A face devoid of love or grace,
A hateful, hard, successful face,
A face with which a stone
Would feel as thoroughly at ease
As were they old acquaintances,—
First time together thrown.

Strange part hath Woman with the flowers and streams
And all wild wayward elemental things.
O wingless man, thy partner hath bright wings
O'er which the sunset plays, the rainbow gleams!
The golden morn amid her tresses dreams:
Straight to her heart the tender snowdrop springs.
A message from the Unknown Love she brings:
Mingled with scents of fairy-land she seems.

The Soul that, ever-struggling, ever-chaste,
Toils to be with us in these latter days,
Through Woman its untold desire conveys
And hints sublime of what may one day be

O PATIENT God, whom men forsake,
All-kind, all-gracious as Thou art,
How soon our faithlessness would break
A human heart!

How vast must be the Love so strong,
Its yearning, oh, how fathomless,
That sin prolonged should yet prolong
Thy tenderness!

Though we may slight that Love with doubt,
Thy paths of sweet commandment spurn,
Thou wilt in no wise cast him out
Who would return!

The uttermost Thy Love doth reach;
And oh the pathos of its cry
All humbled to our human speech,—
“Why will ye die?”

If thou wilt ease thine heart
Of love and all its smart,
Then sleep, dear, sleep;
And not a sorrow
Hang any tear on your eyelashes;
Lie still and deep,
Sad soul, until the sea-wave washes
The rim o' the sun to-morrow,
In eastern sky.

But wilt thou cure thine heart
Of love and all its smart,
Then die, dear, die;
'Tis deeper, sweeter,
Than on a rose bank to lie dreaming
With folded eye;
And then alone, amid the beaming
Of love's stars, thou'lt meet her
In eastern sky.

Bereft of their love,
Huang and Yin, the royal ladies of old,
Ranged the banks of Hsiao and Hsiang, south of Tungting.
They wandered by the fathomless waters of the deep.
All the world tells the tale of their misery.

Dark is the day, and dismal the clouds;
Demons howl in the fog and infernal spirits whistle in the rain.
Ah, me! What would it avail me if I dared to speak?
High heaven shines not, I fear, on the loyalty of my heart.
Clouds gather clouds,—they would roar aloud in anger.
Even Yao and Shun ruling, the scepter would pass to Yui.

Though I ought to love the moonlight
I fear the harsh cold of the night air.
I call a maid, have all the windows shut:
flowers in the vase suddenly fragrant.

As a white dove that, in a cage of gold,
Is prisoned from the air, and yet more bound
By love than bars, and will not wings unfold
To fly away, though every gate be found
Unlocked and open; so my heart was caught,
And linked to thine with triple links of love.
But soon, a dove grown wanton, false it sought
To break its chain, and faithless quite to rove
Where thou wouldst not; and with a painted bird
Fluttered far off. But when a moon was past,
Grown sick with longing for a voice unheard
And lips unkissed, spread wings and home flew fast.

To ganymede an eagle came,
A swan to Leda flew,
Zeus took his joy from both the same,
An equal pleasure knew.

Let some of women's beauty preach,
Of youths let others tell,
I love them both and find that each
Is incomparable.

O' ER the Mediterranean sea
Proudly hath the Orient sprung;
Who loves Hafis and knows him, he
Knows what Calderon hath sung.

HE that Love hath never try'd,
Nor had Cupid for his guide,
Cannot hit the passage right
To the palace of Delight.

What are honours, regal wealth,
Florid youth, and rosy health?
Without Love his tribute brings;—
Impotent, unmeaning things!

Gentle shepherds, persevere,
Still be tender, still sincere;
Love and Time, united, do
Wonders, if the heart be true.