Poems (Tree)/I Lay My Heart on a Stone

by Iris Tree

I LAID my heart on a stoneAnd stood in the wood to watch.Presently a priest came by;He hid it in his cowlAnd buried it in the graveyard.Now is it grown into a cyclamen tree,Clustering over the wall,Beckoning far along the twilight road;Nodding and singing where the cypress moans,Ringing its little bells while the great bell tolls.Whiter than ghosts are its flowers,And its scent is sweeter than ghostly music—All the men and priests that passIn the night when the stars lean down,Smell the heavy fragrance thereAnd feel the gentle touch of dripping dew.Then they cross themselves and goHurriedly, warily,Dreaming of pale women,Under the pale stars.

1918