THE BUILDER
COME and let me make thee glad
In this house that I have made!
Nowhere (I am unafraid!)
Canst thou find its like on Earth:
Come, and learn the perfect worth
Of the labor I have had.
I have fashioned it for thee,
Every room and pictured wall;
Every marble pillar tall,
Every door and window-place;
All were done that thy fair face
Might look kindlier on me.
Here, moreover, thou shalt find
Strange, delightful, far-brought things:
Dulcimers, whose tightened strings
Once dead women loved to touch;
(Deeming they could mimic much
Of the music of the wind!)
Heavy candlesticks of brass;
Chess-men carved of ivory;
Mass-books written perfectly
By some patient monk of old;
Flagons wrought of thick, red gold,
Set with gems and colored glass;
Burnished armor, once some knight
(Dead, I deem, long years ago!)
Its great strength was glad to know
When his lady needed him:
(Now that both his eyes are dim
Both his sword and shield are bright!)
Come, and share these things with me,
Men have died to leave to us!
We shall find life glorious
In this splendid house of love;
Come, and claim thy part thereof,—
I have fashioned it for thee!