who at the table feigns with sorry jest.
To
love the wine the Master's hand has pressed,
The while he loves the
absent Master best,--
The bitter cry of Love for love's reply!
IN AN ALBUM
Like the south-flying swallow the summer has flown,
Like a
fast-falling star, from unknown to unknown
Life flashes and falters
and fails from our sight,--
Good-night, friends, good-night.
Like home-coming swallows that seek the old eaves,
Like the buds
that wait patient beneath the dead leaves,
Love shall sleep in our
hearts till our hands meet again, Till then, friends, till then!
WITH APRIL ARBUTUS, TO A FRIEND
Fairer than we the woods of May,
Yet sweeter blossoms do not grow

Than these we send you from our snow,
Cramped are their stems
by winter's cold,
And stained their leaves with last year's mould;

For these are flowers which fought their way
Through ice and cold in
sun and air,
With all a soul might do and dare,
Hope, that outlives a
world's decay,
Enduring faith that will not die,
And love that gives,
not knowing why,
Therefore we send them unto you;
And if they
are not all your due,
Once they have looked into your face
Your
graciousness will give them place.
You know they were not born to
bloom
Like roses in a crowded room;
For though courageous they
are shy,
Loving but one sweet hand and eye.
Ah, should you take
them to the rest,
The warmth, the shelter of your breast,
Since