Orion, and Other Poems

by Charles G.D. Roberts

 

 

LOVE-DAYS

 
THE sweet-mouthed shore hath wed the singing sea,
    And winds are joyous with their kissing chime.
    The voice-beseeching rapture of the time
An utterance hath found in every tree,
           In bursts of happy rhyme.                                                    
5

All nature loves, and loves are all fulfilled.
    Me only hope deferred and waitings long
    Keep silent; me these rich completions wrong:
Ah! when shall I have leave my lips to gild
           With a sweet marriage-song?                                               
10

From scenes of glad love crownéd, long gone down
    The droning-billowed reaches of the years,
    The lotus-flutes are shrilling in mine ears,
And torches flash into mine eyes, and drown
           Their sight in envious tears.                                                  
15

All lovers surely now are satisfied,
    Save only we, whom yet no threshold waits,
    For whom not yet the inner temple’s gates
Have lifted: how much longer must we bide,
           Pressing reluctant fates?                                                      
20

Oh, too long tarryings make a weary way!
    Then kiss me, Love, and kiss me; for the wings
    Of time are ever dropping divers things;
And who may from the promise of to-day
           Guess what the morrow brings!                                           
25