face is there,
And Hugo's, lit with more than kingly pride.
Replenished there with splendour, the blind eyes
Of Milton bend from heaven to meet his own,
Sappho is there, crowned with those queenlier flowers
Whose graft outgrew our skies,
His gift: Shakespeare leans earthward from his throne
With hands outstretched. He needs no crown of ours.

IN CLOAK OF GREY

I

Love's a pilgrim, cloaked in grey,
And his feet are pierced and bleeding:
Have ye seen him pass this way
Sorrowfully pleading?
Ye that weep the world away,
Have ye seen King Love to-day?--

II

Yea, we saw him; but he came
Poppy-crowned and white of limb!
Song had touched his lips with flame,
And his eyes were drowsed and dim;
And we kissed the hours away
Till night grew rosier than the day.--

III

Hath he left you?--Yea, he left us
A little while ago,
Of his laughter quite bereft us
And his limbs of snow;
We know not why he went away
Who ruled our revels yesterday.--

IV

Because ye did not understand
Love cometh from afar,
A pilgrim out of Holy Land
Guided by a star:
Last night he came in cloak of grey,
Begging. Ye knew him not: he went his way.

A RIDE FOR THE QUEEN

Queen of queens, oh lady mine,
You who say you love me,
Here's a cup of crimson wine
To the stars above me;
Here's a cup of blood and gall
For a soldier's quaffing!
What's the prize to crown it all?
Death? I'll take it laughing!
I ride for the Queen to-night!

Though I find no knightly fee
Waiting on my lealty,
High upon the gallows-tree
Faithful to my fealty,
What had I but love and youth,
Hope and fame in season?
She has proved that more than truth
Glorifies her treason!

Would that other do as much?
Ah, but if in sorrow
Some forgotten look or touch
Pierce her heart to-morrow
She might love me yet, I think;
So her lie befriends me,
Though I know there's darker drink
Down the road she sends me.

Ay, one more great chance is mine
(Can I faint or falter?)
She shall pour my blood like wine,
Make my heart her altar,
Burn it to the dust! For, there,
What if o'er the embers
She should stoop and--I should h