art forward
For breath as the breeze floats by.
The sea-mew poises and plunges,
The moon hangs up in the sky.

Oh, lovely transient spirit,
How heavy of heart am I!
Too near to thee is the water,
The moon hangs up in the sky.

IV.

In moonlit splendor rests the sea,
The soft waves ripple along.
My heart beats low and heavily,
I think of the ancient song.

The ancient song that quaintly sings
Towns lost in olden times;
And how from the sea's abyss there rings
The sound of prayers and chimes.

But pious prayers and chimes, I ween,
Are offered all in vain.
For that which once hath buried been
May never come back again.

V.

I knew that thou must love me--
'Twas long ago made clear.
But thy confession filled me
With deep and secret fear.

I clambered up the mountain,
And sang aloud for glee.
Then while the sun was setting,
I wept beside the sea.

My heart is like the sun, dear,
Yon kindled flame above;
And sinks in large-orbed beauty
Within a sea of love.

VI.

How enviously the sea-mew
Looks after us, my dear;
Because upon thy lips then
So close I pressed mine ear.

He fain would know what issued,
Most curious of birds!
If thou mine ear fulfillest
With kisses or with words.

What through my spirit hisses?
I, too, am sore perplexed!
Thy words, dear, and thy kisses
Are strangely intermixed.

VII.

Shy as a fawn she passed me by;
And, fleet as any heifer,
She clambered on from cliff to cliff,
Her hair flew with the zephyr.

Where to the sea's edge slope the rocks,
I reached her, trembling near it.
Then, softly with the softest words,
I melted her proud spirit.

There we two sat as high as heaven,
And heaven's own rapture drinking.
While in the dark waves far below;
The gradual sun was sinking.

Below us in the deep, dark sea,
The fair sun dropped; then dashing,
The waves broke wildly over him,
With turbulence of passion.

Oh do not weep! he is not dead,
'Neath billows swelling higher;
He has but hidden in my heart,
With all his burning fire.

VIII.

Come, let us build upon this rock,
The Church of God's last lover,
The third New Testament's revealed,
The agony is over.

Refuted is the second book
That fooled us through long ages.
The stupid torture of