The Project Gutenberg eBook of Sonnets and Songs

This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook.

Title: Sonnets and Songs

Author: Helen Hay Whitney

Release date: January 28, 2011 [eBook #35098]

Most recently updated: January 7, 2021

Language: English

Credits: Produced by D Alexander and the Online Distributed

Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was

produced from images generously made available by The

Internet Archive)

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SONNETS AND SONGS ***

SONNETS

AND SONGS

BY

HELEN HAY WHITNEY

NEW YORK AND LONDON

HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS

MCMV

Copyright, 1905, by HARPER & BROTHERS.

All rights reserved.

Published August, 1905.

TO

P. W.

Contents

SONNETS

PAGE

Ave atque Vale

3

“Chaque baiser vaut un roman”

4

As a Pale Child

5

Flower of the Clove

6

Too Late

7

The Supreme Sacrifice

8

Malua

9

Love’s Legacy

10

How we would Live!

11

In Extremis

12

The Forgiveness

13

With Music

14

Alpha and Omega

15

Flowers of Ice

16

Love and Death

17

The Message

18

Tempest and Calm

19

After Rain

20

Not through this Door

21

Pot-Pourri

22

Eadem Semper

23

To a Woman

24

Aspiration—I

25

Aspiration—II

26

The Gypsy Blood

27

Not Dead but Sleeping

28

The Last Gift

29

Amor Mysticus

30

The Pattern of the Earth

31

Disguised

32

SONGS

On the White Road

35

The Wanderer

36

False

37

A Song of the Oregon Trail

38

The Apple-Tree

39

Silver and Rose

40

To-Morrow

41

The Greater Joy

42

The Rose-Colored Camelia-Tree

43

Good-Bye Sorrow

44

In Harbor

45

Rosa Mundi

46

The Ribbon

47

The Aster

48

Heart and Hand

49

The Golden Fruit

50

To a Moth

52

Winter Song

53

Youth

54

Persephone

55

Étoiles d’Enfer

57

Enough of Singing

58

Truth

59

The Philosopher

60

Prayers

61

A South-Sea Lover Scorned

62

In May

64

For Your Sake

65

Lyric Love

67

Be Still

68

Butterfly Words

69

Music

70

The Ghost

72

Fight!

74

In Tonga

75

This was the Song

76

To E. D.

78

The Dance

79

Vanquished

80

Tranquillity

81

SONNETS

I

Ave atque Vale

As a blown leaf across the face of Time

Your name falls emptily upon my heart.

In this new symmetry you have no part,

No lot in my fair life. The stars still chime

Autumn and Spring in ceaseless pantomime.

I play with Beauty, which is kin to Art,

Forgetting Nature. Nor do pulses start

To hear your soul remembered in a rhyme.

You may not vex me any more. The stark

Terror of life has passed, and all the stress.

Winds had their will of me, and now caress,

Blown from bland groves I know. Time dreams, and I,

As on a mirror, see the days go by

In nonchalant procession to the dark.

II

“Chaque baiser vaut un roman.”

I, living love and laughter, have forgot

The way the heart has uttered melody.

As sobbing, plaintive cadence of the sea

A poet’s soul should rest, remembering not

The inland paths of green, the flowers, the spot

Where fairies ring. In hermit ecstasy

Music is born, and gay or wofully

Lovers of Poesy share her lonely lot.

For you and me, Beloved, crowned with Spring,

Catching Love’s flowers from off the lap of Time,

What are the songs my voice has scorned to sing?

Ghostly they hover round my heart-wise lips;

Into a kiss I fold my rose of Rhyme,

Laid like a martyr on your finger-tips.

III

As a Pale Child

As a pale child, hemmed in by windy rain,

Patiently turns to touch his well-known toys,

Playing as children play who make no noise,

Yet happy in a way; then sighs again,

To watch the world across the storm-dim pane,

And sees with wistful eyes glad girls and boys

Who romp beneath the rain’s unlicensed joys,

And feels wild longings sweep his gentle brain.

So I, contented with my flowers for stars,

Stroll in my fair, walled garden happily,

Knowing no gladder game till, shrill and sweet,

I hear life’s cry ring down the silent street,

And press my face against the sunlit bars

To watch the joyous spirits who are free.

IV

Flower of the Clove

Ah, Love, have pity!—I am but a child;

I ask but light and laughter, and the tears

Darken the sunlight of my fairest years.

By love made desolate, by love beguiled,

I waste the Spring. Love’s harvest wains are piled

With poppies and gold grain—I glean but fears

Of empty hands, grim hunger, and the jeers

Of happy wives whose loves are reconciled.

But mine! Ah, mine is like a tattered leaf

Upon a turbid stream. I have no pride,

No life, but love, which is a bitter grief.

As a lost star I wander down your sky.

Give me your heart. Open it wide—so wide!

I must have love and laughter, or I die.

V

Too Late

Upon your stone the wine of my desire

Is spilled. Your poppy lips have grown too pale

From fasting. Your white hands will not avail

The cold eyes of your heart to light the fire.

I did not think my prayers could ever tire.

Now, like doomed ships, they flutter without sail.

Lost in a calm which held no rock, no gale—

Now, when your chilly smile bids me aspire!

So, without history, my soul is slain—

Woman of barren love; the wine was red—

Beautiful for your spending. Not again

Will the bud blossom where the frost has sped.

Timid, you dared not hark when angels sang.

All, all is lost, without one saving pang.

VI

The Supreme Sacrifice

Better than life, better than sea and morn,

And all the sun-stained fragments of the day—

Ah! more than breeze, than purple clouds that stray

Across dim twilights—I, the tempest-torn,

Fighting the stars for glory, who must scorn

Heart-drops bespread along love’s cruel way

Like scattered petals on the breast of May—

Better than life I love you, I forlorn.

Better than death—the sleeping and the peace

When warm within the breast of brooding Earth

My weary heart should give its woes release,

The pitiful dark remembering not my loss,

The calm, wise years restoring joy for dearth—

Better than death, my love, my burning cross.

VII

Malua

Out of the purple treasuries of night

Came the dark wind of evening silver-starred—

Stirred on his cheek. The forest keeping ward

Breathed with a tremulous silence, and the bright,

Bare moon crowned his adoring brow with light.

The exquisite dream of beauty held him hard

In a great love, a forest love, unmarred—

Still unprofaned—by human nature’s sight.

Guarding the temple gates of peace he stood,

Statue of bronze with pagan heart of stone.

Sudden, a dazzling glory lit the wood—

Moon in his soul that dimmed the moon above.

Life was revealed, a Spring-sweet maid, alone—

Beauty was woman, and the woman—Love.

VIII

Love’s Legacy

As one who looks too long upon the sun

When he must turn to earth from flame-shot skies

Sees all else dark through his bereaved eyes,

And yet may watch the rainbow ribbons run

Athwart the gravity of gray and dun,

He holds the darkness dearer for the prize

Wherein his only pledge of radiance lies

When he the vast magnificence must shun.

So we who play with rainbows, having seen

The sun’s own face. We may not hold the west,

Which burns against the bosom of the night,

But in the after-glow, with eyes serene,

We still may find, dear heart, the sun’s bequest,

An echoed glory of our passionate light.

IX

How we would Live!

How we would live! We’d drink the years like wine,

With all to-morrows hid behind the veil,

Which is your hair; between two lilies pale—

Your slender hands—my heart should lie and shine,

A crimson rose. We’d catch the wind and twine

The evening stars—a chaplet musical—

To crown our folly, lure the nightingale

To sing the bliss your lips should teach to mine.

And if the sage, declaring life is vain,

Should frown upon the flower of all our days

And chide the sun that knows no tears of rain,

He should not tease our heart with cynic eye—

The soul’s vast altar stands beyond his gaze

When two have lived—then shall they fear to die?

X

In Extremis

Nay, touch me not, nor even with your eyes

Hold mine, for I would speak you, thus afar,

Aloof and chill and lonely as a star.

The hands that urge, the hungry heart that cries,

Have wrapped my love with love’s elusive lies;

The lips that burn have laid a ruddy scar

Against the truth that stands without the bar,

And blinded faith with passion’s mysteries.

Night holds a single moon, day one desire—

Her golden sun; and life a love supreme,

Wherein one moment poises, crowned with fire,

White with the naked truth. Beyond control,

’Tis here, my Sun, in love’s last hour extreme,

I hold aloft my bare, adoring soul.

XI

The Forgiveness

If I might see you dead, Beloved—dead—

Your false eyes closed forever to the light,

Your false smile stilled upon my aching sight;

If I might know that nevermore your head,

Cruelly fair, could lie upon the bed

Of my torn heart; if I beheld the night

Free from your living thought—ah! if I might,

Then could my desolate soul be comforted.

For this is worst of all the woes you gave—

My heart may not forgive. The tired years go

And leave the great love weeping for a grave,

Scorned and unburied, ’neath the open sky.

I could not love you less, to see you so.

Loving you more, I might forgive—and die.

XII

With Music

Dear, did we meet in some dim yesterday?

I half remember how the birds were mute

Among green leaves and tulip-tinted fruit,

And on the grass, beside a stream, we lay

In early twilight; faintly, far away,

Came lovely sounds adrift from silver lute,

With answered echoes of an airy flute,

While Twilight waited tiptoe, fain to stay.

Her violet eyes were sweet with mystery.

You looked in mine, the music rose and fell

Like little, lisping laughter of the sea;

Our souls were barks, wind-wafted from the shore—

Gold cup, a rose, a ruby, who can tell?

Soft—music ceases—I recall no more.

XIII

Alpha and Omega

I died to-day, and yet upon my eyes

A glamour of the gorgeous summer green

Still wavers, and my brain has kept a keen,

Sweet bird-song. Glad with light, the summer skies

Are sapphire, and a purple shadow lies

Across the hills—no change is on the scene

Since happy yesterday. Ah! can it mean

The body lives when stricken spirit dies?

The blow has fallen, yet I can recall

The first of days when this dead heart drew breath—

A wondrous moon-flower waking of a heart.

Strange—then as now the moment seemed to part

Body from soul, so like are birth and death;

So did I gain, and so I lost my all.

XIV

Flowers of Ice

The lights within the ice-floes are our flowers,

Lily and daffodil and violet.

Beneath these monstrous suns that never set

Tremble soft rainbows, young as Earth’s first hours,

Ancient as Time. No balm of gentle showers

Make for their growth; for them, gigantic, met

The immemorial ice and sun, to get

Such blossoms—pledge of Beauty’s bravest powers.

Violet and pale grass-green, the Spring-time dies

In the soft South. To us, in this grim world,

Daring with frozen heart and tearless eyes

The North’s white sanctity, Fate idly throws

These alms—a deathless Spring of ice enfurled,

And over all, far flung, the sunset rose.

XV

Love and Death

I can believe that my Beloved dies,

That all her virtue, all her youth shall fail,

And life, her rosy life, grow cold and pale,

To bloom again in braver Paradise.

I must believe that death shall close her eyes,

And hold her heart beyond a heavy veil,

Where silences surround her spirit frail

And waste the form where all my loving lies.

Ah, God! but no. And is my love so weak?

Her heart may pause, may falter and grow still,

But not her laugh, the color in her cheek—

That may not fade; the catch that lifts her breath,

Sobbing against my heart. Essay your will—

These are too dear to fill your grave, O Death!

XVI

The Message

When one has heard the message of the Rose,

For what faint other calling shall he care?

Dark broodings turn to find their lonely lair;

The vain world keeps her posturing and pose.

He, with his crimson secret, which bestows

Heaven on his heart, to Heaven lifts his prayer,

And knows all glory trembling through the air

As on triumphal journeying he goes.

So through green woodlands in the twilight dim,

Led by the faint, pale argent of a star,

What though to others it is weary night,

Nature holds out her wide, sweet heart to him;

And, leaning o’er the world’s mysterious bar,

His soul is great with everlasting light.

XVII

Tempest and Calm

First came the tempest, and the world was torn

Upon its mighty passion—all the deep

Trembled before it. From the haggard steep

To the sweet valley with its brooding corn,

Its foaming lips in expletives of scorn

Lashed into life the world’s eternal sleep;

Then, caught with madness, in gigantic leap

Expired upon the heights where it was born.

And then a hush—the dripping, tender rain

Falls in warm tears. The thunder could not wake

The grief that silence in her soul has furled.

Soft sighs the wind, the sea is gray with pain—

The fulness of a heart too tense to break—

And deep, unuttered sadness in the world.

XVIII

After Rain

The country road at lonely close of day

Rests for a while from the long stress of rain;

Dripping and bowed, the green walls of the lane

Reflect no glistening light, no colors gay

Has dying Summer left. The sky is gray,

As though the weeping had not eased the pain.

The Autumn is not yet, and all in vain

Seems Summer’s life—a blossom cast away.

The air is hushed, save in the emerald shade

The rain still drips and stirs each fretting leaf

To soft insistence of its little grief.

The hopeless calm all thought of life denies—

But hark! out through the silence, unafraid,

A robin ripples to the chilly skies.

XIX

Not through this Door

Not through this door of elemental calm,

Patient, wet woodland, resting after rain,

Brooding brown fields that wait the sleeping grain—

Not through this door may the wrecked spirit’s balm—

Come in and take possession. There’s a psalm

Nature has crooned to weariness and pain,

Easing the tumult of the world-worn brain,

Sweet, wholesome mother of the open palm.

But the disastrous heart cries out for men,

Strife where the fight is reddest. Verily

Peace comes with fighting with the strength of ten,

Here where the world is young, with naught to see.

But day blow out across the long, low sky—

Peace means an emptiness, which rests to die.

XX

Pot-Pourri

All my dead roses! Now I lay them here,

Shrined in a beryl cup. The mysteries

Of their sweet hauntings and their witcheries

Are not more subtle than this jewel clear,

Are not more cold and dead. The winter’s spear

Has fallen on their heart, a heart so wise

With lore of love. Dead roses. Beauty lies

Hid in a perfume still supremely dear.

Roses of love, time killed you one by one,

Laughed at my pains as sad I gathered up

All the fair petals banished from the sun.

Witness my triumph—how the dead loves bless

Life—from my heart, which is their beryl cup,

Crowning the winter of my loneliness.

XXI

Eadem Semper

How shall I hold you? By a scimitar

Of flashing wit suspended o’er your head,

Oh, my Beloved? Or with lips rose-red

Lure you to Lethe? Shall I stand afar,

Pale and remote and distant as a star,

Challenging love? Or by a scarlet thread

Jealousy’s wiles, beguile by scorn and dread?

Wounding the heart I love with hateful scar.

Nay, I can take no action, play no play;

All my wit falters when I hear you speak,

All my wise guile with which your wooing strove

Vanishes as the sun of yesterday.

I can but lay my cheek against your cheek—

Love me or leave me, I can only love.

XXII

To a Woman

Take all of me, pour out my life as wine,

To dye your soul’s sweet shallows. Violent sin

Blazed me a path, and I have walked therein,

Strong, unashamed. Your timorous hands need mine,

As the white stars their sky, your lips’ pale line

Shall blush to roses where my lips have been.

I ask no more. I do not hope to win—

Only to add myself to your design.

Take all of me. I know your little lies,

Your light dishonor, gentle treacheries.

I know, I lie in torment at your feet,

Shadow to all your sun. Take me and go,

Use my adoring to your honor, sweet,

Strength for your weakness—it is better so.

XXIII

Aspiration

I

The pale and misty particles of Time

Hover about us; scarce our eyes can see

Youth’s far-off dream of what we were to be.

Life’s truth, which once we would redeem with rhyme,

Has proved instead a world-worn pantomime.

The running river of expediency

Has drowned the hopes that Fortune held in fee—

Why fall upon the track so many climb?

Why strive to speak what all the earth has heard?

Why labor at a work the ages plan?—

Life has been lived so oft—an outworn thing!

Then hark! the time-sweet carol of a bird,

New as a flower; and see—ah, shame to man!

The endless aspiration of the Spring.

XXIV

Aspiration

II

The full throat of the world is charged with song,

Morning and twilight melt with ecstasy

In the high heat of noon. Simply to be,

Palpitant where the green spring forces throng,

Eager for life, life unashamed and strong—

This is desire fulfilled. Exalted, free,

The spirit gains her ether, scornfully

Denies existence that is dark or wrong.

This is enough, to see the song begun

Which shall be finished in some field afar.

Laugh that the night may still contain a star,

Nor idly moan your impotence of grace.

Life is a song, lift up your care-free face

Gladly and gratefully toward the sun.

XXV

The Gypsy Blood

He gives me happiness, as flowers depend

On loyal sun and shower. I look to love

To give me life. Why is it not enough?

Divine contentment, stretching without end

O’er happy meadows. He’s my love, my friend,

And peace is in the word. You—heart’s despair—

Sweep like a tempest through my sunsweet air,

Wail like a lost soul through my blossomed grove.

Tempest and calm, with him my heart might rest,

Lulled by eternal spring. The dream is blest,

Yet the wild grapes you crush make life divine.

Out in the pathless dark, all yours, I go,

Brave with the purple promise of the wine.

You, you I love, because you bring me woe.

XXVI

Not Dead but Sleeping

And if I came, ah, if I came again,

And laid my hand on your forgetful heart,

Where once it lay so warm, could the pulse start,

Remembering Spring? Now, at the sound of rain,

I do but turn a little in disdain

To see the flowers renew their lovely part,

Blooming afresh. For memory holds no smart,

Love aches no more to know how it was slain.

Yet if I came to you who heed no more

My name upon the wind? Love’s ghost, lean near,

I have a word that only you may hear.

If you should come to me with dear desire,

My soul’s dry staff should tremble to its core

And flame against your touch in buds of fire.

XXVII

The Last Gift

What shall I give to her who will not care

If I give soul or roses, will not know

How that, for sweets she’ll spend, light smiles she’ll sow,

I will reap bitter tears? If she could wear

Those tears as stars to sparkle in her hair!

What shall I give? I have not fall’n so low

I may not lay one gift before I go

Upon the altar of my heart’s despair.

She will not know; yet, in my love a king,

I must be worthy of my crown and throne,

And so can sacrifice no little thing.

My life, my soul are worthless since her scorn.

Slay we then love on love’s red altar-stone—

Beggared of all, I face the world forlorn.

XXVIII

Amor Mysticus

Not you, nor all the gauds that Fate bestows,

Can make me swerve so little from my dream.

Across my veil of mystery you seem

Perhaps a little dearer than the rose,

Perhaps more fair than the long light that flows

Between the lids of twilight. But the gleam

Of iris on the breast of wisdom’s stream

Is of a radiance that no rival knows.

My heart is not my heart, or it might chance

To sorrow for the sorrow in your tears;

My soul is locked against all circumstance

Of life or love or death or heaven or hell;

I have no place for laughter in my years,

No room where little, little love might dwell.

XXIX

The Pattern of the Earth

The pattern of the earth, so wonderful,

Is, more than myrtle, very dear to me.

Across the avenue of limes I see

A little mist by ghosts made magical,

Tossing across the hills, more beautiful

Than the deep eyes of amber women, free

Of shame and of disdain, on some far sea

Swept by trade-winds the sun makes lyrical.

There is no air the mind may not recall,

Blown from the violet-beds of Greece; and all

The moons who drop their shattered petals here

Live from the days which hid Semiramis.

Breezes upon my lips are subtly dear,

Because they bear the burden of her kiss.

XXX

Disguised

The beggar thoughts pass down the lanes of day,

And on the thorns that are the hours I find

Their tatters and their rags. Infirm and blind,

They faded in the void, and all the way

Mouthed senseless jeers at me. I dared not pray

For wisdom from these fools who throng the mind

And leave no gifts but bitterness behind.

Chin upon hand, I watched, nor bade them stay.

Then wearily and indolently glanced

Where the thorns fluttered with their flags, and, lo,

Fragments of cloth of silver gleamed and danced

In the late sun, and linen white as snow

Among the beggar thoughts, with lowered eyes,

Princes and kings had wandered in disguise.

SONGS

I

On the White Road

There’s a white, white road lies under the swinging moon,

Stretched from the black of the deep to the black of the deep,

And midway the graveyard lies, with its leaves a-croon,

The only sound of the world, like a dream in sleep.

There’s a white, white grave lies under the graveyard trees,

Hung on the road as a single pearl on a thread,

And silence waits, beast crouched, on the rim of the breeze,

That moans where the only man in the world lies dead.

II

The Wanderer

Have I finished my life, am I done?

Is my heart-blood thin and cold,

That I gnaw the bones of the town?

Am I empty and old?

My flags are the chimneys’ grime,

Tossed on a languid breeze.

Have I dreamed of the roaring rhyme,

A storm through the trees?

The snow in the streets is black,

Profaned with the city’s sin;

I know of a star-lit track

Where God’s hand has been.

Have I finished with snow and sun,

With the wind on the open plain,

That I starve in the barren town—

Is my life in vain?

III

False

The black sky stretches to the pallid sea,

As a false love and a dismantled heart.

Empty of faith and eager to depart.

He takes her yet once more, submissively,

Against his lips, then, laughing, drifts away

Swiftly within the dawning of the day.

Blindly she tosses up her foam-white hands,

Crying for mercy, and the wind—her hair—

Lashes the wide-sailed ships and leaves them bare.

Blindly she hurls her rage against the sands.

There, in the cold sky where her love had lain

Scornful, aloof, the sun reviews her pain.

IV

A Song of the Oregon Trail

How long the trail! How far the goal!

Last year the moons might come and go

Like dancing shadows on the snow.

My heart was light, my heart was strong;

I cared not though the way be long;

But now—the end is you—my soul!—

I fear the dark, I fear the dread

White frost that hovers round my heart,

The cold, high sun, and, wide apart,

The frozen, pitiless stars above.

So far, so far from my true love,

And, oh! I fear, I fear the dead!

I fear their fingers, grasping and pale.

I did not fear the dead last year—

But now, the kisses of my dear!

The breast of her, so kind and warm,

Ah, heart! I must not come to harm—

How far the goal! How long the trail!

V

The Apple-Tree

The apple-tree is white with snow,

My heart is empty as the day;

The white hours indolently go

Graveward, because my love’s away.

Months lag, then spring and love’s return—

Yet once again I seem to see,

Flushed with delight, as kisses burn,

White snow upon the apple-tree.

VI

Silver and Rose

Pale as a petulant star,

She held up her face to his love;

Her spirit from his dwelt afar

As the sky from the sea is above.

Yet he gazed till her whiteness was rose,

Dawn bright with the morning above—

As the sea from the sky wakes and glows,

So his image was mirrored in love.

VII

To-Morrow

To-morrow and to-morrow—shall there be

Perchance a morrow when I may not see

Your face beside me any more? Ah, no!

My love, my love, I cannot let you go.

Like sun in Egypt, ever kind and fair,

My heart must wake at dawn and know you there—

No dread of day which holds a weeping rain,

No dread of chilly love and bitter pain,

But ever present, ever wise and true,

To-morrow and to-morrow holding you.

VIII

The Greater Joy

Not that young Joy who looked with laughing eyes,

That jocund sprite with open, idle fingers

Stretched to the dawn, the dawn whose gold light lingers

Across the far blue hills of Paradise.

Not that young Joy, but one courageous, calm,

Who—passed beyond the quiet morning meadows

Beyond the dawn of life’s delicious shadows—

Holds the great sun and moon in either palm.

In her wise heart she takes that little Joy,

Kisses to sleep tired eyes with laughter over,

Pointing to greater joys in heights above her—

This shall be ours whom fate would fain destroy.

IX

The Rose-Colored Camelia-Tree

Stained by the ardent silver of the stars,

Glitter the leaves, a challenge to the day—

The bright, fierce flame of naked scimitars

Holds still the argent night, folded away.

Challenging day, yet, lovelier than light,

Blushing with dawn the flick’ring leaves between,

Burn the rose blossoms, traitors to the night—

Color of joy upon the tranquil green.

Brave to the amorous sun, who, fearing, grieves,

At last the tree’s whole heart with love is crowned—

The rose-red flowers warm against the leaves,

The rose-red petals sweet against the ground.

X

Good-Bye Sorrow

Day that began with a tear,

Will you end with a sigh?

Stay! See the blossoming year,

Laugh up to the sky.

Nay, here’s a hope for your fear,

Sweet sorrow—good-bye!

XI

In Harbor

My little boat is in a bay,

It swings with gentle motion,

And there I lie and watch all day

The far-off, noisy ocean.

The ships go up, the ships go down,

And never see me spying.

They are the pride and fear of town—

Sails wide and colors flying.

They are so strong, they are so tall,

They fear no storm, no sorrow;

With brave eyes to the sun, they all

Set sail for some to-morrow.

Sometimes I long to range and roam,

My harbor life bewailing,

But little boats must bide at home,

To gayly speed the sailing.

XII

Rosa Mundi

O life that flowered at the very top of the tree,

Redder than all the roses out of the South,

This was the blossom colored and wrought for me,

Sweeter than scarlet bloom of a maiden’s mouth.

Fain would I climb, and fain would I reach the flower.

Ah, but the tree was tall as the flower was fair!

Weary I grew and slept through the noonday hour;

Winds caught my fate and strewed it over the air.

XIII

The Ribbon

Ah, dearest, dearest, not alone

I face the day’s white monotone.

The fair, bright ribbon of the hours—

A mountain brook bestead through flowers—

Runs, a dear line, from you to you.

There is no smallest deed I do

Through which the ribbon does not run,

A silver string to pearls of sun.

So glad I watch the moments fly

Across the high-hung summer sky,

Till in a radiant flame they burn,

To mark the hour of your return.

XIV

The Aster

The little vagrant gypsy flower

Has blossomed forth again—

Your face against the autumn sky,

Your face against the rain.

The fevered youth of summer days

Has passed away in tears.

The aged winter totters down

The pathway of the years.

Yet, nodding, luring, laughing o’er

The tired world’s pain and scars,

Joyous I find between my hands

Your face—in aster stars.

XV

Heart and Hand

Singing, he smote his heart—

The woman smiled,

And Love leaped, flaming,

Into being—wild.

Singing, he smote his hands—

The woman sighed,

And Love grew weary,

Turned his face, and died.

XVI

The Golden Fruit

I lacked not Love, I lacked not lovely Love,

But, ah, the apples of Hesperides!

The golden apples and the emerald trees,

The flower-sweet maidens, dancing in the breeze—

Holds Love a blossom with such fruits as these?

I gave up Love, I gave up lovely Love,

And sought the island of enchanted skies,

With little rainbow rifts of seraphs’ eyes,

Round which the flaming sword forever plies

Against the darkened world of rue and sighs.

Alas for Love! alas for lovely Love!

In dreams I heard the beating of his wing;

His soft voice, beautiful as sea in spring,

Mourned through the empty songs the seraphs sing;

Life seemed in sleep more dear than everything.

Take me back, Love; take me back, lovely Love.

Dark winds may drive me o’er thy tyrannous seas—

Life is a world that breaks the thing it frees.

I would be bound in all thy masteries—

Yet, ah, the apples of Hesperides!

XVII

To a Moth

Spirit of evil, heavily flying, turning,

Dropping to earth,

Caught to the light, with brown wings torn and burning,

Whence was your birth?

Was there a cause that, ceaselessly turning, flying,

Drew you from night?

All that we know is this—the aimless dying,

Killed by the light.

Evil the star that led you, spirit of evil,

Out of your dark,

Breeding desire that conquers us, man and devil—

Passion’s red spark.

XVIII

Winter Song

Oh, it’s winter, winter, when you’re here,

And summer when you’re gone.

What need of birds when hearts sing clear,

From dusk of day to dawn?

The noble wind, the silver snow,

High stars, and, best of all,

The red-rose hearth—a golden glow

When twilight curtains fall.

Who’d cry the heat of summer skies,

The bare, despairing sun,

The languid flowers, with closing eyes,

The earth’s fair wooing done?

The possibilities of spring,

The reticence of bliss,

Love with the winter’s argent wing,

We’ll scorn the sun for this.

XIX

Youth

Youth and its pensive agonies! How soon

The restless heart forgets to crave the moon!

Age is too weary for the butterflies—

Spring’s rainbow radiance fluttering through sweet skies,

Hope merrily deferred. We see the morn,

We who are old, in shattered fragments. Scorn

For laughter and for singing clouds our breast.

Youth, take your fill of pleasure, for the rest

Of Age is endless. Sing, nor grudge the song—

Youth is so short, and Age, quiet Age, so long!

XX

Persephone

Persephone, Persephone—her sweet face wanders up to me,

Through this bewildering maze of spring.

At length she daunts the tyrannous year,

Her little laugh usurps the tear,

Her little song she dares to fling

Against the black stars, merrily.

Persephone, Persephone—her hands lean through the spring to me.

Sweet, could I show you in what wise

Your song has blossomed—how the air

Is mad with gold because your hair,

Tossed golden ’neath your sea-blue eyes,

And earth goes laughing with your glee?

Persephone, Persephone, this hour sends out your heart to me.

Child of the Dark, with soul sun-bright,

Ah, give me largesse, give me May,

So shall I charm the saddest day,

And life—one amber dawn’s delight—

Shall bear your song eternally.

XXI

Étoiles d’Enfer

The four wide winds of evening have their stars,

Fashioned in fire, in purity of snow,

Tossed to their height by endless avatars—

These all the righteous know.

What of the stars of Hades? On the gloom

The outcast see them shine like angels’ eyes,

And in the living night that is their tomb

They dream of Paradise.

They know the stars of Hades. They are deeds,

Wickedly born, which came to good at last—

Fair blossoms spring from villany of weeds,

Rest—and redeem the past.

XXII

Enough of Singing

Enough of singing; since your heart is tired,

We’ll leave the lute, so long, so long desired,

And in the silence speak one quiet word,

Simple as earth, forgetting song and bird.

No more of singing; mating-time has sped,

In the broad fields the poppy-lips are red.

Crush them, Beloved, drink the lethe deep;

Song being dead, what else is left but sleep?

XXIII

Truth

Up from the soul, as a blade of grass from the sod,

Springs the intent of the prayer as a cry to God.

Blossoms may veil it or visions with ways uncouth,

He sees the ultimate grass-blade, the heart of Truth.

XXIV

The Philosopher

The grim immensities are mine,

The sunlight on the brook is theirs;

I drink the lees of bitter wine,

Fate grants a gift to all their prayers.

I stammer, all afire to tell

The thoughts that urge for life like pain;

For them words brim the shallow well

Like easy drops of summer rain.

And which, ah, Heaven, which is best—

The little lute for every mood,

Or, shrinking coldly from life’s test,

The heights and depths of solitude?

XXV

Prayers

Prayers that were birds winging wide,

Daring the flame of the sun,

How have you faltered and died,

Now the day’s done!

Prayers must be brave for the dark,

Strong for the chill of the star,

Fearing no fate to embark

Over the bar.

Prayers of the sun and the moon,

Prayers for the sky and the nest,

All must reach haven so soon—

Which shall reach rest?

XXVI

A South-Sea Lover Scorned

When the red coral of your lip is pale

As the bleached sea-sand, ah, wearily, wearily,

Will you behold your face, your fingers frail,

Gnarled like a wind-blown tree; your star-bright eyes

Blind as a cloudy midnight without moon.

No more fair necklaces nor scarlet dyes

Can make you cruel to men, for soon, so soon,

Your heart will bear the years—ah, wearily, wearily.

Then I, your scorn, shall still be man and chief;

Turning to free your hands so carelessly, carelessly,

You will be dead to love past all belief.

Still round the slender columns of the palm

The moon shall lie in shivering, silver pools,

Still shall the trades lash through the summer calm

While twilight with her smile the island cools

And Time forgets your presence, carelessly, carelessly.

XXVII

In May

Blithe Nature leaned to kiss her favorite child,

Her sunshine hair about her bosom swirled;

Gay Baby Spring held out his hands, he smiled,

And Apple-Blossoms dimpled on the world.

XXVIII

For Your Sake

Bid me for your sake,

Not for self or right—

You alone can wake

Power to gain the fight.

In your name I’d dare

Aught in earth’s great bounds;

Forth my sins should fare,

Leashed like cringing hounds.

When you touch my hand,

Through your holy eyes

I can see the land

Where is Paradise.

Yet I may not go,

Leaving cold and night,

Till your soul of snow

Sees that mine is white.

Let my heart not break

Till I kill my sin;

Bid me for your sake

Fight the world—and win!

XXIX

Lyric Love

The world deserves its wisdom. You and I,

Serene within the shadow, crowned with hours,

Cinctured with solitude, the bended sky

Folds us in hues of tulip twilight flowers.

Knowledge is chill; your hair is warm with gold,

A lock lies heavily across your cheek.

I somewhere heard of darkness, pain, and cold—

Keep your own, world. Ah, Love, stir not nor speak.

XXX

Be Still

Be still, be still, vex not the night with sound,

The moon has laid her finger on the lake,

And in the shadows of the wood profound

There lies a peace we would profane to break.

Upon the lonely avenue of trees,

As pearls upon an airy silver string,

Are caught the threaded echoes of the breeze

That sets the ruffled leaves a-murmuring.

Be still, dear heart, as though ’twere death to speak.

Love waits you, lily-like, with leaves unfurled,

While on the breast of day night lays her cheek,

The silence speaks the secret of the world.

XXXI

Butterfly Words

Butterfly words from the sun in my brain,

Flitting and darting and flitting again,

Gleaming of golden and violet and rose,

What is the rainbow you spring from, and where?

Butterflies daintily poise and disclose,

Whence is this secret of color you bear?

Sun that is ruddy and fragrant with flowers,

Garnered and hid from these desolate hours,

Misty with beauty, the silver of spring—

Ah, for the ways that are lost to my feet!

Only the dip of the butterfly wing,

Poised for a moment, revives me the sweet.

XXXII

Music

Music has opened her hands,

Through fingers her jewels are falling,

Fingers so delicate slender,

Pale as the ghost of a flower.

Jewels of crimson, the life

Ebbing from hearts that are broken,

Roses and wine and red sunsets,

Flames of undying desire.

Jewels of azure, the sea

Dreaming of stars, and the morning

Dancing with life, then the silence

Blue of mysterious caves.

Jewels of green, and the grass

Lifts up its hands to the summer,

Hiding insidious serpents,

Fair as the sweets that are sin.

Jewels more bright than the sun

Music lets fall from her fingers.

We who have stood in the shadow—

How may we die for her sake?

XXXIII

The Ghost

You came and you went, and I swept you aside, not a trace

Does my wisdom endure of your words and your beautiful face

And the curls of your hair;

Yet your presence, a song, murmurs ever in hopeless refrain,

And I wake in the night with my empty hands yearning in vain

For the touch of your hair.

You went, and I triumphed—I crushed out my heart with a kiss

On the lips that are ashen, forgetting spring’s wonderful bliss

And your tremulous lips;

Yet the kisses were ghostly with jasmine, dear jasmine of May—

The new has the soul of the old, is aflame with the way

And the touch of your lips.

You came and you went, and the world wearies on with its game.

My heart never falters or fears at the sound of your name

Or the sight of your face;

Yet the ghost of our passion stands white in the midst of my heart,

With your hands and your hair, and I know it will never depart

Passion’s ghost with your face!

XXXIV

Fight!

Fight, though the bulwarks of your faith may fall,

Life become gray and full of weariness,

Love prove a lie and wisdom bitterness—

Fight, for the strife alone avails for all.

Fight and fight on, exulting in the light,

Standing alert and upright gleefully,

Seizing life’s joys and woes courageously,

Man to the end, and master—laugh and fight.

XXXV

In Tonga

The windy rain beats, beats about my door—

Alas for love when love goes wandering!

The dawn mist rises on the forest floor—

Alas for life when love goes wandering!

With wet, green leaves the palm-trees lash the night,

The pitiless trades drive wild gods in their flight.

And, ah, my lover! Moons have come and gone,

The fighting ended, still he lingers on.

Sleepless I hear the demon wind above—

Alas for love when love goes wandering!

And I must wed with one I do not love—

Alas for life when love goes wandering!

XXXVI

This was the Song

We have forgotten. This the rowers knew,

Straining within the galleys’ reeling night.

Life bent to breaking, while their great souls grew

Strong in the ancient purposes of Time.

This was the song whereby they made their fight,

Laughed as they swung. Gods! how the cord bit through!

This was the song the pagan lovers heard,

Wakened by flowers in a rose-red dawn.

Through the bright dew they fled, like ocean stirred

With morning. Bare and beautiful they ran,

Holding each other’s hand. Through leaves they’re gone,

Cleaving the silver pool with flash of bird.

Carven in stone, Abydos holds it fast—

The little Eastern dancer with her lute,

Wild Erin’s faeries crying for the past.

They keep the deathless secret of the word

Hid behind Nature’s lips, who, grave, remote,

Guard this from profanation till the last.

Not unto us who bide the ebb and flow,

The senseless order of the tide of law.

We have forgotten to be free; we know

Only the iteration of the day.

The priceless moon, white pearl without a flaw,

Drowns in the muddy stream of worldly woe.

We take the petty part and leave the whole.

Lost to our ken the song of Nature’s youth—

The great barbaric winds that sweep the soul

And leave it emptied of all else but truth.

XXXVII

To E. D.

She wrought her songs in secret ways,

Yet cared not where they fell;

Her soul distilled itself like dews

In rue and asphodel.

They fell in countless happy hearts,

Made wise by sun and showers,

Like pollen blown about the earth,

Conceiving royal flowers.

XXXVIII

The Dance

Like little, eager children

The tiptoe tulips stand,

Row upon row of dancing heads

In joyous saraband.

With lithe, long emerald petticoats,

And happy hands tossed up,

The sunshine is the laughter

That brims their golden cup.

XXXIX

Vanquished

Heart, here are roses burning with the South—

(“Fairer was her false mouth”)—

Close your tired eyes, the twilight gives you rest—

(“Cool was her snowy breast”).

Take of the sunshine, nor remember rain—

(“Love is a cruel pain”)—

Hush! you shall sleep forgetting love’s alarms—

(“Sleep died in her false arms”).

XL

Tranquillity

Do you respect the heavy-lidded flowers

That nod so drowsily upon their bed?

Can you endure the slow-stepped, dreamy hours

That fall, indifferent, to gold and red?

Have you the key that opens to green arches

Where trees repeat their prayers in monotone?

Then take my hand down life’s mysterious marches,

And let us walk in silence and alone.

TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE:

No changes have been made from the original book; this e-text is a faithful transcription of the author’s words and intent.

*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SONNETS AND SONGS ***

Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will be renamed.

Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG™ concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use of the Project Gutenberg trademark. If you do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and research. Project Gutenberg eBooks may be modified and printed and given away—you may do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks not protected by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the trademark license, especially commercial redistribution.

START: FULL LICENSE

THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE

PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK

To protect the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting the free distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work (or any other work associated in any way with the phrase “Project Gutenberg”), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project Gutenberg™ License available with this file or online at www.gutenberg.org/license.

Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works

1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg™ electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property (trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in your possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project Gutenberg™ electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.

1.B. “Project Gutenberg” is a registered trademark. It may only be used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg™ electronic works even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project Gutenberg™ electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg™ electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below.

1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (“the Foundation” or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the United States and you are located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg™ works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg™ name associated with the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg™ License when you share it without charge with others.

1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project Gutenberg™ work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any country other than the United States.

1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:

1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg™ License must appear prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg™ work (any work on which the phrase “Project Gutenberg” appears, or with which the phrase “Project Gutenberg” is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, copied or distributed:

This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook.

1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase “Project Gutenberg” associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg™ trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.

1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is posted with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked to the Project Gutenberg™ License for all works posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.

1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg™ License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg™.

1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project Gutenberg™ License.

1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg™ work in a format other than “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other format used in the official version posted on the official Project Gutenberg™ website (www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg™ License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.

1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg™ works unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.

1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing access to or distributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works provided that:

- • You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from the use of Project Gutenberg™ works calculated using the method you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark, but he has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in Section 4, “Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.”

- • You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg™ License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg™ works.

- • You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of receipt of the work.

- • You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free distribution of Project Gutenberg™ works.

1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg™ electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the manager of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark. Contact the Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.

1.F.

1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project Gutenberg™ collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg™ electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain “Defects,” such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment.

1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the “Right of Replacement or Refund” described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark, and any other party distributing a Project Gutenberg™ electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further opportunities to fix the problem.

1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you ‘AS-IS’, WITH NO OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.

1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.

1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone providing copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg™ work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg™ work, and (c) any Defect you cause.

Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg™

Project Gutenberg™ is synonymous with the free distribution of electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from people in all walks of life.

Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg™’s goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg™ collection will remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure and permanent future for Project Gutenberg™ and future generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at www.gutenberg.org.

Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation

The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non-profit 501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal Revenue Service. The Foundation’s EIN or federal tax identification number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state’s laws.

The Foundation’s business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up to date contact information can be found at the Foundation’s website and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact

Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation

Project Gutenberg™ depends upon and cannot survive without widespread public support and donations to carry out its mission of increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be freely distributed in machine-readable form accessible by the widest array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations ($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt status with the IRS.

The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate.

While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who approach us with offers to donate.

International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.

Please check the Project Gutenberg web pages for current donation methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate.

Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg™ electronic works

Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg™ concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and distributed Project Gutenberg™ eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.

Project Gutenberg™ eBooks are often created from several printed editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.

Most people start at our website which has the main PG search facility: www.gutenberg.org.

This website includes information about Project Gutenberg™, including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.

Table of Contents

SONNETS

AND SONGS

HELEN HAY WHITNEY

NEW YORK AND LONDON

HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS

MCMV

TO

P. W.

Contents

SONNETS

I Ave atque Vale

II “Chaque baiser vaut un roman.”

III As a Pale Child

IV Flower of the Clove

V Too Late

VI The Supreme Sacrifice

VII Malua

VIII Love’s Legacy

IX How we would Live!

X In Extremis

XI The Forgiveness

XII With Music

XIII Alpha and Omega

XIV Flowers of Ice

XV Love and Death

XVI The Message

XVII Tempest and Calm

XVIII After Rain

XIX Not through this Door

XX Pot-Pourri

XXI Eadem Semper

XXII To a Woman

XXIII Aspiration I

XXIV Aspiration II

XXV The Gypsy Blood

XXVI Not Dead but Sleeping

XXVII The Last Gift

XXVIII Amor Mysticus

XXIX The Pattern of the Earth

XXX Disguised

SONGS

I On the White Road

II The Wanderer

III False

IV A Song of the Oregon Trail

V The Apple-Tree

VI Silver and Rose

VII To-Morrow

VIII The Greater Joy

IX The Rose-Colored Camelia-Tree

X Good-Bye Sorrow

XI In Harbor

XII Rosa Mundi

XIII The Ribbon

XIV The Aster

XV Heart and Hand

XVI The Golden Fruit

XVII To a Moth

XVIII Winter Song

XIX Youth

XX Persephone

XXI Étoiles d’Enfer

XXII Enough of Singing

XXIII Truth

XXIV The Philosopher

XXV Prayers

XXVI A South-Sea Lover Scorned

XXVII In May

XXVIII For Your Sake

XXIX Lyric Love

XXX Be Still

XXXI Butterfly Words

XXXII Music

XXXIII The Ghost

XXXIV Fight!

XXXV In Tonga

XXXVI This was the Song

XXXVII To E. D.

XXXVIII The Dance

XXXIX Vanquished

XL Tranquillity

Transcriber’s Note:

THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE