Sunlit Hours

<SPAN name="XIV"></SPAN>XIV<br/> <br/> <br/> Quietly, like stately queens of old<br/> Who, step by languid step, descend the stairs of gold<br/> In fairy tales, thou movest in my dream;<br/> Names I give thee, such as must beseem<br/> All beauty and all radiance; names that soothe,<br/> Resounding silken-smooth,<br/> Sounds that wind and waver, glide and glance,<br/> Weaving my poems, as in subtle dance.<br/> <br/> Ah, but how soon I leave this play<br/> When I behold thy wistful way,<br/> Thine unadorned, profoundly wistful way;<br/> Thy forehead unafraid and calmer than the day,<br/> Thy peaceful child-like hands laid open on thy knees,<br/> Thy breathing bosom and the dreamful ease<br/> That on thy deep and limpid spirit lies.<br/> How useless and how little in the sight<br/> Of this are all things&mdash;all things, save the naked light<br/> That wells up from thy heart and gathers in thine eyes.<br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />