Rainbows (Custance)/Love and Death
For works with similar titles, see Love and Death.
Love and Death
ITHE VICTORY OF LOVEBeloved I come to tell you it is Spring!The old brown earth puts forth pale buds again;Pierced by the silver arrows of the rainHer wounded breasts bleed blossoms, violets clingAcross your grave . . . and how the wild birds sing!Safe sheathed in sunshine is fate's sword of pain,But Beauty beckons to my soul in vain,Since you are dead what comfort can she bring? Oh, Lover, I am striving to forget,But your gay laughter haunts me, and I stillHunger to hear your voice, that used to thrillMy heart with so much happiness, I fretTo hold your hands sometimes. Against my will,In spite of my despair, I love you yet.
IITHE VICTORY OF DEATHI am true to you, Beloved and only Love,Even though others seem to snatch awayThis wayward heart of mine, and every dayFinds me still seeking in each stranger's faceThe face I loved, and if at times I traceA chance resemblance, see your mouth or eyes(Eyes coloured like the clearest April skies)I love you again Beloved and only Love.
I am true to you, Beloved and only Love,Though you have grown indifferent to me;Since Death has led you where I cannot seeIf you remember. Only guess at this, That you sleep sound or find strange lips to kiss,Oh, what thoughts shall be thought or what words saidTo comfort those who sorrow for the dead?I know you are changed, Beloved and only Love.