The Blue Bird (Custance)/'God Took Great Roses Rare and Pale'

by Olive Custance

'But thine eyes are
'As May skies are,
And thy words like spoken roses.'
Swinburne.

 

God took great roses rare and pale,
And formed your body fair and frail;
God took white violets cool and sweet,
And fashioned your small hands and feet;
God took bright dust of gold and spun
Your soft hair, coloured like the sun;
God made your clear and mystic eyes,
As blue as wild blue butterflies!

Lady! when as a child you played,
I think some angel all the while
With folded wings beside you stayed;
You still remember her strange smile . . .
And when you say the simplest words,
The echo of her voice we hear . . .

And as across grey seas the birds
Fly after summer every year,
So our souls, when they hear you speak,
Straightway in search of heaven depart . . .
Or turning to your arms they seek
The angel hidden in your heart! . . .