Classic Poem

Sebastian! Oh! Sebastian! SEBASTIAN:

Who is there? —
No answer! 't was the wind — belike. Hey now,

But here's a pretty shape of good stout leather
To fit the nearest feet in Christendom.
And since they travel only on kind errands,
God bless my leather. ROSE OF THE WIND:

Oh! Sebastian! Oh! SEBASTIAN:

Come in! — 't is nobody. Eh! My poor wits
Are all rough shod.

Come in! Come in! Come in!

Mary have mercy on me! Sure I heard
Somebody knocking. Who goes there? No sound!
Yet by the Blessed Saints I swear I heard
A voice that called Sebastian.

Mercy on me!
'T is elfin music. If the Powers of the Air
Flit forth to-night, why then, my good Sebastian,
Shut fast thy door and bar it double tight
And make a cross upon it. ROSE OF THE WIND:

Sebastian! SEBASTIAN:

No!
Thou art not of my kind. ROSE OF THE WIND:

Open! SEBASTIAN:

Ye saints!
Keep well Sebastian's soul. I'll get to work,
For if to-night spells move abroad and charms
Such as might whirl a spirit from its flesh,
I'll grip my hand upon some solid thing
And so cleave to the earth. ROSE OF THE WIND:

Let me come in. SEBASTIAN:

Away with thee! I am an honest cobbler.
Rat a tat tat! ROSE OF THE WIND:

I have traveled far! SEBASTIAN:

Waste being!
I'll sing a song myself and drown the music.

Judas ran in sandals,
Thomas wore a shoe,
But Jesus Christ went barefoot
The whole day through.
Is Heaven itself not wroth?
'T is blasphemy. ROSE OF THE WIND:

I am hungry, good Sebastian. SEBASTIAN:

Peter had an oaken staff,
John an hazel one,
But Jesus Christ he only had
A cross to lean upon. ROSE OF THE WIND:

My feet are cold, Sebastian. SEBASTIAN:

What of that?
Thou art an elfin wanderer. I know thee!

If thou shouldst warm thy feet before my fire
I'd see thy magic slippers curled at the toe!
Thou art not my kindred.

John had a scarlet robe,
Zebbeus ware a blue — ROSE OF THE WIND:

My cloak is full of snow, Sebastian. SEBASTIAN:

Hence!
And yet — if 't were some traveler — some poor child
Lost in the night — Bah! 'T is of alien breed.
If I should let it in, 't would weave a spell
About me and my leather, set my shoes
Belike to dancing, with nobody in them,
Until my wits were wild as sea-gulls. No,
Keep to thy darkness — and I, by that St. Thomas
They say was a shoemaker and an honest man,
Will keep a hold upon my leather. ROSE OF THE WIND:

Oh!
I am so weary! SEBASTIAN:

'T is a human voice. ROSE OF THE WIND:

Let me come in! SEBASTIAN:

Some traveler gone astray!
Lost from the pilgrimage perchance — that goes
To Our Lady's Shrine. Sure there's no need to fear!
We should be kind to those that seek the cross. ROSE OF THE WIND:

Be kind to me. SEBASTIAN:

Well! Well! A moment only!
I cannot turn thee hence! ROSE OF THE WIND:

Am I so fearful,
When thou dost see me? SEBASTIAN:

Why, thou art a maid —
And thou art cold and hungry. ROSE OF THE WIND:

Sooth, I am. SEBASTIAN:

Sweet Heaven forgive me that I let my fear
Of airy powers so closely lead me on
To an ill deed, for I had nearly driven thee,
A wanderer, from my door — and thou, a woman
And perchance very weary. ROSE OF THE WIND:

I am! I am! SEBASTIAN:

Come warm thyself. ROSE OF THE WIND:

I am so cold. SEBASTIAN:

Poor child!
But see — I lay a fagot on the fire.
Put out thy feet and warm them. ROSE OF THE WIND:

No! No! No!
I'll warm my hands... I see thou art a cobbler.
Whose shoes are those? SEBASTIAN:

I make them for my bride.
To-morrow we are married. ROSE OF THE WIND:

Are you? Oh!
And are you sure of it? SEBASTIAN:

I am as sure
As that our hearts are run into one mould
By the power of love. ROSE OF THE WIND:

What then, is love so strong? SEBASTIAN:

It can resist all things. ROSE OF THE WIND:

So? Can it? SEBASTIAN:

Aye!
Even the spells of fairies. ROSE OF THE WIND:

Is it so strong?
And is she beautiful? SEBASTIAN:

She is as fair
As the Virgin Mary — and She is good. ROSE OF THE WIND:

Where is she?
I wish that I could see so fair a woman. SEBASTIAN:

Well, bide awhile and thou shalt see her soon.
She comes to get her shoes. ROSE OF THE WIND:

They are very ugly.
Will they not hurt her feet? SEBASTIAN:

Why child, this leather
Is soft as may be. ROSE OF THE WIND:

Yet I think my feet
Would bleed in them. And they are heavy. SEBASTIAN:

No,
They are as light as I could make them. ROSE OF THE WIND:

Oh!
But can she dance in them? Now mine — SEBASTIAN:

Ye saints!
Those are the elfin slippers, made of green
And curled up at the toe! Thou art no woman. ROSE OF THE WIND:

What? Am I not, Sebastian? SEBASTIAN:

Thou art a waif!
Brief devil of brightness. ROSE OF THE WIND:

Am I that, Sebastian? SEBASTIAN:

Thou hast betrayed me and with thee a spell
Has fallen on this thatch. Thou alien spirit!
Out with thee, in God's name! ROSE OF THE WIND:

Oh good Sebastian,
Give me a cup of water. SEBASTIAN:

A cup of water!
What shall I say to the devil that is in need?
For Holy. Writ has left no speech at all
When evil powers beg for the little gift
Heaven bids us always give. ROSE OF THE WIND:

I am thirsty. Pray
Give me a cup of water. SEBASTIAN:

Well, I'll give thee,
If when thou hast drunk it, thou wilt go. ROSE OF THE WIND:

That will I —
If thou dose make me. SEBASTIAN:

Open not the door
While I go out.
Let in no evil powers.
To dance about my hearth. ROSE OF THE WIND:

Speed thee! I'm dying
For a little cup of water. SEBASTIAN:

Let no one in. ROSE OF THE WIND:

Oh I am faint. How heavy is the air
Of their mortality. It burdens me.
Such would it be to go thickly involved
Like them, in a body not built like mine, of dream.

No wonder that the feet of men are slow!
What heavy shoes! and down what weary roads
They all must travel! never feel the air
But only earth beneath them! Hey — I'll give them
A festival for once!

Trip it! Trip it! Trip it! Trip it!
Trip it! Trip it! Trip it! Trip it!
Underneath the blossoming tree —
Came, poor shoes, and dance with me.
Through the streets of elfin town —
Where the golden flowers fall down —
Down — adown —
Golden flowers fall down.
Trip it- trip it- trip it- trip it.
Trip it! Trip it! VOICE:

Rose of the Wind! ROSE OF THE WIND:

Come in! come in! come in!

Come in, oh Magic Minstrel! Take with powers
Of music and of air this mortal dwelling. MINSTREL:

So brief a space hast thou been gone from us,
Thy kindred. Still the tree whose plumed boughs
Are soft as wings of birds, sings on, sings on.
Nor yet the silence of the elfin night
Obscures that music. Still the unseen pastures
Stretched warm and cordial through the rain and sleet
Laugh out beneath our dancing while we feed
Our dreamy, soft, meandering flocks, with horns
Moon-tipped and lilied fleeces blossoming white —
Kine of the milk of sleep. And thou art gone
From us so small an hour. Thou art alone,
But yet thou hast grown pale. ROSE OF THE WIND:

I have looked upon
The face of Man — and I am weary. MINSTREL:

Nay —
But hast thou seen the woman? ROSE OF THE WIND:

She has not come
But she is coming — Look, to get her shoes!

Those! If my feet were doomed to travel in leather
They would break upon the stone. MINSTREL:

She'll dance to-night
Among the fairies. ROSE OF THE WIND:

Shall she? MINSTREL:

She must run
With me up steepy mountains of the dark,
And plunge into black chasms of the air
And dance among the milk-white million kine
That feed on sleeping flowers underneath
The blossoming dream forests. ROSE OF THE WIND:

Will she? Nay,
But if she will not go? MINSTREL:

I saw her face
And I desire its beauty. ROSE OF THE WIND:

But she loves
The cobbler. MINSTREL:

I am strong. My thought astride
The tempest, bridles it, and with a tune
I have undone the works of God. ROSE OF THE WIND:

He loves her. MINSTREL:

Who hears my tune must dance and follow me,

Lo, thine own feet! Yet thou art of my kind
And wise and powerful. Yet thine own feet
Must run because I play. ROSE OF THE WIND:

Nay! 't is my slippers!
Our elfin shoes are curiously made,
For they must follow music. But they tell me,
These mortals — in this world there's nothing strong
Save only love. NORA:

Sebastian! ROSE OF THE WIND:

She has come!
Back — back — ye shoes! Obey me! To your places! —

Now for thy magic! NORA:

Sebastian! Where is he gone? ROSE OF THE WIND:

I asked him for a cup of water. NORA:

So
And who art thou? ROSE OF THE WIND:

Rose of the Wind they call me.
And I was cold and lost in the night, NORA:

And he
Has taken you in to warm you? You are pale,
Have you traveled far? ROSE OF THE WIND:

I have traveled from a land
That lies so very far because 't is near.
Aye, nearer than the air! And nearnesses
To mortal men are dangerous deep crevasses,
Waste chaos — dread oblivion. NORA:

What strange speech!
Whence comest thou? ROSE OF THE WIND:

I came not! I am there!
'T is all around me. Eternally I sit
Beneath a blossoming tree! Dost thou not see
The golden flowers fall down — adown — adown
The golden flowers fall down! NORA:

I am afraid. MINSTREL:

Look at me — Beautiful.
And I will show thee whence she came! Dost thou
Not pine to see her country! It is fair
As daybreak when none sees it. NORA:

I do not know thee. MINSTREL:

But I know thee — The charmed hour has come!
And I will show thee many a lovely tree
And fruits whereof the taste is sweet, and bread
That melts like snow-white honey; stars — and nights —
And powers and thrones, and roseate dawns blown thin
With the vast breath of time. NORA:

I know thee now!
Evil is near me! Stand thou back from me.
Thou art an elemental — and on my brow
There burns the cross of my baptism. MINSTREL:

Listen! ROSE OF THE WIND:

Wild was the wind that flew
From the slope of the purple hill.
And " Oh, " said the white cloud, sweet as dew,
" I travel whither I will. " MINSTREL:

Dance! Dance! NORA:

I will not! Oh ye loves of God,
Lay hold on me! ROSE OF THE WIND:

Swift was the cloud that flew
Over the purple hill.
And " Oh, " cried the shadow, soft and blue,
" I travel whither I will. " NORA:

Some magic is upon me.
I love Sebastian — and would run from him!
Oh I must dance! — but if I dance, where to?
Mother of God! ROSE OF THE WIND:

The piper blew and she heard
From the slope of the unseen hill —
And " Oh, " cried the heart, as it flew like a bird,
" I fly wherever I will. " NORA:

Sebastian! ROSE OF THE WIND:

I tell you that to-night, my elfin brother,
A strange time comes upon us and a thing
Whereof we have no knowledge. MINSTREL:

Never before
Has mortal maid refused to follow me
When I played the magic music. ROSE OF THE WIND:

You did not see
Her eyes were on the cross! But I will help you,
For I would have her gone! Sebastian's face
Seems beautiful to me — as hers to thee.
Oh I would have her hence — and when she is gone
I will tarry with him, maybe — if I like.
He is gracious as green trees.

Lo now, my shoes!
They cannot help but dance when thou dost play,
For they are woven of spells and charms and dreams
And emptiness and magic — and no man
Did stitch them for me.

Look — I set them here!
And when she sees them she will put them on,
And thou shalt play, my brother, and she dance
Out, out into the night! And then this man
Shall sit by me and smile. SEBASTIAN:

Hush, foolish child.
There is no power on this earth can take
My own betrothed from out my arms. Hush now —
I have thee charmed with love and that's a spell
That binds the angels, so they ever fly
About God's throne like great white birds — as thou
Shalt see some day, if thou art good! In sooth
Thou art so good I love thee more and more.
Thou art a stranger! Rest thou at my hearth.

I bade thee keep my door shut. ROSE OF THE WIND:

It was music
That blew it open. THE MINSTREL:

I am a traveling player
With no thought save for tunes. SEBASTIAN:

Well — rest thee!
Drink!

Take heart, my Nora! He's a harmless fellow.
And after supper he shall play us a tune.
Wilt thou make him a cake? Thou wilt not? Thou shalt do
Just as thy sweet will bids thee. Go now — look
At the shoes I made thee — set beside my bench
Until to-morrow —

I must mend the fire. NORA:

What pretty slippers! SEBASTIAN:

You like them? NORA:

But so fine!
So soft! So fair and fragile as if wrought
From down of humming-birds. SEBASTIAN:

It was good leather!
I paid a price for it. NORA:

Curled at the toe!
They are the prettiest shoes in all the world. SEBASTIAN:

Then try them on. ROSE OF THE WIND:

Swift was the slope that ran
From the steep of the purple hill,
And " Oh, " cried the brook, " I am freer than man,
For I travel wherever I will. "

The tune all night and day
Calls from the purple hill
And " Oh, " cried the feet that danced for aye,
" We dance wherever we will! " NORA:

Sebastian! Help me! SEBASTIAN:

Did you call? NORA:

The tune!
I cannot help but follow it. SEBASTIAN:

Stop! ROSE OF THE WIND:

Peace!
Thou hast no part in it. The hour lies
Betwixt him and this woman! No hand of thine
Laid upon hers can help her now. SEBASTIAN:

Thou art
The very power of darkness. But there are hands
Strong and invisible as thine own spells,

And they move all things, even the heart of God.
The hands of prayer! ROSE OF THE WIND:

The hour is come! SEBASTIAN:

Oh God
Have mercy on us! MINSTREL:

Look at me, Beautiful!
Let us go out, for now along the glade
My people run on moonbeams, and 't is time
That we should laugh together. NORA:

I'll not go! MINSTREL:

But look at me. NORA:
No. MINSTREL:

Come to me. NORA:

I will not! MINSTREL:

Lay thou a hand on me. NORA:

Some evil will
Has entered me. Stand back from me. I know thee.
Thou art an elemental and I fear thee. MINSTREL:

Then run from me. NORA:

I am running. ROSE OF THE WIND:

In a dream! SEBASTIAN:

Heaven have mercy. MINSTREL:

Curse me! NORA:

I do curse thee. ROSE OF THE WIND:

But in a dream. SEBASTIAN:

Oh, Heaven have mercy on us. MINSTREL:

Hide from me! NORA:

I have hidden from thee! Oh —
Thou knowest that I hide — buried in a gulf
Of darkness terrible, wherein no star
Has ever ventured. I have obscured myself
In pitiless cold such that thy essences
To meet, would fly asunder. ROSE OF THE WIND:

In a dream. SEBASTIAN:

Have mercy on us! MINSTREL:

Take thou thy Love's hand. NORA:

It lies in his. MINSTREL:

A midnight power now
Has snatched thy essence. Thy enchanted thought
Is ridden by a tune and in thy flesh
My music trembles. Now a vast sweet air
Blows in on thee and it will have thee hence
To be an element... Wouldst thou escape?
Then cleave unto the cross. NORA:

I cleave to the cross. ROSE OF THE WIND:

A dream! SEBASTIAN:

Have mercy on us! MINSTREL:

Is this the love
That ruleth all things? Lie thou on my breast. NORA:

I lie in the bosom of God and round about
I see the plumage of the great white birds

That shine and sing forever around God's heart
And are the angels — SEBASTIAN:

O thou God of Love! MINSTREL:

Is this the love that ruleth all things? Dance! ROSE OF THE WIND:

Out! Out! SEBASTIAN:

Oh sacred power of the Cross!
How thou hast failed me! ROSE OF THE WIND:

Come to me — Beautiful!
And sit upon my hearth and tell me things,
Now that the woman leaves us. SEBASTIAN:

What's a prayer?
That can be spellbound unto earth — yes, snared
In the fowler's net and never fly to Heaven!

I will go after her! No mountain steep,
No deep divide, no gulf, no seas shall keep
My love from me —

No door leads out to that
Enchanted land where she has gone. It lies
In a pale world of thought and I must find
Some secret road of dreams, imaginings,
Ways spiritual — ROSE OF THE WIND:

Oh look! Thine eyes are wet!

Sebastian, speak to me! SEBASTIAN:

Thou foam of evil!
Why dost thou linger? Speak! What greater sorrow
Wilt thou bring upon my house? ROSE OF THE WIND:

I? Sorrow? No!
I am the one that laughs eternally
Outside of good, and free — darting in light.
My inner self sits laughing in a dell
All golden, underneath a blossoming tree
From which the golden flowers fall down, adown,
The golden flowers fall down! SEBASTIAN:

Thou hast brought me only tears! ROSE OF THE WIND:

Tears? What are they?

What's this upon my hand! It fell from you!
Is it a tear? SEBASTIAN:

Poor alien! Yes! ROSE OF THE WIND:

It shines!
How beautiful! I think there is nothing at all
In my own country half as sweet and small!
Where did it come from? SEBASTIAN:

Out of sorrow, waif —
That God has brought to me to minister to!
Out of deep grief. ROSE OF THE WIND:

I wish I had some tears
For all my own. Wilt thou not give me thine? SEBASTIAN:

Thou couldst not take them from me. ROSE OF THE WIND:

No? And why? SEBASTIAN:

Thou dost not love me. ROSE OF THE WIND:

But I do. SEBASTIAN:

Frail child!
'T is but a word to thee! ROSE OF THE WIND:

The fairies love!
I like to see thee by me, hear thy voice,
And have thee see me. SEBASTIAN:

'T is the shadow of love! ROSE OF THE WIND:
But why! SEBASTIAN:

Thou hast no soul! ROSE OF THE WIND:

But those with souls,
How do they love? SEBASTIAN:

They bear and suffer much
And take the tears from their beloved's eyes. ROSE OF THE WIND:

And " Oh, " cried the shadow soft and blue,
" I travel whither 1 will. "

I wish I had a soul! SEBASTIAN:

Then thou must pay
The price of it. ROSE OF THE WIND:

And what is that? SEBASTIAN:

Pale shred
Of moonbeams and of darkness, thou must do
For him thou lovest some action that shall rend
As 't were the flesh from off thy bones, and laugh
For its dear hardness. ROSE OF THE WIND:

I know not what you mean —
Yet I would know- SEBASTIAN:

Then kneel before the cross. ROSE OF THE WIND:

I cannot touch it! — Fool! thou mockest me!
An element can only touch gross matters
Through charms and spells and secret influences.
I am a shadow and cannot come so close
As to lay a hand on it. SEBASTIAN:

Then pray. ROSE OF THE WIND:

I cannot!
And that thou knowest also!

No! No! No!
I cannot look at it. It drives me back!
Oh I was wrong to venture among men!
I must flee from it. My sprite must fare clean through
The soft thick substance of the wall!

Back! Back!
I'll not approach thee! In the world of men
They say there's no escaping it; that where
They go it still is there, and they must seek it,
For it is strong as Love's own self! But love,
I have seen, is not so strong. I am a shadow l
Let men be moved by substance but not I
That am touched by shadows only.
Soon shall I slip
Soft through the wood of your wall and be out-side
And alien once more!...

Ah! — What is this?
Where am I? What has happened? Upon me
Strangeness has fallen! SEBASTIAN:

The shadow of the cross! ROSE OF THE WIND:

I cannot move from it! Oh, what was I
But a bright nothing! Seeming gathered and shaped
From windy elements and glittering lights
That blaze and are not! I was the void, seen
By eyes of men that weave a loveliness
With naught behind it. A breath of nothingness!
That blown across your faces, cold, did get
A warmth out of your bosoms! I have perched
Like laughter on the lips of dying men,
And they have cried, " The Void. " But I was not.
I have flitted in sharp light across men's eyes
And they have chased me and have traveled far
From God for me! And lo, I was not! Then
I have laid a subtle hand upon their souls
And they have bled beneath my touch and cried,
" There is no God in Heaven, " and behold,
I was not! But a change has come upon me! —
And God, that bids even nothingness to serve

Has bound me, that was nothing. I remember
How I have heard that, in the beginning, God
Did set his eye on emptiness and made
A sweet earth of it. So even upon me,
The denial of his Being, emptiness,
The Shaper has laid hold, so I must be
A word out of his mouth to say " He is " !
Oh, bitter, bitter!...

Now at last I see!...
I see! SEBASTIAN:

What seest thou? ROSE OF THE WIND:

Love!...Come thou to me!

I hold my hands up to thee, for the soul
Now born within me needs a gift to make
Me beautiful — for Love! For now my need
Is but to grow more beautiful. SEBASTIAN:

Strange spirit —
How can I help thee! ROSE OF THE WIND:

It is well with thee
To give me what I ask, for it will ease thee,
And I desire it deeply. SEBASTIAN:

Tell me. ROSE OF THE WIND:

See!
I lift my hands up to thee — like a cup
Sphered for the water of life! I love thee so.
Lo — in my hands I will receive thy tears! SEBASTIAN:

They could not hold my tears! ROSE OF THE WIND:

Yet give them me. SEBASTIAN:

I cannot give them. ROSE OF THE WIND:

Why? SEBASTIAN:

But thou canst take. ROSE OF THE WIND:

How — Beautiful? SEBASTIAN:

Child — if thou bringest back
My bride — my best Beloved. ROSE OF THE WIND:

If she comes
There will be a woman in thy house. SEBASTIAN:

Yes, child. ROSE OF THE WIND:

And thou wilt love her? SEBASTIAN:

Yes. ROSE OF THE WIND:

And more than me? SEBASTIAN:

I would need to love her more. ROSE OF THE WIND:

Then could my hands
Gather up all my tears? SEBASTIAN:

Then in thy heart
Mine own would leave its tears. ROSE OF THE WIND:

I will not do it!
I will not do it! — and yet — what is this need
That drives me where I would not?

And " Oh, " cried the shadow soft and blue,
" I travel whither I will. " ROSE OF THE WIND:

I'll call her back.

Back — Brother of the Air! Lead home again
The woman thou hast with thee! NORA:

My feet are streams
That shine through flowering meads. I am lying hid
A thousand years beneath the blossoming tree
Whose leaves sing out like birds. ROSE OF THE WIND:

Oh cease thy tune. NORA:

Upon a bed of milk-white blossoms laid,
Sweetness falls on me, unto which men's slumber
Is discord harsh. At mid-noon I will eat
A mellow fruit and live a thousand years,
Dancing along a starlight, and will sleep,
And wake, and live a thousand years again,
And yet once more will sleep. ROSE OF THE WIND:

I beg of thee,
Stop thou thy tune. NORA:

They say that far away
In a dim country, once I loved a man
Whose name I have forgotten. 'T is not so,
But wreathed with lights moon-pale I dance and sing
Under a blossoming tree. The flowers fall down.
The golden flowers fall down, adown, adown. MINSTREL:

Beautiful — wouldst thou stay? NORA:

No — I would go. ROSE OF THE WIND:

She would not follow thee — save for the shoes
That dance in spite of her — and they are mine!
I pray you give them back. MINSTREL:

Take them. ROSE OF THE WIND:

Then cease
Thy tune and stop her dancing. Wilt thou? MINSTREL:

Aye!
If thou wilt do the thing I ask. ROSE OF THE WIND:

I will. NORA:

The light fades from the sky. A thousand leaves
Fall from the tree of life. No more, no more,
The birds sing in them. All grows pale and thin
And is not any longer. Do I sleep?
Or waken? SEBASTIAN:

Nora! NORA:
Sebastian — tell me where
I have been this night. SEBASTIAN:
Take off the accursed shoes. NORA:

Thou madest them. SEBASTIAN:

They are magic. ROSE OF THE WIND:

They are spun
Of lights and laughters. NORA:

Virgin Mary! SEBASTIAN:

Here —
Stout Christian leather! ROSE OF THE WIND:

Give me back again
The little shoes I lent thee. MINSTREL:

Dost thou remember
What I required of thee? ROSE OF THE WIND:

Ask it. MINSTREL:

Cast
Thy shoes upon the flames. ROSE OF THE WIND:

What? burn my shoes?
I will not do it. MINSTREL:

Then — NORA:

Oh hold me close. ROSE OF THE WIND:
But wait! If I should burn them, never more
Shall my feet dance along the slope of the wind
Close to the dark crevasses of the night,
Along the freezing glacier light of stars,
Me chill and beautiful as uplifted snow
That hath a shape to it. Nor shall I plunge
Into the darkness, sinking my body deep
Into oblivion such as the soul of man
Having come nigh to, disbelieves. No more
Shall I trip lightly over the beamy floor
Of wind stretched over golden fields of wheat
Nor climb the winding turrets of the air
To look from windows high and darkly set
In the thick bastions of the night. No more
Shall I smile through the sea and shapen sweet
As silvery ripples, sink and sing and float
And stream where the moon leadeth. I cannot run
Through solid earth, melt lightly through a stone,
And leave behind me like a thin blue smoke
The curling wreaths of substance. Nor can I steal
Soft through the hearts of men and pluck the fruit
That in their Souls' sweet Paradise doth grow.

Upon the Tree of Life, leaving it bare,
With naught to feed upon; nor snatch from them
Their secret laughters, and their wisdom take
So that they go astray —
Shall I do this?
And for the sake of tears! Oh what are tears
That my soul must needs demand them! MINSTREL:

Burn thy shoes —
As thou hast pledged me — or else depart with me
And see man's face no more and I will bind thee
So that thou shalt not grieve. ROSE OF THE WIND:

They say that tears
Will make our souls more beautiful —
Nay then
I do bethink me. Should I take this spirit
God gives to mortals, then must I also take
Mortality upon me. I must yield
My airy sweetness that can still defy
Changes and seasons and I must breathe out
My windy cleanness and take in vaporous death.
I must weave round me cast-off old despairs
And ancient sorrow, and let disaster creep
Through all my subtle flesh. My unveiled eyes

That now survey all time I must submit
Unto confusions, with my wits involve
Bewilderments and let my heart accept
Tears — beautiful strange tears!
Oh this dim air,
That is so full of sorrow, weighs me down!
And if I take on me the grosser stuff,
Astonished at the darkness I shall grope
Like one gone blind and I shall sin and fall
Into disfavor with great God. Oh then
If all my essence in fierce flame should hiss
Like dew immortal-

And for what? That thou
Mayst love this woman best! Hadst thou a heart
For me — oh gladly would I then forsake
My brighter being. I would sicken for thee!
For this be freely damned. But it would bring
Only more laughter to me — me — who have
laughed From the beginning —

Off from me, fearful shade!
That hast so bound me...
Still my soul implores
Her heritage of tears. MINSTREL:

And " Oh, " cried the heart, as it flew like a bird,
" I travel wherever I will. " ROSE OF THE WIND:

Thou shalt not charm me.
For what my soul requires — that shall she have,
Though I serve bleeding...
Christ! I kiss my shoes!
They are such pretty ones. They took my feet
Upon such starry journeys.
Burn! In flames
Depart, my powers! For shod in you I see
My supernatural glory dance away.
Aye, bid them with thy music once again,
While they dance out to death. MINSTREL:

Farewell — new mortal!
Never again beneath the blossoming tree

Shall we run all together! — Away! Away!
I must be gone! 'T is midnight.

Hail! my fellows!

Away! Away! ROSE OF THE WIND:

Now we are left alone.
Speak to me, kind Sebastian. SEBASTIAN:

I love thee, Nora. ROSE OF THE WIND:

Speak to me, sister. NORA:

I love thee, oh Sebastian. ROSE OF THE WIND:

How cold I am — the fire is very low.
I'll lay a log upon it, lest they feel
The chill. How heavy! Once I had lifted it
With the tip of a finger. Ah, I had forgot
I had grown human. Yet I'll lift.

The weight!

Beautiful! — Speak to me! I am alone
And know not one among you. May I bide
Beneath your thatch awhile? I'll serve you both
And eat — so little. Only let my feet
Grow heavy, running for you. Only let
My hands grow hard — that are so soft — to serve you.
Teach me to bring the wood, to draw the water,
To call the sheep at dusk. Oh I would learn
What things would please you. Look, I can lift logs!

But oh, the weight!...
I am a beggar — see!
Barefooted, even! — Speak to me — Beautiful!
Speak to me — kind Sebastian. SEBASTIAN:

I love thee, Nora. ROSE OF THE WIND:
Speak to me — sister. NORA:

I love thee, oh Sebastian! ROSE OF THE WIND:

They do not hear me. But I think that God
Hears in my heart the sound of tears —
Nay then,
I will not listen to them! Why should I weep
That these rejoice? Can I not find again
The old primeval laughter?
What wouldst thou have —
My soul — that begged for tears? What wouldst thou more?
That I should laugh? — Then I will learn the way
Back to rejoicing...
Look — I mend their fire.

I have so far to carry it!

I'm tired.

So very tired! Speak to me, Beautiful.
Speak to me — kind Sebastian. SEBASTIAN:

I love thee, Nora. ROSE OF THE WIND:

Speak to me — sister. NORA:

I love thee, oh Sebastian! ROSE OF THE WIND:

Are they not beautiful! Dear God in Heaven —
He laughs to see them and the angels laugh!...
And I laugh too!...

They have given me their tears!