Page:Ballads, Stevenson, 1890.djvu/50

 He knew the songs of races, the names of ancient date;

And the beard upon his bosom would have bought the chief's estate.

He dwelt in a high-built lodge, hard by the roaring shore,

Raised on a noble terrace and with tikis3 at the door.

Within it was full of riches, for he served his nation well,

And full of the sound of breakers, like the hollow of a shell.

For weeks he let them perish, gave never a helping sign,

But sat on his oiled platform to commune with the divine,

But sat on his high terrace, with the tikis by his side,

And stared on the blue ocean, like a parrot, ruby-eyed.

Dawn as yellow as sulphur leaped on the mountain height:

Out on the round of the sea the gems of the morning light,

Up from the round of the sea the streamers of the sun;—

But down in the depths of the valley the day was not begun.

In the blue of the woody twilight burned red the cocoa-husk,

And the women and men of the clan went forth to bathe in the dusk.

A word that began to go round, a word, a whisper, a start:

Hope that leaped in the bosom, fear that knocked on the heart:

"See, the priest is not risen—look, for his door is fast!

"He is going to name the victims; he is going to help us at last."

Thrice rose the sun to noon; and ever, like one of the dead,

The priest lay still in his house with the roar of the sea in his head; 38