XIV

And those two lovers only heard

— Oh, love is a dream that knows no waking —

Far away, one secret bird,

Where all the roses breathed one word,

And every crispel on the beach —

Oh, love is a sea that is ever breaking!—

Lisped it in a sweeter speech;

As hand in hand, by the sunset sea

That breaks on the shores of mystery,

They stood in the gates of the City of Pain

To watch the wild waves flutter and beat

In roses of white soft light at their feet,

Roses of delicate music and light,

Music and moonlight under their feet.

Crumbling and flashing and softly crashing

In rainbow colours that dazzle and wane

And wither and waken and, wild with delight,

Dance and dance to a mystic tune

And scatter their leaves in a flower-soft rain

Over the shimmering golden shore

Between the West and the waking moon,

Between the sunset and the night;

And then they sigh for the years of yore

And gather their glory together again,

Petal by petal and gleam by gleam,

Till, all in one rushing rose-bright stream

They dazzle back to the deep once more,

For the dream of the sea is an endless dream,

And love is a sea that hath no shore,

And the roses dance as they danced before.