The Kingdom of Love Part 8

These are the tales they told each other, The gla.s.s of wine and its paler brother, As they sat together, filled to the brim, On the rich man's table, rim to rim.

THE MANIAC

I saw them sitting in the shade; The long green vines hung over, But could not hide the gold-haired maid And Earl, my dark-eyed lover.

His arm was clasped so close, so close, Her eyes were softly lifted, While his eyes drank the cheek of rose And b.r.e.a.s.t.s like snowflakes drifted.

A strange noise sounded in my brain; I was a guest unbidden.

I stole away, but came again With two knives snugly hidden.

I stood behind them. Close they kissed, While eye to eye was speaking; I aimed my steels, and neither missed The heart I sent it seeking.

There were two death-shrieks mingled so It seemed like one voice crying, I laughed--it was such bliss, you know, To hear and see them dying.

I laughed and shouted while I stood Above the lovers, gazing Upon the trickling rills of blood And frightened eyes fast glazing.

It was such joy to see the rose Fade from her cheek for ever; To know the lips he kissed so close Could answer never, never.

To see his arm grow stark and cold, And know it could not hold her; To know that while the world grew old His eyes could not behold her.

A crowd of people thronged about, Brought thither by my laughter; I gave one last triumphant shout-- Then darkness followed after.

That was a thousand years ago; Each hour I live it over, For there, just out of reach, you know, _She_ lies, with Earl, my lover.

They lie there, staring, staring so With great, glazed eyes to taunt me.

Will no one bury them down low, Where they shall cease to haunt me?

He kissed her lips, not mine; the flowers And vines hung all about them.

Sometimes I sit and laugh for hours To think just how I found them.

And then I sometimes stand and shriek In agony of terror: I see the red warm in her cheek, Then laugh loud at my error.

My cheek was all too pale, he thought; He deemed hers far the brightest.

Ha! but my dagger touched a spot That made _her_ face the whitest!

But oh! the days seem very long, Without my Earl, my lover; And something in my head seems wrong The more I think it over.

Ah! look--she is not dead--look there!

She's standing close beside me!

Her eyes are open--how they stare!

Oh, hide me! hide me! hide me!

WHAT IS FLIRTATION?

What is flirtation? Really, How can I tell you that?

But when she smiles I see its wiles, And when he lifts his hat.

'Tis walking in the moonlight, 'Tis b.u.t.toning on a glove, 'Tis lips that speak of plays next week, While eyes are talking love.

'Tis meeting in the ball-room, 'Tis whirling in the dance; 'Tis something hid beneath the lid More than a simple glance.

'Tis lingering in the hallway, 'Tis sitting on the stair, 'Tis bearded lips on finger-tips, If mamma isn't there.

'Tis tucking in the carriage, 'Tis asking for a call; 'Tis long good-nights in tender lights, And that is--no, not all!

'Tis parting when it's over, And one goes home to sleep; Best joys must end, tra la, my friend, But one goes home to weep!

HUSBAND AND WIFE

Reach out your arms, and hold me close and fast, Tell me you have no memories of your past That mar this love of ours, so great, so vast.

Some truths are cheapened when too oft averred-- Does not the deed speak louder than the word?

(_Dear Christ_! _that old dream woke again and stirred_.)

As you love me, you never loved before?

Though oft you say it--say it yet once more; My heart is jealous of those days of yore.

Sweet wife, dear comrade, mother of my child, My life is yours, by memory undefiled.

(_It stirs again_, _that pa.s.sion brief and wild_.)

You never knew such happy hours as this, We two alone, our hearts surcharged with bliss, Nor other kisses sweet as my own kiss?

I was the thirsty field, long parched with drouth, You were the warm rain blowing from the South.

(_But oh_! _the crimson madness of her mouth_.)

You would not, if you could, go down life's track For just one little moment, and bring back Some vanished raptures that you miss or lack?

I am content. You are my life, my all.

(_One burning hour_, _but one_, _could I recall_.

_G.o.d_! _how men lie_, _when driven to the wall_!)

HOW DOES LOVE SPEAK?

How does Love speak?

In the faint flush upon the tell-tale cheek, And in the pallor that succeeds it; by The quivering lid of an averted eye-- The smile that proves the parent of a sigh: Thus doth Love speak.

How does Love speak?

By the uneven heart-throbs, and the freak Of bounding pulses that stand still and ache While new emotions, like strange barges, make Along vein-channels their disturbing course, Still as the dawn, and with the dawn's swift force: Thus doth Love speak.

How does Love speak?