s: "He comes with western winds, with evening's wandering airs,


s: With that clear dusk of heaven that brings the thickest stars.


s: Winds take a pensive tone, and stars a tender fire,


s: And visions rise, and change, that kill me with desire.


s: "Desire for nothing known in my maturer years,


s: When Joy grew mad with awe, at counting future tears.


s: When, if my spirit's sky was full of flashes warm,


s: I knew not whence they came, from sun or thunder-storm.


s: "But, first, a hush of peace--a soundless calm descends;


s: The struggle of distress, and fierce impatience ends;


s: Mute music soothes my breast--unuttered harmony,


s: That I could never dream, till Earth was lost to me.


s: "Then dawns the Invisible; the Unseen its truth reveals;


s: My outward sense is gone, my inward essence feels:


s: Its wings are almost free--its home, its harbour found,


s: Measuring the gulph, it stoops and dares the final bound,


s: "Oh I dreadful is the check--intense the agony--


s: When the ear begins to hear, and the eye begins to see;


s: When the pulse begins to throb, the brain to think again;


s: The soul to feel the flesh, and the flesh to feel the chain.


s: "Yet I would lose no sting, would wish no torture less;


s: The more that anguish racks, the earlier it will bless;


s: And robed in fires of hell, or bright with heavenly shine,


s: If it but herald death, the vision is divine!"


s: She ceased to speak, and we, unanswering, turned to go--


s: We had no further power to work the captive woe:


s: Her cheek, her gleaming eye, declared that man had given


s: A sentence, unapproved, and overruled by Heaven.


s: Like a false guard, false watch keeping,


s: Stretched her wings, and soared to heaven,


s: From her mother's heart seemed loath to part


s: But her father smiled on the fairest child


s: "Let grief distract the sufferer's breast,


s: Thou wouldst rejoice for those that live,


s: While then canst speak with such a tone!


s: Thy world, where guile, and hate, and doubt,


s: While heaven and earth are whispering me,


s: Thy griefs may wound--thy wrongs may tear,


s: I'll think the heaven of glorious spheres


s: In endless bliss, through endless years;


s: I'll think, there's not one world above,


s: Where, writhing 'neath the strokes of Fate,


s: Where Pleasure still will lead to wrong,


s: And Truth is weak, and Treachery strong;


s: There should be no despair--though tears


s: Of glory's wreath and pleasure's flower.


s: These, once, indeed, seemed Beings Divine;


s: And they, perchance, heard vows of mine,


s: What thoughts has left the vanished day,


s: And Conscience, with exhaustless breath,


s: "And though I've said that Conscience lies


s: But a brave heart, with a tarnished name,


s: "Well, thou hast fought for many a year,


s: "Look on the grave where thou must sleep


s: Death! that struck when I was most confiding.


s: Strike again, Time's withered branch dividing


s: Leaves, upon Time's branch, were growing brightly,


s: Birds beneath its shelter gathered nightly;


s: Daily round its flowers the wild bees flew.


s: Sorrow passed, and plucked the golden blossom;


s: Guilt stripped off the foliage in its pride


s: Little mourned I for the parted gladness,


s: Hope was there, and laughed me out of sadness;


s: Whispering, "Winter will not linger long!"


s: And, behold! with tenfold increase blessing,


s: Spring adorned the beauty-burdened spray;


s: Wind and rain and fervent heat, caressing,


s: High it rose--no winged grief could sweep it;


s: Sin was scared to distance with its shine;


s: Love, and its own life, had power to keep it


s: From all wrong--from every blight but thine!


s: Cruel Death!  The young leaves droop and languish;


s: Evening's gentle air may still restore--


s: No! the morning sunshine mocks my anguish-


s: Strike it down, that other boughs may flourish


s: Thus, at least, its mouldering corpse will nourish


s: Well, some may hate, and some may scorn,


s: The slave of Falsehood, Pride, and Pain--


s: But these were thoughts that vanished too;


s: Say, "Earth, lie lightly on that breast,


s: And, kind Heaven, grant that spirit rest!"


s: The sweet moon through your lattice gleams,


s: Bleak, bleak the east wind sobs and sighs,


s: False friends will launch their covert sneers;


s: I'll not weep that thou art going to leave me,


s: And doubly will the dark world grieve me,


s: I'll not weep, because the summer's glory


s: Well hast thou spoken, and yet not taught


s: Yet glows unquenched--though shadows roll,


s: 'Tis sweet to think that thou hast been;


s: Like hills and woods, and valleys green,


s: Where scarce the scattered, stunted trees


s: And still the restless wind comes forth,


s: Should Wealth, or Fame, our Life employ,


s: In those who watched their flocks by night.


s: That Christ has earned a RIGHT to bless:


s: And heavenly Truth from earth shall spring:


s: Oh, weep not, love! each tear that springs


s: Were 't not for this, I well could trace


s: Around, bright flowers of loveliest hue,


s: Nature's chief beauties spring from thee;


s: Still in the wallflower's fragrance dwell;


s: (Although, perchance, their stay be brief)


s: Must yield to Peace, and Hope, and Love.


s: You may rejoice to think YOURSELVES secure;


s: You may be grateful for the gift divine--


s: That grace unsought, which made your black hearts pure,


s: And fits your earth-born souls in Heaven to shine.


s: But, is it sweet to look around, and view


s: Which they deserved, at least, as much as you.--


s: Their faults not greater, nor their virtues less?


s: And wherefore should you love your God the more,


s: Because to you alone his smiles are given;


s: And only bring the favoured FEW to Heaven?


s: And, wherefore should your hearts more grateful prove,


s: Because for ALL the Saviour did not die?


s: Is yours the God of justice and of love?


s: Say, does your heart expand to all mankind?


s: And, would you ever to your neighbour do--


s: The weak, the strong, the enlightened, and the blind--


s: As you would have your neighbour do to you?


s: And when you, looking on your fellow-men,


s: How can you talk of joy and rapture then?--


s: May God withhold such cruel joy from me!


s: But, none shall sink to everlasting woe,


s: That have not well deserved the wrath of Heaven.


s: They'll cling to what they once disdained,


s: When speech expressed the inward thought,


s: When speech and mirth at once must cease,


s: Though bleak these woods, and damp the ground


s: When kindly thoughts that would have way,


s: Warm hands are there, that, clasped in mine,


s: While mirth, and truth, and friendship shine


s: Though far I roam, that thought shall be


s: My soul is awakened, my spirit is soaring


s: And carried aloft on the wings of the breeze;


s: For above and around me the wild wind is roaring,


s: Arousing to rapture the earth and the seas.


s: The long withered grass in the sunshine is glancing,


s: The bare trees are tossing their branches on high;


s: The dead leaves beneath them are merrily dancing,


s: The white clouds are scudding across the blue sky


s: I wish I could see how the ocean is lashing


s: The foam of its billows to whirlwinds of spray;


s: I wish I could see how its proud waves are dashing,


s: And hear the wild roar of their thunder to-day!


s: I too have smiled, and thought like you,


s: That flattering Falsehood round it throws?


s: Too chill the winds that o'er me pass'd,


s: Though Autumn's mists hung cold and chill.


s: Though hope may promise joys, that still


s: The smiling flowerets, bright and sweet,


s: Most dreadful--shrink not--'tis the last!


s: Where none shall suffer, none shall weep,


s: Then whence this change? and wherefore now


s: For the bright sun's most transient gleams


s: Thick vapours snatched her from my sight,


s: But what is that faint struggling light?


s: Kind Heaven! increase that silvery gleam


s: conviction obtained her recall. She had only been three months at


s: What thought, what scene invites thee now


s: The thorn-trees gaunt, the walks o'ergrown,


s: And, deepening still the dream-like charm,


s: Marked out the tracks of wandering sheep.


s: The heavens have lost their zone of gold,


s: "It was spring, and the skylark was singing:"


s: They unlocked a deep fountain, whose springing,


s: It is swelled with the first snowy weather;


s: There are no yellow stars on the mountain


s: From the brink of the moss-bedded fountain--


s: But lovelier than corn-fields all waving


s: Are the heights where the north-wind is raving,


s: It was morning: the bright sun was beaming;


s: And swift were the wings to our feet given,


s: For the moors! For the moors, where the short grass


s: For the moors! For the moors, where each high pass


s: For the moors, where the linnet was trilling


s: Where the lark, the wild sky-lark, was filling


s: It was scattered and stunted, and told me


s: It whispered, "The grim walls enfold me,


s: I have bloomed in my last summer's sun."


s: Has a spell more adored and heartbreaking


s: Than, for me, in that blighted heath lay.


s: How it longed--how it burned to be free!


s: Strong in the blast--quick gathering light--


s: And by the words thou scarce dost speak,


s: Mortal! though soon life's tale is told;


s: The holly is dark when the rose-briar blooms,


s: The young man scoffed as he turned away,


s: Turned to the call of a sweet lute's measure,


s: Waked by the lightsome touch of pleasure:


s: Woe had been wrought by that pitiless preacher.


s: And trust in Pleasure's careless guiding


s: What rocks and shelves, and sands lay round


s: A mourner still, though friend and lover


s: In the earth--the earth--thou shalt be laid,


s: And there are eyes whose lightning shine


s: In some deep glen should lingering stay,


s: When clouds of storm, or shades of night,


s: But sweet is day, though with shadows blended;


s: And, though clouded, sweet are youthful years.


s: And I vowed--if need were--to share his sadness,


s: Silent is the house: all are laid asleep:


s: One alone looks out o'er the snow-wreaths deep,


s: Watching every cloud, dreading every breeze


s: That whirls the wildering drift, and bends the groaning trees.


s: Cheerful is the hearth, soft the matted floor;


s: Not one shivering gust creeps through pane or door;


s: The little lamp burns straight, its rays shoot strong and far:


s: I trim it well, to be the wanderer's guiding-star.


s: Frown, my haughty sire! chide, my angry dame!


s: Set your slaves to spy; threaten me with shame:


s: But neither sire nor dame, nor prying serf shall know,


s: What angel nightly tracks that waste of frozen snow.


s: What I love shall come like visitant of air,


s: Safe in secret power from lurking human snare;


s: What loves me, no word of mine shall e'er betray,


s: Though for faith unstained my life must forfeit pay


s: Burn, then, little lamp; glimmer straight and clear--


s: Hush! a rustling wing stirs, methinks, the air:


s: He for whom I wait, thus ever comes to me;


s: Strange Power! I trust thy might; trust thou my constancy.


s: What though her brow be changed and cold,


s: What though the stone--the darksome mould


s: Thou knowest she will; and thou mayst mourn


s: Often rebuked, yet always back returning


s: To those first feelings that were born with me,


s: And leaving busy chase of wealth and learning


s: For idle dreams of things which cannot be:


s: To-day, I will seek not the shadowy region;


s: And visions rising, legion after legion,


s: Bring the unreal world too strangely near.


s: I'll walk, but not in old heroic traces,


s: And not among the half-distinguished faces,


s: I'll walk where my own nature would be leading:


s: Where the grey flocks in ferny glens are feeding;


s: Where the wild wind blows on the mountain side.


s: What have those lonely mountains worth revealing?


s: More glory and more grief than I can tell:


s: The earth that wakes one human heart to feeling


s: Can centre both the worlds of Heaven and Hell.


s: The following are the last lines my sister Emily ever wrote:--


s: No trembler in the world's storm-troubled sphere:


s: And faith shines equal, arming me from fear.


s: That move men's hearts: unutterably vain;


s: Or idlest froth amid the boundless main,


s: Changes, sustains, dissolves, creates, and rears.


s: Nor atom that his might could render void:


s: And what THOU art may never be destroyed.


s: There have been times when I have mourned!


s: The following are some of the thoughts that now and then solace a


s: Though bleak these woods, and damp the ground,


s: When kindly thoughts that would have way


s: Warm hands are there, that, clasped in mine,


s: While mirth and truth, and friendship shine


s: Though far I roam, that thought shall be


s: Watch through the darkest hours of night;


s: 'Twas PEACE that flowed from heart to heart,


s: With looks and smiles that spoke of heaven,


s: "Firm is my tread, and sure though slow;


s: Life's rough and devious pathway through,


s: Nor inward thought, nor sight, nor sound,


s: Thou'lt fell the tree that checks thy course,


s: Right through the flinty rock thou'lt try


s: "Cling to the earth, poor grovelling worm;


s: What shall they do when night grows black,


s: Bright as thou art, and bold, and strong,


s: Earth calls thee blind, misguided one,--


s: E'en while their footsteps press the clay,


s: Strength to sustain their drooping pow'rs,


s: I hoped, that with the brave and strong,


s: Thou bid'st us now weep through the night


s: More wise--more strengthened for the strife--


s: _"Face invisible! je t'ai gravée en médailles


s: Et j'ai fait les plus belles de belle argile


s: "Une à une, vous les comptiez en souriant,


s: Henri de Régnier, "Les Médailles d'Argile".


s: Gravitation; and we insist upon considering it merely a little


s: For the purely technical side I must state my immense debt to the


s: beginning, solely with the question of technique.  For the more


s: important part of the book, the poems must speak for themselves.


s: Touched bleak the granite bridge, and white


s: Blossomed bright lights, I turned to leave,


s: The voice was clear, concise, and terse.


s: Of strange eyes flashing through the haze.


s: Smouldered with dull-red flames, sanguine


s: Where street lamps cast a wavering fire.


s: It hacked and carved like a cutlass blade,


s: And the noise in the air the broad words made


s: Was the cry of the wind at a window-pane


s: Under pinnacled bridges where minarets gleam,


s: While a nightingale sings in a lemon tree.


s: The old man scratched a match, the spark


s: Would stain the boards of this kitchen-place.


s: From the chimney, red eyes sparked the gloom,


s: And a cricket's chirp filled all the room.


s: The soul of the house stood guessed, and shy


s: Like those in which Chinese tea is sold.


s: Chests, and puncheons, kegs, and flasks,


s: In a corner three ancient amphorae leaned


s: The carved, white figures fluttering there


s: Culled from gardens where fountains splashed


s: Their love in flowers, brittle and bright,


s: Artificial and fragile, which told aright


s: The vows of an eighteenth-century knight.


s: To paint these porcelains with unknown hues


s: Of reds dyed purple and greens turned blues,


s: They fill the mind with thoughts impure,


s: Then from under his cloak he took the thing


s: As he laid it down it flashed in the light,


s: It could cut a floating thread at a blow.


s: 'Twas a little careless to have it beneath


s: So I brought it with me despite its state."


s: "Bringing home a prize which he has bought."


s: "You care for this sort of thing, Dear Sir?"


s: Then I saw what I had not noticed before.


s: The walls were hung with at least five score


s: Which nations of militant men could devise.


s: Smear with the juice of some deadly snake.


s: And tip with feathers, orange and green,


s: Were suspended next midshipmen's dirks, and these


s: Chased with some splendid Hidalgo's name.


s: Lay heaped on a chair, among them tossed


s: From a heap which lay in an earthen bowl,


s: Wax candles were placed, each in a small,


s: What the flickering fire had hid from me.


s: In the midst of a heaving, turbulent sea


s: Of penknives, with handles of mother-of-pearl,


s: And scythes, and sickles, and scissors; a whirl


s: Shot the gleam of a saw with bristling teeth.


s: The clash of arms, and the squeal of balls,


s: And the echoless thud when a dead man falls.


s: Shot through with lurid glares; the gloom


s: With the drip of blood on cold, hard stones.


s: Gleamed through the smoke, and at my right


s: A creese, like a licking serpent's tongue,


s: Had forged and welded, burned white and cold.


s: Which could cut, or slash, or cleave, or rip,


s: Or pierce, or thrust, or carve, or strip,


s: I stared at the walls and at the ground,


s: And a stern voice in my ear said, "Stop!


s: Sit down.  I will tell you of these things."


s: Of tumbling flame, with the old long sword,


s: And brought back a crock of finest delf.


s: He took up the grains with a gentle hand


s: And sifted them slowly like hour-glass sand.


s: These seeds cast a film over eyes which weep.


s: No single soul in the world could dwell,


s: For a moment he played with the shining stuff,


s: Which he carefully carried to its place.


s: 'Twixt table and chimney.  "Without preface,


s: "But surely, Sir, there is something strange


s: Each from the other, as swords and seeds.


s: Your neighbours must have greatly differing needs."


s: "My neighbours," he said, and he stroked his chin,


s: From his pocket, and with charming grace


s: You can cut, or you can drug, with words.


s: My swords are tempered for every speech,


s: In another room are my grindstones and hones,


s: Is set on their necks.  I have foils to pink


s: Scalpels with which to dissect the brains


s: From which the weirdest myths are distilled;


s: Those Lowestoft pitchers against the wall


s: And those old Saxe vases, out of the heat


s: Sleeps in the fine black grains, and there


s: Your nervous force, your joy, your strife!"


s: Their strength, their manhood, and their prime,


s: Must spurn all ease, all hindering love,


s: All which could hold or bind; must prove


s: And shun no end which these have brought;


s: That what was sown was worth the sowing.


s: That they will serve their purpose well,


s: To-day you worked, you thought, in vain.


s: Plough shattering through my prostrate form.


s: Within the arms of the old carved chair.


s: I tried to thank for his courteous deeds


s: My strange old friend.  "Nay, do not talk,"


s: Saffrons, rubies, the yellows of beryls,


s: And watched for the flashing of her wings.


s: Her fluted wings were fastened to her sides with cords,


s: And called their bids across the market-place.


s: The pear-trees press their branches against it,


s: The little pears ripen to yellow and red.


s: The myrtle flowers stretch themselves in the sunshine,


s: The roses push their little tendrils up,


s: In spots they have climbed over the wall.


s: Ripens and shields the vines and blossoms.


s: Yelp and mutter the discontents of people not mellow,


s: People who care more for bread than for beauty,


s: And give the painted windows of churches


s: Fools!  It is always the dead who breed.


s: Crush the ripe fruit, and cast it aside,


s: And trees rise where your huts were standing.


s: And the foundations of the Cathedral are honeycombed.


s: For the completed restoration of the Cathedral.


s: He will have ripe gooseberries for supper,


s: And then he will walk up and down the path


s: Very quietly and patiently it will watch.


s: What charm is yours, you faded old-world tapestries,


s: And we, pushing and fighting in the turbid stream


s: Of modern life, find solace in your tarnished broideries.


s: Old lichened halls, sun-shaded by huge cedar-trees,


s: Dark-banded prints.  Carven cathedrals, on a sky


s: Of faintest colour, where the gothic spires fly


s: And sway like masts, against a shifting breeze.


s: Worm-eaten pages, clasped in old brown vellum, shrunk


s: From over-handling, by some anxious monk.


s: Or Virgin's Hours, bright with gold and graven


s: With flowers, and rare birds, and all the Saints of Heaven,


s: And Noah's ark stuck on Ararat, when all the world had sunk.


s: They soothe us like a song, heard in a garden, sung


s: By youthful minstrels, on the moonlight flung


s: Widowed and childless, cowering in a screen


s: Of myrtles, whose life hangs with all its threads unstrung.


s: Between them I hear the shuffling of feet.


s: With the silver-barred street in the midst,


s: I stand in the window and watch the moon.


s: For years the Poet had wrought upon this cane.


s: Open-mouthed, wondering, they gazed at the sun.


s: "They are useless.  They are not roses," said the Poet.


s: Peace be with you, Brother.  Go your ways.


s: Purple and blue flags waded in the water;


s: In among them hopped the speckled frogs;


s: Peace be with you, Brother.  It is your affair.


s: Gillyflowers stood up bravely for all their short stature,


s: Red and gold like the brass notes of trumpets.


s: The Poet knocked off the stiff heads of the dahlias,


s: And his cane lopped the gillyflowers at the ground.


s: Then he severed the trumpet-blossoms from their stems.


s: But behind you is destruction, and waste places.


s: The orange candle flame leaped in the yellow ambers,


s: And made the jades undulate like green pools.


s: And glowed in the top of cream-coloured ivory.


s: Only the candle-light made them seem to move.


s: "It is a pity there were no roses," said the Poet.


s: Peace be with you, Brother.  You have chosen your part.


s: His stiffened fingers.  Through the smut


s: Gleam red the wounds which will not shut.


s: How should I sing when buffeting salt waves


s: And stung with bitter surges, in whose might


s: I toss, a cockleshell?  The dreadful night


s: Of vanquished men, long-sunken out of sight,


s: Sent wailing down to glut the ghoulish sprite


s: Who haunts foul seaweed forests and their caves.


s: My cramped and blistering hands can find no spar,


s: My eyes with hope o'erstrained, are growing blind.


s: But painted on the sky great visions burn,


s: My voice, oblation from a shattered urn!


s: From out the dragging vastness of the sea,


s: Wave-fettered, bound in sinuous, seaweed strands,


s: He toils toward the rounding beach, and stands


s: One moment, white and dripping, silently,


s: Then falls, betrayed by shifting shells, and lands


s: Prone in the jeering water, and his hands


s: Clutch for support where no support can be.


s: So up, and down, and forward, inch by inch,


s: He gains upon the shore, where poppies glow


s: And sandflies dance their little lives away.


s: The weeds about him, but the land-winds blow,


s: And in the sky there blooms the sun of May.


s: And tenderly, as one who soothing stills


s: Embraced and girdled.  Do the sun-filled men


s: Of sudden green, and from the muddy dirt


s: To eyes frost-hardened, and do weary men


s: To bend and break their victims; as they turn,


s: Of night to spill oblivion.  Do these men


s: My money-bag of shining dreams!  My hours,


s: Each plodding wayfarer looks up to gaze,


s: Before my feet the dusty, rough-paved way


s: Around me is the sound of steepled bells,


s: I pray to be the tool which to your hand


s: Long use has shaped and moulded till it be


s: Apt for your need, and, unconsideringly,


s: Of your bright life, and through its tissues lie


s: A hidden, strong, sustaining, grey-toned band.


s: I wish to dwell around your daylight dreams,


s: The railing to the stairway of the clouds,


s: To guard your steps securely up, where streams


s: A faery moonshine washing pale the crowds


s: You mount, protected, to the far-flung sky.


s: Before me lies a mass of shapeless days,


s: Sort them apart and live them.  Sifted dust


s: Covers the formless heap.  Reprieves, delays,


s: There are none, ever.  As a monk who prays


s: When days flashed by, pulsing with joy and fire!


s: Drunk bubbled wine in goblets of desire,


s: And felt the whipped blood laughing as it runs!


s: Threw down the cup, and did not understand.


s: Dearest, forgive that with my clumsy touch


s: It were a thing so fragile that my clutch


s: Fell, overbalanced, to your garment's hem,


s: They hold their fragrance still, a blood-red cone


s: Breathe to your soul, and, breathing, know me far


s: The sun-baked pebbles, far beyond their reach


s: Sparkles a wet, reviving sea.  Here bleach


s: Polished and stark, like traceries of stone,


s: The joints and knuckles hardened each to each.


s: And they are dead while waiting for the sea,


s: Their hearts are blown away on the hot breeze.


s: Only the shells and stones can wait to be


s: Washed bright.  For living things, who suffer pain,


s: May not endure till time can bring them ease.


s: How long shall I tarnish the mirror of life,


s: A spatter of rust on its polished steel!


s: Half-numb, half-maddened, my days are strife.


s: And upturned hills crouch at autumn's knees.


s: The hours have gnawed it to feed their spawn.


s: Pursuing and jeering the misshapen thing


s: A rabble of clouds flares out of the east.


s: They stream on the sky, an outflung string.


s: A desolate wind, through the unpeopled dark,


s: Shakes the bushes and whistles through empty nests,


s: Crowd my brain with corpses, pallid and stark.


s: Leave me in peace, O Spectres, who haunt


s: My labouring mind, I have fought and failed.


s: While I build with water, and dig in air,


s: Of yeasting worlds, which bubble and foam.


s: I crave to be lost like a wind-blown flame.


s: This fight for a God, or this devil's game.


s: There once was a man whom the gods didn't love,


s: He loathed his neighbours, and his neighbours hated him,


s: He damned the sun, and he damned the stars,


s: He sent to Hell every green, growing thing,


s: His oaths were many, and his range was wide,


s: But his meaning was plain:  that no created thing


s: He dwelt all alone, underneath a leaning hill,


s: And windows toward the hill there were none,


s: And on the other side they were white-washed thick,


s: When he went to market he walked all the way


s: He cursed at those he bought of, and swore at those he sold to,


s: For his heart was soured in his weary old hide,


s: And his hopes had curdled in his breast.


s: His friend had been untrue, and his love had thrown him over


s: The rats had devoured the contents of his grain-bin,


s: His brook had shrivelled in a summer drought,


s: His hens wouldn't lay, and his cow broke loose,


s: In the loft his wheat-bags were nibbled into holes


s: When he saw something glisten at the bottom of the trench,


s: So he dug, and he delved, with care and pain,


s: And the veins in his forehead stood taut.


s: At the end of an hour, when every bone cracked,


s: Shifting reds and greens, like a pigeon's neck,


s: It was dull in the tree-shade, but glowing in the light;


s: Carved into a flagon; and the colours glanced and ran,


s: Where at first there had seemed to be none.


s: It had handles on each side to bear it up,


s: Its neck was slender, and its mouth was wide,


s: The old man saw it in the sun's bright stare


s: And the colours started up through the crust,


s: Held the flask to it and wiped away the dust.


s: And he bore the flask to the brightest spot,


s: Where the shadow of the hill fell clear;


s: And he turned the flask, and he looked at the flask,


s: Then he carried it home, and put it on a shelf,


s: So he fetched a pail, and a bit of cloth,


s: And he washed his windows just to let the sun


s: Where a candle fluttered in a draught from the door.


s: Watching its shadow grown a mammoth size,


s: He forgot to revile the sun next morning


s: When he found his vase afire in its light.


s: And he carried it out of the house that day,


s: And kept it close beside him until night.


s: On the beauty of his vase, on its perfect shape.


s: And the village-folk came and begged to see


s: The flagon which was dug from the ground.


s: And the old man never thought of an oath, in his joy


s: One day the master of the village school


s: "My friend," said the schoolmaster, pompous and kind,


s: "That's a valuable thing you have there,


s: "You will smash it," said the schoolmaster, sternly right,


s: And he walked away, while the old man looked


s: Then he smiled to himself, for it was his!


s: Yes! loved its shape, and its subtle, swift hues,


s: He would carry it round with him everywhere,


s: A fragile vase should not stand in a bean-row!


s: Then his heart was rested, and his fears gave way,


s: A clod rolled down, and his foot slipped back,


s: For the blade of the hoe crashed into glass,


s: The old man's body heaved with slow, dry sobs.


s: Whence the beautiful vase had been borne.


s: He covered the hole, and he patted it down,


s: Then he hobbled to his house and shut the door.


s: He tore up his coat and nailed it at the windows


s: That no beam of light should cross the floor.


s: He sat down in front of the empty hearth,


s: In three days they found him, dead and cold,


s: And they said:  "What a queer old crank!"


s: Chilled by the wind from the open window.


s: Empty and void, it sparkles white in the moonlight.


s: The room is filled with the strange scent


s: And they have many pleasant colours and lustres


s: With sweetness of flowers and crushed grasses.


s: When I shall have given you the last one,


s: A pale wind licks along the stone slabs,


s: I have whetted my brain until it is like a Damascus blade,


s: So keen that it nicks off the floating fringes of passers-by,


s: So sharp that the air would turn its edge


s: Licking passions have bitten their arabesques into it,


s: With the beauty of corroded copper patterning white steel.


s: My heart gapes because it is ripe and over-full,


s: But how is this other than a torment to me!


s: I, who am shut up, with broken crockery,


s: Lest I should reel with the wine of you,


s: I am parched now, and my tongue is horrible in my mouth,


s: With the clash and gurgle of filling wine-cups.


s: And squeeze them over an old silver cup,


s: And I will pour the cold scorn of my Beloved into it,


s: So that my drink shall be bubbled with ice.


s: And I shall feel it as a serpent of fire,


s: Forgetting that I have ever known a woman.


s: And tinkles on the broad sides of grass blades.


s: A tree, at the end of my arm, is hazy with mist.


s: Even so, I can see that it has red berries,


s: But, in the mist, I only scratch my hand on the thorns.


s: So that scarcely shall your two arms hinder them


s: I call out for you against the jutted stars


s: To wound myself upon the sharp edges of the night?


s: That, loose-limbed and weary, I find rest,


s: Outstretched upon your peace, as on a bed of ivory.


s: Let the flickering flame of your soul play all about me,


s: That into my limbs may come the keenness of fire,


s: And, going out from you, tightly strung and in tune,


s: And pour into it the beauty which you have begotten.


s: Between us leapt a gold and scarlet flame.


s: Into the hollow of the cupped, arched blue


s: Of Heaven it rose.  Its flickering tongues up-drew


s: And vanished in the sunshine.  How it came


s: We guessed not, nor what thing could be its name.


s: From each to each had sprung those sparks which flew


s: The winds would slap and quench it in their game.


s: And so we graved and fashioned marble blocks


s: To treasure it, and placed them round about.


s: With pillared porticos we wreathed the whole,


s: And roofed it with bright bronze.  Behind carved locks


s: Flowered the tall and sheltered flame.  Without,


s: The baffled winds thrust at a column's bole.


s: Can clocks tick back to yesterday at noon?


s: Can cracked and fallen leaves recall last June


s: And leap up on the boughs, now stiff and sere?


s: For your sake, I would go and seek the year,


s: Blown sands of drifted hours, which the moon


s: Streaks with a ghostly finger, and her sneer


s: Pulls at my lengthening shadow.  Yes, 'tis that!


s: My shadow stretches forward, and the ground


s: Is dark in front because the light's behind.


s: I cannot turn, the light would make me blind.


s: Pours from an open door, and makes a wide


s: Of calm and liquid moonshine.  From inside


s: Come shouts and streams of laughter, and a snatch


s: Of song, soon drowned and lost again in mirth,


s: And stir of booted heels.  Against the patch


s: Of candle-light a shadow falls, its girth


s: Proclaims the host himself, and master of his shop.


s: Jan Hilverdink, whose wines are much esteemed.


s: The rarest cordials old monks ever schemed


s: To coax from pulpy grapes, and with nice art


s: Improve and spice their virgin juiciness.


s: Here froths the amber beer of many a brew,


s: Crowning each pewter tankard with as smart


s: Winter set glittering on top of an old yew.


s: Tall candles stand upon the table, where


s: Are twisted glasses, ruby-sparked with wine,


s: Clarets and ports.  Those topaz bumpers were


s: Drained from slim, long-necked bottles of the Rhine.


s: The centre of the board is piled with pipes,


s: Slender and clean, the still unbaptized clay


s: Awaits its burning fate.  Behind, the vault


s: Stretches from dim to dark, a groping way


s: Bordered by casks and puncheons, whose brass stripes


s: And bands gleam dully still, beyond the gay tumult.


s: "For good old Master Hilverdink, a toast!"


s: Clamoured a youth with tassels on his boots.


s: "Bring out your oldest brandy for a boast,


s: From that small barrel in the very roots


s: Of your deep cellar, man.  Why here is Max!


s: Ho!  Welcome, Max, you're scarcely here in time.


s: We want to drink to old Jan's luck, and smoke


s: Here, Jan, a paper, fragrant as crushed thyme,


s: We'll have the best to wish you luck, or may we choke!"


s: Max Breuck unclasped his broadcloth cloak, and sat.


s: "Well thought of, Franz; here's luck to Mynheer Jan."


s: Lost in the distance of his cellar, ran.


s: Of some long tulip, crammed it full, and drew


s: The pungent smoke deep to his grateful lung.


s: It curled all blue throughout the cave and flew


s: Into the silver night.  At once there flung


s: Into the crowded shop a boy, who cried to them:


s: "Oh, sirs, is there some learned lawyer here,


s: Was shut and barred, for late has grown the hour.


s: One versed in law, the matter will not wait."


s: "I am a lawyer, boy," said Max, "my mind


s: Is not locked to my business, though 'tis late.


s: I shall be glad to serve what way is in my power.


s: Then once more, cloaked and ready, he set out,


s: Along the dappled cobbles, while the rout


s: Through new-burst elm leaves filtered the white moon,


s: Who peered and splashed between the twinkling boughs,


s: Flooded the open spaces, and took flight


s: Guarded by shadows.  Past the Custom House


s: They took their hurried way in the Spring-scented night.


s: The boy halted.  A dim tree-shaded spot.


s: Slumbered at anchor with no light aboard.


s: The boy knocked twice, and steps approached.  A flame


s: Winked through the keyhole, then a key was turned,


s: And through the open door Max went toward


s: Another door, whence sound of voices came.


s: He entered a large room where candelabra burned.


s: Rose up to greet him.  "Sir," said Max, "you sent


s: Your messenger to seek throughout the town


s: Is Max Breuck, Counsellor, at your command."


s: "Mynheer," replied the aged man, "obliged


s: Is better known on distant oceans than on land.


s: My ship has tasted water in strange seas,


s: And bartered goods at still uncharted isles.


s: She's oft coquetted with a tropic breeze,


s: And sheered off hurricanes with jaunty smiles."


s: "Tush, Kurler," here broke in the other man,


s: "Enough of poetry, draw the deed and sign."


s: The old man seemed to wizen at the voice,


s: "My good friend, Grootver,--" he at once began.


s: "No introductions, let us have some wine,


s: And business, now that you at last have made your choice."


s: A harsh and disagreeable man he proved to be,


s: This Grootver, with no single kindly thought.


s: Kurler explained, his old hands nervously


s: Twisting his beard.  His vessel he had bought


s: From Grootver.  He had thought to soon repay


s: The ducats borrowed, but an adverse wind


s: Had so delayed him that his cargo brought


s: He came to port he stepped ashore to find


s: The market glutted and his counted profits naught.


s: That Grootver pressed that poor harassed old man.


s: "But let me take my ship, with many bales


s: Of cotton stuffs dyed crimson, green, and blue,


s: Cunningly patterned, made to suit the taste


s: Of mandarin's ladies; when my battered sails


s: Open for home, such stores will I bring you


s: That all your former ventures will be counted waste.


s: Such light and foamy silks, like crinkled cream,


s: And indigo more blue than sun-whipped seas,


s: Spices and fragrant trees, a massive beam


s: Tobacco, coffee!"  Grootver only laughed.


s: Max heard it all, and worse than all he heard


s: The deed to which the sailor gave his word.


s: He shivered, 'twas as if the villain gaffed


s: The old man with a boat-hook; bleeding, spent,


s: He begged for life nor knew at all the road he went.


s: For Kurler had a daughter, young and gay,


s: Carefully reared and shielded, rarely seen.


s: But on one black and most unfriendly day


s: Grootver had caught her as she passed between


s: The kitchen and the garden.  She had run


s: And when he came she, bolted in her room,


s: Refused to show, though gave no reason why.


s: On quiet nights she heard the whirring of her doom.


s: Max mended an old goosequill by the fire,


s: Loathing his work, but seeing no thing to do.


s: He felt his hands were building up the pyre


s: To burn two souls, and seized with vertigo


s: He staggered to his chair.  Before him lay


s: "Now, young man, write," said Grootver in his ear.


s: "`If in two years my vessel should yet stay


s: From Amsterdam, I give Grootver, sometime


s: A friend, my daughter for his lawful wife.'  Now swear."


s: And Kurler swore, a palsied, tottering sound,


s: And traced his name, a shaking, wandering line.


s: Then dazed he sat there, speechless from his wound.


s: Grootver got up:  "Fair voyage, the brigantine!"


s: He shuffled from the room, and left the house.


s: His footsteps wore to silence down the street.


s: With help he once more gained his trembling feet.


s: "My daughter, Mynheer Breuck, is friendless now.


s: Will you watch over her?  I ask a solemn vow."


s: Max laid his hand upon the old man's arm,


s: "Before God, sir, I vow, when you are gone,


s: So to protect your daughter from all harm


s: As one man may."  Thus sorrowful, forlorn,


s: He gave his promise almost without thought,


s: Bound by a dying father's wish, who feared


s: The world's accustomed harshness when he should be dead;


s: Such was my case from youth, Mynheer Kurler.


s: Are passed in work, lest I should grieve for her,


s: And undo habits used to earn her praise.


s: Your household and your daughter prosperous."


s: The sailor said his thanks, but turned away.


s: Should first before a stranger make such great display.


s: "Come here to-morrow as the bells ring noon,


s: I sail at the full sea, my daughter then


s: I will make known to you.  'Twill be a boon


s: Her eyeballs scorch with watching me depart,


s: You bring her home again.  She lives with one


s: Old serving-woman, who has brought her up.


s: But that is no friend for so free a heart.


s: No head to match her questions.  It is done.


s: And I must sail away to come and brim her cup.


s: My ship's the fastest that owns Amsterdam


s: Another ship could reach.  Now your stipend--"


s: Quickly Breuck interposed.  "When you once more


s: Tread on the stones which pave our streets.--Good night!


s: At the great wharf."  Then hurrying, in spite


s: Of cake and wine the old man pressed upon


s: Him ere he went, he took his leave and shut the door.


s: 'Twas noon in Amsterdam, the day was clear,


s: And sunshine tipped the pointed roofs with gold.


s: The brown canals ran liquid bronze, for here


s: Hammered, and struck, and rang.  Such peals of bells,


s: And to proclaim the middle, and the crown,


s: Of this most sparkling daytime!  The crowd swells,


s: Laughing and pushing toward the quays in friendly strife.


s: The "Horn of Fortune" sails away to-day.


s: Giddy in freshest paint she curtseys low,


s: And beckons to her boats to let her start.


s: Blue is the ocean, with a flashing breeze.


s: The shining waves are quick to take her part.


s: They push and spatter her.  Her sails are loose,


s: Her tackles hanging, waiting men to seize


s: And haul them taut, with chanty-singing, as they choose.


s: At the great wharf's edge Mynheer Kurler stands,


s: And by his side, his daughter, young Christine.


s: Max Breuck is there, his hat held in his hands,


s: Bowing before them both.  The brigantine


s: Curvets and jumps, a cable's length from shore.


s: Round, yellow cheeses, like gold cannon balls


s: Stacked on the stones in pyramids.  Once more


s: Kurler has kissed Christine, and now he is away.


s: Christine stood rigid like a frozen stone,


s: Her hands wrung pale in effort at control.


s: For grief exacts each penny of its toll.


s: The dancing boat tossed on the glinting sea.


s: A sun-path swallowed it in flaming light,


s: Then, shrunk a cockleshell, it came again


s: It took the "Horn of Fortune".  Straining sight


s: Could see it hauled aboard, men pulling on the crane.


s: Along her slender masts, the sails took flight,


s: Were sheeted home, and ropes were coiled.  The shine


s: Of the wet anchor, when its heavy weight


s: Rose splashing to the deck.  These things they saw,


s: Christine and Max, upon the crowded quay.


s: They saw the sails grow white, then blue in shade,


s: The ship had turned, caught in a windy flaw


s: Drew farther off and in the bright sky seemed to fade.


s: Home, through the emptying streets, Max took Christine,


s: Who would have hid her sorrow from his gaze.


s: Before the iron gateway, clasped between


s: Each garden wall, he stopped.  She, in amaze,


s: Asked, "Do you enter not then, Mynheer Breuck?


s: Since I am now your charge, 'tis meet for me


s: Without disdaining rules must not be broke.


s: Katrina will have coffee, and she bakes today."


s: She straight unhasped the tall, beflowered gate.


s: Curled into tendrils, twisted into cones


s: It guards the pleasance, and its stiffened bones


s: Are budded with much peering at the rows,


s: And beds, and arbours, which it keeps inside.


s: Path strewn with fine, red gravel, and such shows


s: Of tulips in their splendour flaunted everywhere!


s: From side to side, midway each path, there ran


s: A longer one which cut the space in two.


s: Has wrought in twinkling green, an alley grew,


s: Pleached thick and walled with apple trees; their flowers


s: Incensed the garden, and when Autumn came


s: The plump and heavy apples crowding stood


s: And tapped against the arbour.  Then the dame


s: Katrina shook them down, in pelting showers


s: They plunged to earth, and died transformed to sugared food.


s: Against the high, encircling walls were grapes,


s: Nailed close to feel the baking of the sun


s: From glowing bricks.  Their microscopic shapes


s: Half hidden by serrated leaves.  And one


s: Old cherry tossed its branches near the door.


s: Bordered along the wall, in beds between,


s: Flickering, streaming, nodding in the air,


s: The pride of all the garden, there were more


s: Tulips than Max had ever dreamed or seen.


s: They jostled, mobbed, and danced.  Max stood at helpless stare.


s: "Within the arbour, Mynheer Breuck, I'll bring


s: Coffee and cakes, a pipe, and Father's best


s: Tobacco, brought from countries harbouring


s: Dawn's earliest footstep.  Wait."  With girlish zest


s: To please her guest she flew.  A moment more


s: She came again, with her old nurse behind.


s: Then, sitting on the bench and knitting fast,


s: She talked as someone with a noble store


s: Eager to flutter forth and leave their silent past.


s: The little apple leaves above their heads


s: Let fall a quivering sunshine.  Quiet, cool,


s: In blossomed boughs they sat.  Beyond, the beds


s: Of prismed richness:  Carmine.  Madder.  Blues


s: Tinging dark browns to purple.  Silvers flushed


s: To amethyst and tinct with gold.  Round eyes


s: Of scarlet, spotting tender saffron hues.


s: Violets sunk to blacks, and reds in orange crushed.


s: An ivory-white with disks of copper flecked.


s: Sprinkled and striped, tasselled, or keenest edged.


s: Striated, powdered, freckled, long or short.


s: They bloomed, and seemed strange wonder-moths new-fledged,


s: To o'ertaxed eyes, its still, green twilight rest became.


s: Her knitting-needles clicked and Christine talked,


s: The first time left alone.  Now dreams once balked


s: Found utterance.  Max thought her very fair.


s: Beneath her cap her ornaments shone gold,


s: And purest gold they were.  Kurler was rich


s: And heedful.  Her old maiden aunt had died


s: Whose darling care she was.  Now, growing bold,


s: She asked, had Max a sister?  Dropped a stitch


s: At her own candour.  Then she paused and softly sighed.


s: Two years was long!  She loved her father well,


s: But fears she had not.  He had always been


s: Just sailed or sailing.  And she must not dwell


s: On sad thoughts, he had told her so, and seen


s: Her smile at parting.  But she sighed once more.


s: Two years was long; 'twas not one hour yet!


s: Mynheer Grootver she would not see at all.


s: Yes, yes, she knew, but ere the date so set,


s: The "Horn of Fortune" would be at the wall.


s: When Max had bid farewell, she watched him from the door.


s: The next day, and the next, Max went to ask


s: The health of Jufvrouw Kurler, and the news:


s: Of gathering petals which the high wind strews;


s: The polishing of floors, the pictured tiles


s: Well scrubbed, and oaken chairs most deftly oiled.


s: Such things were Christine's world, and his was she


s: Winter drew near, his sun was in her smiles.


s: Another Spring, and at his law he toiled,


s: Unspoken hope counselled a wise efficiency.


s: Max Breuck was honour's soul, he knew himself


s: The guardian of this girl; no more, no less.


s: His need, but may not borrow till his friend


s: Comes back to give.  So Max, in honour, said


s: No word of love or marriage; but the days


s: Must come!  The second year, with feet of lead,


s: Lagged slowly by till Spring had plumped the willow sprays.


s: Two years had made Christine a woman grown,


s: But all her childhood fancies had not flown,


s: Her thoughts in lovely dreamings seemed to glide.


s: Max was her trusted friend, did she confess


s: A closer happiness?  Max could not tell.


s: Two years were over and his life he found


s: Sphered and complete.  In restless eagerness


s: He waited for the "Horn of Fortune".  Well


s: Had he his promise kept, abating not one pound.


s: Spring slipped away to Summer.  Still no glass


s: Sighted the brigantine.  Then Grootver came


s: Demanding Jufvrouw Kurler.  His trespass


s: Christine begged time, more time!  Midsummer went,


s: And Grootver waxed impatient.  Still the ship


s: Tarried.  Christine, betrayed and weary, sank


s: To dreadful terrors.  One day, crazed, she sent


s: For Max.  "Come quickly," said her note, "I skip


s: The worst distress until we meet.  The world is blank."


s: Through the long sunshine of late afternoon


s: Max went to her.  In the pleached alley, lost


s: And sitting down beside her, at the cost


s: Of all his secret, "Dear," said he, "what thing


s: So suddenly has happened?"  Then, in tears,


s: She told that Grootver, on the following morn,


s: Would come to marry her, and shuddering:


s: "I will die rather, death has lesser fears."


s: Max felt the shackles drop from the oath which he had sworn.


s: "My Dearest One, the hid joy of my heart!


s: I love you, oh! you must indeed have known.


s: In strictest honour I have played my part;


s: Before the sun has dipped behind those trees.


s: You cannot be wed twice, and Grootver, foiled,


s: To pay your father's debt, by such degrees


s: As I can compass, and for years I've greatly toiled.


s: This is not haste, Christine, for long I've known


s: My love, and silence forced upon my lips.


s: I worship you with all the strength I've shown


s: In keeping faith."  With pleading finger tips


s: He touched her arm.  "Christine!  Beloved!  Think.


s: Let us not tempt the future.  Dearest, speak,


s: I love you.  Do my words fall too swift now?


s: They've been in leash so long upon the brink."


s: She sat quite still, her body loose and weak.


s: Then into him she melted, all her soul at flow.


s: And they were married ere the westering sun


s: Had disappeared behind the garden trees.


s: And flower-scents, that only night-time frees,


s: Rose up around them from the beamy ground,


s: Silvered and shadowed by a tranquil moon.


s: Within the arbour, long they lay embraced,


s: In such enraptured sweetness as they found


s: Close-partnered each to each, and thinking soon


s: To be enwoven, long ere night to morning faced.


s: At last Max spoke, "Dear Heart, this night is ours,


s: Pressing our souls apart like opening flowers


s: Until our lives, through quivering bodies drawn,


s: Are mingled and confounded.  Then, far spent,


s: Our eyes will close to undisturbed rest.


s: By telling Grootver that a bootless quest


s: Is his, and that his schemes have met a knock-down blow."


s: But Christine clung to him with sobbing cries,


s: Pleading for love's sake that he leave her not.


s: And wound her arms about his knees and thighs


s: As he stood over her.  With dread, begot


s: Of Grootver's name, and silence, and the night,


s: She shook and trembled.  Words in moaning plaint


s: Wooed him to stay.  She feared, she knew not why,


s: Yet greatly feared.  She seemed some anguished saint


s: Martyred by visions.  Max Breuck soothed her fright


s: With wisdom, then stepped out under the cooling sky.


s: But at the gate once more she held him close


s: And quenched her heart again upon his lips.


s: "My Sweetheart, why this terror?  I propose


s: Away, this errand must be done."  "Max!  Max!


s: First goes my father, if I lose you now!"


s: She grasped him as in panic lest she drown.


s: Softly he laughed, "One hour through the town


s: By moonlight!  That's no place for foul attacks.


s: Dearest, be comforted, and clear that troubled brow.


s: One hour, Dear, and then, no more alone.


s: And midnight shall anoint and crown our life."


s: Then through the gate he passed.  Along the street


s: She watched his buttons gleaming in the moon.


s: He stopped to wave and turned the garden wall.


s: Straight she sank down upon a mossy seat.


s: Swayed to unconsciousness beneath its wreathing pall.


s: Briskly Max walked beside the still canal.


s: His step was firm with purpose.  Not a jot


s: He feared this meeting, nor the rancorous gall


s: Grootver would spit on him who marred his plot.


s: He dreaded no man, since he could protect


s: Christine.  His wife!  He stopped and laughed aloud.


s: His starved life had not fitted him for joy.


s: Even this hour with her.  His heart beat loud.


s: "Damn Grootver, who can force my time to this employ!"


s: He laughed again.  What boyish uncontrol


s: To be so racked.  Then felt his ticking watch.


s: In half an hour Grootver would know the whole.


s: And he would be returned, lifting the latch


s: Of his own gate, eager to take Christine


s: And crush her to his lips.  How bear delay?


s: Of candle-light banded the cobbled street.


s: Hilverdink's tavern!  Not for many a day


s: Had he been there to take his old, accustomed seat.


s: "Why, Max!  Stop, Max!"  And out they came pell-mell,


s: His old companions.  "Max, where have you been?


s: Not drink with us?  Indeed you serve us well!


s: How many months is it since we have seen


s: You here?  Jan, Jan, you slow, old doddering goat!


s: Here's Mynheer Breuck come back again at last,


s: Stir your old bones to welcome him.  Fie, Max.


s: Business!  And after hours!  Fill your throat;


s: Here's beer or brandy.  Now, boys, hold him fast.


s: Put down your cane, dear man.  What really vicious whacks!"


s: They forced him to a seat, and held him there,


s: Despite his anger, while the hideous joke


s: Was tossed from hand to hand.  Franz poured with care


s: A brimming glass of whiskey.  "Here, we've broke


s: Tut!  Tut!  Just hear him!  Married!  Who, and when?


s: Married, and out on business.  Clever Spark!


s: Which lie's the likeliest?  Come, Max, do think."


s: Swollen with fury, struggling with these men,


s: Max cursed hilarity which must needs have a mark.


s: To quell the uproar, told them what he dared


s: Of his own life and circumstance.  Implied


s: Most urgent matters, time could ill be spared.


s: In jesting mood his comrades heard his tale,


s: And scoffed at it.  He felt his anger more


s: Goaded and bursting;--"Cowards!  Is no one loth


s: To mock at duty--"  Here they called for ale,


s: And forced a pipe upon him.  With an oath


s: He shivered it to fragments on the earthen floor.


s: And by the host who begged them to be still,


s: Nor injure his good name, "Max, no offence,"


s: They blurted, "you may leave now if you will."


s: "One moment, Max," said Franz.  "We've gone too far.


s: The talk somehow had fall'n on drugs, a jar


s: I brought from China, herbs the natives smoke,


s: Was with me, and I thought merely to play a game.


s: Fraught with adventure, and the flight of time


s: Flatter the senses, or some fearful dream


s: Holds them enmeshed.  Years pass which on the clock


s: That the next man who came should prove the scheme;


s: And you were he.  Jan handed you the crock.


s: Two whiffs!  And then the pipe was broke, and you were freed."


s: Max Breuck was maddened now.  "Another jest


s: You'll choose among you one who'll answer for


s: Your most unseasonable mirth.  Good-night


s: And good-by,--gentlemen.  You'll hear from me."


s: But Franz had caught him at the very door,


s: "It is no lie, Max Breuck, and for your plight


s: I am to blame.  Come back, and we'll talk quietly.


s: You have no business, that is why we laughed,


s: As to your wedding, naturally we chaffed,


s: Knowing the length of time it takes to do


s: A simple thing like that in this slow world.


s: Indeed, Max, 'twas a dream.  Forgive me then.


s: I'll burn the drug if you prefer."  But Breuck


s: Muttered and stared,--"A lie."  And then he hurled,


s: Distraught, this word at Franz:  "Prove it.  And when


s: It's proven, I'll believe.  That thing shall be your work.


s: I'll give you just one week to make your case.


s: On August thirty-first, eighteen-fourteen,


s: I shall require your proof."  With wondering face


s: Franz cried, "A week to August, and fourteen


s: April, and eighteen-twelve."  Max staggered, caught


s: A chair,--"April two years ago!  Indeed,


s: Either could blunder so."  Hilverdink brought


s: "The Amsterdam Gazette", and Max was forced to read.


s: "Eighteen hundred and twelve," in largest print;


s: And next to it, "April the twenty-first."


s: The letters smeared and jumbled, but by dint


s: Of straining every nerve to meet the worst,


s: Foreboding shipwreck, came the message plain:


s: "This is two years ago!  What of Christine?"


s: Running to outstrip Fate, and save his holy shrine.


s: The darkened buildings echoed to his feet


s: Clap-clapping on the pavement as he ran.


s: Across moon-misted squares clamoured his fleet


s: And terror-winged steps.  His heart began


s: To labour at the speed.  And still no sign,


s: And this should be the garden wall, and round


s: Was this!  No wall!  And then a fearful cry


s: Shattered the stillness.  Two stiff houses filled the ground.


s: Shoulder to shoulder, like dragoons in line,


s: They stood, and Max knew them to be the ones


s: To right and left of Kurler's garden.  Spine


s: Rigid next frozen spine.  No mellow tones


s: Expanding in wide circles and broad curves,


s: Was there.  The houses touched and left no space


s: Between.  With glassy eyes and shaking nerves


s: Max gazed.  Then mad with fear, fled still, and left that place.


s: Stumbling and panting, on he ran, and on.


s: His slobbering lips could only cry, "Christine!


s: My Dearest Love!  My Wife!  Where are you gone?


s: What future is our past?  What saturnine,


s: It was no dream, I swear it!  In some star,


s: Or still imprisoned in Time's egg, you give


s: Me love.  I feel it.  Dearest Dear, this stroke


s: Shall never part us, I will reach to where you are."


s: His burning eyeballs stared into the dark.


s: The moon had long been set.  And still he cried:


s: "Christine!  My Love!  Christine!"  A sudden spark


s: Pricked through the gloom, and shortly Max espied


s: Distracted he could scarcely trust its truth,


s: Spangled the blackness, and hung from a pin,


s: An iron crane, were three gilt balls.  His youth


s: Had taught their meaning, now they closed upon his dream.


s: Softly he knocked against the casement, wide


s: It flew, and a cracked voice his business there


s: Max stepped.  He saw a candle held in air


s: You?"  "Yes, I think you can.  Do you keep arms?


s: I want a pistol."  Quick the old man grew


s: Livid.  "Mynheer, a pistol!  Let me swerve


s: You from your purpose.  Life brings often false alarms--"


s: "Peace, good old Isaacs, why should you suppose


s: My purpose deadly.  In good truth I've been


s: Of pistols it would seem.  Here, this shagreen


s: Case holds one that I fancy.  Silvered mounts


s: Are to my taste.  These letters `C. D. L.'


s: Its former owner?  Dead, you say.  Poor Ghost!


s: 'Twill serve my turn though--"  Hastily he counts


s: The florins down upon the table.  "Well,


s: Good-night, and wish me luck for your to-morrow's toast."


s: Pale and in haste; and far beyond the town


s: He set his goal.  And then he wondered how


s: Poor C. D. L. had come to die.  "It's grown


s: Handy in killing, maybe, this I've bought,


s: And will work punctually."  His sorrow fell


s: Again he wept, and called, and blindly fought


s: The heavy miles away.  "Christine.  I'm well.


s: I'm coming.  My Own Wife!"  He lurched with failing pulse.


s: And grasses bent and wailed before the wind.


s: The Zuider Zee, which croons all night and thrusts


s: Long stealthy fingers up some way to find


s: And crumble down the stones, moaned baffled.  Here


s: The wide-armed windmills looked like gallows-trees.


s: No lights were burning in the distant thorps.


s: Max laid aside his coat.  His mind, half-clear,


s: Babbled "Christine!"  A shot split through the breeze.


s: The cold stars winked and glittered at his chilling corpse.


s: Their welcomes, while I sat and grieved.


s: _Hull down on the edge of a sun-soaked sea


s: The tightened rigging is shrill with the song:


s: "We are back again who were gone so long."_


s: Like father and mother, for no one cared


s: Here's a bit of a toy to make you glad."


s: Then I opened my eyes and saw him plain,


s: With his sleeves rolled up, and the dark blue stain


s: Of tattooed skin, where a flock of quail


s: Flew up to his shoulder and met the tail


s: Which sprawled on his back, when it was seen.


s: The most marvellous top which could ever be.


s: And a red stone carved into little wings,


s: And set in the brown wood, even and fine.


s: Where the fisher-nets dry in the sunny air.


s: That something in the big world was mine.


s: A flying harp, with her sheets and braces._


s: I've seen some beautiful, white ones there.


s: _The poplars shiver and turn their leaves,


s: And the wind through the belfry moans and grieves.


s: The gray dust whirls in the market square,


s: And the silver hearts are covered with care


s: In the small, gilded room, near the stair?


s: Hung flapping out through the black, queer,


s: With my nails drawing blood, while I flung


s: The blood-drops oozed slow from his head


s: And the waltz from the ballroom I heard,


s: Of his breath with the waltz became blurred.


s: I have ridden ten miles through the dark,


s: Pounding rhythmic inside me.  Just Hark!


s: One!  Two!  Three!  And my fingers sink in


s: One!  Two!  Three!  Oh, the horror of sound!


s: While she danced I was crushing his throat.


s: One!  Two!  Three!  How the dancers swirl round!


s: Round and round!  One!  Two!  Three!  And his sin


s: One!  Two!  Three!  And the drums are his knell.


s: One!  Two!  Three! clangs his funeral bell.


s: One!  Two!  Three!  In the chaos of space


s: Of death!  And so cramped is this place,


s: Round and round!  God!  'Tis he throttles me!


s: And his blood has dripped into my heart!


s: And my heart beats and labours.  One!  Two!


s: Three!  His dead limbs have coiled every part


s: One!  Two!  Three!  Give me air!  Oh!  My God!


s: One!  Two!  Three!  I am drowning in slime!


s: One!  Two!  Three!  And his corpse, like a clod,


s: One!  Two!  Three!  And his dead legs keep time.


s: The fountain bent and straightened itself


s: The moonlight shines on the straight column of water,


s: And the nipples are like buds of peonies.


s: Am I not more worth than your day ladies,


s: And the water runs, rustling, down her sides.


s: In the morning the gardeners came to their work.


s: "There is something in the fountain," said one.


s: They shuddered as they laid their dead master


s: "I will close his eyes," said the head gardener,


s: "It is uncanny to see a dead man staring at the sun."


s: See!  She is coming, the young woman with the bright hair.


s: She swings a basket as she walks, which she places on the sill,


s: between the geranium stalks.  He laughs, and crumples his paper


s: as he leans forward to look.  "The Basket Filled with Moonlight",


s: The bellying clouds swing over the housetops.


s: Five o'clock.  The geraniums are very gay in their crimson array.


s: "Annette, it is I.  Have you finished?  Can I come?"


s: Annette looked at the geraniums, very red against the blue sky.


s: "No matter how I try, I cannot find any thread of such a red.


s: Peter watches her, fluid with fatigue, floating, and drifting,


s: and undulant in the orange glow.  His senses flow towards her,


s: The pungent smell of the geraniums is hard to bear.


s: And he, the undesired, burns and is consumed.


s: There is a crescent moon on the rim of the sky.


s: "Go home, now, Peter.  To-night is full moon.  I must be alone."


s: He answered gruffly, "I know what I'm about."


s: The clear moon looks in between the geraniums.  On the wall,


s: the shadow of the man is divided from the shadow of the woman


s: How hot the sheets are!  His skin is tormented with pricks,


s: The bellying clouds are red as they swing over the housetops.


s: Over the yawning chimney hangs the fog.  Drip--hiss--drip--hiss--


s: and smokes the ceiling beams.  Drip--hiss--the rain never stops.


s: The velvet coverlet of the wide bed is smooth and cold.  Above,


s: He stirs a booted heel and kicks a rolling coal.  His spur clinks


s: The room is filled with lisps and whispers.  Something mutters.


s: One candle drowns and the other gutters.  Is that the rain


s: necklace of beads.  But I have engaged that, on your return,


s: in the glare of steely daylight, is my Lord of Clair.


s: In the castle church you may see them stand,


s: Of the choir, my Lord's and my Lady's, grand


s: Lies with crossed legs and embroidered band.


s: For shame.  He was buried in crawling sand,


s: After having been burnt by royal command.


s: The iron clanging sank through the light air,


s: Rustled over with blowing branches.  A flare


s: The nuns were walking to breathe the fine


s: And work at their tasks all the afternoon.


s: With her temper in bond.  Then the oldest nun.


s: Then younger and younger, until the last one


s: With scarcely a shadow.  The sun is well


s: Sister Marguerite said:  "The pears will soon bud."


s: Sister Angelique said she must get her spud


s: And free the earth round the jasmine roots.


s: Sister Veronique said:  "Oh, look at those shoots!


s: But Sister Clotilde said nothing at all,


s: She looked up and down the old grey wall


s: She was restless, although her little feet danced,


s: And would not take form.  She could not find


s: Or perhaps lilac with gold shotted through?


s: Should it be banded with yellow and white


s: For Sister Marthe saw the world in little,


s: Her words were like dust motes in slanting sunshine.


s: "The snowdrops are blooming!"  They turned about.


s: The little white cups bent over the ground,


s: His body was green with a metal brightness


s: Like an emerald set in a kind of whiteness,


s: And all down his curling length were disks,


s: His crest was amber glittered with blue,


s: And opaque so the sun came shining through.


s: When he quivered all down his scaly joints,


s: Catching their senses.  But Clotilde must peer


s: She seemed entranced and eased.  Could she make


s: The line curved forwards, the Abbess ahead.


s: In the library, with its great north light,


s: With snowdrops and daffodils, the glooms


s: The Virgin watched, and through the arched door


s: He lowered his head and passed under the arch,


s: And the air seemed beating a solemn march.


s: She could spend great pains, now she had seen


s: She thought it had altered while she gazed.


s: At first it had been simple green; then glazed


s: All over with twisting flames, each spot


s: She had made a plan, and her spirits danced.


s: At that wonderful snake, and she must know


s: When evening prayers were sung and said,


s: The nuns lit their tapers and went to bed.


s: And soon in the convent there was no light,


s: For the moon did not rise until late that night,


s: Clotilde lay still in her trembling sheets.


s: Her heart shook her body with its beats.


s: She could not see till the moon should rise,


s: So she whispered prayers and kept her eyes


s: Fell on the floor.  Clotilde, grown staunch


s: She must go out through the little side door


s: Lest the nuns who were always praying before


s: The Virgin's altar should hear her pass.


s: She pushed the bolts, and over the grass


s: It was still, and the moonlight was getting clearer.


s: She laughed a little, but she felt queerer


s: Then she rolled up her sleeve and stretched out her arm.


s: She thought she heard steps, she must be quick.


s: She darted her hand out, and seized the thick


s: The old gardener came muttering down the path,


s: And his shadow fell like a broad, black swath,


s: And covered Clotilde and the angry snake.


s: He bit her, but what difference did that make!


s: The gardener was covering his new-set plants


s: For the night was chilly, and nothing daunts


s: His business finished the gardener rose.


s: He shook and swore, for the moonlight shows


s: Jumps--and hits the snake with his stick,


s: The gardener sucks the poison and spits,


s: His life to touch it, but I guess I've sucked it


s: Could finish my picture of the Most High


s: He is dead now, but his colours won't fade


s: "You won't die now, for I've sucked it away,"


s: Grumbled old Francois, "so have your play.


s: If the Virgin is set on snake's colours so strong,--"


s: "Francois, don't say things like that, it is wrong."


s: "He can't do no more harm, Sister," said he.


s: "Paint as much as you like."  And gingerly


s: He picked up the snake with his stick.  Clotilde


s: Thanked him, and begged that he would shield


s: The gardener promised, not very pleased,


s: And Clotilde, with the strain of adventure eased,


s: Walked quickly home, while the half-high moon


s: Made her beautiful snake-skin sparkle, and soon


s: Except when she went to the chapel to pray,


s: Done!  She drooped, though her heart beat loud


s: At the beauty before her, and her spirit bowed


s: To the Virgin her finely-touched thought had made.


s: From long fasting Clotilde felt weary and faint,


s: But her eyes were starred like those of a saint


s: The door nearly leapt from its hinges, pushed


s: When they saw Clotilde, in perfect quiet,


s: Smiling, a little perplexed at the riot.


s: Old Francois had told.  He had found the strain


s: Of silence too great, and preferred the pain


s: Of a conscience outraged.  The news had spread,


s: And all were convinced Clotilde must be dead.


s: The Abbess, unwontedly trembling and mild,


s: Put her arms round Clotilde and wept, "My child,


s: Has the Holy Mother showed you this grace,


s: She dropped on her knees and silently prayed,


s: To a painful slowness.  The minutes drew


s: It came skipping over the slates of the roof,


s: And the bright bell-notes seemed a reproof


s: It glistened the green of the Virgin's dress


s: And made the red spots, in a flushed excess,


s: Of the angel were colour which shines and sings.


s: The Abbess crossed herself, and each nun


s: They filed to the chapel, that incensed prayers


s: Might plead for the life of this sister of theirs.


s: Until heavy with years.  And that is why


s: There hangs in the convent church a basket


s: And wheels which blunder and creak as they roll


s: Through the muddy ruts of a moorland track.


s: They are whipping and cursing the horses.  Lord!


s: What brutes men are when they think they're scored.


s: That coach, all claret, and gold, and blue,


s: They are scared half out of their wits, poor souls.


s: I laugh to think how he'll show his scars


s: In London to-morrow.  He whines with rage


s: My lady has shoved her rings over her toes.


s: 'Tis an ancient trick every night-rider knows.


s: There's nothing to hurry about, the plain


s: My gelding's uncommonly strong in the loins,


s: 'Tis a clear, sweet night on the turn of Spring.


s: How the coach flashes and wobbles, the moon


s: Is beating out of the curses and screams,


s: And the cracking all through the painted seams.


s: Steady, old horse, we'll keep it in sight.


s: There's a clump of trees on the dip of the down,


s: And the sky shimmers where it hangs over the town.


s: In two with this pistol, but I've my share


s: Confound this moor for a pockholed, evil,


s: 'Tis a mercy he's rolled, but I'm nicely capped.


s: A broken-legged man and a broken-legged horse!


s: And they'll all come out, every loafer grown


s: What's that?  Oh, the coachman's bulleted hat!


s: _They handcuffed the body just for style,


s: And they hung him in chains for the volatile


s: Way out on the moor you can hear the groans


s: When he paid visits, and they could while


s: Exceedingly well.  So they picked his pocket,


s: So absorbed, that his old clock made him wince


s: Of splashes and sparks of coloured light.


s: There was yellow gold in sheets, and quite


s: Shining and still, and there were flakes


s: With the light of the candle.  He took the watch


s: The time, then glanced up to take the hour


s: His chair.  His old cloak, rabbit-lined,


s: On the opposite wall, and it never wavered


s: That beautiful, dreadful thing, that shade


s: Paul brushed his eyes across his sleeve.


s: Was the neck he knew he could have spanned


s: But could not see, the lips were pressed


s: And the proud and delicate line of the nose


s: The lady was edged with the stamp of race.


s: Chiffonier; the Shadow stayed on the wall.


s: He saw, in the patch of light, the gloom


s: Was almost brighter than that which came


s: The watch in the case which he had made;


s: His candle out.  The room seemed stuffed


s: With darkness.  Softly he crossed the floor,


s: The whitewashed walls were hot with light.


s: Burning and shimmering with fiery might.


s: The sun was so bright that no shadow could fall


s: Paul sighed as he looked at the empty space


s: He settled himself to his work, but his mind


s: Of his dreaming.  The Cardinal sent to pay


s: For his watch, which had purchased so fine a day.


s: It seemed the price of his Shadow, sold.


s: With the first twilight he struck a match


s: The young man swore, "By God!  You, Paul,


s: There's something the matter with your brain.


s: Whispered and scratched at the window-pane.


s: Were dead and sparkless as burnt-out coals.


s: Of stranded shells, their colours faded,


s: Could he trace a line for the joy of his soul


s: Paul lingered late in his shop that night


s: In the centre, and blown in loose festoon


s: The red stones quivered on silver threads


s: This watch, made from those sweet curves


s: Where your hair from your forehead swerves,


s: And the wind sighed over the window-sill.


s: Of stones and metals, and when the morning


s: Struck the stones to their best adorning,


s: He chose the brightest, and this new watch


s: Was so light and thin it seemed to catch


s: The sunlight's nothingness, and its gleam.


s: With garnets, and seemed red roses, budded.


s: With zircons, and beryls, and amethysts.


s: At night with the Shadow were his alone.


s: Paul swore not to speak till his task was done.


s: Paul watched the long hours of daylight live


s: To the faintest streak; then lit his light,


s: To tumbling speech.  Like one compelled,


s: Weeks passed, Paul worked in fevered haste,


s: He wooed her with the work of his hands,


s: Of his lady's picture.  No sun was bright


s: There were moments when he groaned to see


s: In the shadowed eyes.  Then he would curse


s: She scorned the best which he could buy.


s: He would pray as to some high-niched saint,


s: With his bleeding fingers, if she should fall


s: He could catch, and hold her, and make her live!


s: Presumptuous; a tradesman; a nothing; driven


s: He had made, and winding them on strings,


s: Hang garlands before her, and burn perfumes,


s: There were days when he wooed as a lover, sighed


s: Should break the spell.  A man's sworn will


s: By Christ's Blood!  He would prove it true!


s: He would climb on chairs to reach her lips,


s: But instead of young, warm flesh returning


s: His warmth, the wall was cold and burning


s: Like stinging ice, and his passion, chilled,


s: Lay in his heart like some dead thing killed


s: At the moment of birth.  Then, deadly sick,


s: He would lie in a swoon for hours, while thick


s: And his body shrieked in the clutch of pain.


s: The crisis passed, he would wake and smile


s: He would play with his watches and gems, with glee


s: How the spots on the ceiling danced prettily


s: When he flashed his stones.  "Mother, the green


s: The blue and the yellow.  Oh, please look down!"


s: And walk round the room, feeling his way


s: From table to chair, from chair to door,


s: Could balm his hurt till unconsciousness


s: One morning he threw the street door wide


s: Made the tools on his table rattle and jump.


s: In his hands he carried a new-burst clump


s: Of laurel blossoms, whose smooth-barked stalks


s: Were pliant with sap.  As a husband talks


s: Paul spoke to the Shadow.  "Dear, you know


s: So I rushed out to see what flowers blew


s: And made the approach to the Market Square


s: And to-night we will have a little treat.


s: I am going to bring you something to eat!"


s: We look out each from a different world.


s: If not, I must parch in death's wide drouth


s: The Shadow, bloomed like a plum, and clear,


s: As rapt-souled monks watch over the baking


s: Of the sacred wafer, and through the making


s: That God will bless this labour of theirs;


s: In the centre the white-flaked pastry stood,


s: And beside it the wine flask.  Red as blood


s: Was the wine which should bring the lustihood


s: He put meat on her plate and filled her glass,


s: From the street outside came a watchman's call


s: "A cloudy night.  Rain beginning to fall."


s: And still he waited.  The clock's slow tick


s: Knocked on the silence.  Paul turned sick.


s: From his pocket he took a paper.  The twine


s: From his jumbled tools.  The cord of life


s: He feared.  He shook powder into the wine,


s: Again!  You have said it was mine to do.


s: Paul Jannes let the empty wine-glass fall,


s: And held out his arms.  The insentient wall


s: Stared down at him with its cold, white glare


s: Paul clutched and tore at his tightening throat.


s: And the hot blood run like fire and stones


s: But he laughed as he staggered towards the door,


s: And he laughed aloud as he sank on the floor.


s: And the watches were sold that Saturday.


s: The Auctioneer said one could seldom buy


s: Beautiful Holy Lady, take my shame away from me!  Let this fear


s: Oh, Holy Virgin, protect my baby!  My little, helpless baby!


s: And I shall have nothing, nothing!  Just be known as a good girl.


s: but give me strength to bring him up to be a man.


s: Thick and silver-sheened in the sunshine,


s: Liquid and cool in the shade of the reeds,


s: And the blurred reflections of the willows on the opposite bank


s: And gulp in the warmth and the blueness, and my eyes swim


s: How loud clocks can tick when a room is empty, and one is alone!


s: As the sudden spurt of flame upon darkness


s: Supple-limbed youth among the fruit-trees,


s: Light runner through tasselled orchards.


s: Leaping and flickering between the budded branches.


s: As I would free the white almond from the green husk


s: And fingering the smooth and polished kernel


s: I should see that in my hands glittered a gem beyond counting.


s: The neighbour sits in his window and plays the flute.


s: And the round notes flutter and tap about the room,


s: With the little flute-notes all about me,


s: The neighbour eats bread and onions with one hand


s: But when night comes and he plays his flute,


s: The flute-notes push against my ears and lips,


s: Smoulder the fallen roses of out-lived minutes,


s: The water fills the garden with its rushing,


s: In the midst of the quiet of close-clipped lawns.


s: Damp smell the ferns in tunnels of stone,


s: Marble fountains, yellowed with much water.


s: With its leaping, and deep, cool murmur.


s: I wanted to see you in the swimming-pool,


s: White and shining in the silver-flecked water.


s: And the scent of the lilacs was heavy with stillness.


s: Night, and the water, and you in your whiteness, bathing!


s: Guarded within the old red wall's embrace,


s: Marshalled like soldiers in gay company,


s: The tulips stand arrayed.  Here infantry


s: Wheels out into the sunlight.  What bold grace


s: Sets off their tunics, white with crimson lace!


s: Here are platoons of gold-frocked cavalry,


s: Of purple batteries, every gun in place.


s: Forward they come, with flaunting colours spread,


s: With torches burning, stepping out in time


s: To some quick, unheard march.  Our ears are dead,


s: Parades that army.  With our utmost powers


s: We hear the wind stream through a bed of flowers.


s: I am tempted to quote from Mr. Lindsay's explanatory note which


s: accompanied three of these poems when they were first printed in


s: craftsman", and by saying of 'General Booth':


s: indigenous in ways too subtle for brief analysis, yet passed all


s: temperament and in the special spiritual quality of their art.


s: It is because Mr. Lindsay's poetry seems to be definitely in that


s: Poems intended to be read aloud, or chanted.


s: A Rhyme about an Electrical Advertising Sign


s: The North Star Whispers to the Blacksmith's Son


s: A Miscellany called "the Christmas Tree"


s: Popcorn, Glass Balls, and Cranberries (As it were)


s: Twenty Poems in which the Moon is the Principal Figure of Speech


s: First Section ~~ Poems intended to be read aloud, or chanted.


s: Sagged and reeled and pounded on the table,


s: Beat an empty barrel with the handle of a broom,


s: With a silk umbrella and the handle of a broom,


s: THEN I had religion, THEN I had a vision.


s: I could not turn from their revel in derision.


s: Then I heard the boom of the blood-lust song


s: # A rapidly piling climax of speed and racket. #


s: And a thigh-bone beating on a tin-pan gong.


s: And "BLOOD" screamed the whistles and the fifes of the warriors,


s: "BLOOD" screamed the skull-faced, lean witch-doctors,


s: # Shrilly and with a heavily accented metre. #


s: Burning in Hell for his hand-maimed host.


s: Blown through the lairs of the forest-nation,


s: Blown past the white-ants' hill of clay,


s: Blown past the marsh where the butterflies play:--


s: # All the o sounds very golden.  Heavy accents very heavy.


s: Light accents very light.  Last line whispered. #


s: Wild crap-shooters with a whoop and a call


s: And laughed fit to kill, and shook the town,


s: And guyed the policemen and laughed them down


s: Through the blossoming trees to the evening sky.


s: And the black crowd laughed till their sides were sore


s: And the well-known tunes of the parrot band


s: That trilled on the bushes of that magic land.


s: Through the agate doorway in suits of flame,


s: Yea, long-tailed coats with a gold-leaf crust


s: And hats that were covered with diamond-dust.


s: And the crowd in the court gave a whoop and a call


s: # With a great deliberation and ghostliness. #


s: But the witch-men suddenly stilled the throng


s: With a stern cold glare, and a stern old song:--


s: # With overwhelming assurance, good cheer, and pomp. #


s: Just then from the doorway, as fat as shotes,


s: Came the cake-walk princes in their long red coats,


s: And tall silk hats that were red as wine.


s: # With growing speed and sharply marked dance-rhythm. #


s: And they pranced with their butterfly partners there,


s: Coal-black maidens with pearls in their hair,


s: Knee-skirts trimmed with the jassamine sweet,


s: And bells on their ankles and little black feet.


s: And the couples railed at the chant and the frown


s: Of the witch-men lean, and laughed them down.


s: (O rare was the revel, and well worth while


s: That made those glowering witch-men smile.)


s: To walk for a cake that was tall as a man


s: To the tune of "Boomlay, boomlay, BOOM,"


s: and as rapidly as possible toward the end. #


s: While the witch-men laughed, with a sinister air,


s: And sang with the scalawags prancing there:--


s: Oh rare was the revel, and well worth while


s: That made those glowering witch-men smile.


s: Preached at a sister for her velvet gown.


s: Howled at a brother for his low-down ways,


s: His prowling, guzzling, sneak-thief days.


s: And some had visions, as they stood on chairs,


s: And sang of Jacob, and the golden stairs,


s: And they all repented, a thousand strong


s: From their stupor and savagery and sin and wrong


s: And slammed with their hymn books till they shook the room


s: Begin with terror and power, end with joy. #


s: And the gray sky opened like a new-rent veil


s: And showed the apostles with their coats of mail.


s: In bright white steele they were seated round


s: And their fire-eyes watched where the Congo wound.


s: And the twelve Apostles, from their thrones on high


s: Thrilled all the forest with their heavenly cry:--


s: # Sung to the tune of "Hark, ten thousand


s: The vine-snared trees fell down in files.


s: For a Congo paradise, for babes at play,


s: Gone were the skull-faced witch-men lean.


s: # In a rather high key--as delicately as possible. #


s: There, where the wild ghost-gods had wailed


s: And silken pennants that the sun shone through.


s: 'Twas a land transfigured, 'twas a new creation.


s: And on through the backwoods clearing flew:--


s: # To the tune of "Hark, ten thousand harps and voices". #


s: Redeemed were the forests, the beasts and the men,


s: To cry, in the silence, the Congo tune:--


s: # Dying down into a penetrating, terrified whisper. #


s: # To be sung delicately, to an improvised tune. #


s: This is the order of the music of the morning:--


s: First, from the far East comes but a crooning.


s: The crooning turns to a sunrise singing.


s: Hark to the _calm_-horn, _balm_-horn, _psalm_-horn.


s: # To be sung or read with great speed. #


s: Hark to the _pace_-horn, _chase_-horn, _race_-horn.


s: It burns in the East as the sunrise burns.


s: I see great flashes where the far trail turns.


s: Its eyes are lamps like the eyes of dragons.


s: It drinks gasoline from big red flagons.


s: Butting through the delicate mists of the morning,


s: It comes like lightning, goes past roaring.


s: It will hail all the wind-mills, taunting, ringing,


s: On through the ranges the prairie-dog tills--


s: Scooting past the cattle on the thousand hills....


s: Ho for the tear-horn, scare-horn, dare-horn,


s: When houses choke us, and great books bore us!


s: A million men have found you before us._


s: # In an even, deliberate, narrative manner. #


s: I want live things in their pride to remain.


s: Though he eats a hole in my shirt like a door.


s: I let him out, give him one chance more.


s: Perhaps, while he gnaws my hat in his whim,


s: I am a tramp by the long trail's border,


s: Recite to the children, explore at my ease,


s: Give crank-drawings, that make folks stare


s: To the half-grown boys in the sunset glare,


s: I find in the stubble of the new-cut weeds


s: A whisper and a feasting, all one needs:


s: The whisper of the strawberries, white and red


s: But I would not walk all alone till I die


s: # Like a train-caller in a Union Depot. #


s: They tour from Memphis, Atlanta, Savannah,


s: They tour from St. Louis, Columbus, Manistee,


s: They tour from Peoria, Davenport, Kankakee.


s: When houses choke us, and great books bore us!


s: While I watch the clouds in amazing grandeur


s: Listen to the iron-horns, ripping, racking.


s: Listen to the quack-horns, slack and clacking.


s: Way down the road, trilling like a toad,


s: Here comes the _dice_-horn, here comes the _vice_-horn,


s: Here comes the _snarl_-horn, _brawl_-horn, _lewd_-horn,


s: Followed by the _prude_-horn, bleak and squeaking:--


s: (Some of them from Kansas, some of them from Kansas.)


s: Here comes the _hod_-horn, _plod_-horn, _sod_-horn,


s: # To be read or sung, well-nigh in a whisper. #


s: # Louder and louder, faster and faster. #


s: # In a rolling bass, with increasing deliberation. #


s: Listen to the iron-horns, ripping, racking,


s: Listen to the _wise_-horn, desperate-to-_advise_-horn,


s: # To be sung or read well-nigh in a whisper. #


s: snapping explosiveness, ending in a languorous chant. #


s: And all of the tunes, till the night comes down


s: On hay-stack, and ant-hill, and wind-bitten town.


s: # To be sung to exactly the same whispered tune


s: Then far in the west, as in the beginning,


s: Dim in the distance, sweet in retreating,


s: Hark to the faint-horn, quaint-horn, saint-horn,


s: Hark to the calm-horn, balm-horn, psalm-horn....


s: They are hunting the goals that they understand:--


s: I am caught in the web the night-winds spin.


s: The edge of the wheat-ridge speaks to me.


s: I talk with the leaves of the mulberry tree.


s: In the dusk, by another big Santa Fe stone,


s: The souls of the tall corn gathering round


s: And the gay little souls of the grass in the ground.


s: Listen to the tale the cotton-wood tells.


s: Listen to the wind-mills, singing o'er the wells.


s: Listen to the whistling flutes without price


s: # To the same whispered tune as the Rachel-Jane song--


s: # To be read, or chanted, with the heavy buzzing bass


s: # In this passage the reading or chanting


s: # To be read or chanted in a heavy bass. #


s: After the ball is over."  (An old song.)


s: in the manner of lustful, insinuating music. #


s: A lord of the delicate flowers of delight


s: # To be read or chanted slowly and softly


s: in the manner of lustful insinuating music. #


s: # With a climax of whispered mourning. #


s: # Suddenly interrupting.  To be read or sung in


s: a heavy bass.  First eight lines as harsh as possible.


s: # Sharply interrupting in a very high key. #


s: "'Tis a moonlight night in the spring of the year."


s: # To be intoned after the manner of a priestly service. #


s: # Interrupting very loudly for the last time. #


s: Who scorned the slave that brought her cream--


s: _"Nay, minstrel, but the great ships come


s: Will stand,--with mourning Merlin there,


s: King Arthur's knights will be your hosts,


s: # To be read very softly, but in spirited response. #


s: # To be read very softly, yet in spirited response. #


s: As new-cut bread, and dull as life in cells,


s: O, scribes who dare forget how wild we are


s: You house us in a hive of prigs and saints


s: Communal, frugal, clean and chaste by law.


s: Or be Lear's fool, straw-crowned amid the straw.


s: Say that our clerks shall venture scorns and death,


s: That future ant-hills will not be too good


s: Promise that through to-morrow's spirit-war


s: Man's deathless soul will hack and hew its way,


s: Each flaunting Caesar climbing to his fate


s: Let not Jack Falstaff spill the ale in vain.


s: Let Touchstone set the fashions for the wise


s: And Ariel wreak his fancies through the rain.


s: Though my good works have been, alas, too few,


s: Though I do naught, High Heaven comes down to me,


s: Stalking tremendous through the fields of time.


s: Flame-like to hover o'er the moil and grime,


s: Striving, aspiring till the shame is gone,


s: Sowing a million flowers, where now we mourn--


s: Laying new, precious pavements with a song,


s: Founding new shrines, the good streets to adorn.


s: I have seen lovers by those new-built walls


s: Clothed like the dawn in orange, gold and red.


s: Eyes flashing forth the glory-light of love


s: Under the wreaths that crowned each royal head.


s: Life was made greater by their sweetheart prayers.


s: Passion was turned to civic strength that day--


s: With zeal that else had burned bright youth away.


s: Gliding in samite through the incense-sea--


s: Innocent children marching with them there,


s: Singing in flowered robes, "THE EARTH IS FREE":


s: While on the fair, deep-carved unfinished towers


s: Sentinels watched in armor, night and day--


s: Guarding the brazier-fires of hope and dream--


s: Wild was their peace, and dawn-bright their array!


s: A Rhyme about an Electrical Advertising Sign


s: Blatant, mechanical, crawling and white,


s: Like the beads of a young Senegambian queen.


s: Showing, while millions of souls hurry on,


s: The virtues of collars, from sunset till dawn,


s: By dart or by tumble of whirl within whirl,


s: Starting new fads for the shame-weary girl,


s: While there far above the steep cliffs of the street


s: The stars sing a message elusive and sweet.


s: Now man cannot rest in his pleasure and toil


s: His clumsy contraptions of coil upon coil


s: Till the thing he invents, in its use and its range,


s: Leads on to the marvellous CHANGE BEYOND CHANGE.


s: Some day this old Broadway shall climb to the skies,


s: As a ribbon of cloud on a soul-wind shall rise.


s: And we shall be lifted, rejoicing by night,


s: Till we join with the planets who choir their delight.


s: The signs in the street and the signs in the skies


s: Shall make a new Zodiac, guiding the wise,


s: And Broadway make one with that marvellous stair


s: That is climbed by the rainbow-clad spirits of prayer.


s: Galahad... soldier that perished... ages ago,


s: Our hearts are breaking with shame, our tears overflow.


s: Galahad... knight who perished... awaken again,


s: Teach us to fight for immaculate ways among men.


s: Soldiers fantastic, we pray to the star of the sea,


s: We pray to the mother of God that the bound may be free.


s: Rose-crowned lady from heaven, give us thy grace,


s: Help us the intricate, desperate battle to face


s: Till the leer of the trader is seen nevermore in the land,


s: Till we bring every maid of the age to one sheltering hand.


s: Ah, they are priceless, the pale and the ivory and red!


s: Breathless we gaze on the curls of each glorious head!


s: Arm them with strength mediaeval, thy marvellous dower,


s: Blast now their tempters, shelter their steps with thy power.


s: Leave not life's fairest to perish--strangers to thee,


s: Let not the weakest be shipwrecked, oh, star of the sea!


s: Let not young souls be smothered out before


s: They do quaint deeds and fully flaunt their pride.


s: It is the world's one crime its babes grow dull,


s: Its poor are ox-like, limp and leaden-eyed.


s: Not that they starve, but starve so dreamlessly,


s: Not that they sow, but that they seldom reap,


s: Not that they serve, but have no gods to serve,


s: Not that they die, but that they die like sheep.


s: That creeps through the high gray plain,


s: Three sons she had, who went to find the world.


s: They promised to return, but wandered still.


s: The cities used them well, they won their way,


s: Rich gifts they sent, to still their mother's sighs.


s: Worn out with honors, and apart from her,


s: They died as many a self-made exile dies.


s: The mother had a hearth that would not quench,


s: The deathless embers fought the creeping gloom.


s: She said to us who came with wondering eyes--


s: The pine burned out, but still the coals glowed on,


s: Her grave grew old beneath the pear-tree shade,


s: And yet her crumbling home enshrined the light.


s: The neighbors peering in were half afraid.


s: One at a time, and stole the walls, and floor.


s: They left a naked stone, but how it blazed!


s: And in the thunderstorm it flared the more.


s: And now it was that men were heard to say,


s: "This light should be beloved by all the town."


s: At last they made the slope a place of prayer,


s: Where marvellous thoughts from God came sweeping down.


s: They left their churches crumbling in the sun,


s: They met on that soft hill, one brotherhood;


s: One strength and valor only, one delight,


s: One laughing, brooding genius, great and good.


s: Now many gray-haired prodigals come home,


s: The place out-flames the cities of the land,


s: And twice-born Brahmans reach us from afar,


s: With subtle eyes prepared to understand.


s: Higher and higher burns the eastern steep,


s: Showing the roads that march from every place,


s: At dead of night it lights the traveller's face!


s: Thus has the widow conquered half the earth,


s: She who increased in faith, though all alone,


s: Has made the town a holy angel's throne.


s: A Broadside distributed in Springfield, Illinois


s: Remember the dear heart-leap when they came:


s: Afar from those who said "Good-by" I write,


s: Sun in my face, wind beside my shoulder,


s: Streaming clouds, banners of new-born night


s: Enchant me now.  The splendors growing bolder


s: Make bold my soul for some new wise delight.


s: I write the day's event, and quench my drouth,


s: Pausing beside the spring with happy mind.


s: And now I feel those kisses on my mouth,


s: Hers most of all, one little friend most kind.


s: I thought to find him in an echoing cave;


s: Seeking that prophet lean and brown and bold.


s: I see you there, your thorn-crown on the ground,


s: I see you there, half-buried in the sand.


s: I see you there, your white bones glistening, bare,


s: _The carrion-birds a-wheeling round your head_.


s: True Love is founded in rocks of Remembrance


s: In stones of Forbearance and mortar of Pain.


s: The workman lays wearily granite on granite,


s: And bleeds for his castle 'mid sunshine and rain.


s: Love is not velvet, not all of it velvet,


s: Not all of it banners, not gold-leaf alone.


s: 'Tis stern as the ages and old as Religion.


s: With Patience its watchword, and Law for its throne.


s: I hate this yoke; for the world's sake here put it on:


s: Knowing 'twill weigh as much on you till life is gone.


s: Knowing you love your freedom dear, as I love mine--


s: Knowing that love unchained has been our life's great wine:


s: Our one great wine (yet spent too soon, and serving none;


s: Of the two cups free love at last the deadly one).


s: We grant our meetings will be tame, not honey-sweet


s: No longer turning to the tryst with flying feet.


s: We know the toil that now must come will spoil the bloom


s: And tenderness of passion's touch, and in its room


s: Will come tame habit, deadly calm, sorrow and gloom.


s: Oh, how the battle scars the best who enter life!


s: Each soldier comes out blind or lame from the black strife.


s: Mad or diseased or damned of soul the best may come--


s: It matters not how merrily now rolls the drum,


s: The fife shrills high, the horn sings loud, till no steps lag--


s: And all adore that silken flame, Desire's great flag.


s: We will build strong our tiny fort, strong as we can--


s: Holding one inner room beyond the sword of man.


s: Love is too wide, it seems to-day, to hide it there.


s: It seems to flood the fields of corn, and gild the air--


s: It seems to breathe from every brook, from flowers to sigh--


s: It seems a cataract poured down from the great sky;


s: It seems a tenderness so vast no bush but shows


s: Its haunting and transfiguring light where wonder glows.


s: It wraps us in a silken snare by shadowy streams,


s: And wildering sweet and stung with joy your white soul seems


s: A flame, a flame, conquering day, conquering night,


s: Brought from our God, a holy thing, a mad delight.


s: But love, when all things beat it down, leaves the wide air,


s: The heavens are gray, and men turn wolves, lean with despair.


s: Ah, when we need love most, and weep, when all is dark,


s: Love is a pinch of ashes gray, with one live spark--


s: Yet on the hope to keep alive that treasure strange


s: Love?... we will scarcely love our babes full many a time--


s: Knowing their souls and ours too well, and all our grime--


s: And there beside our holy hearth we'll hide our eyes--


s: Lest we should flash what seems disdain without disguise.


s: Yet there shall be no wavering there in that deep trial--


s: And no false fire or stranger hand or traitor vile--


s: We'll fight the gloom and fight the world with strong sword-play,


s: As fellow-warriors, underpaid, wounded and wild,


s: True to their battered flag, their faith still undefiled!