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pg. 536 EDITH MAY.
But oh! to-day
Lie all harmonious and lovely things
Close to my spirit, and awhile it seems
As if the blue sky were enough of heaven!
My thoughts are like tense chords that give their music
At a chance breath; a thousand delicate hands
Are harping on my soul! no sight, no sound
But stirs me to the keenest sense of pleasure-
Be it no more than the wind's cautious tread,
The swaying of a shadow or a bough,
Or a dove's flight across the silent sky.

Oh, in this sun-bright sabbath of the heart,
How many a prayer puts on the guise of thought,
An angel unconfessed! Its rapid feet,
That leave no print on memory's sands, tread not
Less surely their bright path than choral hymns
And litanies. I know the praise of worlds
And the soul's unvoiced homage rise alike
Distinctly to His ear who holds all Nature
Pavilioned by his presence; who has fashioned
With an impartial care, alike the star
That keeps unpiloted its airy circle,
And the sun-quickened germ, or the poor moss
The building swallow plucks to line her nest.

EOLIE.

Oh! you are welcome as the dew
To the worn feet of pilgrim day,
And wild and fresh as flowers that keep
The virgin bloom and breath of May;
Yet wilful as a hawk set free
Ere whistle lure or huntsman tame her,
Capricious as the bridal smile,
Spring half denies the skies that claim her.

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pg. 537 EDITH MAY.
You've slept since morning unbetrayed
By waving grass, or whispering tree,
You're loitering now through grove and glade,
Wild Eolie

Oh! we were playmates long ago,
And then I chased your flying feet
Over the brave rock-terraced hills,
Over the valleys green and sweet.
Your kisses woke me, if I slept
Where boughs unclasp and shadows play,
And, starting from my childish dreams,
I heard your low laugh far away.
Most gentle in your wily mirth,
Yet elfin half, you seemed to me,
I loved you more than I can tell,
Wild Eolie!

I love you still; when evening comes, 
I hear you tread my chamber floor,
You sweep aside my curtain's fold,
And close the page I linger o'er.
For sunset is our trysting time,
Our tryst we keep till stars convene,
Till, Thetis-like, from deeps of blue
Upwends the silver-footed queen-
Breaking the crystal calm of night,
As light wings break a glassy sea,
Your low voice hymns me to my rest,
Wild Eolie!

When through the heavens' serenest blue
Move car-like clouds with lingering flight,
I image you a nymph like those
That urge the shell of Amphitrite.

Transcription Notes:
---------- Reopened for Editing 2023-06-30 09:36:37