Page:A New Zealand verse (1906).pdf/239
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Nausicaa.
203
But they are dead now I am left forlorn.
The common day to its oblivion goes,
Endless is that which bears great joys, great woes:
O love;—a little time, and you are sweet:
Most tardily you come,—but go most fleet.
The common day to its oblivion goes,
Endless is that which bears great joys, great woes:
O love;—a little time, and you are sweet:
Most tardily you come,—but go most fleet.
“I woke from sleep,
And looked to find him by me; find him near;
I searched the copses deep—
Naxos is desolate that was most dear.
Ah sea, thou bitter sea;
His prow hath cleft thy wave, and thou hast closed
Swift in his wake to hide the secret way
Stolen ere break of day:—
And not one dream, as peaceful I reposed,
To warn of passing joy!
—Hope, hope and love, he will but try you both;
He will return: my heart is, ah, so loth
To think that he would utterly destroy
Our new-found heaven of wonder-hearted joy.”
And looked to find him by me; find him near;
I searched the copses deep—
Naxos is desolate that was most dear.
Ah sea, thou bitter sea;
His prow hath cleft thy wave, and thou hast closed
Swift in his wake to hide the secret way
Stolen ere break of day:—
And not one dream, as peaceful I reposed,
To warn of passing joy!
—Hope, hope and love, he will but try you both;
He will return: my heart is, ah, so loth
To think that he would utterly destroy
Our new-found heaven of wonder-hearted joy.”
(She stands knee-deep in the water, with arms outstretched, gazing seawards. From a distance comes a sound of bells, singing and laughing.)
CXLIII.
Nausicaa.
I should be happy—all men tell me so.
To-morrow’s sun will see my wedding-day,
And all mine handmaids, comrades of my youth;
Cluster around me, babbling of the feast,
To-morrow’s sun will see my wedding-day,
And all mine handmaids, comrades of my youth;
Cluster around me, babbling of the feast,