Classic Poem

The lotus of forgetfulness
Itself forgotten, life unfolded new,
And like a glowing sunrise,
Mounted to flaming peaks.

That was our time, great comrade,
Though forgotten ages and lives ago.
Love deepened till a sacred fire
Burned on life's altar stone,
Consuming every shred of selfishness,
Yet love and life were not consumed.

To my soul-luminous vision,
You were clothed with splendour
Of the southern stars. In you,
My heart discovered that fine alchemy
That turns all things to joy.
For you were beautiful!
An emerald of the forest and the meadow.
The blue sky mirrored you;
The very thought of you, my bride,
Ambrosial nurture was;
Lo, a young god was I!

But things of time and sense
Can never image love.
Like sunlight, subtle and electric,
We moved in waves of power,
All-conquering as the sea.
Joy rose on equal wing until
We soared through far abysms of light.
Then energy and beauty
Like suns from some new heaven
Rode stormfully into our hearts
In sacrament of love,
Swung wide the gates of being,
Till body, mind and spirit
Surrendered to the strong creative urge
That gave us fruitage of the sky,
The earth, the sea,
And all the spirit harmonies.

But Love for sake of loving,
Life for sake of life,
Reined in that glad, fierce power,
Lest in our self-abandon,
We should both be swept
Far from our mooring-place
And plunged to the abyss.
So followed we the dear love-angel
Guarding, guiding up that road
That leads to fields of life
With no time-boundaries.
One day—O mighty sorrow!
Measureless the deep!
Great must Love's purpose be!
You lay there pale and pulseless.
In the moonlight—dead!
Haloed, your sunny hair,
Love-aureoled, ineffable!
I seemed forsaken in a voiceless world,
But soon your spirit-presence came.
A sweetness robed in gladness.

Yet not alone! I heard no feet
On the oaken floor of the hallway beat,
Yet the spacious rooms of my heart were bright
With the glow of love in eyes of light,
That filled me with strength and joy complete.
I sat alone on the rustic seat
Where the lovers' path and the waters meet;
By outward presence forsaken quite,
Yet not alone.

Ah, never alone! In each dear retreat,
An unforgotten form I greet;
The desert place is a sacred height,
Companionless am I to-night,
Yet not alone.