Page:Poetry, a magazine of verse, Volume 5 (October 1914-March 1915).djvu/23

The Change-Song Rustling on the cedar mats when the torch is blown Calls sweetly to their ears, And their hearts are beating for the hunt. They may not bear the sorrow of my passing, We have known strong joys together!


 * I take your loves, my kinsmen,

I leave with you no griefs! Sing, my kinsmen, when ye swing me To the topmost branches of the cedar. Sweet-smelling arms of cedar, reach for me, Tenderly receive me, Hold me in the Last Caress under open sky Sing, my kinsmen, when the oldest man Takes his lone trail through the forest. He will wear no mourning-blanket when he comes again tomorrow! He will say, "Rejoice— I have borne your grief afar, I have buried it deep, The place is not known." The wind of your singing shall rock me In the arms of my mother, the cedar. Yet there is a sweeter song, my kinsmen; It is the Change-Song of Supreme One. I hear it now, He chants it to my heart; Because pale death has crossed my threshold, and has clasped my hand.