MODERN BOHEMIAN POETRY
107
Fr. Sekanina (b. 1875).
PRELUDE
Dost thou know what it was?—'Twas the kiss that Love shed.
Thou wouldst say: 'Twas the sunshine that to us came streaming.
Lo, the lilies and daisies their blossoms have spread
And the bounteous gleaming!
But I say: 'Twas the kiss that Love did bestow.
A minstrel from Heaven on pinions came straying
To the shrine of the soul, o'er the keys he bent low,
And at a High Mass he the Kyrie is playing.
This sunlight unceasing is shining forth clear;
From their gold-bedecked buds the lilies unfold;
The priest in white garb to the altar draws near,
And the fragrance of incense is steeped in the gold..
"Lyric Intermezzo" (1901).
