Page:Where the Dead Men Lie.djvu/65

Rh For lovers came, and 'neath those boughs With suave conversing sought to rouse The slumbering passion in a breast Whose coldness gave an added zest To the pursuit;—but all in vain: They spoke the once, nor came again— Save one alone, who pressed his suit (Man-like, he loved forbidden fruit) And strove to change her Nay to Yea, Until it fell upon a day Once more he put his fate to proof Standing beneath that olive roof; And though her answer still was 'No' He, half-incensed, refused to go, Asking her, Had she heart for none Because there was some other one Who claimed it all?

Whereon the maid Slipped off her ring and laughing said: Look you, my friend! here now I prove The truth of it, and pledge my love!'— And, poised on tiptoe, touched a limb That bent to gratify her whim. She slipped the golden circle on A tiny branchlet, whence it shone Mocking the suitor with its gleam— A quaint dispersal of his dream. She left the trinket there; but when She came to take it back again