Part 50 (1/2)

LOVE

Put forth thine hand, feel the dew on the daisies!

KING PHARAMOND

So their freshness I felt in the days ere hope perished.

--O me, me, my darling! how fair the world groweth!

Ah, shall I not find thee, if death yet should linger, Else why grow I so glad now when life seems departing?

What pleasure thus pierceth my heart unto fainting?

--O me, into words now thy melody pa.s.seth.

MUSIC _with singing (from without)_

_Dawn talks to-day Over dew-gleaming flowers, Night flies away Till the resting of hours: Fresh are thy feet And with dreams thine eyes glistening.

Thy still lips are sweet Though the world is a-listening.

O Love, set a word in my mouth for our meeting, Cast thine arms round about me to stay my heart's beating!

O fresh day, O fair day, O long day made ours_!

LOVE

What wilt thou say now of the gifts Love hath given?

KING PHARAMOND

Stay thy whispering, O wind of the morning--she speaketh.

THE MUSIC (_coming nearer_)

_Morn shall meet noon While the flower-stems yet move, Though the wind dieth soon And the clouds fade above.

Loved lips are thine As I tremble and hearken; Bright thine eyes s.h.i.+ne, Though the leaves thy brow darken.

O Love, kiss me into silence, lest no word avail me, Stay my head with thy bosom lest breath and life fail me!

O sweet day, O rich day, made long for our love_!

LOVE

Was Love then a liar who fas.h.i.+oned thy dreaming?

KING PHARAMOND

O fair-blossomed tree, stay thy rustling--I hearken.

THE MUSIC (_coming nearer_)

_Late day shall greet eve, And the full blossoms shake, For the wind will not leave The tall trees while they wake.

Eyes soft with bliss, Come nigher and nigher!

Sweet mouth I kiss, Tell me all thy desire!

Let us speak, love, together some words of our story, That our lips as they part may remember the glory!