ON GUARD

Halt! Who comes there?
Care.

Word, friend or foe!
Woe.

What is thy will?
Ill.

Who sent thee here?
Fear.

Where doth he dwell?
Hell!

Name me his mate!
Hate.

What is their palace?
Malice.

What are their crowns?
Frowns.

Show me the way!
Nay;

One from above,
Greater than Wrath,
Stands in thy path.
Who is he?—Love!

THE PLOUGHMAN

The upper and the lower springs,
The summer-fountains fail;
A frowning sky his challenge flings
With thunder through the hail;
The autumn holds her mantle-folds
To veil a pallid brow—
She pities me and mourns to see
My pain upon the plough:
For I must down the furrow fare
And cleave the clod with sharpened share.

Witless of wind that finds my face,
I lean against the blast
And plough to my appointed place—
Yon sapling like a mast;
I plough this way till shut of day,
Steady upon the mark;
Reckless of cold, the handles hold
From dawn until the dark—
This thing my duty: cleave the clod,
Ploughing the field alone with God!

DEAR LITTLE MAID OF DREAM

Dear little Maid of Dream,
My heart, dear Heart, is breaking;
Things are not what they seem,
And sorrow comes with waking!

I yearn to hold you fast,
My Dream, but then comes waking;
The silver moment past,
And then—the sad leave-taking!

Dear little Maid of Dream,
My heart, dear Heart, is breaking!

THE VIOLET TO THE ASTER

Said the Violet to the Aster
All on a summer's day:
"Your colour is the same as mine,
Come marry me, I pray;
Your bridesmaids shall be lilies,
A rose the vested priest,
And harebells ring the changes
To call us to the feast."

Said the Aster to the Violet:
"What shall the dowry be,
And what my stated fortune,
If I should marry thee?"
"Your fortune?" sang the Violet,
"The fragrance of my breath!"
The Aster swayed and murmured:
"I will be yours till death!"

MAGIC

There is magic on the meadow
And a witch has won the wood,
Elfin laughter from the water
As it rolls a rhythmic flood;
For a spirit meets my spirit
With a flash of iris-wings,
And all the world's a garden
Glad with many blossomings!

THE KING AND THE MAID

"O love"—cried the King
On a day in spring,
As he went through the leafy wood—
"I must be away
To the court this day!"
And he threw back the purple hood
From his royal brow
That was paling now
With the pain of the parting hour:
For the maid was dear,
And her lips were near
To his lips, like a crimson flower.

"I shall be alone
On a gilded throne
In the midst of my nobles all;
From my diadem
To my garment's hem,
I shall ache for your light footfall:
'Tis no little thing,
Dear, to be a king
With love of a man for a maid,
And to play the part
With an empty heart,
Like a scabbard without its blade."

But the maid was wise,
And her hazel eyes
Were brave with the light of her love:
"God save thee, my King,
From great suffering,
Grant thee of His grace from above!
Canst thou play thy part
With an empty heart,
If I fill it full to the brim
Of the wine of prayer
From the bowl I bear?"
And his eyes with the tears were dim!

"On that ivory throne
Shalt thou be alone,
If my thoughts are a-wing to thee;
If upon thy brow
That is paling now,
My lips mark where the crown shall be?"
So the King rode south
From her crimson mouth
Through the forest, field and the fells;
And his voice was strong
With words of a song
To a chime of the bridle-bells.

A WOMAN'S PRAYER

God of the heaven and earth,
Bring to the birth
Soul of the man that I love;
From the Above,

Send Him the light of Thy face;
Grant to him grace,
Brave in the battle, his shield
Never to yield!

God of the zephyr and gale,
That is a nail
Holding the hand of my dream
Hard to the beam!

God of the good Paraclete,
Both of his feet
Bleed while the sentinels toss
Dice near a cross!

God of the magic of morn,
Crimsoning thorn
Crowns him! Oh, hark to his cry:
"Sabachthani?"

God of the laughter and tear,
That is a spear
Stained with the red drops that start
Under his heart!

God of the glamour and gloom,
Into the tomb
Low is he laid; see, a stone
Leaves me alone!

God of the lily and vine,
Is he not mine?
Balms for his body I bear,
Myrrh for his hair.

Love! who rolled the stone away?
Bright as the day,
Shineth thy brow, and thy face
Gleams with a grace

Caught from the whispering wings
Of One who sings:
"There is no death!" Lo, the tomb
Breaks into bloom!

God of a woman's wide love,
Under, above,
Over the earth there is light
Sprung from the night;

Now is the heart of me filled,
Soul of me stilled;
Glad of Thy shepherding care,
Answering prayer!

FOEMAN

I stand
With drawn sword in my hand
To face
You for a space—

You! You!
Comrade, can this be true
That I
Must yield or die?

Those eyes,
Gray like November skies,
I feel
Sharper than steel....

One word
Before sword clash on sword
And stern
Wrath in us burn

Recall
The swift footfall
And mirth,
When the awakened earth

Grew glad
Of what we had—
Love, life,
Not this tremendous strife.

Rose-red
Petals were shed
With bloom
Of lilies in that room,

Where we
Stood silently
And heard
Heart-music stirred

On chords
By minstrel Lords
Whose wings
Moved to the strings.

Why—why
Dared we to try,
To prove
Our love?

Wrong! Wrong!
When we knew song
And light
And spirit-might.

So now
With paling brow
And set
Hard lips, we two are met

To kill!
Ah, would your will
Make mine
As grapes bruised for the wine?

Seek you
To run me through?
I take
My sword and break

The blade—
Strike! I have made
Of it a cross,
Counting that loss

Which holds
Me from your garment-folds:
The sign
Proves me forever thine;

Proves that I give
Self that our love may live!

GERAINT

Open, dear Lady, the little red door—
The little red door to me!
Night is all cold and my feet are sore;
I have made a long journey.

Leagues have I travelled, the mountains crossed
Eager for love of thee;
Lady, I fear that thy love is lost:
Open thy heart to me!

Open thy heart and I will go in
The red door silently;
There I shall find what I seek to win,
Dear Lady, thy love for me!

GRIEF

My heart is pain,
My spirit dearth;
Tears are the rain
Upon the earth:
And all the over-clouded sky
Is not more darkened than am I.

A while ago
I watched the snow,
And laughed to see
Its witchery;
Now that your face is turned away,
Winter's white magic melts from day.

The casement wide,
This wan Yuletide,
I opened—heard
One little bird
A-piping on a crystalled bough,
But he will pipe no longer now;

For when he saw
The stricken awe
Upon my face,
He left his place
And winged into the upper air—
My visaged grief he could not bear.

A little child,
By me beguiled
But yesterday
From busy play,
This morning hurried from these eyes—
He could not look where courage dies!

Under the sun
Two selves are one:
Sorrow and I!
Oh, let me die,
And never meet the month of May—
Now that your face is turned away!

THE EMPTY ROOM

Out of the storm I hurry in
To find an empty room;
I call and call, but no footfall
Answers across the room:
Vainly your eyes I seek to win,
You are not here! O dear—my dear,
There is no sound and stir of you!
I know not what to do.

I know not what to do or say,
I stand with vacant stare
Upon the brink of pain to think:
"Love, whither dost thou fare?"
An echo answers: "Gone away!"
Your roses red their petals shed
Upon the book of verse I gave,
Like tears down on a grave!

LOVE ETERNAL

Let us walk together, lass,
(Lean upon me—so!)
Through the field of feathergrass
(How the daisies grow!)
Till we find the word to say
What is in our hearts to-day.

Yes, I loved you from the first.
Dear, there is surprise
Blent with hunger and with thirst
In your eager eyes,
And you whisper: "Is it true?"—
Knowing that I always knew!

Let me tell you how it came:
Voices through the room;
Then one spoke to me your name
(Take this wild rose bloom—
I will place it in your hair)
And of you I was aware.

"She is of a slender grace,
Like my Maid of dreams!"
To myself I said—"Her face
With that beauty gleams—
Beauty of that One I know
In the Land of Long-Ago!"

Did you, dearest, understand
Why the scarlet grew
On my forehead, when my hand
Your fair fingers knew?
Oh, the world went very still
While on me you worked your will!

Worked your will? Do not deny;
For your heart was wise—
Ah, you shake your head and try
Vainly to disguise
What was on your lips to say
When we met that fateful day!

For from all eternity
We are pledged to love,
Bound in all our lives to be
True to what above
All the turmoil and the din
Strives that starry tryst to win.

Sit with me upon this stone
Underneath the bough;
Let the blossoms to us blown
Learn our ancient vow—
Vow we made before the stars
Strove to break Night's prison-bars.

Lift your head and meet my gaze.
Do you not recall
Somewhere in a golden haze,
Vistaed vast, a hall
Paved with diamond and domed
Blue above a fount that foamed

With the water from the well
Guarded, so they say,
By the angel Israfel?
Water of eternal bliss
Sprinkled on the lips that kiss!

There we lived before the suns
Led the planets up;
There we pledged the winged Ones
In a crystal cup,
Ere we left that pillared home
Through the field of Time to roam.

"Why," you ask me, dearest, "why
Did we leave that place—
Is it such a thing to die?"
Ponder for a space:
What if love must lose to gain,
Find eternal peace in pain?

"But I want the Ever-Now!"
Dear, do you not know
They who drive the patient plough
And the furrows sow,
Own the sinews of the strong—
Reap the harvest with a song?

"Let the scattered fragments be
Gathered from the feast,
Nothing lost"; thus speaketh He
Who is Love's High Priest,
And He knows who from a cross
Pledged return for every loss.

Thus, my Maid of long ago,
Here within the field
Let me tell what you would know:
How I came to yield
To your eyes, your lips, your hair,
When the guests were gathered there

In the room that day we met,
Found amid the talk
Light of ancient suns which set
Æons ere the chalk
Cliffs of Dover gleamed upon
Merchant-prows from Babylon.

Love and Life eternal are,
Fill unfathomed space,
Bind with rapture star to star,
Gleam from every face,
Soar with angels, plunge to hell:
Lucifer and Israfel!

So above the choric spheres,
At the knees of God
You and I beyond the years
Kissed, then clove the clod
With our spirit's sundered flame;
Till amid the talk your name

Fell seraphic, smote me through
With unearthly pain:
I was I and you were you—
Met on earth again,
Bound to live and bound to love
By that oath we made above!

AFTER THE FEAST

I have drunk deeply of the cup,
Fared well and fed;
The guests with whom I sat to sup,
Are gone to bed:
A broken harp lies on the floor,
Its tangled strings will sound no more—
The wine-stained linen I deplore.

Here is a little trampled rose,
A violet;
Here is a hyacinth, and those
Are mignonette:
They looked so proudly from their place,
First at the feast—with tears I trace
Now but a vestige of that grace.

Upon the table is a crown—
Where is the King?
The little leaves that tremble down,
Cover a ring;
A vase of crystal shattered lies
Against a goblet, where the wise
Talked through the laughter. How time flies!

It is not very long ago,
Here in the hall,
When to the tapers' tangled glow
The rise and fall
Of voices over nuts and wine
Murmured like wind through leaf and vine;
And there was joy of me and mine.

I snuff the tapers one by one.
The darkness falls.
Alas, for feasting and for fun!
My madrigals
Are ended. I will not again
Sing. Sound of wind and weeping rain
Is now the interlude of pain!

Yet it was good to know the feast,
To be a guest;
Though at the table I was least
Among the best.
Blindly I grope unto the door,
Gather a flower from the floor—
I will come back here never more!

What! Never more go gladly back?
Ah, foolish me!
When down the winding starry track
The company,
With laughter their lord following,
Shall yet return to greet the King
Who claims the crown and wears the ring!

And though I have put out each light,
Gathered one flower,
Bravely I fare forth into night—
What is an hour,
A day, a year, if, after all
The silence, those dear comrades call,
And there is harping in the hall?

I wait the summons; gladly go
Against the rain;
They will be seated row on row
Here once again:
And in that brave, loved company
What song and laughter there will be,
When I resume my minstrelsy!

THE LONELY ROAD

O will you take the lonely road,
The upward road,
Among the many stars?
Its pavement is by Pain bestowed,
Your feet shall find the scars!
Your feet shall know the scars, my friend:
It is a path without a bend.

It leadeth not by pastures green,
Through meadows green,
Nor near the little hills;
Gaunt granite cliffs it runs between,
Dark Fear that chaos fills
With cloud and storm and shadowings
Of vigilant unfolded wings.

It windeth not along the streams,
The laughing streams;
It leadeth straight and far
Beyond the mirrored pool of dreams
In peril to a star:
Who comes this way must go alone,
Steadfast and strong nor making moan.

It is the path called Perilous,
Named Perilous,
The path that heroes tread
Who hear the cry: "O come with us!"—
Brave voices of the dead—
For they are compassed by a throng
Of Harpers harping to a song:

Follow afar
Past cliff and scar,
Finding your star!

Brave in the night,
Up to the light,
Proving your might!

Though the foot fail,
And the heart wail;
Though the brow pale;

Follow afar
Where the gods are,
Finding your star!

Along this way Lord Jesu went,
Christ Jesu went;
Hither came Socrates,
And all who were with tears forspent—
The shining companies
Of those who lifted high the heart
Beyond the lure of any mart.

And would you fare this lonely way,
This starry way?
Take but a scrip and staff,
With sandals for your feet, to-day;
Though fools in folly laugh,
Deriding that you leave the less—
Their idle dream of happiness!

If you would find the way of wings,
Wide-open wings,
That lift one to a star,
You must be free from hamperings
Of lock and bolt and bar;
Cast care of gold and silk aside
With pomp of place and rank and pride.

If on your path there be a cross,
A wayside cross,
With nails and sponge and spear,
A gambling Guard who turn to toss
Dice for the robe you wear;
Avoid not that appointed place,
Though thorns with crimson stain your face!

But if you take this road, my friend,
My wistful friend,
Your world will wake to song,
And all high, holy angels bend
To hail you of their throng:
And where the Sons Eternal are,
You shall be throned upon your star.