They told him no one dwelt there now: It was a haunted place.-- And then it came to him, somehow, The memory of a face.
That child's--like hers, whose name was Joy-- For whom his heart was fain: The face of her whom, when a boy, He played with in that lane.
The black night showed its hungry teeth, And gnawed with sleet at roof and pane; Beneath the door I heard it breathe-- A beast that growled in vain.
The hunter wind stalked up and down, And crashed his ice-spears through each tree; Before his rage, in tattered gown, I saw the maid moon flee.
There stole a footstep to my door; A voice cried in my room and--there! A shadow cowled and gaunt and hoar, Death, leaned above my chair.
He beckoned me; he bade me rise, And follow through the madman night; Into my heart's core pierced his eyes, And lifted me with might.
I rose; I made no more delay; And followed where his eyes compelled; And through the darkness, far away, They lit me and enspelled.
Until we reached an ancient wood, That flung its twisted arms around, As if in anguish that it stood On dark, unhallowed ground.
And then I saw it--cold and blind-- The dream, that had my heart to share, That fell, before its feet could find Its home, and perished there.
This world is made a witchcraft place With gazing on a woman's face.
Now 'tis her smile, whose sorcery Turns all my thoughts to melody.
Now 'tis her frown, that comes and goes, That makes my day a page of prose.
And now her laugh, or but a word, That in my heart frees wild a bird.
Some day, perhaps, a kiss of hers, Will lift from my dumb life the curse
Of longing, inarticulate, That keeps me sad and celibate.
The gentian and the bluebell so Can change my calendar, I know not how the year may go, Or what the seasons are: The months, in some mysterious wise, Take their expression from her eyes.
The gentian speaks to memory Of autumns long since gone, When _her_ blue eyes smiled up at me, And heaven was flushed with dawn: 'T was autumn then and leaves were sere, But in my heart 't was spring o' the year.
The bluebell says a message too Of springs long passed away, When in my eyes her eyes of blue Gazed and 't was close of day: Spring spread around her fragrant chart, But it was autumn in my heart.