The Poetical Works of Jonathan E. Hoag/The Elusive Muse

by Jonathan E. Hoag

Songs of "Scriba"

 

The Elusive Muse

Ah, fair elusive little Muse!
  Betimes I fain would you embrace;
I beckon, but you e'er refuse,
  And hide from me your smiling face..

Ah, fleeting fairy! Saucy sprite!
  At dusk, when stars illume the skies,
Through rustling flowers, sweet sounds of night,
  There comes a voice—hark, a surprise!

Why haunt the bard with cruel wiles?
  In your heart sorrow has no place;
False is your voice, false are your smiles;
  The poet you would fain disgrace.

The plague of bards, since time was young,
  You dance and flirt, but ne'er will wed;
Though brain with fond regard be stung,
  You laugh and shake your curly head.

When all is still, within, without,
  You come with accents soft and low.
Our eager glance we cast about;
  But ere we spy you—off you go!

1918