The Snowflake, and Other Poems

The Snowflake, and Other Poems

Title: The Snowflake, and Other Poems Author: Arthur Weir Release Date: November 28, 2016 [EBook #53623] Language: English Credits: Produced by Larry B. Harrison, Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive) Fierce Neptunes daughter, beneath the water, In grottoes cool dwelt I, And, laughing, hid in the seashells lid, As fishes arrowed by. My feet were free to the undersea; I played amidst its gloom, And in the deep where the mermaids weep Above the heros tomb, Where the sea snake strips dainty maiden lips Of kisses once so warm, And the lifeless child, by the eddies wild, Is torn from the mothers arm. The foam-browed billow my head would pillow Upon its bosom fair, While the restless sweep of the moon-led deep Would drift us here and there. I oft would float in the dainty boat The Nautilus oared for me, Out, far, far out, where a noisy rout Of breakers leapt in glee; Or further urge to the worlds dim verge, Where heaven meets the wave, And the seagulls wing was the only thing To follow us was brave.{2} Then called by the blast, as it glided past, I would turn and clap my hands, As the waves were tossed on the tropic coast, And furrowed the silver sands. Where, with weedy locks, the bare limbed rocks Bend over the foaming sea, I oft resorted, and, as I sported, The sunbeams played with me. We would dance all day in the prismed spray, Or in the blossoms hide, That, trembling, clung to the crags and hung Above the boiling tide. Oftimes the cool, green depths of a pool Would lure me down to rest, Till the sunbeams came in a path of flame And found me in my nest. With colors gaily they decked me daily, And tempted me to fly Afar from the foam of my ocean home Aloft in the cloudless sky. But I said them nay, for the leaping spray, And cool, green depths of sea, Than the flight of birds and the sunbeams words Were dearer far to me. I had seen, I said, to the sky oerhead My sisters, laughing, soar For a merry flight through the azure bright, And never saw them more. I love my home in the ocean foam, I love the moonlit sands,{3} And I would sigh in the depths of sky And die in distant lands. But who can prove to the plea of love, Unyielding and unkind? At loves low call we hasten all, Like leaves at the voice of wind. And ere the moon at the nights high noon Had twelve times orbed grown, My heart was stirred at a whispered word, My soul was not mine own. My lover was fair as the balmy air That follows after storm, When the careless sea, with a song of glee, Trips over the shallows warm. He was the first through the gloom that burst To bring the dawn to me, And he was the last from my sight that passed When darkness walked the sea. One shimmering day, as asleep I lay Upon the tide-worn sand, He stole apart, with an eager heart, From all the sunny band. He came to me, as I lay thought free, And bent my couch above, And while I slumbered, with words unnumbered, He pleaded for my love; Then as I woke at the words he spoke, And rising turned to flee, I was closely pressed to his ardent breast, And kisses were rained on me.{4} My hearts own dearest, he cried, why fearest Thou to take flight with me? Is there aught more fair than the realms of air In yonder sullen sea? Is the sea-gulls scream or the under gleam Of billows rushing by More sweet to thee than the melody Of larks in the azure sky? Oh, be thou my bride, and side by side Well float upon the breeze Oer river and town, oer forest and down, Wherever we twain shall please. Well swim in the wine of the luscious vine Which brims the crystal high, And when of her lover the fond words move her, Well dance in the maidens eye. Well scale vast mountains and oer gay fountains Hover in noons warm glare, And when night lowers, shall sleep in flowers That sway in the dewy air. And shouldst thou tire, nor more desire The airy plains to roam, But pine again for the leaping main And the drench of flying foam, We need but glide on the leaf-sown tide Of some swift coursing stream To our home at last, and the happy past Shall be but a varied dream. I could but yield as he thus appealed, And clasping hand in hand,{5} With a parting glance at the seas expanse, Dun rocks and silver strand, We mounted high in the glowing sky, And, leaving home behind, Fared swiftly forth to the distant north Upon the balmy wind. Oer tangled brakes where the twilight makes For evermore its home, And the tiger sleeps and the cobra creeps, And prowling jackals roam, We floated fast, till the hills, at last, To bar our path appeared, And many a peak its forehead bleak And tawny flanks upreared. Oer many a cleft in the rocks bereft Of life and the sunlights sheen, Wild torrents were hurled to the under world, And wheeled the eagles keen. In faltering lines, the famished pines Pressed up the mountain sides, And sang to the blast, as it hurried past, The song of the ocean tides, Till I yearned once more for the tropic shore Beside the emerald waves, And my sisters gay and the dashing spray And oceans weedy caves. On, on we went, till the distance lent The hills an azure hue, And the earth beneath was a naked heath Where winds in anger blew.{6} We saw the smoke like a wave that broke Above the homes of men, And in the bowers of the meadow flowers Took rest for flight again. A myriad sights were a thousand delights As on through space we sped, But the happy day soon faded away And the sun in the west lay dead. Then the shadows of death with their icy breath Drew ever more surely nigh, And in frightened crowds the murky clouds Swept under the ebon sky. Afar in the north a fire flamed forth And flickered with ghastly light, Like a lamp that burns when a soul returns To God in the dead of night. Gloom blotted the hills and the tinkling rills Were bound in frosty chains, And the flowers once gay all lifeless lay Upon the dreary plains. There was no sound in the air around, No voice upon earth below, Save the angry beat of the wild winds feet, That wandered to and fro. In a frenzy of fear, with many a tear, I clung to my darlings breast, For the wintry night with its baleful light My timorous soul distressed. Beloved, he cried, sweet sea-nurtured bride, My love brings sorrow to thee,{7} For I feel at my heart the pitiless dart That Death has made keen for me. I cried, There are caves in the amethyst waves Wherein love may make life sweet, Oh! haste and return, ere the elements stern Have beaten us under their feet. There was no reply to my passionate cry, No answering kiss to mine, And I felt in the storm from my trembling form My lovers arms untwine. All heavy he grew, like a wounded sea mew That dies in the midmost air, And fell without sound to the frosty ground, And lay like a dead bird there. The tresses of gold on his forehead cold I parted, and kissed his brow, But his lips nor smiled at my fondling wild, His eyes nor knew me now. And the icy blast, as it thundered past The hollow wherein he lay, Tore him apart from my anguished heart, And carried him away. I heard the trees moan in an undertone As the storm king struck them low, And the river flood grew still as he stood And bade it cease to flow. There was no flower in that sad hour Had strength to lift its head, And I was alone in a land unknown And mourned my love for dead.{8} Then in countless hosts, like white-robed ghosts, My sisters lost drew near, And hemmed me round, but they made no sound My breaking heart to cheer. Each wore a star that glittered afar, Amid her flowing hair, And they went and came like the lightless flame That pierced the northern air. They floated high to the pitiless sky And gathered on the heath, Till their myriad feet did mingle and meet, And hide the earth beneath. And was it a dream that I should seem A snowy robe to don, And tread without pleasure their swift, weird measure, As the wintry wind piped on. Methought we flowed through that drear abode In sheets of spray and foam, As erst with hope and mirth on the slope Of waves in our ocean home. Then many a day in a trance I lay Upon the dreary plain, Till, at last, I heard the pipe of a bird, And my heart grew warm again. At the birds sweet call through nights thick pall The faint sun peered and shone, As of yore at home through the flying foam He looked from the gates of dawn. He looked and smiled, and the air, beguiled, Grew warm and bright again,{9} And my sisters all each to each did call, As erst in the joyous main. Like the leaping rills from the sunny hills That tinkle to the sea, They sang as they glanced in the sun and danced On the rivers rushing free. The flowers awoke from their sleep, and broke With many an emerald spear And banner bright to the warm sunlight Through the leaves of the bygone year. And one with a crown of gold bent down And took me to its heart, Poor waif of the storm, it said, grow warm And share of my joy a part. In the sky above there are many will love A heart as pure as thine; Leave grief with the past, like the shadow we cast As we hasten where sunbeams shine. I dwelt in the bower of the generous flower For many a quiet day, Till, on soft winds blown, the seeds were sown; And then I wandered away. For sake of my love, the sun above Upraised me to the sky, And east and west I went on my quest, But my dear one found not I. Oft I heard from brooks in shadowy nooks My sisters call to me To join their throng as they drifted along, Seeking the distant sea.{10} And hearing their lays in the woodland ways Through autumns golden air, A yearning came that I could not name, Stronger than my despair. If I must live on when my love is gone, I murmured to my soul, Oh, let it be by the throbbing sea My sisters make their goal. There let me rest like a child on the breast, Close to its great warm heart, Till my sorrows cease and I am at peace, O lover, where thou art. So I sought the brook, and the sky forsook, And reached the sea at last, In whose briny waves and weedy caves I brood upon the past. ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 53623
Author: Weir, Arthur
Release Date: Nov 28, 2016
Format: eBook
Language: English