Page:Poems Bacon.djvu/82

PRINCE
Why, this.
Why, this. Last night I leaned far out the tower
To catch the smell o' the woods and hear the birds
Quiet their young to sleep, and watch the stars
Slip one by one to sight, and feel the wind,
That blows so soft at night, come floating by.
And on my ear there fell a sudden song:
So throstle-sweet it was, so faëry-gay,
My heart stood still to hear it. It rose high,
And all my soul rose with it; it sank low—
My cheeks were wet with tears.
My cheeks were wet with tears.I tell you, friend,
My years slipped from me like a mantle dropped.
I felt the wonderful, the wild, sweet dreams
That blessed those nights when I, a little boy,
Trembled a moment on the forest brink,
Then flung myself into its dusky arms,
Swung in the billowy boughs and pressed the moss,
Drank from the pool beside the spotted deer,
And at the murmurous swaying of the pines
Wept in my childish sleep for joy too great.
(The Gypsy song is heard.)

   Oh, the goodwife turns the wheel at home,
    And the bird will keep her nest,
   But it 's ah me! for the world 's to see
    Or ever my heart have rest!

[ 66 ]