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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. -- 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.
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Reopened for Editing 2023-06-30 09:36:37