Passion Flowers (Watson)/Asphodel
Asphodel.
The time it was when heart of the earth
Lifts up its gold to the waiting sky,
And moulds its pelf into shining cups,
And nectar brews for them wantonly.
Lifts up its gold to the waiting sky,
And moulds its pelf into shining cups,
And nectar brews for them wantonly.
And over the earth was shimmer of green
And hint of secrets the buds would tell,
And all abloom in a garden fair
Was the gold of earth, the Asphodel.
And hint of secrets the buds would tell,
And all abloom in a garden fair
Was the gold of earth, the Asphodel.
A maiden came, I stood entranced;
I saw her pause in the garden fair;
A glint of gold in the brown, brown eyes,
And a glint of gold in the shining hair.
I saw her pause in the garden fair;
A glint of gold in the brown, brown eyes,
And a glint of gold in the shining hair.
Caressing blooms around her sprang
The yellow blooms of the Asphodel,
And sudden, athwart the hush of earth,
The yellow glory of sunset fell.
The yellow blooms of the Asphodel,
And sudden, athwart the hush of earth,
The yellow glory of sunset fell.
My soul it swooned in wildering rush
Of rapturous joy and ecstasy,
And Fate and Time seemed empty words,
And life a delicious mystery.
Of rapturous joy and ecstasy,
And Fate and Time seemed empty words,
And life a delicious mystery.
We stood revealed, my Love and I;
Each heart, though silent, quick to tell
Its glad sweet thought, and from that day
I fondly called her Asphodel.
Each heart, though silent, quick to tell
Its glad sweet thought, and from that day
I fondly called her Asphodel.
And now again have come the days,
When golden cups of Asphodel
Are filled with nectar to the brim
Of every ruffled yellow bell.
When golden cups of Asphodel
Are filled with nectar to the brim
Of every ruffled yellow bell.
But, ah! my soul is steeped in woe,
And over the garden sounds a knell,
For cold and still, beneath the sod,
Lies low my Love, my Asphodel.
And over the garden sounds a knell,
For cold and still, beneath the sod,
Lies low my Love, my Asphodel.