men-at-arms Tread softly 'neath the damask shield of night, Rise from the flowing steel in part reflected, So on my mailed thought that with thee goeth, Though dark the way, a golden glamour falleth. II The censer sways And glowing coals some art have To free what frankincense before held fast Till all the summer of the eastern farms Doth dim the sense, and dream up through the light, As memory, by new-born love corrected— With savour such as only new love knoweth— Through swift dim ways the hidden pasts recalleth. III On barren days, At hours when I, apart, have Bent low in thought of the great charm thou hast, Behold with music's many-stringed charms The silence groweth thou. O rare delight! The melody upon clear strings inflected Were dull when o'er taut sense thy presence floweth, With quivering notes' accord that never palleth. IV The glowing rays That from the low sun dart, have Turned gold each tower and every towering mast; The saffron flame, that flaming nothing harms Hides Khadeeth's pearl and all the sapphire might Of burnished waves, before her gates collected: The cloak of graciousness, that round thee gloweth, Doth hide the thing thou art, as here befalleth. V All things worth praise That unto Khadeeth's mart have From far been brought through perils over-passed, All santal, myrrh, and spikenard that disarms The pard's swift anger; these would weigh but light 'Gainst thy delights, my Khadeeth! Whence protected By naught save her great grace that in him showeth, My song goes forth and on her mercy calleth. VI O censer of the thought that golden gloweth, Be bright before her when the evening falleth. VII Fragrant be thou as a new field one moweth, O song of mine that "Hers" her mercy calleth. CANZONE: OF ANGELS I He that is Lord of all the realms of light Hath unto me from His magnificence Granted such vision as hath wrought my joy. Moving my spirit past the last defence That shieldeth mortal things from mightier sight, Where freedom of the soul knows no alloy, I saw what forms the lordly powers employ; Three splendours, saw I, of high holiness, From clarity to clarity ascending Through all the roofless, tacit courts extending In aether which such subtle light doth bless As ne'er the candles of the stars hath wooed; Know ye herefrom of their similitude. II Withdrawn within the cavern of his wings, Grave with the joy of thoughts beneficent, And finely wrought and durable and clear, If so his eyes showed forth the mind's content, So sate the first to whom remembrance clings, Tissued like bat's wings did his wings appear, Not of that shadowy colouring and drear, But as thin shells, pale saffron, luminous; Alone, unlonely, whose calm glances shed Friend's love to strangers though no word were said, Pensive his godly