V. I. A VOICE by the cedar tree, In the meadow under the Hall! She is singing an air that is known to me, II. Maud with her exquisite face, And wild voice pealing up to the sunny sky, Silence, beautiful voice! III. Be still, for you only trouble the mind Still! I will hear you no more, For your sweetness hardly leaves me a choice Her feet on the meadow grass, and adore, VI. I. MORNING arises stormy and pale, In fold upon fold of hueless cloud, And the budded peaks of the wood are bow'd Caught and cuff'd by the gale: I had fancied it would be fair. II. Whom but Maud should I meet At the head of the village street, Whom but Maud should I meet? And she touch'd my hand with a smile so sweet She made me divine amends For a courtesy not return'd. III. And thus a delicate spark Of glowing and growing light Thro' the livelong hours of the dark Kept itself warm in the heart of my dreams, Ready to burst in a color'd flame; Till at last when the morning came In a cloud, it faded, and seems IV. What if with her sunny hair, And smile as sunny as cold. She meant to weave me a snare Cleopatra-like as of old To entangle me when we met, To have her lion roll in a silken net And fawn at a victor's feet. V. Ah, what shall I be at fifty If Maud were all that she seem'd And her smile were all that I dream'd, Then the world were not so bitter But a smile could make it sweet. VI. What if tho' her eye seem'd full VII. For a raven ever croaks, at my side, Or thou wilt prove their tool. Yea too, myself from myself I guard, For often a man's own angry pride Is cap and bells for a fool. VIII. Perhaps the smile and tender tone Where I hear the dead at midday moan, Till a morbid hate and horror have grown On a heart half-turn'd to stone. IX. O heart of stone, are you flesh, and caught For what was it else within me wrought X. I have play'd with her when a child; Yet, if she were not a cheat, If Maud were all that she seem'd, And her smile had all that I dream'd, Then the world were not so bitter But a smile could make it sweet. VII. I. DID I hear it half in a doze Long since, I know not where? II. Men were drinking together, III. Is it an echo of something IV. Strange, that I hear two men, "Well, if it prove a girl, my boy VIII. SHE came to the village church, Wept over her, carved in stone; And once, but once, she lifted her eyes, And suddenly, sweetly, strangely blush'd To find they were met by my own; And suddenly, sweetly, my heart beat stronger And thicker, until I heard no longer |