She knows, yes, knows that, like the mirage,
Which for the thirsty traveler gleamed,
The sweet ideal she fondly cherished
Was never there; it only seemed.
If what she knows is to her proven
A false, deluding, fleeting show,
Can she, generous spirit, can she
Trust blindly what she does not know?
But if for this he shuts against her
The heart that’s shining in his
eyes,
She’ll bring the gift that for the Peri
Unbarred the gate of paradise.
REVENITA.
TO REVENITA
If she’ll left him be her teacher
In the mysteries of life,
In the spirit’s grand unfoldment
Far beyond this world of strife,
A sacred altar he will build her,
And dedicate to friendship true,
And this shall be their bond of union,
More constant that all others knew.
Sanson.
TO SANSON
Kind teacher, henceforth be it mine,
To kneel at friendship’s sacred shrine,
And hope’s bright budding flowers entwine
Into a garland for they brow.
And thou shalt wait not for the hours
That gem creation’s radiant towers,
To woo thee to elysian bowers,
But wear it now.
Too long a dreamer have I been,
Too long life’s dark side only seen;
And if thou canst, while thus I kneel,
The mystery of life reveal,
Then gladly will I learn of
thee.
For as on flowers the dewdrops fall,
As sunbeams break the storm-cloud’s pall,
As pardon comes to lives which blame
Has crushed beneath its weight, so came
Thy sympathy to me.
REVENITA.
TO REVENITA
Life is love, and only love,
Love that had its source above.
It wreathes with flowers the chastening rod,
And diamond decks the throne of God.
Sanson.
TO SANSON
If “life is love, and only love,”
Then never have I lived before;
But for love’s sack I’ll sit me down
And careful con the lesson o’er.
I fain would win the shining goal,
So far away, so seeming fair,
But could not reach its hights alone;
Then, teacher, take me, take me there.
REVENITA.
TO REVENITA
Thy teacher, then, will take thee there,
And ever watch with tender care,
To guard they way to loftiest aim,
And his reward thy love shall claim.
Sanson.
TO SANSON
O, inconsistent teacher,
He’d knowledge give away;
Fill head and heart, from tome of art,
Then take me for his pay.