Classic Poem

I slept and I dreamed
Of the Orient Land,
Where treasure outstreamed
From the Sun-God's hand
Over all of the fortunate region around,
As, when a volcano has shattered the ground,
The fruits of the earth abound.

I dreamed of apple-trees planted thickly,
Of streams by old forests gliding quickly,
Of cherry groves and of currant bushes
In lonely dales where the torrent rushes,
Of wheat that springs at its own sweet will
In desert valleys where all is still,
Of hop-vines deep in the woods that cling
And from trunk to trunk their tendrils fling, —
And of pastures that spread
By some waterfall,
Whence cattle are led
By the boys to the stall,
When the dew is sprinkled at evening late,
And there amid buckets little and great
The wives and the mothers wait.

There man is strong and woman is soft,
And youth is nimble to bound aloft;
And all are naked, both high and low,
From harlot to virgin pure as snow.
But if 'mid the throng there's a garment gleaming
Gay-hued around hips or loose hair streaming,
It does but show that a maiden there
Would seem to her lover more sweet and fair.

Where the curving swirls
Of the river flow,
A smoke-wreath curls
From the tents below;
And there in repose, while the little ones play
And whimper and smile and toddle away,
Sit the old folk, the silver-gray.

But o'erlooking the mist, in radiant light,
The king's house stands on a rocky height.
On the cliffs at the time of midsummer heat
In full assembly the people meet,
And the king gives judgment from his throne,
And thinks for his people, and talks with the sun,
And the sun sows down on him knowledge rare
Of all things that shall be and are and were.

II

Behold! through the forest a youth roams free,
And a bolder youth there never could be;
His blood is as surf when the March wind raves,
For strife he craves,
No feat is too daring for such as he.
The mightiest wrestlers and those who cast
The javelin farthest he has surpassed;
He openly kissed the prettiest maid
When the dancers paused to rest in the shade,
While her suitors looked on aghast.

I saw in my dream how glad and strong
Was his every stride as he paced along,
With freedom in every line displayed;
While upon his lips was a mystery laid,
For the secret grace
Of the gods' high race
In their scion was there betrayed.

With joyous foot-step the young man strays
Down the wood's wild ways;
Then stands and smiles, when insects crawl
And threaten his toes with their nippers small,
He jests with the cuckoos, he teases the thrushes,
Then for ease he follows a trail;

He rests on a ledge by the lake-side rushes,
Watches a fish leap with flashing tail,
And falls on his knees by the brink,
Joins his hands and stoops to drink.

I saw in my dream that his face grew bright
With joy as the image met his sight, —
This youth of race divine
Saw there his beauty shine.

III

Slim small feet now on tip-toe
Slowly, slyly toward him go,
Now they scurry, now they pause,
Not a sound they make, because
He must never hear or know
That slim small feet now toward him go.

There behind a tree are smiling
Happy eyes with look beguiling,
Shoulders tremble as in doubt
Like a timid lamb, until,
Cautiously and slyly still,
See! a girl slips out.

IV

And with that like the wind apace
She throws her arms round the hunter's face
And has covered his eyes,
And exults in her catch. Haha! and heehee!
He can never get free
No matter how hard he tries.

" Stupid One, look where your pride
Has brought you!
Guess! of all those you defied
Who has caught you? "

And she pulls him about
And pinches and beats him to make him cry out
And to frighten him well for her whim,
And she plagues him and tortures his back with her knees,
But such torments as these
Are as love-bed caresses to him.

Blind, he struggles to get loose,
Gropes and guesses: " Pull and Tear
Are your names, or Beat and Bruise,
Pinch and Scratch — unhand me there! "

With a laugh and a skirl
He was free, he sprang up, he had captured the girl
And he held her tight
That with kisses his mouth might be sated quite.
And she clung there at first,
Then whimpered and then into sobs she burst,
And she sought for his look
Till a gleam of his innermost soul she took.
At last, as the buds of an orient rose
Their hidden leaves from the sheath unclose
At the touch of the sun and the soft spring air,
So lay she, naked, dishevelled, fair,
Knees parted and bosom that swelled ever higher
To answer her lover's desire.

V

And as the two cotyledons abide
In closest union folded heart to heart
Before the tiny seed has burst apart,
So lay they, hip by hip and side by side
In tender wise as sister might by brother,
But these were panting, blushing with the moil
Of love's first sudden, unexpected toil,
With tight-locked arms embracing each the other.

But with the light that did not cease to pour
From ever-shining realms of happiness
Came Joy, the Sun-God's winged ambassador
The loving union of the pair to bless,
And he, as sunbeams through the forest glide,
Descending, touched and hallowed o'er and o'er
This godlike son of mortals and his bride.