They that have the elfin heart
Cannot weep;
In the desert they would sleep
While the lion watched apart;
And when tears of mortals start
Silence keep.
They have eyen dark and deep,
And their look
As a pool in forest brook,
As a tarn on mountain steep,
As a spell, doth calmness keep,
Sealéd book!
Who are they? O brethren, tell!
Do ye know
Why the winter’s folding snow
And the wild wolves’ hungry yell
Fright them not, and where they go
Sans farewell?
All their ways with flowers strow,
For they see
What to us is mystery,
Far forgotten, long ago;
Neither have they friend nor foe;
Elfin heart I may not know
Pity me!
1914.