No breath to thaw the hard harsh air with heat;

Only the saddest smile of all things sweet,

Only the sweetest smile of all things sad.

And so they went together one green way

Till April dying made free the world for May;

[Pg 304]

And on his guide suddenly Love's face turned,

And in his blind eyes burned

Hard light and heat of laughter; and like flame

That opens in a mountain's ravening mouth

To blear and sear the sunlight from the south,

His mute mouth opened, and his first word came:

'Knowest thou me now by name?'

And all his stature waxed immeasurable,

As of one shadowing heaven and lightening hell;

And statelier stood he than a tower that stands

And darkens with its darkness far-off sands

Whereon the sky leans red;

And with a voice that stilled the winds he said:

'I am he that was thy lord before thy birth,

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