To-day, dear heart, but just to-day,
The sunshine over all,
The roses crimsoning the air
Along the garden wall!
Then let the dream and dreamer die;
Whate’er shall be, shall be—
To-day will still be thine and mine
To all eternity.
And oh, there is no glory, dear,
When all the world is done,
There is no...
They had brought in such sheafs of hair,
And flung them all about us there
In the loud noonday’s heat and glare:
Gold tresses, far too fine to wind,
And brown, with copper curls entwined,
And black coils, black as all my mind.
In the low, stifling armory,
Whence we could hear, but might not flee,
The roar of that engirdling sea...
He cried aloud to God: “The men below
Are happy, for I see them come and go,
Parents and mates and friends, paired, clothed with love;
They heed not, see not, need not me above,—
I am alone here. Grant me love and peace,
Or, if not them, grant me at least release.”
God answered him: “I set you here on high
Upon my beacon-tower, you know...
These are my scales to weigh reality,—
A dream, a chord, a longing, love of Thee.
Real as the violets of April days,
Or those soft-hid in unfrequented ways;
Real as the noiseless tune to which we tread
The measure we by life’s old song are led;
Real as man’s wonder what his soul may be,—
A guest for time or for eternity.
Real as...
Over the dim confessional cried
Father Amatus,—cloistered young,—
Dropping his rosary by his side,
Careless where his crucifix swung:
“I have been priest since—an endless when!
Sat by the living, consoled the dead,
Fasted and prayed for women and men,
Fed the poor with my daily bread.
“The wind blows cold,—how the snow...
Forgiveness lane is old as youth,
You cannot miss your way;
’T is hedged with flowering thorn forsooth
Where white doves fearless stray.
You must walk gently with your Love,
Frail blossoms dread your feet—
And bloomy branches close above
Make heaven near and sweet.
Some lovers fear the stile of pride
And turn away in...
There be many kinds of parting—yes, I know
Some with fond, grieving eyes that overflow,
Some with brave hands that strengthen as they go;
Ah yes, I know—I know.
But there be partings harder still to tell,
That fall in silence, like an evil spell,
Without one wistful message of farewell;
Ah yes, too hard to tell.
There is no...
I wanted you when skies were red,
And now the sky is gray;
I thought of you when shadows fled—
Now falls the end of day.
I called you when the hills were flame,
And now the hills are bare;
I sought you when the snowflakes came,
And now the swallows pair!
It trembled off the keys,—a parting kiss
So sweet,—the angel slept upon his sword
As through the gate of Paradise we swept,—
Partakers of creation’s primal bliss!
—The air was heavy with the breath
Of violets and love till death.—
Forgetful of eternal banishment—
Deep down the dusk of passion-haunted ways,
Lost in the...
only to find Forever, blest
By thine encircling arm;
Only to lie beyond unrest
In passion’s dreamy calm!
Only to meet and never part,
To sleep and never wake,—
Heart unto heart and soul to soul,
Dead for each other’s sake.
