Page:The poems of Edmund Clarence Stedman, 1908.djvu/407

SONG FROM A DRAMA The happy season thou hast been our guest:

Whither away?

Whither away, Bluebird,

Whither away?

The blast is chill, yet in the upper sky

Thou still canst find the color of thy wing,

The hue of May.

Warbler, why speed thy southern flight? ah, why,

Thou too, whose song first told us of the Spring?

Whither away?

Whither away, Swallow,

Whither away?

Canst thou no longer tarry in the North,

Here, where our roof so well hath screened thy nest?

Not one short day?

Wilt thou—as if thou human wert—go forth

And wanton far from them who love thee best?

Whither away?

SONG FROM A DRAMA

not if moonlight or starlight

Be soft on the land and the sea,—

I catch but the near light, the far light,

Of eyes that are burning for me;

The scent of the night, of the roses,

May burden the air for thee, Sweet,—

'T is only the breath of thy sighing

I know, as I lie at thy feet.

The winds may be sobbing or singing,

Their touch may be fervent or cold,

The night-bells may toll or be ringing,—

I care not, while thee I enfold! 377