"Yes! I have found my lover, noble Oene;
And I am happy working by his side.
See! this sweet spring which we have brimmed with flowers—
A mirror for thy beautiful face, O Queen!
In adding my slight labor to his own,
In hopes that thou would'st never banish me,
But leave me by his side to aid his work,
I've found a consolation very sweet,
And have been happy."
"But I have not been!"
Spoke Bertho with a moody passionateness,
"And never can be till I am restored
To the full use of all my natural powers.
Happy! when hearing this young creature's laugh—
Seeing the dimples, begging for a kiss,
Peep from her cheeks, and hide themselves again—
Feeling her soft breath warming o'er my brow—
Yet be this bodiless ghost of what I was!
O, Queen! wilt thou not give me back that shape—
Which thou dids't cruelly bereave me of—
That I, again, may feel my bounding heart
Throbbing against the bosom of my bride?
Then thou shalt find what grateful souls can do.
For I will court invention, study art,
To decorate this favorite cave anew;
And she I love will serve thee patiently
Unnumbered years, till we our freedom earn."
The sternness of his tone had melted down
To liquid sweetness, and his fiery eyes
Grown humid, as he fixed them on the Queen
In soft entreaty.
From her lofty brow,
So pale and passive, had the shadow rolled,
As slightly and unconsciously she bent
To his quick utterance. A sudden ray
Stole from the twilight of her deepening eyes,
And a warm redness into either cheek,
Troubling its cold repose, shot quickly up.
A moment of suspense, and then she spoke:
"'Tis true that I thy body might restore,
Since but suspension of its human powers,
And not its loss or injury, I control.
But what assurance have I that this boon
May not prove dangerous? Mortals have what we,
With all our vast machinery and weird powers
Moving the earth, the sea and air, have not—
And that is—soul. A soul and body, too,
Might circumvent us—work us desperate harm;—
At least 'tis wise to fear the things unknown,
And to be chary how we give them scope.
As long as thy body's powers restrain,
Thy spirit to my will in bondage is;
Thou hast no wherewithal to make ado—
No weapon at thy service—art a slave,—
And shall I give to thee a master's place?
Yet, thou hast wakened in me a new thought.
What is this love of which you mortals tell?—
Which puts such tender sweetness in your tones
Such brightness in your looks, and makes you turn
Upon each other such delighted eyes?
Your words have stirred strange pleasure in my heart:
I, too, would know what love is. I command
That thou shalt teach me, Bertho. Let the girl
Return, uninjured, to her southern bowers;
Whilst thou remain to teach me this new lore.
Perchance, in finding Love, I'll gain a soul,
And learn of immortality; and all
The vague, sad intuitions that now mock me,
Make real, and I become what I have dreamed.
Make these things come to pass, and thou shalt have,
Thy body and thy freedom, and a place,
The highest of my chieftains. Follow me!"
These ominous words of the enamored Queen,
Spoken as though she knew not what it was
That one should think of disobedience,
Poor Olive heard, with looks of agony
Fixed on the speaker's face—that Northern face,
Wild in its power and in its beauty weird.
The starry halo of that tintless crown,
The midnight blackness of her plentiful hair,
Set off the splendor of the countenance
On which the maiden bent her pale regard.
A jealous terror urged her on to say—
"Love is not taught, Queen Oene; 'tis a gift
Mysterious as life, and more divine;
The congregated glories of this cave,
With all its jewelled lamps and sparkling roof
Could never purchase one of its small joys.
Love, in exchange, takes nothing but itself,
Power cannot claim it—fear cannot command—
It is a tribute Queens cannot exact.
The humblest peasant, singing in her hut,
Is often richer than the proudest princess:
It is the gift God left the human race
To keep them from despair, when sin and shame,
Pain, poverty, and death, and madness came
Among the people. When a youthful pair,
Look in each other's eyes and say—"We love"—
The common earth grows to a heavenly world.
Singing of birds, shining of summer suns,
Blooming of flowers and brightness of the moon,
Have a new charm to their elated sense;
They hear the music of the Universe,
Walking, with light feet, to the harmony;
Careless of care and disbelieving pain,
Grateful for life—and all, because they love.
Thus have we said those irrecallable words—
Solemnly smiling in each other's eyes—
Bertho and I—and never to unsay!
Therefore, sweet Queen, command him not, I pray,
To an impossible thing, which needs compel
Rebellion to the will which he respects.
I am a princess, yet will not refuse,
The humblest service which thy pride requires,
If I from Bertho am not forced to part."
Imperious Oene turned her scornful eyes
Quickly to Bertho's, as in inquiry;
While he, gathering resolve from Olive's face
Of love and anguish, answered the mute look:
"I cannot teach thee love, since it is learned
Only when one heart from another takes
The sweet contagion; but, my bride and I
May humbly teach thee other human lore.
Thou say'st thou hast no soul. This cannot be,
Since reason and all mental gifts are thine;
Within the lovely calyx sleeps the germ,—
A flower as yet unblossomed. Warmth and light
From the great spiritual Sun alone it wants
To bud and bloom into the fullest life.
Shall we expound this marvellous mystery?—
Tell thee of Endless Life which still unfolds
Till it doth circle every star in heaven?—
And light within thy spotless bosom's shrine
The silvery flame of Christ's unwavering love—
A love which we, indeed, would gladly teach,
The parent of all other, whose pure fire
Doth hallow and exalt our earthly hopes.
We'll learn those peerless lips to syllable, God!—
A word that thrills the Universe with awe!
Thou shalt no more a lovely heathen be,
But a sweet Woman, and a child of Heaven."
A slow, soft light, into the wondering eyes
Intently fixed upon the speaker, came—
A deeper glow than from their slumberous blue
Had ever startled; as she slightly bent,
With earnest air, her crowned, resplendent head.