With evening dew,
Far in the fields where sky and violet
Blend rifts of blue--

But for a moment, deep among the flowers
And rain-sweet grass,
I saw her--loved her--and as April showers
Beheld her pass.

O, the lone vastness of the afterglow,
Unknown before;
Shall e'er I see that face where violets grow,
Perchance, once more!

Yet no one comes save night, with wild regrets
And silent pain--
Only sometimes the scent of violets
On wind-blown rain.

A Song of Life

_What if the song is sung, I say,
As long as the song was sung!_

Did we not meet with the blood's best play
The lash of the winds and the rain that stung,
And the tang of the salty spray?

Did we not drink the last drop that clung
To the golden bowl with its glowing fire,
Yet so cool to our burning tongue?

Did we not love with a love entire
That made up for all and a world of clay
In a moment of wild desire?

_What if the song is sung, I say,
As long as the song was sung!_

As a Still Brook

As a still brook within the woodland's green
Sings softly to itself the live-long day,
Unconscious of its gentle roundelay,
Its open purity and silver sheen--
Knowing not how in all that wild demesne,
Its music is a strain the angels play
And its fair face a jewel amid the gray,
Beshadowed places that it flows between;

So your dear love, a simple forest stream,
Bearing the wealth of all that life can hold,--
Nor ever dreaming of the worth that lies
Deep in your heart--why, you have made it seem
That every empty hour is wrought of gold
And this tear-sodden world, a Paradise!

At the Window

I looked out of my window tall
And laughed to see the May,
For everything both great and small
Was on a holiday.

Then Love came by and laughed at me,
And I forgot the Spring--
Only I knew the ecstasy
Of madly listening.

And now the branches all again
Are red with vernal May,
But tears have dimmed the window-pane--
And no one comes my way.

A Sea Spell

The sunset sea--a goblet thick inlaid
With jewels wrought in golden filigree,
An opal from some elfin treasury
Burning with fire and flashing every shade;
While round the dim horizon, wide displayed