Gilbert Parker

“ But at last, in the light of a rose-red day, In the windless glow of the morn, From over the hills and from far away, You came-ah, the joy of the morn! And wherever your footsteps fell there crept A path—it was fair and wide; A desert road which no sands have swept, Where never a hope has died. I followed you forth, and your beauty held My heart like an ancient song, By that desert road to the blossoming plains I came, and the way was long. So, I set my course by the light of your eyes; I care not what fate may send; On the road I tread shine the love-starred skies, The road with never an end. ”

“ And still sad desolation felt, Though heavy freighted was the air With litanies of love: one ghoul Cried, “No man careth for thy soul!” Blind, Lord, so blind! The world is blind; It feeds me, fainting, with a stone: I cry for bread. Before, behind, Are hurrying feet; yet all alone I walk, and no one points the goal Lord! no man careth for my soul. Blind, Lord, Oh very blind am I! If sin of mine sets up the wall Between my poor sight and Thy sky, O Friend of man, Who cares for all, Send sweet peace ere the last bell toll— Yea, Lord, Thou carest for my soul! ”

“ Love, the evangel, Finds the Archangel— Is that a truth when this may be a jest? Star-drifts that glimmer Dimmer and dimmer, What do ye know of my weal or my woe? Was I born under The sun or the thunder? What do I come from, and where do I go? Rest, shall it ever Come? Is endeavour Still a vain twining and twisting of cords? Is faith but treason; Reason, unreason, But a mechanical weaving of words? What is the token, Ever unbroken, Swept down the spaces of querulous years,— Weeping or singing— That the Beginning Of all things is with us, and sees us, and hears? What is the token? ”

“ When warriors return, and one That went returns no more; When dusty is the road we run, And garners have no store; One ingle-nook right warm shall be Where my heart hath good company. When man shall flee and woman fail, And folly mock and hope deceive, Let cowards beat the breast and wail, I’ll homeward hie; I will not grieve: I’ll curtains draw, I’ll there set free My heart’s beloved boon company. When kings shall favour, ladies call My service to their side; When roses grow upon the wall Of life, and love inside; I’ll get me home with joy to be In my heart’s own good company! ”

“ Sing hey ho, come and kiss me, Dolly!
LIFE’S SWEET WAGES Who would lie down and close his eyes While yet the lark sings o’er the dale? Who would to Love make no replies, Nor drink the nut-brown ale, While throbs the pulse, and full’s the purse And all the world’s for sale? Though wintry blasts may prove unkind, When winter’s past we do forget; Love’s breast in summer-time is kind, And all’s well while life’s with us yet. Hey ho, now the lark is mating— Life’s sweet wages are in waiting! ”

“ What will this matter, dear, when you and I Have left our sad world for some fairer sky? What will it matter, dear, when, far apart, We miss the touch of hand and beat of heart; When one’s at peace, while unto one is given With lonely feet to walk the hills at even? What will it matter that one fault more now Brings clouds upon one eager mortal brow, That one grace less is given to one poor soul, When both drink from the last immortal bowl? For fault and grace, dear love, when we go hence Will find the same Eternal recompense. ”

“ Is it not better to sleep than to sorrow? Tokens will come from the bourne as we near it— Time’s peace, to-morrow.
THE DELIVERER How has the cloud fallen, and the leaf withered on the tree, The lemontree, that standeth by the door? The melon and the date have gone bitter to the taste, The weevil, it has eaten at the core— The core of my heart, the mildew findeth it; My music, it is but the drip of tears, The garner empty standeth, the oven hath no fire, Night filleth me with fears. O Nile that floweth deeply, hast thou not heard his voice? His footsteps hast thou covered with thy flood? ”

“ See where they lift up their faces and scan, Over the wave-heaps, thy coming; despite thee, Thou canst not fetter the soul of a man, O Aphrodite! Nay, but our bodies we bend, and we give All that the heart hath, loving, not knowing Whether the best is to die or to live, Coming or going. We shall be taken, but thou shalt live on, Swallowed in sea-drifts that never affright thee; Smiling, thou’lt lift up thy sweet hands alone, Ah, Aphrodite! Over thy face is a veil of white sea-mist, Only thine eyes shine like stars; bless or blight me, I will hold close to the leash at thy wrist, O Aphrodite! ”

“ 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 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 ”

“ One more look to the West she cast, And into the East she drew away: Backwards and forwards her brown arms play, Forwards and backwards, till far and dim, She grew one with the night’s dun rim; Backwards and forwards, and then, was gone Into I know not what . . . alone. She came not back, she may never come; But a young wife lives in a cabin home, Who prays each night that, alive or dead, Come God’s own rest for her lonely head: And I—shall I see her then no more, My comrade, my old love, Nell Latore? ”

“ We hate, and old wrongs lift their faces, To fill up the ranks of the new; We love, and the early love’s graces Are signs of the false and the true; We clasp the white hands that are given To greet us in devious ways, But meet the old sins, all unshriven, To sadden the burden of days. Though we lose the green leaves of the first days, Though the vineyards be trampled and red, We know, in the gloom of our worst days, That the dead are not evermore dead: December is only December, A space, not the infinite whole; Though the hearthstone bear but the one ember, There still is the fire of the soul. ”

“ THE WORLD IN MAKING When God was making the world, (Swift was the wind and white was the fire) The feet of His people danced the stars; There was laughter and swinging bells, And clanging iron and breaking breath, The hammers of heaven making the hills, The vales, on the anvils of God. (Wild is the fire and low is the wind) When God had finished the world, (Bright was the fire and sweet was the wind) Up from the valleys came song, To answer the morning stars; And the hand of man on the anvil rang, His breath was big in his breast, his life Beat strong ‘gainst the walls of the world. ”

“ Sweet Alice, he came back again, Across the waste of summer sea, What time the fields were full of grain, But not to thee; but not to thee. She comes no more when evening falls, To watch the stars wheel up the sky; Then love and light were over all; Alas! that light and love should die. I feel her hand upon my arm, I see her eyes shine through the mist; Her life was passionate and warm As the red jewels at her wrist. Hearts do not break, the world has said, Though love lie stark and light be flown ”

“ And long they fought—the Tall Dakoon, the children of the mist, But he was swift with lance and shield, and supple of the wrist, Yet if he rose, or if he fell, no man hath proof to show— And wide the world beyond the mists, and deep the vales below! For when a man, because of love, hath wrecked and burned his ships, And when a man for hate of love hath curses on his lips, Though he should be the peasant born, or be the Tall Dakoon, What matters then, of hap, or place, the mist comes none too soon! ”

“ The kine shall pause in the pleasant mead, The eagle upon the hill— Heart of the World give heed! Heart of the World break forth, Tongues of the World proclaim! There cometh a voice from out the North And a face of living flame— A man’s soul crying, Behold what worth Was life till her sweet soul came— Heart of the World break forth! Heart of the World be strong, Tongues of the World be wise! The White North glows with a morning song Or ever the red sun dies; For Love is summer and Love is long, And the good God ‘s in his skies— Heart of the World be strong! ”

“ Hand over hand on a swaying rail, Sharp in her ears and her heart the wail Of a hundred lives; and she has no fear Save that her prayer be not granted her. Cold is the snow on the rail, and chill The wind that comes from the frozen hill. Her hair blows free and her eyes are full Of the look that makes Heaven merciful— Merciful, ah! quick, shut your eyes, Lest you wish to see how a brave girl dies! Dies—not yet; for her firm hands clasped The solid bridge, as the breach out-gasped, And the rail that had held her downward swept, Where old Carew in his snow-grave slept. ”

“ One spring brought me my wedding day, Brought me my bright-eyed Jeanne Amray; Brought that night to our cabin door My old, lost comrade, Nell Latore. Her eyes swam fire, and her cheek was red, Her full breast heaved as she darkly said: “The coyote hides from the wind and rain, The wild horse flies from the hurricane, But who can flee from the half-breed’s hate, That rises soon and that watches late?” Then went; and I laughed Jeanne’s fears afar, But I thought that wench was our evil star. Be sure, when a woman’s heart gets hard, It works up war like a navy yard. ”

“ When his footsteps were among us there was peace; War entered not the village, nor the call of war: Now our homes are as those that have no roofs. As a nest decayed, as a cave forsaken, As a ship that lieth broken on the beach, Is the house where we were born. Out in the desert did we bury our gold, We buried it where no man robbed us, for his arm was strong. Now are the jars empty, gold did not avail To save our young men, to keep them from the chains. God hath swallowed his voice, or the sea hath drowned it, Or the Nile hath covered him with its flood ”

“ O love, by the light of thine eyes We will fare over-sea; We will be As the silver-winged herons that rest By the shallows, The shallows of sapphire stone; No more shall we wander alone. As the foam to the shore Is my spirit to thine, And God’s serfs as they fly,— The Mockers of Death— They will breathe on the embers of fire We shall live by that breath. Sweet, thy heart to my heart, As we journey afar, No more, nevermore, to return! ”

“ What is there like to the laughing star, Far up from the lilac tree? A face that’s brighter and finer far; It laughs and it shines, ci, ci! It laughs and it shines, it must roam and roam, And travel from shore to shore, Till I get me forth and bring it home, And house it within my door— Row along, row along home, ci, ci!
SPINNING Spin, spin, belle Mergaton! The moon wheels full, and the tide flows high, And your wedding-gown you must put it on Ere the night hath no moon in the sky Gigoton, Mergaton, spin! Spin, spin, belle Mergaton! ”

“ Soft, ardent skies of my youth Come to me over the sea, Come in a vision to me, Come with your shimmer and song; Ye have known all of the truth, Witness to both shall ye bear; Read me the riddle of wrong, Solve me the cords of the snare. Love is not won in a breath, Idle, impassioned and sure; Why should not love then endure, Challenging doubt to the last? True love is true till the death, Though it bear aloes and myrrh ”

“ And I hope that the Father, whose heart is kind, When I speak to Him face to face, Will give me something to do up there Among all the folks that have died, That will give me freedom and change of air, If it’s only to boundary ride: For I somehow think, in the Great Stampede, When the world crowds up to the Bar, The unluckiest mortals will be decreed To camp on the luckiest star. ”

“ Yes, but England hath heed of him, Singer of high degree, master of thought and of word— She shall bear witness with tears, of the pride and the loss and the need of him; We shall measure the years by the voice and the song unheard.
WHEN BLOWS THE WIND When blows the wind and drives the sleet, And all the trees droop down; When all the world is sad, ‘tis meet Good company be known: And, in my heart, good company Sits by the fire and sings to me. ”

“ THE TWILIGHT OF LOVE Adieu! and the sun goes awearily down, The mist creeps up o’er the sleepy town, The white sails bend to the shuddering mere, And the reapers have reaped, and the night is here. Adieu! and the years are a broken song, The right grows weak in the strife with wrong, The lilies of love have a crimson stain, And the old days never will come again. ”

“ THE LAST DREAM One more dream in the slow night watches, One more sleep when the world is dumb, And his soul leans out to the sweet wild snatches Of song that up from dreamland come. Pale, pale face with a golden setting, Deep, deep glow of stedfast eyes; Form of one there is no forgetting, Wandering out of Paradise. Breath of balm, and a languor falling Out of the gleam of a sunset sky ”

“ God’s smile on their foreheads glisten Ere their heart-strings have grown tense. And they know not of the sadness, Of the palpitating pain Drawn through arid veins of manhood, Or the lusts that life disdain. Little reek they of the shadows Fallen through the steep world’s space God hath touched them with His chrism And their sunlight is His grace. And the green grooves of the meadows They are fair to look upon; And the silver thrush and robin Sing most sweetly on and on. ”