Rivers to the Sea Part 9

LEAVES

ONE by one, like leaves from a tree, All my faiths have forsaken me; But the stars above my head Burn in white and delicate red, And beneath my feet the earth Brings the st.u.r.dy gra.s.s to birth.

I who was content to be But a silken-singing tree, But a rustle of delight In the wistful heart of night-- I have lost the leaves that knew Touch of rain and weight of dew.

Blinded by a leafy crown I looked neither up nor down-- But the little leaves that die Have left me room to see the sky; Now for the first time I know Stars above and earth below.

THE ANSWER

WHEN I go back to earth And all my joyous body Puts off the red and white That once had been so proud, If men should pa.s.s above With false and feeble pity, My dust will find a voice To answer them aloud:

"Be still, I am content, Take back your poor compa.s.sion, Joy was a flame in me Too steady to destroy; Lithe as a bending reed Loving the storm that sways her-- I found more joy in sorrow Than you could find in joy."

III

OVER THE ROOFS

I

OH chimes set high on the sunny tower Ring on, ring on unendingly, Make all the hours a single hour, For when the dusk begins to flower, The man I love will come to me! . . .

But no, go slowly as you will, I should not bid you hasten so, For while I wait for love to come, Some other girl is standing dumb, Fearing her love will go.

II

Oh white steam over the roofs, blow high!

Oh chimes in the tower ring clear and free !

Oh sun awake in the covered sky, For the man I love, loves me I . . .

Oh drifting steam disperse and die, Oh tower stand shrouded toward the south,-- Fate heard afar my happy cry, And laid her finger on my mouth.

III

The dusk was blue with blowing mist, The lights were spangles in a veil, And from the clamor far below Floated faint music like a wail.

It voiced what I shall never speak, My heart was breaking all night long, But when the dawn was hard and gray, My tears distilled into a song.

IV

I said, "I have shut my heart As one shuts an open door, That Love may starve therein And trouble me no more."

But over the roofs there came The wet new wind of May, And a tune blew up from the curb Where the street-pianos play.

My room was white with the sun And Love cried out in me, "I am strong, I will break your heart Unless you set me free."

A CRY

OH, there are eyes that he can see, And hands to make his hands rejoice, But to my lover I must be Only a voice.

Oh, there are b.r.e.a.s.t.s to bear his head, And lips whereon his lips can lie, But I must be till I am dead Only a cry.

CHANCE

How many times we must have met Here on the street as strangers do, Children of chance we were, who pa.s.sed

The door of heaven and never knew.

IMMORTAL

So soon my body will have gone Beyond the sound and sight of men, And tho' it wakes and suffers now, Its sleep will be unbroken then; But oh, my frail immortal soul That will not sleep forevermore, A leaf borne onward by the blast, A wave that never finds the sh.o.r.e.

AFTER DEATH

Now while my lips are living Their words must stay unsaid, And will my soul remember To speak when I am dead?

Yet if my soul remembered You would not heed it, dear, For now you must not listen, And then you could not hear.

TESTAMENT

I SAID, "I will take my life And throw it away; I who was fire and song Will turn to clay."