Poems (Freston)/Drifting Together

by Elizabeth Heléne Freston

DRIFTING TOGETHER

Under the stars of a summer night,
In a land of dreams, in the long ago,
We floated away in a shallop, white
As the robe she wore in the silvery glow.
And over her lips, with their dainty curve,
A sweet song rippled, of days gone by,—
Of a brave true knight, who had sworn to serve
His Lady, by deeds of purpose high.
A rose that seemed but a sleeping star,
Was caught in the mesh of her waving hair;
And naught in the picture was there to mar,
For oh! my lady was wond'rous fair,
 As idly we drifted together.

'Twas a fairy stream, and the god of love
Guided our boat, with his hand on the helm;
And the echoes laughed from the hills above,
As we floated on to his rosy realm.
And over my heart, as I watched her there,
Came thoughts of the great deeds yet to do,
If only the hand of my lady fair
Would rest in mine, and so keep me true.
And swiftly the sweet, warm words were said,
That won from her lips a tender tale;
For Cupid's shaft had so safely sped,
That she promised a love that should never fail
As we'd drift o'er life's waters together.

But the stars look down on a little mound,
Far, far away from my quiet room;
For her are the rest, and the tender sound
Of the night-bird's song, but for me all gloom.
So I turn away from the things that are,
And welcome the dreams that will come and go—
Of the fairy stream, and the mystic star,
And the dear dream-land of the long ago,
Where love sat merrily at the helm,
And guided our bark in his own sweet way;
But my Lady has gone to a happier realm,
Though I prayed to the Father to let us, that day,
 Drift away on Death's river together.