Poems (Henderson)/The Passion of a Dream

by Elizabeth Henderson

THE PASSION OF A DREAM.

The turtles by the river's edge,
Crept silently along,
And the water-snake lay coiled,
In the glare of the noonday sun.

No zephyr lightly stirring,
Shook the willow's long green plumes,
No wing of wild-bird whirring,
Broke the stillness of the noon.

The blue heaven lay in shadow,
Of the great red flaming sun,
And the distant sky and ocean,
Seened blended into one.

Fresh from the city's crowded streets,
Its long strait lines of brick,
Its scenes of suffering, and of pain,
That turn the strong heart sick.

Deep in the lush green grass I lay,
And watched the sleepy kine,
Knee-deep among the river-ferns,
Browsing the tender vines.

I slept a sleep of passionate dreaming,
Wierd shapes of demons, and of stars,
A back-ground made, them rose before me,
Supremely bright, a vision fair.

A form permitting no description,
My gaze discerned not lips or eyes,
Nor any color, nor limb-shaping,
But clouds of faint perfume did rise,

Shadowing that power of Life sublime,
A destiny that would control,
My Future, and make Time's axis turn,
The wheel of Fate whereon it rolled.

I wandered through the mazy shadows,
Of by-gone ages where there shone,
Old altars bronzed with heathen statues,
Of horses-winged, of bats and gnomes.

Seeking that plenitude of grandeur.
Some ghostly shadow of a hope,
Drew me still deeper in the shadow,
Of their dim labyrinth's to grope.

I said, "the voiceless mystery I seek,
Which if I find, no power shall wrest from me.
Will bring to me the ripe fruition,
Of great Eternity."

The form took shape, a lovely vision,
Bent o'er me with an angel's brow,
With eyes of light. in pity shining,
And lips that breathed a sacred vow.

"Return thou from thy lonely quest,
I am that power the gods call Love,
Possessing first, no form or shape,
But floating round the hearts of Youth,
My fibrous chords fore'er entwining,
Beauty, and Sin, and Grief, and Truth."

"I live among, the festal throng surrounding,
The thrones of empires and of kings,
The strong heart of the sage and scholar,
I brush, and wound with arrowy wing."

"I light the dungeon's deepening gloom,
The captive chained in torturing pain,
Would fain forget in agony of feeling,
Save that within his soul I still remain."

"The God thou worshippest enthroned,
Mid shining walls of splendorous light,
On height of heaven reigns,
Parallel with power my own."

"Thy God is love, and I, that essence,
Distilled by his creating hand,
That wounded in the heart I conquer,
Within His breast a refuge claim."

"Into thy being, Oh! sleeper there shall fall,
A drop of that celestial fire,
Quelling the fountains of unrest,
Watering the lilies of thy pure desire."

The vision passed, the night-dew falling,
Lay deep upon the heavy grass,
The fanlike stretch of blue above me,
Lay rifted where the pale moon passed.

I rose, my dreaming over-flowing,
The ebbing tides of my full heart,
I entered at the cottage gate,
And sat among the flowers apart.

******

The summer days into the autumn faded,
And still I lingered, wondering much,
What phantasy it was that held me,
That thralled with lightsome touch-

My heart, that now no longer free,
Lay fettered by that mighty power,
"Heart-free" I said, "I shall be when,"
"I roam no more amid these bowers."

******

I told her all my dream of Passion,
O'erawed by weight of grieving sighs,
And folded to her heart, beheld,
Love's glory shade her rapturous eyes.

My dream brought forth its own fulfilling,
Its fibrous tissues crept and twined,
Round our two hearts, and blended wholly,
Two hemispheres of mind.