A BED OF FLAME
I saw one day on the horizon grey,
As with my load I wandered near the sea,
A whiff of smoke embrace the sleeping sun;
And just as their enchantment had begun,
A lonely cloud that roved above the lea
Passed by their couch and hid them from the day.
I saw this and my soul, long silent, cried:
"Would that I were the whiff of smoke
Now sleeping with the sun!
In beds of flame, how often was I tried,—
How often have I 'neath the stroke
Of God or Satan shone!"
THE SISTER OF DEATH
Ah, talk to me of something else, I pray;
I'm weary of the dreams that bring nor sleep,
Nor rest, nor love, nor something from the deep,
Where buried are the gods of yesterday;
Ah, talk to me of Death that takes away
My little sorrows, as they hide and peep,
My little joys, as they disport and leap,
My little vanities, my budless May.
The burden of my virtues and my sins,
The burden of authority that grins
At every effort, ah, the burden kills;
I know that Death a Sister hath, but where,
Where can I find thee, Love, when shall I share
The sweetness of the silence of the hills?
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