His Lady of the Sonnets

by Robert Winkworth Norwood

SONNETS AND SONGS

[Fellow Craftsmen]
[Posca]
[Reincarnation]
[Jacob's Dream]
[Keats]
[A Poet's Prayer]
[What Is Religion?]
[A Song Of Spring]
[A Fallen Angel]
[A Litany]
[The Great Comrade]
[A Revery]
[Good-Bye]
[David's Song To Michal]
[David Before Saul]
[A Villanelle Of Fate]
[One Woman]

HIS LADY OF THE SONNETS

I

My soul awoke from slumber—the long ease
Of years that passed away in dull content,
Not caring what the world's deep voices meant—
Sunk in my dreams, I heard their harmonies
Like wind-blown clamour of far-calling seas
That told of Ithaca to sailors spent
With trouble, and forgetful at the scent
And taste of fruit plucked from the lotus trees;

For as I slept, your footsteps on the grass,
Your voice, wrought once again the Miracle
Of Eden; and I saw appear and pass
Eve in her beauty, binding still the spell
That Adam felt, when from his opened side
Stepped Woman forth in loveliness and pride.

II

I meet you in the mystery of the night,
A dear Dream-Goddess on a crescent moon;
An opalescent splendour, like a noon
Of lilies; and I wonder that the height
Should darken for the depth to give me light—
Light of your face, so lovely that I swoon
With gazing, and then wake to find how soon
Joy of the world fades when you fade from sight.