She wept, "Now let my punishment begin!
I have been fond and foolish. Let me in
To expiate my sorrow and my sin."
The angel answered, "Nay, sad soul, go higher!
To be deceived in your true heart's desire
Was bitterer than a thousand years of fire!"
On Pitz Languard
I stood on the top of Pitz Languard,
And heard three voices whispering low,
Where the Alpine birds in their circling ward
Made swift dark shadows upon the snow.
First voice.
I loved a girl with truth and pain,
She loved me not. When she said good by
She gave me a kiss to sting and stain
My broken life to a rosy dye.
Second voice.
I loved a woman with love well tried,—
And I swear I believe she loves me still.
But it was not I who stood by her side
When she answered the priest and said "I will."
Third voice.
I loved two girls, one fond, one shy,
And I never divined which one loved me.
One married, and now, though I can't tell why.
Of the four in the story I count but three.