XII.—THE BELOVED
Thou’rt come, dear heart; thou’rt come after two days and nights, albeit one will turn a lover gray. As spring is sweeter than winter, and pippin than damson-plum; as mother-ewe is shaggier than her lambkin, and maiden more to be desired than a thrice-wed wife; as the fawn is nimbler-footed than the calf, and the nightingale clearest-tongued of all the winged songsters; so am I gladded above all at the sight of thee, and run to thee as a wayfarer runneth to the shady oak when the sun is burning hot. And ’tis O that equal Loves might inspire thee and me, and we become this song and saying unto all them that follow after:—
Here were two men of might
The antique years among,
The one Inspirant hight
I’ th’ Amyclaean tongue,
The t’other Fere would be
In speech of Thessalye;
Each lov’d each, even-peise:
O other golden days,
Whenas love-I love-you
All men did hold for true!
