Willow Pollen 6

Willow Pollen 6

PEDDLED JOY

 

 

“May I not sell this gewgaw red?”

“You must not sell!

You cannot buy!”

“Not sell my own, my heart?”

“You two are one: you may not part,--

One peddled joy, you both are dead!”

 

“Must I go hungry all the way?”

“You must not beg!

You must not cry!”

“Not for two bits o’love today?”

“Your empty scrip for pillow keep:

It brings great gifts,--thirst, sorrow, sleep!”

 

 

 

 

WORK

 

 

I told my heart that work must be

The only aim of life for me.

But oh! my heart cried, “Love, love, love!”

And wept bitterly.

 

 

 

 

SOMEWHERE TONIGHT

 

_On hearing the Evening Bells at Westport-on-Lake Champlain_

 

 

I

 

Somewhere I have heard bells

Mellow as the moon:

Somewhere they hung and swung,

With slender sound they rose

Tiptoe with hunger for the sky,

Star-pointed with the light of dream;

Somewhere those eager bells whispered of love,--

That was another day,

And we were gay!

 

 

II

 

And now this withered sound’s farewell

Swinging like tethered rhyme,

Slow-moving, pendulous,

A sigh upon the water’s breast,

A cloud within the sky!

Never again for us, Belovèd,

Yet somewhere the moon shines and is bright,--

Somewhere tonight!

 

 

 

 

YOUR SUNLIT WAY

 

 

I

 

Should one thought cry against me in your heart,

I could not rise from Death, saying, “Love, my place

Is by your living side; ghostly, I touch

Your precious hands, I kiss your lovely face!”

 

 

II

 

I would not have you shrink to feel me near,

Or claim despite your will what once was mine,

Was ours in God-flung vow, passionate, dear

By night, by day, companioned or apart.

 

 

III

 

Not mine to snare your liberty, to cage

Your sunlit way. Yet, wish me gone, I leap

From light, I plunge to find amen and shroud

In Death,--this time for Love’s eternal sleep.

 

 

 

 

STRANGE FACES

 

 

There!

That is the face for me--

That face I shall never see

In this world again!

All that I miss is there,

Touch of life and its kiss!

O, mysterious love in our heart

Found for us both as we pass,--

As we part!

 

 

 

 

EVERYWHERE

 

 

You I love,

You and you:

One I never see

And one I know.

 

Well, and what then?

Nothing.

But, I ask,

Does the wind blow?

Do feet drift or go?

And where?

How shall a tinker mend

A pinch of dust?

 

Some things are mine to keep,

Some to share:

My thoughts I bear

Because I must;

My love I spend

Because I wish,

On you I never see,

On you I know,--

Everywhere.

 

 

 

 

CLOUD

 

 

A slate galleon hurrying across a sea of fire,--

And they call _that_ “cloud”!

And the sea it sails upon “sky”!

Tut, it is a ship as plain as anything

Full-spread to find the silver edges of the world

Where ships and island daffodils

Burn, follow sun, dip,

Cling to the shining brim like flapping butterflies,

Let go,

Then, whirling sail and streaming daffodil,

Dart into night and flame to stars!

And the “sky” ...

Now you tell what the sky is!

 

 

 

 

BUCENTAUR

 

_At Isle au Haut_

 

 

Dawn, bright dawn,

White swan on the edge of the dark pool of night

Fan the shade from its mirror,

Cleave the stars on its deep!

 

Joyous barge of my dream,

On the wave, on the wind, O Bucentaur,

With your cry sweep the seas,

Shake the wind from the trees,

Wake the world from its sleep,

Meet and greet

Song within song!

 

Your eyes jewelled fire,

Your touch my desire,

Draw nearer, draw nearer

Down the rose-colored stream;

White swan, bright dawn,

Kiss me, and lift me

On the wing of your light!

 

 

 

 

MOTH

 

_At Isle au Haut_