Poems (Taylor)/Three Fates
THREE FATES
I.
O Dreamer, follow fast the Star
Adown yon wild green West:
Within the still green water-world
They charm your place of rest.
Adown yon wild green West:
Within the still green water-world
They charm your place of rest.
A white mermaiden softly coils
The linked melody
Shall draw you down like chains of pearl
Beneath the lighted sea.
The linked melody
Shall draw you down like chains of pearl
Beneath the lighted sea.
What rumours of Eternity,
What old old dreams and new!
With coral and with ambergris
The couch is flowered for you.
What old old dreams and new!
With coral and with ambergris
The couch is flowered for you.
II.
O Masquer, are you loth Love Sleep
Should kiss your eyelids close?
Yet, as you dance, the good earth-god
Takes thought for your repose.
Should kiss your eyelids close?
Yet, as you dance, the good earth-god
Takes thought for your repose.
Somewhere beneath the kindly dust,
Made sweet with thyme and rue,
Under a springing cypress-plant
A bed is made for you.
Made sweet with thyme and rue,
Under a springing cypress-plant
A bed is made for you.
Dance on, and sing. But, softly weaned
From sunlight and from dew,
The great sad roses early die
To make the bed for you.
From sunlight and from dew,
The great sad roses early die
To make the bed for you.
III.
O Lover, for the maze of doom
Is thine the golden clue?
Down by the sullen alder-pool
The wood is grown for you.
Is thine the golden clue?
Down by the sullen alder-pool
The wood is grown for you.
Across the black and freshening field,
Beneath the bitter blue,
A Sower swings his rhythmic hands.
Hempseed is sown for you.
Beneath the bitter blue,
A Sower swings his rhythmic hands.
Hempseed is sown for you.
What matter—if the love of Love
Be coft with all the shame!
By water, land, or giddy air
The sleep is much the same!
Be coft with all the shame!
By water, land, or giddy air
The sleep is much the same!