Orpheus and Eurydice V

And they that were dead, in his radiant music, remembered thedawn with its low deep crimson,Heard the murmur of doves in the pine-wood, heard the moan of theroaming sea,Heard and remembered the little kisses, in woods where the last ofthe moon yet swims onFragrant, flower-strewn April nights of young-eyed lovers in Arcady;

Saw the soft blue veils of shadow floating over the billowy grassesUnder the crisp white curling clouds that sailed and trailed throughthe melting blue;Heard once more the quarrel of lovers above them pass, as alark-song passes,Light and bright, till it vanished away in an eye-bright heaven ofsilvery dew.

Out of the dark, ah, white as the Huntress, cold and sweet as thepetals that crowned her,Fair and fleet as a fawn that shakes the dew from the fern at breakof day;Wreathed with the clouds of her dusky hair that swept in a sun-brightglory around her,On through the deserts of hell she came, and the brown air bloomedwith the light of May.

Then had she followed him, then had he won her, striking a chord thatshould echo for ever,Had he been steadfast only a little, nor paused in the greattranscendent song;But ere they had won to the glory of day, he came to the brink of theflaming riverAnd ceased, to look on his love a moment, a little moment, andoverlong.