Summer is come; I hear the skylarks sing, The honeysuckle flaunts it to the bees; Summer is come, and ‘tis not yet the spring-- My love is summer blessing all she sees.
Summer is come; I see an open door, A sweet hand beckons, and I know That, winter or summer, I shall go forth no more-- My heart is homing where her summer-roses grow.
O flower of all the world, O flower of all, The garden where thou dwellest is so fair, Thou art so goodly, and so queenly tall, Thy sweetness scatters sweetness everywhere, O flower of all!
O flower of all the years, O flower of all, A day beside thee is a day of days; Thy voice is softer than the throstle’s call, There is not song enough to sing thy praise, O flower of all!
O flower of all the years, O flower of all, I seek thee in thy garden, and I dare To love thee; and though my deserts be small, Thou art the only flower I would wear, O flower of all!
Once in another land, Ages ago, You were a queen, and I, I loved you so: Where was it that we loved-- Ah, do you know?
Was it some golden star Hot with romance? Was it in Malabar, Italy, France? Did we know Charlemagne, Dido, perchance?
But you were a queen, and I Fought for you then: How did you honour me-- More than all men! Kissed me upon the lips; Kiss me again.
Have you forgotten it, All that we said? I still remember though Ages have fled. Whisper the word of life,-- “Love is not dead.”
I heard the desert calling, and my heart stood still-- There was winter in my world and in my heart; A breath came from the mesa, and a message stirred my will, And my soul and I arose up to depart.
I heard the desert calling, and I knew that over there In an olive-sheltered garden where the mesquite grows, Was a woman of the sunrise with the star-shine in her hair And a beauty that the almond-blossom blows.
In the night-time when the ghost-trees glimmered in the moon, Where the mesa by the water-course was spanned, Her loveliness enwrapped me like the blessedness of June, And all my life was thrilling in her hand.
I hear the desert calling, and my heart stands still-- There is summer in my world, and in my heart; A breath comes from the mesa, and a will beyond my will Binds my footsteps as I rise up to depart.