Page:The roamer and other poems (1920).djvu/118

 THE ROAMER

" young face," a voice began aloof

When, dark, the Roamer woke, "how few there be

That pass this limit with such lips as thine,

An-hungered and athirst!" and nigh him rose

An old man's form against the doubtful sky.

Flowers of the desert held he in his hand,

Slight, grass-like spears that bore a bloom minute,

Whereof he seemed to proffer flower and stem.

"Take, eat," he said, "the food the waste provides."

The wondering Roamer pressed them to his lips,

And, scarce the leaf withdrawn, it seemed from thence

The very bloom and odor of the grape

Moved, flower and fragrance, in his racing blood,

And bore his soul aloft on vital tides.

"What faëry herb, what bright immortal root

Distils, like sap within the virgin bark,

Its rich elixir in this humble plant?

What desert realm? What hermitage?" He gazed 108