Page:Famous Single Poems (1924).djvu/306

 Had he moved aside but a little way,
 * I could surely then have passed him;

And he knew I never could wish to stay, And would not have heard what he had to say,
 * Could I only aside have cast him.

It was almost dark, and the moments sped,
 * And the searching night wind found us,

But he drew me nearer and softly said— (How the pure, sweet wind grew still, instead, To listen to all that my lover said;
 * Oh, the whispering wind around us!)

I am sure that he knew when he held me fast,
 * That I must be all unwilling;

For I tried to go, and I would have passed, As the night was come with its dew, at last,
 * And the sky with its stars was filling.

But he clasped me close when I would have fled,
 * And he made me hear his story,

And his soul came out from his lips and said— (How the stars crept out where the white moon led, To listen to all that my lover said;
 * Oh, the moon and the stars in glory!)

I know that the grass and the leaves will not tell,
 * And I’m sure that the wind, precious rover,
 * Will carry my secret so safely and well

That no being shall ever discover