No More Learning

XXI.

"Thou flowest still, O river,
Thou flowest 'neath the moon;
Thy lily hath not changed a leaf,[5]
Thy charmed lute a tune:
_He_ mixed his voice with thine and _his_
Was all I heard around;
But now, beside his chosen bride,
I hear the river's sound. "
The river floweth on.

XXII.

"I gaze upon her beauty
Through the tresses that enwreathe it;
The light above thy wave, is hers--
My rest, alone beneath it:
Oh, give me back the dying look
My father gave thy water!
Give back--and let a little love
O'erwatch his weary daughter! "
The river floweth on.

XXIII.

"Give back! " she hath departed--
The word is wandering with her;
And the stricken maidens hear afar
The step and cry together.
Frail symbols? None are frail enow
For mortal joys to borrow! --
While bright doth float Nuleeni's boat,
She weepeth dark with sorrow.
The river floweth on.

FOOTNOTES:

[2] The Hindoo heaven is localized on the summit of Mount Meru--one of
the mountains of Himalaya or Himmaleh, which signifies, I believe, in
Sanscrit, the abode of snow, winter, or coldness.
[3] Himadeva, the Indian god of love, is imagined to wander through
the three worlds, accompanied by the humming-bird, cuckoo, and gentle
breezes.

[4] The casting of rice upon the head, and the fixing of the band or
tali about the neck, are parts of the Hindoo marriage ceremonial.

[5] The Ganges is represented as a white woman, with a water-lily in
her right hand, and in her left a lute.




_RHYME OF THE DUCHESS MAY. _


I.

To the belfry, one by one, went the ringers from the sun,
_Toll slowly. _
And the oldest ringer said, "Ours is music for the dead
When the rebecks are all done. "

II.

Six abeles i' the churchyard grow on the north side in a row,
_Toll slowly. _
And the shadows of their tops rock across the little slopes
Of the grassy graves below.

III.

On the south side and the west a small river runs in haste,
_Toll slowly. _
And, between the river flowing and the fair green trees a-growing,
Do the dead lie at their rest.

IV.

On the east I sate that day, up against a willow grey:
_Toll slowly. _
Through the rain of willow-branches I could see the low hill-ranges
And the river on its way.