Poems (Forrest)/High winds

by Mabel Forrest

HIGH WINDS

She liked to feel the high winds blow,
 And, watching from a hilltop west,
See all the world to yellow glow
 With silvers for the harbour's breast.
She liked to taste the gardens brought
 From valley-ranging of the wind,
That in its robber hands had caught
 The fragrances she could not find.

And I have seen her stand and sway
 In gales blown inland from the sea,
As if she longed to drive away
 A stifling indoor memory.
A fragile creature, she had strength
 To gain an eyrie many seek,
Untiring there to win at length
 The vantage of the loftiest peak.

I do not think she minded Death,
 I think at last to her he came
As some divine, triumphant breath,
 As white and splendid as a flame;
Yet there are times my eyes are wet
 For her dear sake, when high winds blow,
Bearing the musks of mignonette
 And roses, and she cannot know.