And sleep, from whose silence they never shall waken,

"The balm of oblivion she sheds on their breast."

Then I seized him and led to the brink of the river,

Where two storm-beaten seagulls were fluttering west,

And the lamplight in drowning seemed coldly to shiver,

And clasping Love close for the leap from on high,

Said—"Let us go hence, Love; go home, Love, for ever;

"For life casts us forth, and Man dooms us to die."

As if stung by a snake the Child shuddered and started,

And clung to me close with a passionate cry:

[78]

"Stay with me, stay with me, poor, broken-hearted;

Pain, if not pleasure, we two will divide;

Though with the sins of the world I have smarted,

"Though with the shame of the world thou art dyed,

Weak as I am, on thy breast I'll recover,

Worn as thou art, thou shalt bloom as my bride:

"Bloom as the flower of the World for the lover

Whom thou hast found in a lost little Child."

And as he kissed my lips over and over—

 Prev. P 63/155 next