THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 SPRETVE CARMINA MUS^E. 
 
 FIRST SERIES : 
 SONGS OF LOVE AND DEATH 
 
 BY 
 
 PAKENHAM BEATTY. 
 
 " A common folk I walk among ; 
 
 I speak dull things in their own tongue : 
 
 But all the while within I hear 
 
 A song I do not sing for fear — 
 
 How sweet, how different a thing ! 
 
 And when I come where none are near 
 
 1 open all my heart aud sing." 
 
 Arthur O'Shaughnessy. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 GEORGE BELL & SONS, YORK ST., CO VENT GARDEN, 
 AND NEW YORK. 
 
 1893-
 
 CHISWICK PRESS:— C. WH1TTINGHAM AND CO. 
 TOOKS COURT, CHANCERY LANE.
 
 PR 
 
 4-OB9 
 B4-/7s 
 
 IBrtricatton. 
 
 To ROBERT BROWNING. 
 
 None love in vain ; for God, who will not take 
 His least gift back, takes not this heavenliest one ; 
 None of his faithful will Love's heart forsake 
 Though death make dumb the spring and dark the sun. 
 
 The dead are always with us everywhere, 
 Unseen of mortal eyes, yet unremoved, 
 Those gracious ghosts that make the twilight fair, 
 The souls that lighted ours, and hearts that loved. 
 
 No nightingale sings for the rose alone, 
 But the least leaf may share his gift of song ; 
 So, while the many mourners make their moan, 
 I, least of all who loved thee, shall not wrong 
 
 Thy fame, when these have left thee with thy peers, 
 Nor of thy spirit be misunderstood 
 That bring thee my Love's gift of song and tears — 
 I give my best, and each heart's best is good. 
 
 - 
 
 -
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 _ I' AGE 
 
 Dedication v 
 
 Pilgrimage : 
 
 I. " Spring smiles, as Hope that looks on Love " 3 
 II. " Come, kneel down by the grave where Love 
 
 is laid " r 
 
 III. " T Ulill r,~. .u:_i. .1-- I" ■■■- » 
 
 ERRATA. 
 
 Page 32, line i,/or " there is" read" there's.'' 
 Page 70, line 2,, for "and splendid," etc. read and 
 
 Pane 
 
 splendid and sonorous spheres. ' 
 121, line 6, for "life " read "love. 
 
 3 M 
 
 n. 1 He Children's Playground 33 
 
 III. Selling Flowers 3. 
 
 IV. A Rejected Rose 36 
 
 V. Quia Multum Amavit 3 9 
 
 b
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Dedication v 
 
 Pilgrimage : 
 
 I. " Spring smiles, as Hope that looks on Love " 3 
 II. " Come, kneel down by the grave where Love 
 
 is laid " 5 
 
 III. " I will not think the last farewell we hear " . 6 
 
 IV. " My dreams saw Death in no grim guise " . 7 
 V. "By thine own soul's law learn to live " . . 8 
 
 VI. " So little time to speak, so much to say " . 10 
 
 Songs of the Sea : 
 
 I. The Wreck of the Birkenhead 13 
 
 II. Our Lady of Roses 17 
 
 III. The Witch 19 
 
 IV. The Witch's Tragedy . . • 22 
 
 V. Sunrise at Sea 27 
 
 Songs of the Streets : 
 
 I. The Last Barricade of the Commune ... 31 
 
 II. The Children's Playground 33 
 
 III. Selling Flowers 34 
 
 IV. A Rejected Rose 36 
 
 V. Quia Multum Amavit 39 
 
 b
 
 vni CONTENTS. 
 
 p AGE 
 
 Songs of Salutation : 
 
 I. A Dedication : To Richard Hengist Home 43 
 
 II. To Michael Field 44 
 
 III. A Garland : To Arthur O'Shaughnessy . . 46 
 
 IV. To a Musician 49 
 
 Songs of Love and Death : 
 
 I. The Sculptor 53 
 
 II. May Margaret 55 
 
 III. Jaffeer, the Barmecide 57 
 
 IV. Palomedes 60 
 
 V. Bice 62 
 
 VI. Eve .64 
 
 VII. At Love's Grave 65 
 
 VIII. The Death of Hampden 67 
 
 IX. St. Catherine of Siena 72 
 
 X. The Death of Marcia yg 
 
 Lilia : 
 
 I. Jean Baptiste Victor Baudin 97 
 
 II. A Funeral Wreath : In Memory of William 
 
 Edgar O'Shaughnessy 99 
 
 III. Le Chevalier de Chatelain ior 
 
 IV. Love, Night, and Death : In memory of 
 
 Richard Hengist Home 103 
 
 V. Last Words 10 ^ 
 
 Madonna Mia. I. : 
 
 I. "O poor dead sweet! I need no more 
 
 resign" 
 
 II. " How will you come to me, fair Love " 
 
 III. "As one before beginning of the Spring " 
 
 IV. "A woman loves me because I love " . 
 V "If Night might praise the sun, or grief" 
 
 109 
 
 "3 
 114 
 
 "5 
 116
 
 CONTENTS. « 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Madonna Mia. I.— continued. 
 
 VI. " If words were not so weak" 117 
 
 VII. " So sweet and sad my lady is, in her" . . 118 
 
 VIII. " O Love, this is my own dear lady's praise" 119 
 IX. " Dear, your true woman's heart I love you 
 
 for" 1 20 
 
 X. " Dearest, your life is set so far above " . . 121 
 
 XI. " Had I a heart more like thine own " . . 122 
 XII. "With this fair earth beneath you, these 
 
 bright skies above you " 123 
 
 XIII. " I feel the fond clasp of your hand ". . . 125 
 
 Madonna Mia. II. : 
 
 I. " I saw fair Love upon an April day " . . 129 
 
 II. " If May forgets not April's flowers " . . 130 
 
 III. " Had you been less harsh with my heart ". 131 
 
 IV. "I saw in dreams my own love changed 
 
 and sad" *3 2 
 
 V. " Men asked us : Will your joy endure " . 133 
 VI. " Heart of my heart, dear love, as far 
 
 removed " 134 
 
 VII. ' ' Till all is done you would have had me do " 135 
 
 Before Sunrise : 
 
 ' ' Let none be glad until all are free " . . 137 
 
 Quia Multum Amavi : 
 
 I. " When my last hour grows dark for me " . 138 
 II. " Love, claspt-close in your arms, my head 
 
 on the peace of your breast " . . . . 140 
 
 "The work of our hands, Lord, establish Thou it."
 
 PILGRIMAGE. 
 
 B
 
 PILGRIMAGE. 
 
 I. 
 
 Spring smiles, as Hope that looks on Love, 
 
 On April buds grown flowers of May ; 
 
 A golden glory from above 
 
 Makes bright dim walks where lovers stray : 
 
 I turn my face another way 
 
 Until I reach that place apart 
 My holiest thoughts have made divine, 
 Bring forth the treasures of my heart 
 And deck the altar, pour the wine, 
 And worship at my soul's pure shrine. 
 
 No pleasant paths lead to that place, 
 No singing of glad birds is sweet 
 Along that way ; against my face 
 The keen hail strikes, the wild winds beat, 
 And sharp stones bruise my wearied feet.
 
 PILGRIMAGE. 
 
 And there is none on that dark way 
 To speak one word of hope or cheer ; 
 And none of all I meet will stay, 
 But all pass by me, swift as Fear 
 That sees an enemy draw near. 
 
 I lie down on some lonely heath, 
 
 And close my eyes against the light : 
 
 My sleep starts from some dream of death, 
 
 And wild beasts fill me with affright, 
 
 Their fierce eyes gleaming through the night. 
 
 But I keep on until I gain 
 
 That place, and kneel, and pray my prayer : 
 
 And know my praying is not vain, 
 
 And find my days less hard to bear 
 
 For that brief hour I worship there.
 
 PILGRIMAGE. 
 
 II. 
 
 COME, kneel down by the grave where Love is 
 
 laid, 
 And pluck away the weeds that hide his name ; 
 It is so very long since last we came 
 The flowers we planted have had time to fade. 
 
 Nay, never plant fresh lilies, and renew 
 No roses ruined of the wind and rain ; 
 It may be long before we come again, 
 And these fresh flowers would then be faded 
 too!
 
 / 
 
 PILGRIMAGE. 
 
 III. 
 
 I will not think the last farewell we hear 
 
 Is more than brief good-bye that a friend saith 
 
 Turning towards home that to our home lies 
 
 near ; 
 I will not think so harshly of kind Death. 
 
 I will not think the last looks of dear eyes 
 Fade for the light that fades of our dim air, 
 But that the apparent glories of the skies 
 Weigh down their lids with beams too bright to 
 bear. 
 
 Our dead have left us for no dark strange lands, 
 Unwelcomed there, and with no friends to meet — 
 But hands of angels hold the trembling hands, 
 And hands of angels guide the faltering feet. 
 
 I will not think the soul gropes dumb and blind 
 A brief space through our world, death-doomed 
 
 from birth ; 
 I will not think that Love shall never find 
 A fairer heaven than he made of earth.
 
 PILGRIMAGE. 
 
 IV, 
 
 My dreams saw Death in no grim guise, 
 But with sweet words, and lips that smiled, 
 And gentle hands, and in his eyes 
 The meek looks of a little child. 
 
 Death had no shining sword to smite, 
 No crown of darkness on his head ; 
 Love took his hand without affright, 
 And followed smiling where he led.
 
 PILGRIMAGE. 
 
 V. 
 
 By thine own soul's law learn to live, 
 And if men thwart thee, take no heed, 
 And if men hate thee, have no care, 
 But sing thy song, and do thy deed, 
 And hope thy hope, and pray thy prayer, 
 And claim no crown they will not give, 
 Nor bays they grudge thee for thy hair. 
 
 Keep thou thy soul-sworn steadfast oath, 
 And to thy heart be true thy heart, 
 What thy soul teaches learn to know, 
 And play out thine appointed part, 
 And thou shalt reap as thou shalt sow, 
 Nor helped nor hindered in thy growth 
 To thy full stature thou shalt grow. 
 
 Fix on the future's goal thy face, 
 And let thy feet be lured to stray
 
 PILGRIMAGE. 
 
 No whither, but be swift to run, 
 
 And nowhere tarry by the way, 
 
 Until at last the goal is won, 
 
 And thou may'st look back from thy place 
 
 And see thy long day's journey done.
 
 io PILGRIMAGE. 
 
 VI. 
 
 So little time to speak, so much to say 
 
 Without reply ! 
 The day's work is to do, Lord, but the day 
 
 Too soon will die ! 
 
 Before the fight to fall out of the ranks, 
 
 Dead and unslain ! 
 To miss their glorious guerdon of God's thanks 
 
 That die for men ! 
 
 To fade before the sunset, when the noon 
 
 Brightens my brow ! — 
 Hush ! rebel heart, nor answer thou " Too soon,"' 
 
 When God calls " Now." 
 
 W hoso has loved the light, for him the sun 
 
 Will rise anew ! 
 Whoso has done his best leaves naught undone 
 
 That man can do ! 
 
 In Manus Tuas, Domine !
 
 SOXGS OF THE SEA.
 
 SONGS OF THE SEA. 
 
 I. 
 
 THE WRECK OF THE BIRKENHEAD. 
 
 TO THE MEMORY OF MY GRANDFATHER'S 
 
 FRIEND, THE WRONGED AND HEROIC 
 
 LORD DUNDONALD. 
 
 I. 
 
 Thou art mighty, O our mother, fair and strong, 
 All thy splendid names more splendid made by 
 
 song, 
 Proclaim thy glory as thine empire wide ! 
 For the poet has the hero for his brother. 
 And Shakespeare had not sung if Sidney had 
 
 not died ; 
 Let thy foemen then revile thee how they will, 
 We, thy sons who love thee, know thee, mother, 
 The poet's and the hero's England still !
 
 14 SONGS OF THE SEA. 
 
 II. 
 
 O our mother, thine own sea 
 Saw never such a day for thee ! 
 Not that memorable day 
 When that mighty Navy bore 
 Towards thine inviolable shore 
 The hate of Spain to spoil and slay, 
 And God blew with His winds, and where are 
 they? 
 Flouted of thy proud sea's scorn, 
 Bruised and broken ere the morn, 
 Lay all their strength, as impotent a thing, 
 As the priest's curse and boasting of the King ! 
 Nor that glad day whose light 
 Shone over the fair fight 
 At Navarino, nor that fatal day 
 That in Trafalgar's bay 
 Had Nelson's death to be remembered by, 
 O mother, as that whose sun saw these men die ! 
 
 III. 
 
 On the deck of the sinking ship they stood 
 Together, rank set with rank, and arrayed 
 Not against their fellows for shedding of blood, 
 To die, not to kill, and the music played
 
 SONGS OF THE SEA. 15 
 
 To the colours flying- on high, as they flew 
 Over Talavera and Waterloo ! 
 " Ready " — the brave reply was a prayer ; 
 " Ready" — the heart of England spoke there, 
 Strong to command because strong to obey ; 
 " Ready"— to follow when Death led the way ; 
 " Ready" — to wait until Death drew near ; 
 " Ready" — their answer for Death to hear ! 
 
 IV. 
 
 And they sent the boats away with a cheer, 
 And then closed in, file by file, to die — 
 And Death crept stealthily, plank by plank, 
 As though afraid, toward these without fear 
 Who waited his coming, till rank by rank, 
 Shoulder to shoulder, each comrade sank ! 
 
 v. 
 And a swift wind caught up the bitter cry 
 From the heart of the shamed and remorseful 
 
 sea, 
 And bore it to England, to bid her mourn 
 For her gallant dead that would never return, 
 And her grief grow glad for a great deed done, 
 And a famous day for her annals won !
 
 16 SONGS OF THE SEA. 
 
 VI. 
 O sleep sound beneath the waves, you, the record 
 
 of whose story 
 Shall fill the purest page of all our noble 
 
 England's glory ! 
 Sleep, with England's sea for grave, O you 
 
 whose names shall be 
 One name with all the famous names remem- 
 bered of the sea ! 
 Sleep, with this for epitaph : You were just such 
 
 Englishmen 
 As England at her need shall find ten thousand 
 
 such again ! 
 As your fathers were, you were, and your sons 
 
 shall be like you, 
 And such deeds a simple duty for Englishmen 
 
 to do !
 
 SONGS OF THE SEA. 17 
 
 II. 
 OUR LADY OF ROSES. 
 
 We knelt together at her shrine, 
 Our Lady of The Flowers — 
 
 My true love's heart was sad as mine, 
 And none so sad as ours ! 
 
 He turned his head, and kissed me there 
 And vowed he loved me best — 
 
 And took the red rose from my hair, 
 The white rose from my breast. 
 
 Before our Lady's golden throne, 
 
 Our Lady of the Sea, 
 Where we two knelt I kneel alone, 
 
 And pray for him and me. 
 
 Were he beside me at her shrine, 
 Our Lady of the Flowers — 
 c
 
 SONGS OF THE SEA. 
 
 No heart as sorrowful as mine, 
 Would grow as glad as ours. 
 
 But one night, as I lie asleep, 
 
 My love will call to me : 
 " Love, ferry me across the deep 
 
 Of Death's dream-beaconed sea." 
 
 And I shall take the oars and row 
 
 Into the silent west, 
 Past cities sunken long ago 
 
 Beneath the still sea's breast ; 
 
 And hear the death-bells for the dead 
 Toll from their shadowy spires, 
 
 And see the grey gulfs glowing red 
 With flames of funeral fires ! 
 
 Then will our Lady stretch her hand — 
 
 Our Lady of the Sea — 
 And draw us safe to that fair sti'and 
 
 Where all true hearts would be. 
 
 And we will kneel before her shrine, 
 
 Our Lady of the Flowers, 
 And each maid's heart will be as mine, 
 
 And all true hearts as ours !
 
 SONGS OF THE SEA. i 9 
 
 III. 
 
 THE WITCH. 
 
 " A fair wind, and a swift sure wind 
 To bear your ship safe o'er the foam, 
 The wind that brings the sailor home, 
 And makes the rude sea smooth and kind, 
 Who'll buy a wind of me ? " 
 
 Thus sang a witch in Norroway, 
 A white witch fairer than the sea ! 
 
 I said : " The land is far away 
 
 Where my heart fain would be ; 
 Sweet eyes grow dim for my delay, 
 And sweet lips paler when they pray, 
 And a true heart sadder every day— 
 I'll buy a wind of thee." 
 
 " A fair wind, and a swift sure wind, 
 The fair wind of the south,
 
 20 SONGS OF THE SEA. 
 
 Will I give thee, if thou giv'st me 
 One kiss of thy dear mouth." 
 
 " I will not buy thy wind of the south, 
 
 Nor any wind of thee ; 
 I keep my kiss for her dear mouth 
 
 That prays at home for me." 
 
 " Then go thy way, thou'lt rue the day 
 
 Thou hadst such scorn of me, 
 And long thy love shall weep and pray 
 
 Ere thou come home from sea. 
 O fierce wind, and O swift wind born 
 
 The lord of the wild sea, 
 Be thy breath bitter as the scorn 
 
 Of his proud heart towards me ! 
 
 " O fierce wind, be thy will to slay 
 
 As my heart's will in me— 
 I give the ship to be thy prey, 
 
 That bears him o'er the sea ! " 
 
 " I do not fear thy hate, nor care 
 Though thy spells rule the sea, 
 
 Since than thy curse my true love's prayer 
 Shall more avail for me ! J
 
 SONGS OF THE SEA. 21 
 
 " And though thy wind be fierce to slay, 
 
 And fierce thy ravening sea, 
 God's peace shall be upon my way 
 
 To where my heart would be, 
 And not in vain my love shall pray 
 
 For her true love at sea ! "
 
 22 SONGS OF THE SEA. 
 
 IV. 
 
 THE WITCH'S TRAGEDY. 
 
 The Witch is brought of The Abbot and The 
 Friars of Mercy tmto the beach of the sea, and 
 there bound to a stake. Then The Abbot lifteth 
 up the Cross, and saith unto the people : 
 
 We give this sinner to the sea, 
 
 That its waves may wash her white and clean ! 
 
 Then chant The Friars of Mercy : 
 Miserere, Domine ! 
 
 A woman saith : 
 How young she is, and sweet and fair, 
 And hath our Guendolen's own hair ! 
 Dear heart, I cannot see her die, 
 For our dead daughter's sake ! 
 
 Her husband answereth : 
 Nor I, 
 Let us go hence.
 
 SONGS OF THE SEA. 23 
 
 A girl saith to her lover : 
 Is she so fair 
 That you must turn your eyes away ? 
 
 Her lover answereth : 
 Be not so harsh, sweet ! Let us pray 
 For her that hath such need of prayer ! 
 
 The girl saith : 
 Is your heart, too, caught in her snare ? 
 Then is your heart no heart for me ! 
 
 Then saith the Abbot: 
 We give this sinner to the sea, 
 That its waves may wash her white and clean ! 
 
 Then chant The Friars of Mercy : 
 Miserere, Domine ! 
 
 Then continiteth The Abbot : 
 For Satan's leman she hath been ! 
 His lust hath known her tender youth, 
 And kissed her on her maiden mouth ! 
 Yea, sleeping by her mother's side 
 Her dreams would be defiled all night 
 With thoughts of their unclean delight,
 
 24 SONGS OF THE SEA. 
 
 And with hot words her longing cried 
 Upon her love, and without shame 
 She called him by his secret name 
 That rendered her for her lewd love — 
 The wicked wage and price thereof — 
 The malice of the evil eye ; 
 So that hale folk grow sick and die, 
 If she look on them, and the corn 
 Is blasted, and the babe unborn 
 Stifled within the mother's womb — 
 For which foul sin of hers her doom 
 Hath given this sinner to the sea ! 
 
 Then chant The Friars of Mercy : 
 Miserere, Domine ! 
 
 Then contimieth The Abbot : 
 Lo, the sea riseth wave by wave, 
 And reacheth almost to her breast ! 
 Where is her lover, where is he 
 That shall deliver her from the sea ? 
 Hath not his love strength left to save 
 Her tender body his lust knew ? 
 Shall no wave bear him on its crest ? 
 Shall not his dark wings cleave the air, 
 Nor earth gape wide and let him through ?
 
 SONGS OF THE SEA. 25 
 
 What keeps his help from her despair 
 That sees but Death upon the sea ? 
 
 TJien chant The Friars of Mercy : 
 Miserere, Domine ! 
 
 A soldier saith : 
 This faith is no true soldier's faith 
 That makes such martyrs : 
 
 By His Death 
 That took our sins on Him and died, 
 And the Seven Wounds in His side, 
 I'd rather be a pagan Turk 
 Than have hand in such damned monks' work ! 
 
 Then saith The Witch, in a voice exceeding 
 sweet and clear : 
 Jesu ! my Jesu ! I look for thee ! 
 With the strength of Thy Love my heart is 
 
 stayed 
 Till thy feet walk over the waves of the sea ! 
 Shall not the depths of the waters divide, 
 Nor let The Bridegroom's Love from the bride, 
 O Heavenly Bridegroom, Thy Love from me? 
 Hast Thou not heard, Lord, have I not prayed? 
 Shall the malice of men make my soul afraid ?
 
 26 SONGS OF THE SEA. 
 
 Is Life too sweet to give up for Thy sake, 
 Too bitter Death to endure for Thy Love ? 
 The life Thou gavest, the life these take 
 In the name of Thy Mercy, I lay this down, 
 This life, and in recompense thereof 
 Have the palm, and the amaranthine crown ! 
 
 This is the sea of chrysopras 
 
 Seen in a vision by John of old, 
 
 Whose waves, over which His feet shall pass, 
 
 Shall shine with the light of His garment's gold, 
 
 His wedding garment's put on for me ! 
 
 Sure of His promise, safe in His love, 
 
 O sea, I feel thy waves at my breast 
 
 That bring me my Bridegroom at last, O sea ! 
 
 Jesu, my soul hath the wings of a dove, 
 
 And flieth away and is at rest. 
 
 Then the waves close over her. Afterwards 
 Cometh this marvel to pass : the waters of the 
 sea divide, and through the glory of them 
 flieth a dove.
 
 SOA'GS OF THE SEA. 27 
 
 V. 
 
 SUNRISE AT SEA. 
 
 You hardly live, what should you know of Death ? 
 Your shallows scarcely feel the morning's fire, 
 Meek streams, how should you hear what my 
 
 soul saith, 
 Or know the passion of my heart's desire ? 
 
 Let finch and linnet sing you on your way, 
 And winds that talk with quiet fields and trees — 
 My soul would know what morning's has to say, 
 And hear the sun's heart speaking with the sea's
 
 SONGS OF THE STREETS.
 
 SONGS OF THE STREETS. 
 
 I. 
 
 THE LAST BARRICADE OF THE 
 COMMUNE. 
 
 At the dark close of that disastrous day 
 Whose sun went redder with our blood to God, 
 When the last few were shot whom Gallifet 
 Had picked for death, and Mannikin-Metter- 
 
 nich ' 
 Might glut his little soul to see the broad 
 Deserted streets strewn with dead bodies thick, 
 His butchers, wearied of their work at length, 
 Halted from plying of their bloody trade 
 To curse the Prussians or the Emperor, 
 And laughed and joked ('tis a good jest to kill 
 Men without arms and women without strength, 
 
 1 Thiers.
 
 32 SONGS OF THE STREETS. 
 
 Since there is no risk to spoil the sport !) and 
 
 swore 
 Sullenly that no more blood was to spill ; 
 Then marched ; but when they reached the 
 
 barricade 
 We had abandoned last, a little head 
 Lifted its golden curls, and a child said : 
 "Vive la Commune !" — and then stood still and 
 
 smiled, 
 Folding his little arms across his breast — 
 Until one beast, more beast-like than the rest 
 Suddenly raised his gun and shot the child !
 
 SONGS OF THE STREETS. 
 
 II. 
 THE CHILDREN'S PLAYGROUND. 
 
 POOR little children, this place of death 
 
 Is your only place for play ! 
 Here only you feel the warm wind's breath 
 
 That tells shut buds of May ! 
 
 You touch the marble, smell to the flowers, 
 
 Till the eldest child will say : 
 " We can never have such graves for ours, 
 
 So pretty — for one must pay, 
 
 "And pretty things cost so much to buy, 
 
 And are not given, but sold ; 
 Our graves are like our beds when we die, 
 
 Our beds where we sob with cold ! " 
 
 Poor little children, His sheep unfed, 
 
 How little of earth is given, 
 Of His earth to you of whom He said : 
 
 " Of such is the Kingdom of Heaven ! " 
 D
 
 34 SONGS OF THE STREETS. 
 
 III. 
 
 SELLING FLOWERS. 
 
 Poor child, your brown hands offer me 
 These flowers that only mean for you 
 So many pence — this rose that tells 
 No story of warm skies and blue, 
 And happy hills and pleasant dells, 
 And woods your eyes will never see. 
 
 Sometimes a little child like you, 
 Holding his mother's hand, will show 
 Your flowers with eager looks, and talk 
 Of fresher flowers that used to grow 
 In those green fields that once they knew 
 So sweet to play in and to walk, 
 Before they came to the dark town. 
 
 And sometimes, pacing up and down, 
 Some wretched weary woman, gay
 
 SONGS OF THE STREETS. ^ 
 
 With hideous merriment, will hush 
 Her laugh, and with a startled blush 
 Turn round and look another way. 
 But all these have no pence to spare, 
 Let such pass on, and long, and stare. 
 
 Poor child, here are the pence you lack, 
 And, here, I give you your flowers back, 
 To talk with, play with, love ; these are 
 Your own, and you will promise me 
 You will not sell nor throw away 
 Your flowers, but keep them, though they be 
 Faded and without scent — while they 
 Are with you God will not be far.
 
 36 SONGS OF THE STREETS. 
 
 IV. 
 
 A REJECTED ROSE. 
 
 As I toiled in my dreary room, 
 
 So wretched, and dull, and high 
 
 To be nearer the dismal sky, 
 
 I threw my rose in the street, 
 
 For I saw its leaves in the glass 
 
 Beginning to droop and die — 
 
 Then I watched the people pass 
 
 Like ghosts through the dense fog's gloom, 
 
 Till a girl from among the rest 
 
 That hurried unheeding by 
 
 Picked up my rose at her feet 
 
 With a sudden eager cry, 
 
 And sheltered its leaves in her breast. 
 
 My rose that I threw away, 
 A despised and rejected thing, 
 To her my rose meant May, 
 And woods where glad birds sing,
 
 SONGS OF THE STREETS. 
 
 And June, and the longest day, 
 And all that lovers say 
 For only the spring to hear ! 
 And the skies of the sorrowful city 
 Grew suddenly bright and clear, 
 And smiled with God's own pity ! 
 
 Poor girl, with your eager eyes, 
 
 Innocent sister and wise, 
 
 Your heart knows more than we 
 
 Of all things gracious and sweet ! 
 
 For we watch through our prison-bars 
 
 To vex the unanswering stars 
 
 With question of what shall be, 
 
 And have no eyes to see 
 
 The blossoms at our feet — 
 
 And an Ariel in each tree 
 
 Waits our spells to set him free, 
 
 But the charms of Prospero 
 
 Were forgotten long ago. 
 
 And so, when the day is done, 
 
 And its burden and heat overpast, 
 
 Unreluctant and undismayed 
 
 We fall upon sleep at last 
 
 In the darkness that maketh afraid,
 
 38 SONGS OF THE STREETS. 
 
 Having never seen the sun 
 Shine on the world God made ! — 
 
 My sister, unknown and dear, 
 One day I shall see you stand 
 On the steps of The Golden Stair 
 With my rose in your golden hair, 
 And you will take my hand, 
 And I shall feel no fear.
 
 SONGS OF THE STREETS. 39 
 
 V. 
 
 QUIA MULTUM AMAVIT. 
 
 Hush, dearest, the milk in my breast is dry, 
 
 There's none for you — 
 Would the blood in my heart that hears your 
 cry 
 
 Were too ! 
 
 Hush, my own ! Children close their eyes at 
 night 
 
 When mothers weep, 
 And light from their heaven of dreams makes 
 bright 
 
 Their sleep. 
 
 Hush, sweet ! Want and sorrow have said their 
 say, 
 
 And wrought their will — 
 Hush, dear ! we have done with the weary day, 
 Sleep still!
 
 4 o SONGS OF THE STREETS. 
 
 Hush, his own ! Though your mother's eyes are 
 dim, 
 
 Your father's bride 
 Must have her dress when to-morrow with him 
 
 Beside 
 
 She kneels before God for the world to see 
 
 And in His name 
 Call holy and bless the love that in me 
 
 Was shame ! 
 
 You are sleeping now, you will cry no more — 
 
 Sleep, till the light ! 
 Sleep, sweet ! I must sew, though my eyes are 
 sore, 
 
 All night. 
 
 Asleep, at last ! when I kissed you, you smiled 
 
 And turned your head 
 To kiss me ! Asleep, dear? O God, my child 
 
 Is dead !
 
 SONGS OF SALUTATION.
 
 SONGS OF SALUTATION. 
 
 I. 
 
 A DEDICATION : TO RICHARD 
 HENGIST HORNE. 
 
 Master, beloved for memory 
 
 Of all high hearts that held thee dear, 
 
 I bring my gifts for thee to see, 
 
 I sing my songs for thee to hear, 
 
 And at thy Muse's shrine lay down 
 
 The buds I gathered for her crown. 
 
 Dear Master, take what gifts are ours, 
 And let thy brows scorn not to wear 
 The garland of what fading flowers 
 Our mortal summer finds most fair, 
 Till our sun miss thee, and thou be 
 Where Marlowe's spirit waits for thee.
 
 44 SONGS OF SALUTATION. 
 
 II. 
 
 TO MICHAEL FIELD. 
 
 The Lesbian sea gives up her dead, 
 
 And on her gleaming wave 
 Each borne from her green bed 
 The gold-haired Nereids throng 
 To hear their risen Sappho's song 
 Round her Leucadian grave. 
 
 Sappho, what strange and subtle speech 
 
 Did the cold secret sea 
 That bore thy goddess teach 
 Thy lips, what wild sweet thing 
 Have the waves taught thy heart to sing 
 
 Unknown on earth to thee ? 
 
 What has the silence told thy sleep 
 More passionate and dear ?
 
 SONGS OF SALUTATION. 45 
 
 What songs more sweet and deep 
 Than in thy Lesbian sky 
 The sunset's heart heard, loth to die, 
 And slain with joy to hear. 
 
 Ah, who may hear thy song aright 
 That none may dare to praise ? 
 
 Forlorn of bloom and light 
 
 Our lives may never know 
 
 The skies and songs of Long Ago 
 In these doom-darkened days !
 
 46 SONGS OF SALUTATION. 
 
 III. 
 
 A GARLAND : TO ARTHUR 
 O'SHAUGHNESSY. 
 
 What chill sad blossoms of our northern air 
 Shall my hands gather and your heart find fair ? 
 What pale buds grown beneath our sun's cold 
 
 beams 
 Might make a garland for your Muse's hair? 
 
 Seeing how before her tender rapt eyes gleams 
 That unforgotten country of her dreams, 1 
 And glowing secret of that far-off land, 
 Songs of dead birds and murmurs of lost streams, 
 
 And holier memories of that gracious band 
 Whose smile the dull world might not under- 
 stand 
 
 1 " Nostalsrie des Cieux."
 
 SONGS OF SALUTATION, 47 
 
 That were her glorious kinsfolk, and content 
 Of happy lovers wandering hand in hand. 
 
 How in this dark place of her banishment 
 Shall she forget the joyous days she spent 
 In that remembered country? Shall she stay 
 Among us, and no thought be thither sent ? 
 
 And often at the closing of our day 
 Will she not fain take ship and leave our May, 
 And sail beyond the limit of our skies 
 Towards Erumango lying far away ? 1 
 
 Nay, but our grief pleads with her memories, 
 And she forgoes the joy our life denies, 
 And deep delight whereof her soul is fain, 
 And human tears have made more sweet her eyes. 
 
 She leaves her fair far heaven to dwell with 
 
 men, 
 And seeing them so dull and full of pain 
 She softly asks of God to comfort these 
 With tender lips that sing Christ back again, 2 
 
 1 "Azure Islands." 2 "Christ will Return."
 
 48 SONGS OF SALUTATION. 
 
 To bring Love with Him, Hope and Joy and 
 
 Peace, 
 That Want and Wrong and Sin and Shame may 
 
 cease, 
 And evil things and sorrowful take flight 
 And leave our changed world lovely — and she 
 
 sees 
 
 Amid the heavy horror of the night 
 The splendour of our sunrise, and the might 
 Of one United Europe fair and free, 1 
 And all the morning's music and the light. 
 
 And I that watch until that glad time be 
 That God has given her pure eyes grace to see, 
 And looking towards the dim East find no sign, 
 Within your Muse's temple reverently, 
 
 Brother, I come, but seeing her so divine, 
 I dare not offer what poor gifts are mine, 
 And worship with bowed head and bended knee, 
 And pass, and lay no garland on her shrine. 
 
 i " 
 
 Europe."
 
 SONGS OF SALUTATION. 49 
 
 IV. 
 
 TO A MUSICIAN. 
 
 You hear the pulses of Beethoven's heart, 
 Or walk with Weber in a place ghoul-haunted, 
 Or wander, by some gentle spell enchanted, 
 In some melodious dreamland of Mozart ; 
 To you the comfort of your gracious art 
 Gives all things beautiful, the sighing seas, 
 The murmuring winds, the woodland-wandering 
 
 bees, 
 And singing birds of your delight are part ! 
 
 In every wood your soul the Dryad hears, 
 And on the hillsides the forsaken Pan, 
 But me the discord of the clamorous years 
 Will not let live with nature, but with man 
 I dwell, O friend, and of his hopes and fears 
 Make me as sweet a music as I can. 
 
 E
 
 SONGS OF LOVE AND DEATH.
 
 SONGS OF LOVE AND DEATH. 
 
 I. 
 
 THE SCULPTOR. 
 
 Only a month, and she weds the King ! 
 
 Only a month, and my statue stands 
 
 With a crowd of courtiers either side 
 
 That stare and simper my praise whose hands 
 
 Have wrought the bridegroom his marble bride 
 
 With meek eyes blessing the world like Spring ! 
 
 With meek eyes blessing the world unknown, 
 And heart the wings of a golden dove 
 Bear to that land of enchantment sweet 
 Where she walks with rosy skies above 
 Over the roses under her feet, 
 A great queen crowned, to her royal throne !
 
 54 SOA'GS OF LOVE AND DEATH. 
 
 Only a month, and I steal apart 
 
 From the fools that gape at my work and me 
 
 To the room where my waxen bride gleams 
 
 white, 
 For only the moon and my soul to see 
 The form I wrought with the help of night, 
 That smiles — with a pin's prick in her heart !
 
 SONGS OF LOVE AND DEATH. 
 
 II. 
 
 MAY MARGARET. 
 
 May Margaret has no will to walk 
 
 Within the garden-close; 
 She passeth the white lilies by, 
 
 And leaveth the white rose. 
 
 " Tell me truly, daughter dear, 
 
 As I lay awake last night 
 What was the sound that I did hear ? " 
 
 "Some sad ghost sighing at the light, 
 
 Or wind, or falling of the rain " — 
 
 " Nay daughter, of all these that was none "- 
 " O mother, it was my moaning you heard 
 
 To bear a little son ! 
 
 " I took him to the forest dim 
 Ere men should wake to see,
 
 56 SONGS OF LOVE AND DEATH. 
 
 And there in a grave I buried him, 
 And there you'll bury me, 
 
 Dear mother, and leave space for one 
 Will soon come to make three ! "
 
 SONGS OF LOVE AXD DEATH. 57 
 
 III. 
 
 JAFFEER, THE BARMECIDE. 
 
 Said the mighty Caliph Haroun to Jaffeer the 
 
 Barmecide : 
 " In such honour do we hold thee, O Jaffeer, 
 
 that for bride 
 We bestow on thee our sister, but on peril of 
 
 thy life 
 Do not thou presume to love her whom we give 
 
 thee for a wife ! 
 By the beard of the Prophet, if she have of thee 
 
 a child, 
 If within her veins our royal blood with thine 
 
 should be defiled, 
 Be thou sure the bow-string waits thee, and the 
 
 sack awaits the bride " — 
 " Lord, to hear is to obey thee," said Jaffeer the 
 
 Barmecide. 
 So between these at their bridal Fear stood 
 
 frowning, but above
 
 58 SONGS OF LOVE AND DEATH. 
 
 Love smiled on these lovers wedded and com- 
 manded not to love, 
 
 And she knew her husband's footfall at her 
 chamber-door, and night 
 
 Kept inviolate these lovers and their secret of 
 delight. 
 
 And secret days, and weeks, and months, in 
 
 forbidden joy were past, 
 Till Love grew too strong for cunning, and 
 
 betrayed them at the last. 
 
 And at midnight to the chamber where these 
 
 lovers dreamed and slept 
 Followed of his mutes and headsmen still as 
 
 Fear Haroun crept, 
 And his mutes there strangled her ere her lips 
 
 could cry a word ; 
 But the Caliph looked on Jaffeer for a space, 
 
 then drew his sword, 
 Then the blade flashed through the darkness, on 
 
 the floor the shorn head rolled ; 
 And he signed his headsman to him : " Cram 
 
 these slaves' throats full of gold 
 Till they choke — what I command thee see 
 
 thou straightway that be done —
 
 SONGS OF LOVE AND DEATH. 59 
 
 Also send my women hither, for I would not 
 
 be alone, 
 And my jester — I am heavy at my heart now, 
 
 and have need 
 Of his wit to make me laughter — though, by 
 
 Allah, of this deed 
 I repent not when I think on all their shameful 
 
 sin forbid, 
 I remember how I loved them," said the Caliph 
 
 Alraschid.
 
 6o SONGS OF LOVE AND DEATH. 
 
 IV. 
 
 PALOMEDES. 
 
 I SURELY think that I shall win to-day, 
 Yea, and my heart is well assured of it, 
 With God to help — since, last night, as I lay 
 Asleep, with some sweet vision of my sweet 
 
 Held fast between mine eyelids, the close night 
 Brake as a bud unfolding into bloom, 
 Until mine eyes were startled with the light 
 Of a great glory filling all my room, 
 
 And in the shining of that hallowed air 
 The brightness of three angels gleamed around 
 Radiantly ; and in their hands they bare 
 Bright arms, which on my body having bound, 
 
 They set a shining sword into my hand, 
 
 And then the splendour vanished from the place,
 
 SONGS OF LOVE AND DEATH. 61 
 
 And I woke, clutching vainly at the brand, 
 And felt the morning strike upon my face. 
 
 So have I a sure hope I shall prevail 
 To-day, and my poor strength be found above 
 The strength of Launcelot — yea, how should I 
 
 fail 
 That have so sweet a lady for my love ?
 
 62 SONGS OF LOVE AND DEATH. 
 
 BICE. 
 
 I HAD a vision of fair ladies dead 
 
 That song keeps living for us, and makes fair 
 
 The faded faces and discoloured hair, 
 
 And sets a garland on each fallen head, 
 
 And Love confirms their immortality 
 
 So that their gentle presence still is nigh 
 
 All lovers, and the pulse of their dead bliss 
 
 Passionately unforgotten in the kiss 
 
 Of clinging lips, and warmth of clasped hands, 
 
 And there is no true heart but understands 
 
 The sweetness of their story — and with these 
 
 came 
 When folk were met upon a holiday 
 To welcome in the sweetness of the May 
 With laughter, and fair pastime, and glad game, 
 A little maid with grave and gentle eyes
 
 SONGS OF LOVE AND DEATH. 63 
 
 Sweet as vague looks of dawn-awakened birds, 
 And red mouth fashioned for all gracious words ; 
 And next her stood a little lad apart 
 From all his happy fellows at their play, 
 And did forget the sweetness of the May, 
 And did forget the folk at holiday, 
 But felt the great love growing at his heart, 
 And the beginning of that New Life sweet 
 That makes the whole world musical with it 
 Until all song cease, and continually 
 Would look on her with fate-acquainted eyes 
 That knew then first how they should after see 
 Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise.
 
 64 SONGS OF LOVE AND DEATH. 
 
 VI. 
 
 EVE. 
 
 Why art thou sad, love, for the loss of Eden ? 
 Let us go hence together side by side, 
 Thou Man, dear, and I Woman and thy Bride ! 
 Too long we two dwelt there — slaves, scared and 
 
 chidden, 
 Before I, Eve, ate of the fruit forbidden, 
 And having tasted thereof gave to thee, 
 My husband, and thy soul as mine grew free, 
 And good and evil were no longer hidden 
 
 From our eyes purged of darkness to discern 
 The knowledge that God feared lest we should 
 
 learn 
 And no more worship Him nor call Him Lord — 
 Let us go hence, love, masters of our fate, 
 Past His armed angel standing by the gate, 
 Nor fear the menace of the flaming sword !
 
 SOXGS OF LOVE AND DEATH. 65 
 
 VII. 
 
 AT LOVE'S GRAVE. 
 
 We sought the grave in the shadow and gloom 
 Where we laid our Love when he died — 
 
 An angel stood beside the tomb, 
 And the doors were open wide. 
 
 " Whence do you come, and who are ye, 
 And whom seek you here," he said : 
 
 " Mourners," we answered him, "are we 
 That come to look on our dead. 
 
 " Forbid us not, we are weary now 
 
 That have travelled far and wide 
 To see the wounds of the thorns on His brow 
 
 And the cruel nails in His side." 
 
 "Go hence," he said, "that refused Him aid 
 
 And left your Lord to die, 
 Recreant hearts, that ashamed and afraid 
 
 Kept far when His foes were nigh. 
 F
 
 66 SONGS OF LOVE AND DEATH. 
 
 " For all the passion of all the pain 
 With which your weak hearts grieve, 
 
 If Love should come on earth again 
 Again would you not believe, 
 
 " Again deny Him, betray once more, 
 Again be stubborn in sin" — 
 
 We knelt beside the open door 
 And dared not enter in.
 
 SOXGS OF LOVE A.XD DEATH. 67 
 
 VIII. 
 
 THE DEATH OF HAMPDEN. 
 
 A tent in the Parliamentary camp. Hampden: 
 ties wounded, #«</ Cromwell is bending over 
 him. 
 
 Hampden. 
 Spare all who yield ! Alas, that we must pierce 
 One English heart for England !— I thank you, 
 
 sir, 
 My wound is nothing ; a little loss of blood ; 
 I fear much more must flow from worthier veins 
 Ere England's hurt be healed. 
 
 Cromwell. 
 Alas ! how strong are base things to destroy ! 
 The brute's part in them kills the god's in us, 
 And robs the world of many glorious deeds — 
 In all the histories of famous men 
 We never find the greatest overthrown
 
 68 SONGS OF LOVE AND DEATH. 
 
 Of their high equals, but the loftiest head, 
 Screened of its laurels from the lightning's flash, 
 Falls by some chance blow of an obscure hand, 
 And glory cannot guard the hero's heart 
 Against the least knave's dagger. 
 
 Hampden. 
 
 You cannot help me — 
 Save yourself, sir ; my best prayers keep you 
 
 safe — 
 I fain would win as far as yonder house ; 
 It was my dead dear wife's ; such shapes are 
 
 there 
 As I would see about my dying bed 
 To make me sure of heaven. — Forgive me, love, 
 That I am loth to come yet to thy heart ; 
 I have only lived without thee, O my best, 
 That I might live for England. — 
 
 Is Cromwell come ? 
 
 Cromwell. 
 How is it with you, cousin ? 
 
 Hampden. 
 
 Very well ; 
 With hope to be soon better ; gentle cousin,
 
 SOXGS OF LOVE AND DEATH. 69 
 
 I have scant time to speak, and much to say 
 That thou must hear. Men's eyes more clearly 
 
 see 
 Ere the long darkness ; and thus plagues, and 
 
 wars, 
 Earthquake, and overthrow of prosperous states 
 Have been foretold by lips of dying men : — 
 But I die happy, with a joy too keen 
 For this weak wounded body, and delight 
 Of eager youth that dreams of noble deeds, 
 Knowing the greatness in thee, which occasion 
 Has not yet shown the world, and thine own 
 
 self 
 Hast only dimly guessed at. — These hands I 
 
 hold 
 Shall bear the weight of England's greatness up ; 
 Thy name, mine own dear kinsman's, shall have 
 
 sound 
 More royal than all crowned kings'; the slave 
 Shall murmur it in dreams of liberty, 
 The patriot in his dungeon, and endure, 
 The tyrant, and grow merciful for fear ; 
 And when thou hast done high and song-worthy 
 
 deeds 
 At length shall come thy poet, whose purer eyes 
 God shall seclude from sight of our gross earth,
 
 7 o SONGS OF LOVE AND DEATH. 
 
 And for the dull light of our darker day 
 Give all heaven to his vision, star with star 
 Shining, and splendid, and and sonorous spheres 
 To make him music, and those sacred lips, 
 More eloquent than the Mantuan's, praising thee, 
 Shall make thy name a memory for all time, 
 And set a loftier laurel on thy head 
 Than any gathered from red fields of war ; 
 So great shall England's great need make thee, 
 
 Cromwell ; 
 Whom thou forget not still to love and serve, 
 Holding thy greatness given to make her great, 
 Thy strength to keep her strong— then (since 
 
 Oblivion 
 Is what men chiefly fear in death) dear cousin 
 I would not be forgotten of thy love. 
 And now I am loth the last words I shall speak 
 Must be of strife — yet I must utter them : — 
 Be not of those that vex the angry times 
 With meek-mouthed proffers of rejected peace ; 
 When men have set the justice of their cause 
 To sharp arbitrament of answering arms, 
 Tongues should keep mute, and steel hold speech 
 
 with steel, 
 Till victory can plead the conquered's cause, 
 And make soft mercy no more dangerous ;
 
 SONGS OF LOVE AND DEATH. 71 
 
 We must o'ercome our foes to make them 
 
 friends. 
 Thy hand, dear cousin. Sweet, I hear thy voice 
 That calls me, and leave England for thy sake- 
 Kiss me, dear love, and take my soul to God ! 
 — Receive my soul, Lord Jesus!— O God, save 
 My country. — God be merciful to 
 
 Cromwell. 
 O Lord of Hosts, if Thou wilt only give me 
 An England with but three such Englishmen, 
 My life shall be as noble as this man's. 
 Farewell, dear cousin, perfect heart that beats 
 No more for England. Think of me in Heaven, 
 And help to make me all thou saidst I should be ! 
 
 {Kneels down by the bed. Rising and looking 
 steadfastly on the dead face of HAMPDEN,) 
 
 Yea, and I shall be.
 
 72 SONGS OF LOVE AND DEATH. 
 
 IX. 
 
 ST. CATHERINE OF SIENA. 
 
 A street iti Siena. A scaffold, and a crowd 
 about it. 
 
 First Citizen. 
 When should he come ? 
 
 Second Citizen. 
 
 It wants yet some half-hour ; 
 Does your impatience grudge him so much life? 
 
 A Woman. 
 They say the man will die a penitent, 
 One hopeful of God's grace and reconciled 
 To human justice, and this change in him 
 Was wrought by sweet persuasion of that lady 
 Famed for her life of gracious charities, 
 Catherine, who will walk with him to his death, 
 So he hath' asked her.
 
 songs of love and death. 73 
 
 Second Citizen. 
 
 She is a noble lady, 
 A virgin vowed and dedicate to God ; 
 Her common words are holier than our prayers, 
 And if she pass them walking in the street 
 Men seem to see a glory on her hair, 
 And in her eyes the look of one that hears 
 The inexpressive melodies of heaven, 
 And the changed place grow radiant with the 
 
 light 
 Flashed from the splendour of an angel's wings. 
 And when the dark days come upon this land, 
 When this dear nursling, this fair child of Time, 
 Held fast of Freedom to her breasts of love, 
 This promise-pledge of Hope, this Italy 
 Shall share the fate of all things beautiful, 
 And her sons die to free her and leave her 
 
 bound, 
 When the fierce Austrian eagle gapes for prey, 
 And darkens with the horror of his wings 
 This else unshadowed heaven, God shall send 
 A second Christ of a more holy faith, 1 
 And he shall touch men's blind eyes sealed in 
 
 sleep, 
 
 1 Joseph Mazzini.
 
 74 SONGS OF LOVE AND DEATH. 
 
 And let in the true dawn on their false dreams, 
 Then Rome shall be more great than all her 
 
 past, 
 And her imperial bridegroom wed again 
 Venice, and Florence be more beautiful 
 Than all her flowers that give her that sweet 
 
 name ; 
 This shall God do for this sweet lady's sake. 
 
 First Citizen. 
 Do you not hear the cry that brings him hither? 
 The men-at-arms march first, and in their midst 
 He walks with bounden hands, and looks towards 
 
 her 
 With childlike-trustful and obedient eyes : 
 And now they halt ; and now she speaks with 
 
 him ; 
 And he kneels down as though in prayer. 
 
 A Woman. 
 
 Ah, God ! 
 How the great axe takes colour from the sun ! 
 I dare no longer look. 
 
 [The executioner strikes, and the man's head 
 falls. Catherine lifts it in her hands, and 
 comes forward as though to speak.]
 
 songs of love and death. 75 
 
 Second Citizen. 
 
 Silence, she would speak. 
 
 Catherine. 
 What words of mine should touch you, if this 
 
 sight 
 Have left your hearts unmoved, if these closed 
 
 eyes 
 Fill not your eyes with tears, if these dumb lips 
 Plead not with you that none again may die 
 Such death as this man's — Christ is not your 
 
 Christ, 
 But of poor folk, and sad, and heavy-laden, 
 And if you bring Him gifts of gold and myrrh, 
 Thank-offerings of your riches, and cry : " Lord, 
 I have lived my life according to thy law, 
 Shunning the ways of sinners, and all these 
 For thy love-sake have hated," Christ will answer : 
 " Are there none such to plead against my wrath, 
 No sinner to pray for thee — fool, hast thou 
 None whom all men have hated that hath loved 
 
 thee?" 
 O sirs, you should have anger against the sin, 
 But pity for the sinner, and not thrust 
 A violent life out of your violent world 
 With cursing, but should rather think how much
 
 76 SONGS OF LOVE AND DEATH. 
 
 You have and need to make yours different — 
 A guarded youth of love-protected years, 
 And little tender trivial things, small wants 
 And sweet that make your life sweet ; but these 
 
 have lost 
 The passionate rebellion of the heart 
 That tells us we were made for happiness, 
 And fall into a sullen discontent 
 Enduring sufferings of the beasts that make 
 Men beast-like, cold and hunger, curses and 
 
 blows ; 
 Sirs, if you miss some dead face, look for one 
 Forlorn and sorrowful to fill your heart, 
 And speak sweet words you shall not hear again 
 From dumb dear lips to these that never heard ; 
 And would you surely find Love, search for him 
 Where God doth chiefly seek him, in sad hearts 
 Their sorrow teaches to hold precious 
 The unfamiliar music of His name ; 
 Sirs, if sad eyes grow glad because of you, 
 Your own shall weep no more, and if harsh lips 
 Speak softly for your sake, yours shall not sigh, 
 For our good deeds are our best comforters. 
 O sirs, you know I speak not of myself 
 Vain words, but these my Christ has bidden me 
 
 say —
 
 SONGS OF LOVE AND DEATH. 77 
 
 My Christ, Whose bride am I espoused in faith — 
 For at the time when all the world holds feast, 
 Withdrawing from its foolish revelry, 
 I knelt in prayer, and falling in a swoon 
 Heard a strange music, wonderful and sweet, 
 A mingling of all sounds in one sweet tune, 
 As though all April sang with one bird's voice ; 
 And then a sudden splendour filled the room, 
 And from the glory came a voice that said : 
 " My sister, my beloved, I am come 
 According to my promise," and my Christ 
 Stood face to face with me, and at His side 
 The Holy Mother, and the Evangelist 
 John, and the Apostle Paul, and Dominic, 
 And with these David playing on a harp ; 
 And then the Holy Mother took my hand 
 And led me to the Son, who placed on it 
 A golden ring set with four precious stones ; — 
 And since I went among poor folk, and wrought 
 With simple sweet sufficiency of service 
 My Lord's appointed work — until I heard 
 Of one that lay in bonds and doomed to death, 
 And coming to his prison found this man 
 Silent, with sullen and resentful eyes ; 
 Then I knelt down beside him, and took the hand 
 Thathad shed so muchblood, and talked with him
 
 78 SONGS OF LOVE AND DEATH. 
 
 Of divine love and human brotherhood 
 Until his heart was softened and he wept ; 
 And so he came a penitent to death.— 
 sirs, I charge all you that saw him die, 
 Pray that this man may pray for you to-night : 
 For he shall be with Christ in Paradise ; 
 In sign whereof I kiss him on his face.
 
 SONGS OF LOVE AND DEATH. 79 
 
 X. 
 THE DEATH OF MARCIA. 
 
 Michael Stolskofs cell. 
 
 Michael Stolskoi. 
 This is the last night of my nights on earth. 
 Bright moon, how often have I seen thy face 
 Look on me past some continent of cloud ! 
 How often have I seen thee with bright beams 
 Holding the quarry of the night in chase, 
 And all thy starry sisters in thy train ; 
 How often hast thou kissed me in my sleep, 
 As though I were Endymion and thy love ! 
 Tired Sleep clings close to Night, and holds her 
 
 fast 
 For fear of evil dreams, and Night looks down 
 On all the unquiet sorrows of the world, 
 And beckons Death with an uplifted hand. 
 We shall be friends to-morrow, Death and I ; 
 Youth never met him in his wanderings, 
 And never talked with Death, but only saw
 
 80 SONGS OF LOVE AND DEATH. 
 
 Some phantom glide between him and the sun 
 
 Sighing, and passed on with hands full of flowers, 
 
 And April on his lips and in his eyes. 
 
 What will you shew me, Death, that I would see, 
 
 What will you tell me, Death, that I would hear? 
 
 What secrets that the wisest have not learnt ? 
 
 Dread King, mine eyes shall meet thine unafraid, 
 
 My hand not tremble at the touch of thine ; 
 
 My voice shall fail not when I hear thee speak, 
 
 Nor my feet falter as they follow thee — 
 
 I am glad I shall die young, ere Love has seen 
 
 The few I love grow fewer from year to year, — 
 
 The hand that held mine fast on Life's dark way, 
 
 The cheerful comrade of my wanderings, 
 
 That walked a few miles at my side, and showed 
 
 My path, and left me with a kind farewell 
 
 To end my journey on that lonely road 
 
 By which Death leads us to our rest, and find 
 
 Night with no moon nor any stars to guide, 
 
 And day with some blurred shadow of the sun — 
 
 I shall not drain life's chalice to the dregs, 
 
 But leave the feasters ere the feast is done, 
 
 Its music on my lips and in my ears ! 
 
 Is not this better than to warm cold hands 
 
 Above the ashes of a lonely hearth? 
 
 I shall not have outlived desire of life,
 
 SONGS OF LOVE AND DEATH. Si 
 
 And seen all fair things laid in some deep grave 
 With some old sweet word for an epitaph, 
 Before my own is dug ; I shall not die 
 Only when all my joys are dead, but take 
 Some sweet regret of earth to make heaven 
 
 fairer. 
 Love talks of those that died young with hushed 
 
 voice 
 And tender tears, those whose stay with him 
 Was briefer than his visions of delight 
 Live longest in Love's faithful memory ; 
 Spring's flowers would be forgotten, if their bloom 
 Survived the fond last smile of May's farewell ; 
 We must die old to make remembrance pass 
 Beside our dust with careless feet and eyes, 
 And hands that have no garland for our graves 
 All gracious things die young, Love, Hope, and 
 
 Faith, 
 Sweet Hope, the illusion of the soul, and Love, 
 The illusion of the heart, and Faith that dreams 
 Of brighter worlds, and sees our sun and stars 
 Shadows across the splendour of her dreams. 
 Only hard hearts live long in this hard world ! 
 The proud, the noble, and the indignant break, 
 As the sun dies before the dark night comes 
 And leaves the world made hateful by her reign. 
 
 G
 
 82 SONGS OF LOVE AND DEATH. 
 
 " Those the Gods love die young ; " the Gods 
 
 are wise 
 That take their favourites to themselves again 
 Ere those they love forget them or forsake ; 
 Apollo, had he with Admetus passed 
 Some few more years of exile, had remembered 
 No more Olympus, and that harmony 
 Earth could no longer keep nor the Gods lack 
 Had grown as common as dull shepherds' songs 
 That told the woods of Amaryllis' scorn j 
 Had the fates spared Marcellus, he had died, 
 Like the first Caesar, by some Brutus' hand, 
 After ambition made his fame forget 
 Laurels, not gold, should crown a hero's head ; 
 And Nero, had he died young, might have been 
 Mourned like Marcellus, with such golden tears 
 As melt men's hearts that read of Virgil's grief. 
 We fear too much our natural graves, too little 
 The daily graves that Life digs for our souls, 
 And covers over with false leaves and flowers. 
 Better that Youth met Death with steadfast 
 
 looks, 
 With head uplifted, and untrembling hands, 
 And Beauty with her lustrous eyes undimmed, 
 Than that his malice triumphed o'er our fears, 
 O'er palsied limbs and undetermined hearts.
 
 SONGS OF LOVE AND DEATH. 83 
 
 {Enter Marcia and the Gaoler.) 
 
 Michael Stolskoi. 
 Marcia ! How came you hither, and who is this ? 
 
 Gaoler. 
 A friend. 
 
 Marcia {to the Gaoler.) 
 
 Give me the pistol and the poison. 
 Here is more gold — had I thrice more to give 
 My thanks were still your debtors for this service. 
 
 Gaoler. 
 You have more than paid me both in gold and 
 
 thanks. 
 {To Michael Stolskoi.) I am the spy you 
 
 might have slain, but spared 
 To help you and this lady at your need — 
 Let me but touch your hand, and mine will feel 
 More like an honest man's. 
 
 Michael Stolskoi. 
 
 Here is my hand, 
 And with my heart I thank you. 
 
 Gaoler. 
 
 Farewell, sir —
 
 84 SONGS OF LOVE AND DEATH. 
 
 And farewell, noble lady — God watch o'er you ! 
 
 [Exit Gaoler. 
 
 Marcia. 
 You will not scorn me now ? You will be kind ? 
 Death reconciles us with our enemies, 
 And I have loved you — God will tell you how — 
 How changed a woman I have been at heart 
 Since first I saw you, and my soul leapt forth 
 With a great cry toward you, as one that gropes 
 Out of the maze of some dark dream, and feels 
 The sudden sun strike on his eyes ; my past 
 Was as the hiss of waters in men's ears 
 That sink for the last time, and see some hand 
 Stretched out to save them. — Dearest, I have 
 
 been dead, 
 And God has sent my spirit back to earth 
 To love thee as some saint or angel might ; 
 Give me your hands ; God will forgive me soon ; 
 And you will love me. 
 
 Michael Stolskoi. 
 
 I read within your heart 
 The story of your life, blotted with tears 
 Of penitence and shame that come of love — 
 If only love had found you, ere your own
 
 SONGS OF LOVE AND DEATH. 85 
 
 Had learnt the teaching of those hateful hearts 
 That should have kept you pure and innocent 
 As when you came from heaven, but taught your 
 
 youth 
 The shameful secrets of man's lust, and sold 
 Your beauty in the market for such wares, 
 Love had then told you how divine a thing 
 Is woman's beauty, terrible and fair 
 With light from Heaven or with fire from Hell. 
 Come close to mine, poor heart, and let me teach 
 
 thee 
 How glad and good and pure thou might'st have 
 
 been. 
 [Takes Marcia in his arms and kisses he}'. 
 
 Marcia {in Michael's arms, and looking up 
 
 into his eyes). 
 Dear, since you love me, 'tis not hard to die ! 
 
 Michael Stolskoi. 
 Not for your woman's heart, but hard for mine — 
 Men will not so soon sever from their joys, 
 And lack the meek submission of the will, 
 The patient fortitude that bows the head 
 And bares the breast to the descending stroke, 
 And resignation, that are woman's strength ;
 
 86 SONGS OF LOVE AND DEATH. 
 
 We chafe against the masterdom of Fate, 
 Disputing the supremacy of Death 
 With proud defiant eyes as of strong lords 
 Over all other powers on earth but his. 
 
 Marcia. 
 I do not grudge Death what poor joys he takes 
 Once having had more than Hope asked of Life, 
 The last look of your eyes, and your last thought, 
 The last beat of your heart before mine breaks 
 And Love's last kisses sweeter than the first. 
 
 Michael Stolskoi {leadingherto the window). 
 Look yonder, love, how bright a world is there ! 
 Fair world, I am loth to take farewell of you ! 
 
 Marcia. 
 How much more fair a Heaven ! Fair Heaven 
 
 I am glad 
 My love and I shall find to-night in you 
 One of the many mansions of God's House ! 
 Surely thy bright stars are true lovers' souls ! 
 Dear, do not deem death is that dreaded thing 
 Of our weak fears and unjust surmise ! 
 Have you forgotten your own song of Death,
 
 SOXGS OF LOVE AND DEATH. 87 
 
 How Life stood on a sudden face to face 
 With Death, and felt no fear, and sang to Death ? 
 
 \Sings. 
 
 Sweet friend, I had not thought to see 
 
 Thy face so soon, or hear 
 Thy gentle voice that calls to me, 
 
 And bids me feel no fear ; 
 
 Only one kiss, then let us go, 
 
 True lover, hand in hand, 
 Across the moors, across the snow, 
 
 Into the distant land. 
 
 O, guide me ! lest my feet should stray, 
 And hush my heart on thine ; 
 
 No sun is bright upon our way, 
 Nor moon nor star shall shine ; 
 
 But we shall hear Cocytus roar 
 When all earth's streams are dumb, 
 
 And light-heeled Hermes goes before 
 To tell the dead we come. 
 
 Love will not think that world of niyht 
 A sadder world than ours ; 
 
 a
 
 88 SONGS OF LOVE AND DEATH. 
 
 But those dim skies have their own light, 
 And those dark fields their flowers ! 
 
 Think not so sadly of death ; you would not 
 
 make 
 Death terrible to me? 
 
 Michael Stolskoi. 
 
 O my own love ! 
 I have another love plucks at my heart 
 And will not let it die content on thine, 
 But calls my eager spirit back to earth 
 From those bright thresholds of a heaven with 
 
 thee — 
 The love of our dear Poland. — O, my best, 
 Death has no bitterer anguish than to see 
 The invader's foot spuming the sacred earth 
 That holds the dear dust of our dead ; his arms 
 And flaunting banners of his triumph hung 
 Within the Temple of our fathers' fame ; 
 To see his soldiers strutting through our streets, 
 And patiently submit to the disdain 
 Of such ignoble conquerors. O, to see 
 Our country's language, laws, and ancient customs 
 Abolished and forbidden, and her sons 
 Taught to renounce her in an alien tongue !
 
 SONGS OF LOVE AND DEATH. 89 
 
 Better a thousand wars with all their woes, 
 And better that our land were one wide grave ; 
 Better the cry of Rachel for her children, 
 And better Rizpah's vigil by her dead 
 Than this sad, shameful motherhood of slaves 
 That live by sufferance of a tyrant's will. 
 
 Marcia. 
 Be comforted, dear love, in God's good time 
 Our land shall find deliverance ; never country 
 Was long enslaved that had such hearts as thine ! 
 
 Michael Stolskoi. 
 The few that loved our Poland yesterday 
 To-morrow will be fewer ! My faithful friends ! 
 What land could spare such true hearts at her 
 need ? 
 
 Marcia. 
 Dear, do not die in this sad disbelief, 
 But hear Hope's heavenly message to our souls, 
 And sweet assurance of our granted prayers. 
 {Kneeling.) O Lord, remember Poland ! — 
 
 Michael Stolskoi. 
 
 Lord, Amen !
 
 90 SONGS OF LOVE AND DEATH. 
 
 Marcia. 
 Amen ! See, love, the light comes at our prayer ! 
 The winds of morning stir in the still east, 
 And night flies star by star before the sun.— 
 Let those that come with day not find us here — 
 Love, we must die— I first— by your dear hand ; 
 Here is the pistol ! 
 
 Michael Stolskoi. 
 
 O ! I cannot do it ! 
 Some other way but that ! 
 
 [Ptits the pistol in his breast. 
 
 Marcia. 
 
 The poison then — 
 The queen that cast a pearl into her cup 
 Richer than tribute of a hundred isles 
 Pledged Antony in no such royal wise 
 As I my love. One kiss before I drink ! 
 
 [Michael Stolskoi kisses her, and she 
 drinks. 
 
 Michael Stolskoi. 
 Sweet, let me take death from your lips and hands ! 
 
 [Drinks.
 
 SONGS OF LOVE AND DEATH. 91 
 
 Marcia {dying). 
 Is not this heaven I see ? And these are spirits 
 That sing so sweetly to their golden harps ! 
 Dear love, I know the meaning of their song, 
 Because they sing of love — only of love — 
 Love, love — and Paradise for those that love — 
 No more the mere gross earth too poor for love ! 
 
 [Dies. 
 
 Michael Stolskoi. 
 Sweet spirit, have no fear to stand alone 
 Among God's angels ! Wait, love, till I come, 
 I will not keep thee long ! 
 
 [The doors are' thrown open. The Tyrant 
 enters, followed by The Executioner and 
 his assistants. MICHAEL rises and stands 
 between them and Marcia's dead body. 
 
 The Executioner. 
 
 We have him safe, 
 Your Majesty ; the gaoler's flight has left 
 His prisoner behind. 
 
 The Tyrant {seeing Marcia's dead body). 
 Who is this woman ?
 
 92 songs of love and death. 
 
 Michael Stolskoi. 
 Marcia — my love ! 
 
 The Tyrant. 
 
 Thy love ? Insolent liar ! 
 [Strikes Michael Stolskoi. 
 
 Michael Stolskoi. 
 Thou hast done thy last ill deed— Go down to 
 
 hell, 
 And ask thy wages of thy taskmaster ! 
 
 [Draws the pistol from his breast, and 
 shoots the Czar. 
 
 The Tyrant (falling into the arms of 
 The Executioner). 
 Help ! I am slain! The torture for yon villain! 
 Do not forget the torture ! 
 
 Michael Stolskoi (falling on Marcia's 
 body). 
 Death mocks thy hate ! 
 
 [ The day breaks, and the sun throws its light 
 
 from the bars of the window on Michael 
 
 Stolskoi, and Marcia clasped in his arms
 
 SONGS OF LOVE AND DEATH. 93 
 
 Michael Stolskoi {lifting up his head). 
 
 Light, light, more light, O God, for thy dark 
 world ! 
 
 [Falls back dead.
 
 LILIA. 
 
 " Manibus date Lilia plenis." 
 
 " Les morts sont morts, douce leur soit l'gterniteV" 
 
 Paul Verlaine.
 
 LILIA. 
 
 I. 
 
 JEAN BAPTISTE VICTOR BAUDIN. 
 
 Shall not we miss thee, brother, at our side, 
 And on our lips the high triumphal song 
 Be changed into a dirge for thee that died ? 
 Nay, sorrow shall not do thy fame such wrong 
 To wish to have thee living, for such men 
 As thou must die when Liberty is slain. 
 
 Where honour was no more thou couldst not be, 
 And Fate, that had but shameful days to give, 
 Closed fast those noble eyes lest they should 
 
 see 
 Liberty dead ere thou hadst ceased to live, 
 And, ere she gave France to her tyrant, gave 
 Thy sacred dust an unpolluted grave. 
 
 H
 
 9 8 LILIA. 
 
 The praise of unheard lips, the reverence 
 Of unknown hearts, the tears of eyes unseen, 
 O brother, are not these a recompense 
 For life as noble as thy life had been? 
 And all these death has given thee, to keep 
 A loving watch beside thy sacred sleep.
 
 LI LI A. 
 
 99 
 
 II. 
 A FUNERAL WREATH. 
 
 IN MEMORY OF ARTHUR WILLIAM EDGAR 
 O'SHAUGHNESSY. 
 
 This was no time for thee to pass away, 
 
 This dark, cold month, forlorn of light and 
 
 bloom, 
 That has no flower to lay upon thy tomb ! 
 
 But from the gladness of the world in May 
 Death should have called thee on thy destined 
 
 day, 
 From joy of singing birds and sun-sweet hours 
 To some fair grave made beautiful with flowers, 
 With gentle looks, and tender words to say 
 Heard long ago, dear brother, of thy song. 1 
 
 1 "A Whisper from the Grave."
 
 ioo L1LIA. 
 
 Thou should'st have left us when the year was 
 
 young, 
 Our youngest singer, for thy perfect rest. 
 Couldst not thou wait till these dark days should 
 
 pass? 
 Gracious and sweet and glad thy music was, 
 Brother, as Spring's, and Spring had mourned 
 
 thee best.
 
 LI LI A. ioi 
 
 III. 
 
 LE CHEVALIER DE CHATELAIN. 
 
 Father, gone hence, how shall we mourn for 
 
 thee ? 
 Will not some note of triumph bi-eak across 
 Our dirge, some proud strain of our victory 
 Mix with our lamentation of thy loss? 
 
 For lo ! the clarions of the dawn are heard 
 Clear on the hills ! Our day, that brings thy night, 
 Grows splendid with the sunrise at the word 
 Of Freedom to the world : " Let there be light." 
 
 We stand upon the threshold of the day, 
 Watch the old night dying and the young dawn 
 
 born, 
 And see the mists and shadows melt away, 
 And all the world make ready for the morn.
 
 io2 LI LI A. 
 
 Clear eyes, uplifted to their heaven above, 
 Pure hands, so strong to labour and to fight, 
 And proud indignant soul of those who love 
 The sun, not for his warmth, but for his light ! 
 
 — O England, whom he loved, whose free shores 
 
 gave 
 A shelter to his manhood, we will claim 
 One last gift for him ; give his dust a grave, 
 And with thy sons remembrance of his name. 
 
 And take the loftiest laurels of thy crown 
 To make a garland for thy dead son's brow 
 Whom thy hard heart cast forth from thee — 
 
 bend down, 
 O France, and kiss him — thou art worthy now.!
 
 HLIA. 103 
 
 IV. 
 LOVE, NIGHT, AND DEATH: 
 
 IN MEMORY OF RICHARD HENGIST HORNE. 
 
 How shall we mourn for our loftiest singer 
 Gone from the light of the God of song ? 
 Shall Night take gifts that Love would bring her, 
 And her heart repent her of its wrong, 
 
 And let Love pass through the gates of gloom 
 To speak one word for one ghost to hear — 
 Only to lay one crown on one tomb, 
 And only weep but a single tear — 
 
 Only to stand by the cold dark River- 
 Only watch the sail that bears away 
 From Time to that unknown For Ever 
 His eyes that look their last on our day —
 
 104 LILIA. 
 
 Only to keep with him, close at his side, 
 So fain to follow him, loth to stay, 
 Close at his side, till the ways divide, 
 And the voice bids part that none gainsay ? 
 
 Night will not suffer Love to draw near ; 
 Death bids him back from the gates of gloom ; 
 Who art thou, Love, and what would'st thou here? 
 For whom are thy gifts, and thy flowers for whom? 
 
 Love dares not approach the sullen portal, 
 And lets the lilies fall from his hand ; 
 His strength is of earth, his wings are mortal 
 And cannot pass where those warders stand. 
 
 Death will not hear, but bids him depart, 
 And Night will not take the gifts he brings ; 
 And the chill of Death is in his heart, 
 And the dews of Night dank on his wings. 
 
 Then Love takes back his gifts ungiven, 
 And leaves the place where his worst foes are, 
 Night and Death, and looks up to heaven, 
 And sees the light of his singer's star. 1 
 
 1 Orion.
 
 LILIA. 105 
 
 V. 
 
 LAST WORDS. 
 
 Deaf are the ears that heard my song, 
 
 Dumb are the lips that praised ; 
 
 I shall see them never, my whole life long, 
 
 The brave kind eyes upraised 
 
 To mine, shall touch not my friend's true hand 
 
 Shall see not my friend's true face, 
 
 Till I, too, stand in the shadowy land 
 
 In my own appointed place.
 
 MADONNA MIA. 
 
 "It may be all my love went wrong — 
 A scribe's work writ awry and blurred 
 Scrawled after the blind evensong — 
 Spoilt music with no perfect word. 
 
 " But surely I would fain have done 
 All things the best I could."
 
 MADONNA MIA. 
 I. 
 
 O POOR dead sweet ! I need no more resign 
 
 My love and all its privilege of pain, 
 
 Seeing none else can come between us twain ; 
 
 love, my love of you has made you mine 
 For life, and death, and all time : for I know, 
 For all the doubt that led our lives astray, 
 For the farewell my lips were loth to say, 
 For all that God has taken you away, 
 
 1 never lost you, having loved you so ! 
 
 And for that shadow of mistrust that came 
 
 Between us, and a little set apart 
 
 Your soul from mine and heart's faith from my 
 
 heart, 
 I do not think you were at all to blame ; 
 I could not set my love beyond the reach
 
 no MADONNA MIA. 
 
 Of little liars to prevent their speech 
 From mingling with his music, nor some base 
 Love to make dark the splendour of his face, 
 And you were sick and sad, weak to believe, 
 And she, our traitor, cunning to deceive, 
 And you could know her lie not, for alas, 
 God set our natures very wide apart 
 That Love for all his longing could not pass 
 The great gulf lying between heart and heart ; 
 You knew me not, but loved me out of sweet 
 Pure pity of my love, and for your sense 
 Of noble impulse in me that made beat 
 My heart to deeper music than most men's. 
 
 But since no more again mistrust can fall 
 Between us, since the past is all forgiven, 
 Since you have no harsh thought of me in heaven, 
 But look from God's side, dearest, and know all, 
 I will not mix her name with yours, nor say 
 Another word of her till in God's sight 
 I speak before His Judgment-Throne, and pray 
 For vengeance for my lost life, and the right 
 She lied from me : to watch you day by day, 
 To fill your lessening life with growing love, 
 To be with you till Death came in Love's place,
 
 MADONNA MIA. in 
 
 And that sad solace that she robbed me of, 
 Your last kiss and the last look of your face ! 
 
 And O, my sweet, for all my first boy's love 
 Your own, that first caught passion from your 
 
 face, 
 And sought the meaning of my life in you, 
 When all joys of youth's dreams the past denied 
 In you found their fulfilment, till life knew 
 The pain of the old longing satisfied, 
 And found your gladness in the old sorrow's 
 
 place ; 
 
 O sweet, for all our baffled lives missed of, 
 For the division God's harsh hand let fall 
 Between our souls to part them, O, for all 
 We might have made each other, for unfaith 
 Remembered yet forgiven, for your death 
 That must divide us for a little space, 
 And for your stainless womanhood that awes 
 My praises into silence, and because 
 No stronger, sweeter love may come between 
 My manhood and your loss, shall fill your place 
 Quite, or be quite to me what yours had been, 
 And partly for some little loving speech 
 Unspoken, some sweet word or deed forgot,
 
 H2 MADONNA MIA. 
 
 That vex me now you lie beyond their reach : 
 
 But chiefly, dearest, that I did you wrong 
 
 To blame your woman's weakness with harsh 
 
 thought, 
 I would your name should hallow my first song.
 
 MADONNA MIA. 113 
 
 II. 
 
 How will you come to me, fair Love ? 
 
 Will you come late or soon ? 
 With sad or smiling skies above, 
 
 By light of sun or moon ? 
 
 Will you be sad, will you be sweet, 
 Sing, sigh, Love, or be dumb ? 
 
 Will it be summer when we meet, 
 Or autumn ere you come ?
 
 ii 4 MADONNA MIA. 
 
 III. 
 
 As one before beginning of the Spring- 
 Feels the changed earth grow sweet with future 
 
 flowers, 
 And hears in silent woods the glad birds sing, 
 And sees in winter-time the gracious hours 
 
 That bring the greener growth and deeper blue, 
 So did I know you coming ere you came, 
 And saw your face in all my dreams of you, 
 And heard some lovely whispering of your name 
 
 In voices of my hopes that had sweet speech 
 To tell me, O my own, when you were nigh, 
 And all my thoughts that had some sign to teach 
 My eager heart that I should know you by ; 
 
 For all my days that had no sight of you 
 By sweet hope of your coming were made fair ; 
 And long before I saw them, dear, I knew 
 The perfect colour of your eyes and hair.
 
 MADONNA MIA. 
 
 "5 
 
 IV. 
 
 A WOMAN loves me because I love, 
 
 And her heart is holy, her soul is pure, 
 
 And the stars may change and the firm earth 
 
 move, 
 But her word remains, and her faith is sure ! 
 
 Much is to suffer, much is to do, 
 But my soul is steadfast to feel no fears ; 
 I know one heart in the world will be true, 
 One day be sweet of the sorrowful years ! 
 
 Woes are to bear, and foes not to fear, 
 And courage to play out a hero's part ; 
 And songs to sing for the world to hear — 
 Then a word to say to a woman's heart !
 
 n6 MADONNA MIA, 
 
 If Night might praise the sun, or grief 
 Sing some sweet song for joy to hear, 
 Or lonely bird and faded leaf 
 Praise June, then I might praise you, dear !
 
 MADONNA MIA. 117 
 
 VI. 
 
 If words were not so weak 
 To tell our best thoughts, dear, 
 
 Then I might speak, 
 And you might hear ! 
 
 If Earth were not so bleak, 
 Our roses might not die — 
 
 And I might seek 
 And find you nigh — 
 
 You found, what should I seek ? 
 
 You mine, what should I need 
 To make this bleak 
 
 Earth Heaven indeed !
 
 n8 MADONNA MIA. 
 
 VII. 
 
 So sweet and sad my lady is, in her 
 Delight and sorrow hold such equal place, 
 And either makes her beautiful a space, 
 That no man knows when she is lovelier, 
 Whether when she is sorry, or when the rare 
 Bright smile makes glad her grave and gentle 
 
 face ; 
 Such gracious sorrow and such sorrowful grace, 
 In tender interchange make my love fair ! 
 
 O my one love, whose eyes my spirit sees 
 In all its dreams, and whose dear face is part 
 Of all my holier hopes and memories, 
 To be so good and sweet, no other art, 
 My gentle Circe, did you use than these, 
 Nor any magic more to win my heart !
 
 MADONXA MIA. 119 
 
 VIII. 
 
 O LOVE, this is my own dear lady's praise ! 
 She is so sweet, and good, and pure, and fair, 
 And has such eyes and gracious-coloured hair, 
 And sweetness of so beautiful a face, 
 And is so purely perfect in all ways, 
 And has such tender mirth, and her glad youth 
 Smiles in the sweetness of her eyes and mouth, 
 And lives a life of unembittered days, 
 And Love could never wish her lovelier, 
 That a man's life that loved my sweet must be 
 As hers, so sweet, and good, and pure, and fair — 
 Dearest, since my own heart has told this me, 
 O sweet, I only make this only prayer : 
 Love, give me grace to love you worthily !
 
 120 MADONNA MIA. 
 
 IX. 
 
 Dear, your true woman's heart I love you for, 
 And woman's weaknesses, and hold those eyes 
 More sweet for their shed tears, and love you 
 
 more 
 For all your tender insufficiencies.
 
 MA DONNA MIA. 
 
 Dearest, your life is set so far above 
 All help of mine, or any need of me, 
 Being so good and sweet, and could not be 
 More noble or more happy for my love, 
 
 That though I have no hope to keep me true 
 My life is changed not, nor unfaithful grovvn- 
 Sweet, I could only win you for my own 
 Did you more need me, or I less need you.
 
 122 MADONNA MIA. 
 
 XI. 
 
 Had I a heart more like thine own, 
 
 As warm, and kind, and free, 
 As firm, and fond, thou should'st have known 
 
 That heart but beat for thee ! 
 
 But since so pure and fair thou art, 
 
 Thou never can'st be mine — 
 I would not have thee take a heart 
 
 So all unlike from thine ! 
 
 Thy perfect heart my heart shall teach 
 
 To love thee best of all — 
 Dear, from thy heaven I cannot reach 
 
 I would not have thee fall ! 
 
 And what though Fate the gift denies 
 
 Thy heart would not refuse ? 
 Not his the praise who wins the prize, 
 
 But his who dies to lose !
 
 MADONNA MIA. 123 
 
 XII. 
 
 With this fair earth beneath you, these bright 
 skies above you 
 
 At rest, 
 Is not this sweet : to be loved as I love you, 
 
 My best ? 
 
 What star shall be ours of all that gleam golden 
 
 Above ? 
 With what glory enkindled of hope, and beholden 
 
 Of love ? 
 
 What souls of true lovers, and poets that sung 
 them, 
 
 Shall greet 
 Your spirit and mineto ourown star among them, 
 
 My sweet ?
 
 124 MADONNA MIA. 
 
 For I that could give not Love praise, but gave 
 duty, 
 
 Unknown, 
 With these shall have place for the sake of your 
 beauty, 
 
 My own !
 
 MADONNA MIA. 125 
 
 XIII. 
 
 I feel the fond clasp of your hand, 
 And see the true love in your eyes, 
 Dear love, and once again we stand 
 And tell to the same stars and skies 
 What only heaven might understand. 
 
 Too high above men's earth, too far 
 For weak wings of men's words to reach, 
 Only the soul in yon bright star 
 Might know the meaning of our speech, 
 And see our souls, love, as they are. 
 
 The lights of the New Day begin 
 
 To break ; night's stars fade from the skies ; 
 
 Dear Love ! Heaven is not hard to win, 
 
 The golden gates of Paradise 
 
 Are open : let us enter in !
 
 MADONNA MIA. 
 II.
 
 
 MADONNA MIA. II. 
 
 I. 
 
 I saw fair Love upon an April day, 
 And Spring had touched his tender lips with red, 
 And woven a garland for his golden head ; 
 And Hope had taught him such sweet words to 
 
 say 
 That footsore men upon their weary way 
 Drew near to listen to what words he said, 
 And for a little space were comforted — 
 
 But on a sudden Love's hands ceased to play 
 That music that he held not sweet enough, 
 And from vague impulse touched his instrument 
 To some strange tune, and at the sound thereof 
 A bitter pang through all my heart was sent 
 I "mil I hid my face and wept, but Love 
 l J 'ayed on, and knew not what his playing meai I 
 
 K
 
 130 MADONNA MIA, II. 
 
 II. 
 
 If May forgets not April's flowers, 
 
 June will — 
 Even hearts as passionate as ours 
 
 Grow still ! 
 
 July forgets what birds and flowers 
 
 June had — 
 Even hearts whose joy is deep as ours 
 
 Grow sad ! 
 
 The pale leaves hear not what the flowers 
 
 Heard told — 
 Even hearts as passionate as ours 
 
 Grow cold !
 
 MADONNA MIA. II. i 3I 
 
 III. 
 
 Had you been less harsh with my heart, 
 Had you suffered my love 
 To cherish you, tender and true, 
 To-day had not seen us apart, 
 Dear love, but for me and for you 
 How bright had earth been, heaven above 
 How blue ! 
 
 Had you given my heart its will, 
 Sweet, had you let me speak 
 All my soul was so fain to say, 
 The nightingale would be singing still, 
 And the rose had not died with May, 
 And these skies had never looked so bleak 
 To-day !
 
 132 MADONNA MIA. II. 
 
 IV. 
 
 I SAW in dreams my own love changed and sad 
 A weary woman, in a pale disguise 
 Of sunken cheeks and hollow altered eyes, 
 And all her youth that was so sweet and glad 
 And all her gracious beauty that she had, 
 Passed from her in some sorrowful strange wise 
 And all her voice's music turned to sighs, 
 And all her body cold and poorly clad. 
 
 And then I clasped my poor sweet close to me, 
 And kissed the wan thin face, and trembling hand, 
 And told her of our life that I had planned, 
 How all its lonely longing should be past, 
 And all its happier hopes should come to be, 
 Since she was come to love me at the last.
 
 MADONNA MIA. II. 133 
 
 V. 
 
 Men asked us : Will your joy endure, 
 Your hope betray not nor beguile ? 
 Is Love so strong and Faith so sure? 
 We only answered with a smile. 
 
 Men ask us : Do you still believe 
 That Love once born can never die, 
 Nor Faith be false, nor Hope deceive ? 
 We only answer with a sigh.
 
 i 3 4 MADONNA MIA. II. 
 
 VI. 
 
 Heart of my heart, dear love, as far removed 
 As this dull earth from yon bright heaven above, 
 Be loved, if one unloved 
 Have grace to love. 
 
 Rest, dearest, if the weary can give rest ; 
 All life's good gifts denied me, sweet, possess — 
 Be blest, if one unblest 
 Have grace to bless. 
 
 Live, and forget; though Hope stretch hands 
 
 and call, 
 You are too far to hear, too far to see — 
 Live, dear, without me, and God give you all 
 He takes from me.
 
 MADONNA MIA. II. i 3S 
 
 VII. 
 
 Till all is done you would have had me do 
 
 I would not rest — 
 Sun, wind, and rain — then nightfall and the dew. 
 
 My best !
 
 BEFORE SUNRISE. 
 
 Let none be glad until all are free, 
 The song be still, and the flag unfurled. 
 Till all have seen what the poets see, 
 And foretell to the world.
 
 QUIA MULTUM AMAVI. 
 I. 
 
 WHEN my last hour grows dark for me, 
 
 I shall not fear 
 Death's dreaded face to see, 
 
 Death's voice to hear. 
 
 I shall not fear the night 
 
 When day is done ; 
 My life was loyal to the light, 
 
 And served the sun. 
 
 O brothers, let me rest, 
 
 And think on me, 
 Whose Love would fain have made you blest, 
 
 Have left you free. 
 
 Give me one word of thanks, 
 
 Who fought and died, 
 Not at your head, yet in your ranks, 
 
 And by your side.
 
 QUIA MULTUM AM AVI. 
 
 Let Love recall my name, 
 Though Fame forget, 
 
 And for the bays I do not claim, 
 O brothers, set 
 
 On my remembered grave 
 
 Our flag I bore — 
 All I could give your need I gave, 
 
 Fain to give more! 
 
 i39 
 
 Let me not wholly die, 
 
 But Love bid live, 
 Brothers, though Love was all that I 
 
 For Love could give.
 
 140 QUIA MULTUM AM A VI. 
 
 II. 
 
 Love, claspt-close in your arms, my head on the 
 
 peace of your breast, 
 And my mouth against the rose glowing nearest 
 
 your heart at rest, 
 I dream of the light I leave, and the darkness 
 
 drawing nigh, 
 As a sick man near to death that watches the 
 
 sunset die. 
 O Love, I feel you so near that Death must be 
 
 very far ! 
 Is this dim light the dawn, or only the night's 
 
 last star ? 
 
 ! that the might of morning had put the 
 
 shadows to flight, 
 
 1 would not die in the dark that ever have loved 
 
 the light ! 
 
 EXPLICIT. 
 
 "Yea, the work of our hands, Lord. establish thou
 
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