When gods and shepherds piped and the stars sang, that was the day of musicians! But the triumph of Phoebus Apollo himself was not so wonderful as the triumph of a mortal man who lived on earth, though some say that he came of divine lineage. This was Orpheus, that best of harpers, who went […]

Among all those mortals who grew so wise that they learned the secrets of the gods, none was more cunning than Daedalus. He once built, for King Minos of Crete, a wonderful Labyrinth of winding ways so cunningly tangled up and twisted around that, once inside, you could never find your way out again without […]

Once upon a time, the reckless whim of a lad came near to destroying the Earth and robbing the spheres of their wits. There were two playmates, said to be of heavenly parentage. One was Epaphus, who claimed Zeus as a father; and one was Phaethon, the earthly child of Phoebus Apollo (or Helios, as […]

‘Rich man, Poor man, Beggar man, Thief,Doctor, Lawyer, Merchant, Chief.‘ I Highway, stretched along the sun,Highway, thronged till day is done;Where the drifting Face replacesWave on wave on wave of faces,And you count them, one by one:‘Rich man–Poor man–Beggar man–Thief:Doctor–Lawyer–Merchant–Chief.‘Is it soothsay?–Is it fun? Young ones, like as wave and wave;Old ones, like as grave […]

O, do you remember?–How it came to be?Far, golden windows gazing from the shore;Golden ebb of daylight; heart could hold no more:Beloved and Beloved, and the sea. Westward the sun,–low, slow and golden;Eastward the moon climbed, honey-pale.O do you remember? while our eyes were holden,Close, close upon us,–the Golden Sail?Wind-swift she came,–thing of living flame,Sea-breathing […]

I Now, in the thousandth year,When April’s near,Now comes it that the great ones of the earthTake all their mirthAway with them, far off, to orchard-places,–Nor they nor Solomon arrayed like these,–To sun themselves at ease;To breathe of wind-swept spaces;To see some miracle of leafy graces;–To catch the out-flowing rapture of the trees.Considering the lilies.–Yes. […]

I He sang above the vineyards of the world.And after him the vines with woven handsClambered and clung, and everywhere unfurledTriumphing green above the barren lands;Till high as gardens grow, he climbed, he stood,Sun-crowned with life and strength, and singing toil,And looked upon his work; and it was good:The corn, the wine, the oil. He […]

Beloved, if the Moon could weepOr if the Sun could seeHow all these weltering alleys keepTheir outcast treasury! O bitter, bitter-sweet!–Beauty of babyhood,–Earth’s wistful uttermost of goodFlung out upon the street;Fouled, even as the highways would,With mirk and mire and bruise;The cheek more petal-fineThan rose before a shrine!Those hands like star-fish in the ooze,And fingers […]

Oh, who will hush that cry outside the doors,While we are glad within?Go forth, go forth, all you my servitors;(And gather close, my kin.)Go out to her. Tell her we keep a feast,–Lost Loveliness who will not sit her downThough we implore.It is her silence binds me unreleased,It is her silence that no flute can […]

Love sang to me. And I went down the stair,And out into the darkness and the dew;And bowed myself unto the little grass,And the blind herbs, and the unshapen dustOf earth without a face. So let me be. For as I hear, the singing makes of meMy own desire, and momently I grow.Yea, all the […]

Beautiful Mother, I have toiled all day;And I am wearied. And the day is done.Now, while the wild brooks runSoft by the furrows–fading, gold to gray,Their laughters turned to musing–ah, let meHide here my face at thine unheeding knee,Beautiful Mother; if I be thy son. The birds fly low. Gulls, starlings, hoverers,Along the meadows and […]

But we did walk in Eden,Eden, the garden of God;–There, where no beckoning wonderOf all the paths we trod,No choiring sun-filled vineyard,No voice of stream or bird,But was some radiant oracleAnd flaming with the Word! Mine ears are dim with voices;Mine eyes yet strive to seeThe black things here to wonder at,The mirth,–the misery.Beloved, who […]

The dark had left no speech save hand-in-handBetween us two the while, with others near.Mine questioned thine with ‘Why should I be here?’‘Yet bide thou here,’ said thine, ‘and understand.’ And mine was mute; but strove not then to go;And hid itself, and murmured, ‘Do not hearThe listening in my heart!’ Said thine, ‘My Dear,I […]

Light, light,–the last:Till the night be done,Keep the watch for stars and sun, and eyelids over-cast. Once there seemed a sky,Brooding over men.Now no stars have come again, since their bright good-bye! Once my dreams were wise.Now I nothing know;Fasting and the dark have so put out my heart’s eyes. But thy golden breathBurns against […]

Lord of the Sea, we sun-filled creatures raiseOur hands among the clamorous weeds,–we too.Lord of the Sun, and of the upper blue,Of all To-morrow, and all yesterdays,Here, where the thousand broken names and waysOf worship are but shards we wandered through,There is no gift to offer, or undo;There is no prayer left in us, only […]

The winds are lashing on the sea;The roads are blind with storm.And it’s far and far away with me;So bide you there, stay warm.It’s forth I must, and forth to-day;And I have no path to choose.The highway hill, it is my way still.–Give me my golden shoes. God gave them me on that first dayI […]

You, Four Walls,Wall not in my heart!When the lovely night-time fallsAll so welcomely,Blinding, sweet hearth-fire,Light of heart’s desire,Blind not, blind not me!Unto them that weep apart,–While you glow, within,Wreckt, despairing kin,–Dark with misery:–Do not blind my heart! You, close Heart!Never hide from mineWorlds that I divineThrough thy human dearness.O beloved Nearness,Hallow all I understandWith thy […]

Brook, of the listening grass,Brook of the sun-fleckt wings,Brook of the same wild way and flickering spell!Must you begone? Will you forever pass,After so many years and dear to tell?–Brook of all hoverings …Brook that I kneel above;Brook of my love. Ah, but I have a charm to trouble you;A spell that shall subdueYour all-escaping […]

Ah but, Beloved, men may doAll things to music;–march, and die;And wear the longest vigil through,… And say good-by.All things to music!–Ah, but wherePeace never falls upon the air;–These city-ways of dark and dinWhere greed has shut and barred them in!And thundering, swart against the sky,That whirlwind,–never to go by–Of tracks and wheels, that overheadBeat […]

All through the summer night, down the long lane in flower,The moon-white lane,All through the summer night,–dim as a shower,Glimmer and fade the Twain:Over the cricket hosts, throbbing the hour by hour,Young voices bloom and wane. Down the long lane they go, and past one window, paleWith visions silver-blurred;Stirring the heart that waits,–the eyes that […]