Love was to him with anguish fast enlaced,

And Beauty where she walked blood-shot the dews.

Men railed at such a singer; women thrilled

Responsively: he sang not Nature’s own

Divinest, but his lyric had a tone,

As ’twere a forest-echo of her voice:

What barrenly they yearn for seemed distilled

From what they dread, who do through tears rejoice.


AN ORSON OF THE MUSE.