Songs of the Affections, with Other Poems/The Chamois Hunter's Love
THE CHAMOIS HUNTER'S LOVE.
For all his wildness and proud fantasies,
I love him!
Croly.
Thy heart is in the upper world, where fleet the Chamois bounds,
Thy heart is where the mountain-fir shakes to the torrent-sounds;
And where the snow-peaks gleam like stars, through the stillness of the air,
And where the Lauwine's[1] peal is heard—Hunter! thy heart is there!
I know thou lov'st me well, dear Friend! but better, better far,
Thou lov'st that high and haughty life, with rocks and storms at war;
In the green sunny vales with me, thy spirit would but pine—
And yet I will be thine, my Love! and yet I will be thine!
And I will not seek to woo thee down from those thy native heights,
With the sweet song, our land's own song, of pastoral delights;
For thou must live as eagles live, thy path is not as mine—
And yet I will be thine, my Love! and yet I will be thine.
And I will leave my blessed home, my Father’s joyous hearth,
With all the voices meeting there in tenderness and mirth,
With all the kind and laughing eyes, that in its fire-light shine,
To sit forsaken in thy hut,—yet know that thou art mine!
It is my youth, it is my bloom, it is my glad free heart,
That I cast away for thee—for thee—all reckless as thou art!
With tremblings and with vigils lone, I bind myself to dwell
Yet, yet I would not change that lot,—oh no! I love too well!
A mournful thing is love which grows to one so wild as thou,
With that bright restlessness of eye, that tameless fire of brow!
Mournful!—but dearer far I call its mingled fear and pride,
And the trouble of its happiness, than aught on earth beside.
To listen for thy step in vain, to start at every breath,
To watch through long long nights of storm, to sleep and dream of death,
To wake in doubt and loneliness—this doom I know is mine,—
And yet I will be thine, my Love! and yet I will be thine!
That I may greet thee from thine Alps, when thence thou com'st at last,
That I may hear thy thrilling voice tell o'er each danger past,
That I may kneel and pray for thee, and win thee aid divine,—
For this I will be thine, my Love! for this I will be thine!
- ↑ Lauwine, the avalanche.