Part 16

Yet not alone from earth Do we derive our birth. What were our singing worth Were this the whole? Somewhere from heaven afar Hath dropped a fiery star, Which makes us what we are, Which is our soul.

A PRESENTIMENT

It seems a little word to say-- Farewell--but may it not, when said, Be like the kiss we give the dead, Before they pass the doors for aye?

Who knows if, on some after day, Your lips shall utter in its stead A welcome, and the broken thread Be joined again, the selfsame way?

The word is said, I turn to go, But on the threshold seem to hear A sound as of a passing bell, Tolling monotonous and slow, Which strikes despair upon my ear, And says it is a last farewell.

A BIRTHDAY GIFT

No gift I bring but worship, and the love Which all must bear to lovely souls and pure, Those lights, that, when all else is dark, endure; Stars in the night, to lift our eyes above;

To lift our eyes and hearts, and make us move Less doubtful, though our journey be obscure, Less fearful of its ending, being sure That they watch over us, where'er we rove.

And though my gift itself have little worth, Yet worth it gains from her to whom 'tis given, As a weak flower gets colour from the sun. Or rather, as when angels walk the earth, All things they look on take the look of heaven-- For of those blessed angels thou art one.

CYCLAMEN

I had a plant which would not thrive, Although I watered it with care, I could not save the blossoms fair, Nor even keep the leaves alive.

I strove till it was vain to strive. I gave it light, I gave it air, I sought from skill and counsel rare The means to make it yet survive.

A lady sent it me, to prove She held my friendship in esteem; I would not have it as she said, I wanted it to be for love; And now not even friends we seem, And now the cyclamen is dead.

LOVE RECALLED IN SLEEP

There was a time when in your face There dwelt such power, and in your smile I know not what of magic grace; They held me captive for a while.

Ah, then I listened for your voice! Like music every word did fall, Making the hearts of men rejoice, And mine rejoiced the most of all.

At sight of you, my soul took flame. But now, alas! the spell is fled. Is it that you are not the same, Or only that my love is dead?

I know not--but last night I dreamed That you were walking by my side, And sweet, as once you were, you seemed, And all my heart was glorified.

Your head against my shoulder lay, And round your waist my arm was pressed, And as we walked a well-known way, Love was between us both confessed.

But when with dawn I woke from sleep, And slow came back the unlovely truth, I wept, as an old man might weep For the lost paradise of youth.

FOOTSTEPS IN THE STREET

Oh, will the footsteps never be done? The insolent feet Thronging the street, Forsaken now of the only one.

The only one out of all the throng, Whose footfall I knew, And could tell it so true, That I leapt to see as she passed along,

As she passed along with her beautiful face, Which knew full well Though it did not tell, That I was there in the window-space.

Now my sense is never so clear. It cheats my heart, Making me start A thousand times, when she is not near.

When she is not near, but so far away, I could not come To the place of her home, Though I travelled and sought for a month and a day.

Do you wonder then if I wish the street Were grown with grass, And no foot might pass Till she treads it again with her sacred feet?

FOR A PRESENT OF ROSES