Page:The roamer and other poems (1920).djvu/149

And inward graces in his fair face beam.
All beauty burns in his sweet passioning,
And echoes to the spirit of desire
That there stands tiptoe; by his minstrelsy
He makes the world one song; but soon he hears
A discord growing on the lyre; he sees
A phantom in the sunshine, in the spring
The rose unblown within the cankered bud;
The dying bird drops songless at his feet;
And all things lack fulfillment; all too soon
The heavens cloud up, strange shadows fill the scene,
And the soul darkens in its mortal cell,
And beats its prison; then, all joyance gone,
Love only hears the clanking of life's chain,
Revolts, despairs, frenzies and wild appeals,
The tragedy of man. How is Love changed,
So flames in him the passion beautiful!
He hath become the brother of the poor,
The twin of bitter want, the mate of pain;
Dearer the victim is, the more he falls;
Then, far beyond the good and evil gone,
Love hath transcended the vain shows of life;
And all his wisdom is the spirit elate,
Selfless, devoted, given to its own,
As if he stood by heaven's open gates

And showed the shining pathway up to light;