Little sad face, come close, so close to mine,
See through these eyes the sweetness of the day,
Feel how the sunbeams dance in Summer's wine,
Hold fast my hands and let our pulse combine
And with my steps dance down the happy way;
For youth is love and love is light and gay,
Little sad face.
Little sad heart, come close, so close to mine,
And know the utmost limits of the will
Of all the worlds, till soft thy heart divine
A joy which can encompass grief like thine;
Hide in my breast, and let faint pulses thrill,
For youth is love, and love is great and still,
Little sad heart.
Little sad soul, which ne'er can come to mine,
So great in loneliness of grey despair,
There is not one whose spirit may entwine
With thee--the world looks on without a sign;
Go--hide thy face within thy tossing hair,
Thyself veil close with smiles, for none will care,
Little sad soul.
EARTH'S TEARS--
AND MAN'S
These slanting lines of hoary rain
Are as my grizzled hair;
The face of earth is old with pain
As mine--with dull despair.
And yet, one sun will gild the air,
Earth's tears were not in vain:
No smile can ease mine eyes of care
Or make me young again!
I HAVE SEEN
WHAT THE SERAPHS
HAVE SEEN
I have seen what the seraphs have seen
As they gaze thro' the limitless air--
Thro' the wind and the clouds to the lean
Pale face of the moon, and the bare
Bright flame of the sun, unaware,
I have seen what the seraphs have seen!
Thro' the limitless spaces of air
The brave mists that waver and wane
Are patient and pallid and fair.
I have fathomed the pride and the pain
Of the snows and compassionate rain
Thro' the limitless spaces of air.
I have known them, the brave mists that wane
And the glory and peace of the skies.
Where all strife and impatience are vain
And ahush are all passionate sighs,
For I gazed in the deeps of Love's eyes,
And I know what no seraphs shall gain!
A LASS FROM
THE WOODS
A lass from the woods
With a leaf in her hair!
And the rain of the night
And the wind of the morn,
They both quivered right;
For my spirit forlorn
In a garment of white
And a laugh newly born
Sprang in maddest of moods
Like a blossom in air
To the kiss of the sun
And the curl of the breeze,
Caught the cobwebs begun
In the hush of the trees
All my beatings were one
With the swirl of the seas.
Dead the creature that broods
In a tangle of care;
There's a lass from the woods
With a leaf in her hair.
WAS THERE
ANOTHER SPRING
Was there another Spring than this?
I half remember through the haze
Of glimmering nights and golden days,
A broken pinioned birdling's note,
An angry sky, a sea-wrecked boat,
A wandering through rain-beaten ways!
Lean closer, love--I have thy kiss!
Was there another Spring than this?