Poems (Duer)/To Leeward

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TO LEEWARD.
Let the boat drift, my lady and my love,
Thou in the stern, I lying at thy feet;
Bend down the eyes my heart was dreaming of
Before God put it in my breast to beat.
Look, where the river opens to the sea,
Twilight is stealing onward lingeringly,
Between the world and our felicity.

Sing to me, dear—my soul was buried deep
Through all our time of parting and of pain—
Sing, and the fires of youth and life shall leap
From my wild heart into my veins again.
Rise, evening breeze, and drive the boat on fast;
Fall, evening mist, and hide us from the past—
We take our fate into our hands at last.

Close in the girdle of my arms entwined,
Rest on my lips the softness of thy cheek.
If Fate were sightless, must we too be blind,
And let our happiness slip by us? Speak!
Over the restless sea and quiet land
Silence and darkness creep up, hand in hand.
Answer again! I dare not understand.

C. D.