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PART II—EVE

 
     Meanwhile through lowland, holt, and glade,
     Sad Eve her lonely travel made;
     Not fierce, or proud, but well content
     To own the righteous punishment;
     Yet found, as gentle mourners find,
     The hearts confession soothe the mind.
 

I

 
     "Ye valleys, and ye waters vast,
       Who answer all that look on you
     With shadows of themselves, that last
       As long as they, and are as true—
         Where hath he past?
 
 
     "Oh woods, and heights of rugged stone,
       Oh weariness of sky above me,
     For ever must I pine and moan,
       With none to comfort, none to love me,
         Alone, alone?
 
 
       "Thou bird, that hoverest at heaven's gate,
         Or cleavest limpid lines of air,
         Return—for thou hast one to care—
       Return to thy dear mate.
 

II

 
     "For trie, no joy of earth or sky,
       No commune with the things I see,
     But dreary converse of the eye
       With worlds too grand to look at me—
         No smile, no sigh!
 
 
     "In vain I fall Upon my knees,
       In vain I weep and sob for ever;
     All other miseries have ease,
       All other prayers have ruth—but never
         Any for these.
 
 
       "Are we endowed with heavenly breath,
         And God's own form, that we should win
         A proud priority of sin,
       And teach creation death?
 

III

 
     "Not, that is too profound for me,
       Too lofty for a fallen thing.
     More keenly do I feel than see;
       Far liefer would I, than take wing,
         Beneath it be.
 
 
     "The night—the dark—will soon be here,
       The gloom that doth my heart appal so I
     How can I tell what may be near?
       My faith is in the Lord—but also
         He hath made fear.
 
 
       "I quail, I cower, I strive to flee;
         Though oft I watched without affright,
         The stern magnificence of night,
       When Adam was with me
 

IV

 
     "My husband! Ah, I thought sometime
       That I could do without him well,
     Communing with the heaven at prime,
       And in my womanhood could dwell
         Calm and sublime.
 
 
     "Declining, with a playful strife,
       All thoughts below my own transcendence,
     All common-sense of earth and life,
       And counting it a poor dependence
         To be his wife,
 
 
       "But now I know, by trouble's test,
         How little my poor strength can bear,
         What folly wisdom is, whene'er
       The grief is in the breast!
 
 
     "The grief is in my breast, because
       I have not always been as kind
     As woman should, by nature's laws,
       But showed sometimes a wilful mind,
         Carping at straws.
 
 
     "While he, perhaps, with larger eyne,
       Was pleased, instead of vexed, at seeing
     Some little petulance in mine,
       And loved me all the more, for being;
         Not too divine.
 
 
       "Until the pride became a snare,
         The reason a deceit, wherein
         I dallied face to face with sinh
       And made a mortal pair.
 

VI

 
     "Dark sin, the deadly foe of love,
       All bowers of bliss thou shalt infest,
     Implanting thorns the flowers above,
       And one black feather in the breast
         Of purest dove.
 
 
     "Almighty Father, once our friend,
       And ready even now to love us.
     Thy pitying gaze upon us bend,
       And through the tempest-clouds above us
         Thine arm extend.
 
 
       "That so thy children may begin
         In lieu of bliss, to earn content,
         And find that sinful Eve was meant
       Not only for a sin."
 
 
     Awhile she ceased; for memory's flow
     Had drowned the utterance of woe;
     Until a young hind crossed the lawn,
     And fondly trotted forth her fawn,
     Whose frolics of delight made Eve,
     As in a weeping vision, grieve.
 

VII

 
     "For me, poor me, no hope to learn
       That sweeter bliss than Paradise,
     The joy that makes a mother yearn
       O'er that bright message from the skies
         Her pains do earn.
 
 
     She stoops entranced; she fears to stir,
       Or think; lest each a thought endanger
     (While two enraptured hearts confer)
       That wonderful and wondering stranger,
     Come home to her,
 
 
       "He watches her, in solemn style;
         A world of love flows to and fro;
         He smiles; that he may learn to know
       His mother by her smile.
 

VIII

 
     "Oh, bliss, that to all other bliss
       Shall be as sunrise unto night,
     Or heaven to such a place as this,
       Or God's own voice, with angels bright,
         To serpent's hiss!
 
 
     "I have I betrayed thee, or cast by
       The pledge in which my soul delighted—
     That all this wrong and misery
       Should be avenged at last, and righted,
         And so should I?
 
 
       "Belike, they look on me as dead,
         Those fiends that found me soft and sweet;
         But God hath promised me one treat—
       To crush that serpent's head!
 

IX

 
     "Revenge! Oh, heaven, let some one rise,
       Some woman, since revenge is small,—
     Who shall not care about its size,
       If only she can get it all,
         For those black lies!
 
 
     "Poor Adam is too good and great,
       I felt it, though he said so little—
     To hate his foes, as I can hate—
       And pay them every jot, and tittle,
         At their own rate.
 
 
       "For was there none but I to blame?
         God knows that if, instead of me,
         There had been any other she,
       She would have done the same,
 

X

 
     "Poor me! Of course the whole disgrace,
       In spite of reason, falls on me:
     And so all women of my race,
       In pure right, shall be reason-free,
         In every case.
 
 
     "It shall not be in power of man
       To bind them to their own contentions;
     But each shall speak, as speak she can,
       And start anew with fresh inventions,
         Where she began.
 
 
       "And so shall they be dearer still;
         For man shall ne'er suspect in them
         The plucking of the fatal stem,
       That brought him all his ill.
 

XI

 
     "And when hereafter—as there must,
       Since He, that made us, so hath sworn—
     From that whereof we are, the dust,
       And whereunto we shall return
         In higher trust—
 
 
     "There spring a grand and countless race,
       Replenishing this vast possession,
     Till life, hath won a larger space
       Than death, by quick and fair succession
         Of health and grace;
 
 
       "They too shall find as I have found
         The grief, that lifts its head on high,
         A dewy bud the sun shall dry—
       But not while on the ground.
 

XII

 
     "Then men shall love their wives again,
       Allowing for the frailer kind,
     Content to keep the heart's Amen,
       Content to own the turns of mind
         Beyond their ken.
 
 
     "And wives shall in their lords be blest,
       Their higher sense of right perceiving
     (When possible) with love their test;
       Exalting, solacing, believing
         All for the test.
 
 
       "And for the best shall all things be,
         If God once more will shine around,
         And lift my husband from the ground,
       And teach him to lift me."
 
 
     New faith inspired the first of wives,
     She smiles, and drooping hope revives;
     She scorns a hundred years of woe%
     And binds her hair, because the breezes blow.
 

THE MEETING

I

 
     The wind is hushed, the moon is bright,
       More stars on heaven than may be told;
     Young flowers are coying with the light,
       That softly tempts them to unfold,
         And trust the night.
 
 
     What form comes bounding from above
       Down Arafa, the mountain lonely,
     Afraid to scare its long-lost dove,
       Yet swift as joy—"It can be only,
         Only my love!"
 
 
       What shape is that—too fair to leave
         On Arafa, the mountain lone?
         So trembling, and so faint—"My own,
       It must be my own Eve!"
 

II

 
     As when the mantled heavens display
       The glory of the morning glow,
     And spread the mountain heights with day,
       And bid the clouds and shadows go
         Trooping away,
 
 
     The Spirit of the Lord arose,
       And made the earth and heaven to quiver,
     And scattered all his hellish foes,
       And deigned his good stock to deliver
         From all their woes.
 
 
                         So Long the Twain Had Strayed Apart,
         That Each As at a Marvel Gazed,
         With Eyes Abashed, and Brain Amazed;
       While Heart Enquired of Heart.
 

III

 
     Our God hath made a fairer thing
       Than fairest dawn of summer day—
     A gentle, timid, fluttering,
       Confessing glance, that seeks alway
         Rest for its wing.
 
 
     A sweeter sight than azure skies,
       Or golden star thereon that glideth;
     And blest are they who see it rise,
       For, if it cometh, it abideth
         In woman's eyes.
 
 
       The first of men such blessing sued;
         The first of women smiled consent;
         For husband, wife and home it meant,
       And no more solitude!
 

IV

 
     We trample now the faith of old,
       We make our Gods of dream and doubt;
     Yet life is but a tale untold,
       Without one heart to love, without
         One hand to hold—
 
 
     The fairer half of humankind,
       More gentle, playful, and confiding:
     Whose soul is not the slave of mind,
       Whose spirit hath a nobler guiding
         Than we can find.
 
 
       So Eve restores the sweeter part
         Of what herself unwitting stole,
         And makes the wounded Adam whole;
       For half the mind is heart.
 

THE WELL OF SAINT JOHN

The old well of Saint John, in the parish of Newton-Nottage, Glamorganshire, has a tide of its own, which appears to run exactly counter to that of the sea, some half-mile away. The water is beautifully bright and fresh, and the quaint dome among the lonely sands is regarded with some awe and reverence.

 
     He
     "THERE is plenty of room for two in here,
       Within the steep tunnel of old grey stone;
     And the well is so dark, and the spring so clear,
       It is quite unsafe to go down alone."
 
 
     She
     "It is perfectly safe, depend upon it,
       For a girl who can count the steps, like me;
     And if ever I saw dear mother's bonnet,
       It is there on the hill by the old ash-tree."
 
 
     He
     "There is nobody but Rees Hopkin's cow
       Watching, the dusk on the milk-white sea;
     'Tis the time and the place for a life-long? vow,
       Such as I owe you, and you owe me."
 
 
     She
     "Oh, Willie, how can I, in this dark well?
       I shall drop the brown pitcher if you let go;
     The long? roof is murmuring like a sea-shell,
       And the shadows are shuddering to and fro."
 
 
     He
     "Tis the sound of the ebb, in Newton Bay,
       Quickens the spring, as the tide grows less;
     Even as true love flows alway
       Counter the flood of the world's success."
 
 
     She
     "There is no other way for love to flow,
       Whenever it springs in a woman's breast;
     With the tide of its own heart it must go,
       And run contrary to all the rest."
 
 
     He
     "Then fill the sweet cup of your hand, my love,
       And pledge me your maiden faith thereon,
     By the touch of the letter'd stone above,
       And the holy water of Saint John."
 
 
     She
     "Oh, what shall I say?   My heart sinks low;
       My fingers are cold, and my hand too flat,
     Is love to be measured by handfuls so;
       And you know that I love you—without that."
     They stooped, in the gleam of the faint light, over
       The print of themselves on the limpid gloom;
     And she lifted her full palm toward her lover,
       With her lips preparing the words of doom.
     But the warm heart rose, and the cold hand fell,
       And the pledge of her faith sprang sweet and clear,
     From a holier source than the old Saint's well,
       From the depth of a woman's love—a tear.
 

PAUSIAS AND GLYCERA; OR, THE FIRST FLOWER-PAINTER

A STORY IN THREE SCENES

(Plin. Nat. Hist., xxxv. ii)

Scene I:—Outside the gate of Sicyon—Morning. Glycera

weaving garlands, Pausias stands admiring.

 
     Pausias
     "YE Gods, I thought myself the Prince of Art,
     By Phoebus, and the Muses set apart,
     To smite the critic with his own complaint,
     And teach the world the proper way to paint.
     But lo, a young maid trips out of a wood,
     And what becomes of all I understood?
                 I Stand and Stare; I Could Not Draw a Line,
     if Ninety Muses Came, Instead of Nine.
     Thy Name, Fair Maiden, is a Debt to Me;
     Teach Him to Speak, Whom Thou Hast Taught To See.
     Myself Already Some Repute Have Won,
     for I Am Pausias, Brietes' Son.
     to Boast Behoves Me Not, Nor Do I Need,
     But Often Wish My Friends to Win the Meed.
     So Shall They Now; No More Will I Pursue
     the Beaten Track, But Try What Thou Hast Shown,
     New Forms, New Curves, New Harmonies of Tone,
     New Dreams of Heaven, and How to Make Them True."
 
 
     Glycera
     "Fair Sir, 'tis only what I plucked this morn,
     Kind nature's gift, ere you and I were born.
     Through mossy woods, and watered vales, I roam,
     While day is young, and bring my treasure home;
     Each lovely bell so tenderly I bear,
     It knoweth not my fingers from the air,
     Lo now, they scarce acknowledge their surprise,
     And how the dewdrops sparkle in their eyes!"
 
 
     Pausias
     "Because the sun shines out of thine.   But hush,
     To praise a face praiseworthy, makes it blush.
     I am not of the youths who find delight,
     In every pretty thing that meets their sight
     My father is the sage of Sicyon;
     And I—well, he is proud of such a son."
 
 
     Glycera
     "And proud am I, my mother's child to be,
     And earn for her the life she gave to me,
     Her name is Myrto of the silver hair,
     Not famed for wisdom, but loved everywhere."
 
 
     Pausias
     "Then whence thine art?  Hath Phoebus given thee boon
     Of wreath and posy, fillet and festoon?
     Of tint and grouping, balance, depth, and tone—
     Lo, I could cast my palette down, and groan!"
 
 
     Glycera
     "No art, fair sir, hath ever crossed my thought,
     The lesson I delight in comes untaught.
     The flowers around me take their own sweet way,
     They tell me what they wish—and I obey.
     Unlike poor us, they feel no spleen or spite
     But earn their joy, oy ministering delight.
     So loved and cherished, each may well suppose
     Itself at home again just where it grows.
     No dread have they of what the Fates may bring,
     But trust their Gods, and breathe perpetual Spring."
 
 
     Pausias
     "Fair child of Myrto, simple-hearted maid,
     Thy innocence doth arrogance upbraid.
     Ye Gods, I pray you make a flower of me;
     That I may dwell with nature, and with thee."
 
 
     Glycera
     "I see the brave sun leap the city wall!
     The gates swing wide; I hear the herald's call.
     The Archon ham proclaimed the market-day;
     And mother will shed tears at my delay.
     The priest of Zeus hath ordered garlands three;
     And while I tarry, who will wait for me?"
 
 
     Pausias
     "No picture have I sold for many a moon,
     But fortune must improve her habits soon;
     Then will I purchase all thy stock-in-trade,
       And thou shalt lead me to thy bower of green,
       There will I paint the flowers, and thee their Queen—
     The Queen of dowers, that nevermore shall fade."
 
 
     Glycera
     "I know a wood-nymph, who her dwelling hath
     Among the leaves, and far beyond the path,
     With myrtle and with jasmin roofed across,
     Enlaced with vine, and carpeted with moss,
     Whose only threshold is a plaited brook,
     Whereby the primrose at herself may look;
     While birds of song melodious make the air—
     But oh! I must not take a stranger there."
 
 
     Pausias
     "Nay, but a friend   No stranger now am I.
     Good art is pledge of perfect modesty.
     From chastened heights the painter glanceth down;
     No maid can fear a youth who loves renown."
 
 
     Glycera
     "Thy words are trim, If mother deems them true,
     Thou shalt come with me.  But till then, adieu!"  [Exit.
 
 
     Pausias
     "O! where am I?   The mind is all for art—
     But one warm breath transforms it into heart."
 

Scene II:—A wood near Sicyon.   Pausias with his

easel, &c.   Glycera carrying flowers.

 
     Pausias
     "Confounded tangle!   Who could paint all this?
     A bear might hug him, or a serpent hiss!
     For love of nature justly am I famed;
     But when she goes so far as this, she ought to be ashamed."
 
 
     Glycera
     "Nay, be not frightened by a small affray,
     Pure love of nature cannot pave its way.
     But lo, where yonder coney-tracks begin,
     My nymph hath made her favourite bower within.
     Yon oak hath reared its rugged antlers thus,
     Before Deucalion lived, or Daedalus.
     Inside her woodland Majesty doth keep
     A world of wonders—if one dared to peep—
     Of things that burrow, elide, spin webs, or creep;
     Strange creatures, which before they live must die,
     And plants that hunt for prey, and flowers that fly!"
 
 
     Pausias
     "My love of nature freezes in a trice;
     I loathe all earwigs, beetles, and wood-lice.
     Outside her bower the lady must remain,
     If she doth wish to have her portrait taen."
 
 
     Glycera
     "Tis not the lady thou must paint—but me."
 
 
     Pausias
     "Aha, that will I, with a glow of glee.
     But when I offered, somebody was vexed,
     And blushed, and frowned, and longed to say,
     'Whatnext?'"
 
 
     Glycera
     "A painter's tongue hath learnt to paint, I trow.
     But oh that order—I remember now—
     For twenty chaplets, from the priest of Zeus!
     Ah, what a grand majestic Hiereus!"
     So pleased he was that morning with those three,
     And such a customer he means to be!
 
 
     Pausias
     "The priest of Dis!a scoundrel with three wives!
     I'll pull his triple beard, if he arrives."
 
 
     Glycera
     "High words and threats profane this hallowed place,
     Where Time rebukes the fuss of human race.
     And gentle sir, what harm hath he done thee?
     It is my mother whom he comes to see.
     Lo, how the Gods our puny wrath deride,
     With peace and beauty spread on every side!
     This earth with pleasure of the Spring complete,
     Too bright to dwell on, were it not so sweet.
     No theft of man it's affluence impairs,
     A thousand flowers, without a loss, it spares;
     Whose bashful elegance no brush can trace,
     Heartfelt delight, and plenitude of grace;
     No palettes match their brilliance, although
     Pandora filled her box from Iris' bow."
 
 
     Pausias
     "Her want of faith sweet Glycera will rue,
     When she hath seen what Pausias can do."
 
 
     Glycera     "Forgive me, sir;  In truth it was no taunt.
     A great man can do anything—but vaunt."
 
 
     Pausias
     "E'en that he can do, if he sees the need.
     But out on words, when time hath come for deed!
     Up leaps the sun, to paint thee with his plume,
     And every blossom seems to be thy bloom."
 
 
     Glycera
     "Why stand we here, so early of the morn,
     In love with things that treat our love with scorn—
     Grey crags, where Time with folded pinion broods,
     Ana ever young antiquity of woods;
     The brooks that babble, and the flowers that blush,
     Ere woman was a reed, or man a rush?
     And he for ever, as the Gods ordain,
     Would fain revive with art what he hath slain;
     Shall nature fail to laugh, while man doth yearn
     To teach the canvas what he ne'er can learn?"