Page:Maurine and Other Poems (1910).pdf/47

 Alone with One who knew my hidden woe, I did not feel so much alone as when I mixed with th’ unthinking throngs of men.

Some flowers that decked the barren, sterile place I plucked, and read the lesson they conveyed, That in our lives, albeit dark with shade And rough and hard with labour, yet may grow The flowers of Patience, Sympathy, and Grace.

As I walked on in meditative thought, A serpent writhed across my pathway; not A large or deadly serpent; yet the sight Filled me with ghastly terror and affright. I shrieked aloud: a darkness veiled my eyes— And I fell fainting ’neath the watchful skies.

I was no coward. Country-bred and born, I had no feeling but the keenest scorn For those fine lady “ah’s” and “oh’s” of fear So much assumed (when any man is near). But God implanted in each human heart A natural horror, and a sickly dread Of that accursèd, slimy, creeping thing That squirms a limbless carcass o’er the ground. And where that inborn loathing is not found You’ll find the serpent qualities instead. Who fears it not, himself is next of kin, And in his bosom holds some treacherous art Whereby to counteract its venomed sting. And all are sired by Satan—Chief of Sin.

Who loathes not that foul creature of the dust, However fair in seeming, I distrust.

I woke from my unconsciousness, to know I leaned upon a broad and manly breast, And Vivian’s voice was speaking, soft and low, Sweet whispered words of passion, o’er and o’er. I dared not breathe. Had I found Eden’s shore? Was this a foretaste of eternal bliss? “My love,” he sighed, his voice like winds that moan Before a rain in Summer-time, “my own, For one sweet stolen moment, lie and rest Upon this heart that loves and hates you both! O fair false face! Why were you made so fair! O mouth of Southern sweetness! that ripe kiss