I KNEEL before thine altar, Lord, and fain a gift would bring, But all I have is worthless and unfit for offering; A foolish heart, a foolish dream, a foolish, fruitless pain, — Such are my all; O Love of Love, do not the gift disdain!
And even as earthly monarchs do, who take the tribute given, And quick restore, by royal grace increased to seven times seven, So take, O Lord, my offering, and vouchsafe me presently, For emptiness thy fulness, for my hunger thy supply.
I lay my heart down at thy feet, that tired heart and old, Whose youthful throb has grown so faint, whose youthful fire so cold; Heart of the world’s heart, Lord of joy, and mighty Lord of pain, Take thou the gift, and quicken it, and give it back again.
My foolish dream, so dear, so prized, baptized in many tears, Loved even as sickly children are, the more for doubts and fears, O Lord, whose word is faithfulness eternal to endure, Take it; and give me, in its stead, the Hope that standeth sure.
The pain, that half was baffled will, which could not bear to die, And, stilled by day, would stir by night and wake me with its cry, That pain so close, so intimate, that Death could scarce destroy, I leave it, Lord, before thy feet; give me instead thy joy.
All empty-handed came I in, full-handed forth I go; Go thou beside me, Lord of Grace, and keep me ever so. Thanks are poor things for such wide good, but all my life is thine, — Thou who hast turned my stones to bread, my water into wine.
ETERNITY
O LITTLE waves, which kiss the sands With cool, caressing lips of foam, And murmurs soft, and outstretched hands, Like glad, tired children nearing home, O little waves, so soft, so small, How are you linked, if linked at all, To those mid-ocean billows strong, By fierce winds scourged and driven along, Tossed up to heaven, and then again Sucked in black gulfs of whelming main; Never at rest and never spent? Urged by a speeding discontent, A seething strife which knows not ease, Are you akin to such as these? The little waves they flash and rise, And lisp this answer wonderingly, With laughter in their glancing eyes: “They are the sea – we are the sea.” O small, spent waves of surging time, Which break and fall upon life’s shore With soft and intermittent chime, A moment seen, then seen no more, How are you linked, if linked you be, To that great dark eternity Which stretches far beyond our gaze, And rounds our nights and rounds our days? We see its darkling billows flow, But dare not follow where they go, Nor guess what distance dim and vast They span to find a shore at last. O little waves, what share have ye In this great dim eternity? The fleet waves answer as they run: “Or near, or far, one name have we, Time and eternity are one; It is the sea – we are the sea.”
RESTFULNESS
LONG time my restless wishes fought and strove, Long time I bent me to the heavy task Of winning such full recompense of love As dream could paint, importunate fancy ask.
Morning and night a hunger filled my soul; Ever my eager hands went out to sue; And still I sped toward a shifting goal, And still the horizon widened as I flew.
There was no joy in love, but jealous wrath; I walked athirst all day, and did not heed The wayside brooks which followed by my path And held their cooling threadlets to my need.
But now, these warring fancies left behind, I sit in clear air with the sun o’erhead, And take my share, repining not, and find Perpetual feast in just such daily bread:
Asking no more than what unasked is sent; Freedom is dearer still than love may be; And I, my dearest, am at last content, Content to love thee and to leave thee free.
Love me then not, for pity nor for prayer, But as the sunshine loveth and the rain, Which speed them gladly through the upper air Because the gracious pathway is made plain.
And as we watch the slant lines, gold and dun, Bridge heaven’s distance all intent to bless, And cavil not if we or other one Shall have the larger portion or the less,
So with unvexèd eye I mark and see Where blessed and blessing your sweet days are spent; And though another win more love from thee, Having my share I am therewith content.
IN AND ON
On earth as in heaven. —The Lord’s Prayer
ON earth we take but feeble hold; Joy is not confident or bold; We dare not strike deep roots and stay, Nor trust to-morrow or to-day. We scatter grain beneath frail skies, And note its shoot and watch its rise, And do not know or guess a whit What other hands shall garner it. We raise our songs, but fast and soon Our voices unto silence die, And other voices end the tune Which, too, shall falter presently. “Forever” is our idle oath; But while the word is on our lip Night falls, and past and future both Out of our hold and keeping slip. We dare not love as angels may, Lest love should fail us or betray; And life goes on and we go hence, Nor never know continuance.
In heaven is safety and sure peace; There is no waning nor decrease. The endless ages ebb and flow, The endless harvests riper grow; Fast in the rich eternal mould The heart’s deep roots take hold, take hold With the strong joy of permanence, Never to be transplanted thence. Sweet songs are sung to very close, Sweet closes recommence and blend; And still as rose-bud answers rose The new strains grow, the old strains end. Forever means forever there; New joy past sorrow reconciles, And hung in clear and golden air An undeceiving morrow smiles. While Love the law and Love the sun Blesses and warms and saves each one; And God’s dear will, our earthly prayer, Is made quite plain and perfect there.
A DAY-TIME MOON
UP in the shining and sun-lighted blue, Where foam-white clouds sail like a fairy fleet, The pale moon hovers, glimmering wanly through, Like a sad chord in chorus gay and sweet.
Frailer than cloud she seems, and torn and frayed; A little wandering fragment, drifting slow, Of that brave golden summer moon which made Midnight so beautiful awhile ago.
Why comes she back at this untimely hour, When noon is nigh and birds are singing clear, And the fierce sun, her rival, burns with power? — What can the poor, the pretty moon want here?
Does she feel lonely in the peopled sky, The only moon among a starry host; They all together in brave company, She wandering solitary as a ghost?
Or does she grieve that we so soon forget The perfect beauty of her tempered ray, Drowsily praising her sweet beams, but yet Keeping our real joyance for the day?
Poor, pallid moon, with a reproachful face She eyes the humming world as on it moves, Yearning through the vast intervening space For some one who remembers her and loves.
And like a homesick spirit, sad at heart, To heaven’s happy ways not wonted yet, She seems to murmur when she strays apart: “I still am faithful; but you all forget.”
A MIDNIGHT SUN
FEARFUL of rivalry thou canst not be. How should the pure, pale moon dispute the sun; Or the innumerable company Of scintillant stars, though banded all as one?
One glance of thy hot anger can dismay The boldest planet till he fades and flees, And hastes to bury his affrighted ray In far, uncalculated distances.
Why linger then to rule the midnight sky, Baffling celestial rule, and vexing men Who watched thy sinking but an hour gone by Only to see thee turn thy steps again?
The drowsy birds are drooping on the trees, The cock’s faint crow but dimly prophesies; The weary peasant slumbers ill at ease, And blinks and winks, half wakes and rubs his eyes.
The east it flushes wanly, as in doubt; Foams with unrest the roused and wrathful sea; The scared moon peeped, then turned her round about, And fled across the heavens at sight of thee.
Sovereign of day thou art by law divine, None shall thy rulership or sway divide; The dawning and the rosy morn are thine, The busy afternoon and hot noontide.
But dusk of breezy twilight firefly-lit, With chirp of drowsy bird and flash of dew, And children clasping sleep while shunning it, And midnight, with its deep, mysterious blue, —
These are the properties and appanage Of sovereign Night, thy equal and thy foe; And when she cometh and flings down her gage And claims her kingdom, ’tis thy time to go.
And when in turn thou comest she must flee. Each has a realm, and each must reign alone; And not for her remains and not for thee To seize and claim an undivided throne.
The sky it loves thee, but it loves the moon; The world it needs thee, but it needs the night. Blind us not, then, with thine inopportune, Bewildering, and unexpected light.
Leave us to sleep, and duly take thy rest. Vain is the plea; the king is on his way, And, following his tossing golden crest, Comes the long train of hours, and it is Day.
HER VOICE
K. R. J
WHERE is the voice gone which so many years, Each year grown sweeter, rose in glorious song, Interpreting to all our hearts and ears Ecstasy, passion, pain, the yearning strong Of baffled love, the patience stronger yet, The pang of hope, the sweetness of regret?
How should that perish which seemed born of heaven And framed to breathe the meaning of the skies? Can music render back such gift once given; Or bear to know some subtlest harmonies Must evermore go half expressed, perceived, Forever thwarted and forever grieved?
Heaven did not need her voice; its courts are full Of choristers angelic trained for praise. No note is lacking in the wonderful According chorus, which, untired, always Sings, “Holy, holy, holy!” round the throne; But earth seems dumb to us now it is gone!
God does not grudge us anything of good! And I will dare to fancy when she died, And on the sweet lips which so featly wooed Music, the guest, to enter and abide, Death laid his hand, and with insistence strong Shut in the secret of their power of song, —
That the dear voice, thus sadly dispossessed And reft of home, sped forth upon its road, And like a lost and lonely child, in quest Of shelter, sought another warm abode In human shape, – some gentle, new-born thing, Where it might fold its torn and beaten wing.
And if, long years from now, we catch a strain Which has the old, familiar, rapturous thrill, We shall smile, saying, “There it is again! It is not dead, it wakes in music still. Hark! how the lovely accents soar and float, A skylark singing from a woman’s throat!”
A FLORENTINE JULIET
WHAT is it, my Renzo? What is thy desire? To hear my story, hear the whole of it? And with a shamefaced air and reddened cheek That “others know it all, and why not thou?” Who has been talking to thee of me, then; Setting thee on to question and suspect? Ah, boy, with eyes still full of childish dreams, And yet with manhood on the firm young lip, ’Tis a hard thing to ask me, and a strange! A woman does not easily lay bare Her history, which is her very heart, Even to that piece of her she calls her son! Son he may be, but still he is a man, And she, though mother, is a woman still; And men and women are made different, And vainly ’gainst the barrier of sex They beat and beat, – all their lives long they beat, And never pass, never quite understand! Yet must I do this hard thing for thy sake, Since who shall do it for thee, if not I? Thy father, who had else more fitly told, Is at the wars, the weary, wasting wars; — Long years ago he sailed unto the wars, And, dead or living, comes not back to us. Unhappy is the son who, woman-bred, Knows not the firm feel of a father’s hand; And I, widow or wife, I know not which, Wofulest widow, still more woful wife! Must frame my faltering tongue to tell the tale, And snatch my thoughts back from their present pain To the old days, the hard and cruel days, Full of sharp hatred and stern vengeances, Which yet were beautiful to him and me Who lived and loved each other and were young; But unto thee, born in a softer hour, Come as dim echoes of some warlike peal.
Thou bearest an honorable name, my son, Two mighty houses meet and blend in thee; For I, thy mother, of the warlike line Of Bardi, lords of Florence in past time, Was daughter, and thy sire Ippolito Sprang from the Buondelmonti, their sworn foes; For we were Guelph and they were Ghibelline, And centuries of wrong, and seas of blood, And old traditional hatreds sundered us. Even in my babyhood I heard the name Of Buondelmonti uttered ’twixt set teeth And coupled with a curse, and I would pout, And knit my brows, and clench my tiny fist And whimper at the very sound of it; Whereat my father, stout Amérigo, Would catch me up and toss me overhead, And swear I was best Bardi of them all; And if his sons but matched his only maid They’d make quick work of the black Ghibellines And of the Buondelmonti!
So I grew To woman’s stature, and men called me fair, And suitors, like a flight of bees, began To hum and cluster wheresoe’er I moved; And then there came the day, – that fateful day, When little Gian, my father’s latest born, Was carried for chrism to the baptistery; And standing, all unaware, beside the font, I looked across the dim and crowded church And saw a face – a dazzling, youthful face! A face that smote my vision like a star; With golden locks, and eyes divinely bright Like San Michele in the picture there — Fixed upon mine.
Had any whispered then It was Ippolito, our foeman’s son, At whom I gazed, I should have turned away, My father’s daughter sure had turned away. But nothing warned me, nothing hindered him; We looked upon each other, Fate so willed, And with our eyes our hearts met!
“Cursed cur,” My brother muttered, fingering at his sword, “I’ll teach you to ogle us when this is done!” “Who is it, then?” I whispered, and he told; And with the name I felt my heart like lead Turn cold and cold and suddenly sink down.
And still that tender, radiant gaze wooed mine, And still I felt the enchantment burn and burn, But would not turn my head or look again; And all that night I lay and felt those eyes, And day by day they seemed to follow me, Like unknown planets of some strange new heaven Whose depths I dared not question or explore; And love and hate so strove for mastery Within my girl’s heart, made their battle-field, That all my forces failed and life grew faint.
He, for his part, set forth with heart afire To learn my name, – sad knowledge, easy gained, Leaving the learner stricken with a chill! And after that, whenever I might go To ball or feast, I saw him, only him! And while the other cavaliers pressed round To praise my face or dress, or hold my fan, Or bid me to the dance, he stood aloof With passionate eyes, but never might draw near. For still my brother Piero or my sire Were close behind, with dark set brows intent To watch him that he did not dare to speak. Only his eyes met mine, and in my cheeks I felt the guilty color grow and grow; And once, when all were masqued, amid the crowd A hand touched mine, and oh, I knew ’twas his! At last, with baffling of his heart-sick hope And long suspense and sorrow, he fell ill; And in a moment when life’s tide ran low He told his mother all; she, loving him well And loath to see him perish thus forlorn, Became his ally, spoke him words of cheer, And with my cousin Contessa, her sworn friend, She counsel took; and so, betwixt the two, It came about that on a day of spring When almond blossoms whitened the brown boughs And olives were in bud and all birds sang, We met, – a meeting cunningly contrived, In an old villa garden past the walls. My mother had led me thither, knowing naught, And I, naught knowing, had wandered for a space Among the boskage and the fragrant vines, And, standing by a water-fount of stone Listening the tinkle and the cool, wet splash Of the thin drip, and thinking still of him (For I went thinking of him all the day), I heard the soft throb of a mandolin, And next a voice, divinely sweet it seemed, A voice unheard till then, and yet I knew The voice for his; and this the song it sang: —
“Ah, thorns so sharp, so strong! Ah, path so hard, so long! What do I care? Thither I fare! My Rose is there!
“Ah, life so dear, so brief! Ah, death, the end of grief! All I can bear, all will I dare! My Rose is there!”
The music ceased, the while spell-bound I stayed; Then came a rustle, – he was at my feet!
Few moments might we stay, and few words speak; But love is swift of tongue! all was arranged, — The plan of our escape, the hour, the place, And that Ippolito, next night but two, With a rope-ladder hidden ’neath his cloak, Should stand beneath my window. Once on ground A priest should wait to bind us quickly one. Then a mad gallop, ere the dawn of day, Would set us safely forth beyond the rule Of the Black Lily. Next, as hand in hand We stood, our lips met in a first long kiss, And then we parted.
With his vanishing The thing grew like a dream, and as in dream I seemed to walk the next day and the next; For all my thoughts were of that coming night, And all my fear was lest it should not come. And all the old-time animosities, And all the hates bred in me from a child, And feudal faiths and loyalties were dead, — I was no more a Bardi; Love ruled all.
It came, the night, and on the stroke of twelve I stood at casement, wrapped in veil, with mask And muffling cloak laid ready close beside; And there I stood and watched, and heard the bells Strike one, two, three, and saw the rose of dawn Deepen to day, and still my love came not.
Then, fearing to be spied, I crept to bed; And lying in a weary trance, half sleep, Heard shouts and cries and noise of joyful stir Run through the palace, and quick echoing feet, And little Cosmo thundering at my door. “Wake, Dianora, here is glorious news! Ippolito, our foeman’s only son, Is caught red-handed on some midnight raid, Taken with a rope-ladder ’neath his cloak, Bound for some theft or felony, no doubt; And as he offers neither excuse nor plea, He is to suffer at the hour of noon, In spite of his proud father’s threats and cries. All that the criminal asks by way of boon Is he may pass our palace as he goes Unto the scaffold. A queer fancy that! But all the better sport it makes for us, And we need neither pity nor deny! So rise, sweet sister, don your bravest gear, For all the household on the balcony Will sit to jeer the fellow as he wends, And in the midst of us one Bardi Rose Must be to grace and enjoy the spectacle, The best that ever Florence saw!”
My boy, Look not so startled! Those were bitter days, I said, and blood had flowed and hearts grown hard, And hatred is contagious as disease. Cosmo, my brother, was but as the rest. He died at nine, ere ever thou wast born, And I have paid for masses for his soul, — For many, many masses have I paid; Heaven will not be hard with a babe like that, The Frate tells me so, and I am sure.
What was I saying? So I rose that day A traitor unsuspected mid his foes, Who were my friends, hiding ’neath feignèd smiles A purpose desperate as was my hope. I rose, and let them deck me as they would, Put on my jewels, star my hair with pearls, And all the while a voice like funeral dirge Sang in my half-crazed ears, or seemed to sing, The fragment and the cadence of a song. “Ah, death, the end of grief, what do I care?” Then I stood up among my tiring-maids, And saw myself in the long Venice glass A vision of pale splendor, as I moved To take my station on the balcony, In the mid place, the very front of all, Set like a bride in festival array, Among the laughing, chattering, peering throng, To see the hated foeman of our race Led past the palace on his way to die! My love, my husband, my Ippolito, Led past our palace on his way to die! Long time we waited, till the fear began To stir that some mischance had marred the plan, And the procession by another street Might pass, and so we miss the spectacle, This was their fear, and my fear was the same; And still I sat and smiled, and while the bells Tolled, and they talked and buzzed, I only prayed. “How if he did not come? Saints, let him come! O pitying Virgin, only grant he come!”
They came at last, the Bargello and his troop, And in the midst my love with hands fast tied, And golden locks uncurled and face all wan, But still with gallant bearing, and his eyes Fixed upon mine, – me, for whose sake he died, For whose sweet honor’s sake he silent died. There was a little halt, and then a cry Of fierce joy rang from out our balcony. Now was my time; all sudden sprang I up, And while the astonished crowd kept silence deep, And they, my kin, amazed, sat silent too, I loudly told our tale, our woful tale, And made avowal that ’twas for my sake Ippolito his noble silence kept! Then, while my brother strove to stop my mouth, And fierce hands clutched my gown and seized my arms, I clung and pleaded: “Find the holy Friar, Good people, only send to find the Friar, — Find him, for pity’s sake! He will confirm All I have said, and prove my truth and his, And save my dear Love, slain for love of me.”
Then a great cry arose, some this way ran, Some that, and suddenly amid the press A cowl was seen, and Fra Domenico, Breathless with haste, just conscious of our need, Ran in the midst, and then, I know not what, — For all was tumult, – but my love stood free! Free and unbound! and all the populace Shouted our twofold names, “Ippolito And Dianora,” and the bells broke out, And with the bells the sun and all the air Seemed full of interlaced and tangled sounds, — Cries and glad pealings and our blended names On one side; on the other stormy words, Reproach, and curses.
Then the Podestá And many great lords came, and all passed in, And up the stairs, and filled the palace full; And high and low joined in an equal plea That the long feud be stanched, and as a pledge Of lasting peace we two be wedded straight. But still my father frowned and closed his ears, And still my brothers fumbled at their swords; But when Count Buondelmonti, aged and gray, And shattered with the horror just escaped Suspense and heavy sickness, hurried in, And kissed my hands, and knelt before my feet And blessèd me, the savior of his son, While with redoubled zeal the Podestá Urged, and the noble lords, – Heaven touched their hearts, — They gave consent; and so the feud was healed, And the next day my Love and I were wed.
And twenty glad years came and fleetly sped. Each like a separate rose which buds and falls Duly and fragrantly and is not missed. ’Twas then he carved as a memorial On the façade of the old Sta. Maria Sopr’ Arno, “Fuccio mi fecé” and the date — “I made myself a robber;” and he laughed, And said I was the treasure that he stole; Ah me! and then he sailed unto the wars, And all the years that have gone by since then Are as sad night shades steeped in deadly dews. Death hath been busy with us, as thou knowest; Thou art the youngest of my six fair sons, Thou art the only one to close my eyes When time shall come and puzzles be explained. How did the old song run? “My Rose is there.” If I shall wake in Paradise one day And find him safe, and safely still my own, Not won away from me by some new face, And see his eyes with the old steadfast look, Why, that will be enough, that will be heaven! But if, instead, I find another there Close to his side where once I used to rest, No matter who it be, angel or saint, I must cry “Shame!” whate’er the penalty. God will not need to send me down to fires, But only bid me stay in heaven and look!
