Abbildungen der Seite
PDF
EPUB

Of a human creature had rustled
The silence of mighty woods,
And, fierce in a tyrannous freedom,
I knew but the law of my moods.
The elephant, trumpeting, started
When he heard my footstep near,
And the spotted giraffes fled wildly
In a yellow cloud of fear.

I sucked in the noontide splendor,
Quivering along the glade,

Or yawning, panting, and dreaming,
Basked in the tamarisk shade,
Till I heard my wild mate roaring,
As the shadows of night came on
To brood in the trees' thick branches
And the shadow of sleep was gone;
Then I roused, and roared in answer,

And unsheathed from my cushioned feet

My curving claws, and stretched me,

And wandered my mate to greet.

We toyed in the amber moonlight,

Upon the warm flat sand,

And struck at each other our massive arms

How powerful he was and grand!

His yellow eyes flashed fiercely

As he crouched and gazed at me,
And his quivering tail, like a serpent,
Twitched curving nervously.
Then like a storm he seized me,

With a wild triumphant cry,
And we met, as two clouds in heaven
When the thunders before them fly.
We grappled and struggled together,
For his love like his rage was rude;

And his teeth in the swelling folds of my neck At times, in our play, drew blood.

Often another suitor

For I was flexile and fair-
Fought for me in the moonlight,
While I lay couching there,

Till his blood was drained by the desert;
And, ruffled with triumph and power,
He licked me and lay beside me

To breathe him a vast half-hour.
Then down to the fountain we loitered,
Where the antelopes came to drink;
Like a bolt we sprang upon them,

Ere they had time to shrink.

We drank their blood and crushed them,
And tore them limb from limb,
And the hungriest lion doubted
Ere he disputed with him.

That was a life to live for!

Not this weak human life,

With its frivolous bloodless passions,

Its poor

and petty strife !

Come to my arms, my hero!

The shadows of twilight grow,
And the tiger's ancient fierceness
In my veins begins to flow.
Come not cringing to sue me!

Take me with triumph and power,
As a warrior that storms a fortress!
I will not shrink or cower.
Come, as you came in the desert,
Ere we were women and men,
When the tiger-passions were in us,
And love as you loved me then!

THE OTHER WORLD.

It lies around us like a cloud,
A world we do not see;
Yet the sweet closing of an eye
May bring us there to be.

Its gentle breezes fan our cheek;
Amid our worldly cares,

Its gentle voice doth whisper love,
And mingle with our prayers.

Sweet hearts around us throb and beat,
Sweet helping hands are stirred,
And palpitates the veil between
With breathings almost heard.

The silence, awful, sweet, and calm,
They have no power to break;
For mortal words are not for them
To utter or to partake.

So thin, so soft, so sweet, they glide,

So near to press they seem,

Thy lull us gently to our rest,

They melt into our dream.

And in the hush of rest they bring
'Tis easy now to see

How lovely and how sweet a pass
The hour of death may be ;-

To close the eye, and close the ear,
Wrapped in a trance of bliss,
And, gently drawn in loving arms,
To swoon to that-from this,-

Scarce knowing if we wake or sleep,
Scarce asking where we are,

To feel all evil sink away,

All sorrow and all care.

Sweet souls around us! watch us still!

Press nearer to our side;
Into our thoughts, into our prayers,
With gentle helpings glide!

Let death between us be as naught,
A dried and vanished stream;

Your joy be the reality,

Our suffering life the dream.

MARY AT THE CROSS.

"Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his Mother."

O wondrous Mother! since the dawn of time
Was ever love, was ever grief, like thine?
O highly favored in thy joy's deep flow,
And favored even in this, thy bitterest woe!

Poor was that home in simple Nazareth
Where, fairly growing, like some silent flower,
Last of a kingly race, unknown and lowly,

O desert lily, passed thy childhood's hour.

The world knew not the tender, serious maiden,
Who through deep loving years so silent grew,
Full of high thought and holy aspiration,

Which the o'ershadowing God alone might view.

And then it came, that message from the highest,
Such as to woman ne'er before descended,
The Almighty wings thy prayerful soul o'erspread,

And with thy life the Life of worlds was blended.

What visions then of future glory filled thee,

The chosen mother of the King unknown,

Mother fulfiller of all prophecy

Which through dim ages wondering seers had shown!

Well did thy dark eye kindle, thy deep soul

Rise into billows, and thy heart rejoice; Then woke the poet's fire, the prophet's song,

Tuned with strange burning words thy timid voice.

Then, in dark contrast, came the lowly manger,
The outcast shed, the tramp of brutal feet;
Again behold earth's learned and her lowly,
Sages and shepherds prostrate at thy feet.

Then to the temple bearing, hark again

What strange conflicting tones of prophecy Breathe o'er the child, foreshadowing words of joy, High triumph blent with bitter agony!

« ZurückWeiter »