Mandragora/The Exile

by John Cowper Powys

For works with similar titles, see The Exile.

EXILED and alone
   I wander over the land,
Since gleaming under the sun
   I saw you stand.
In your passionate, childlike way,
   You looked at me and the old
Night fled far away.
And the world was blue and gold.
   Blue was the sky above me;
Gold was the earth beneath,
When you leapt forth to love me
   Like a sword out of its sheath!
Would I had poured them wine,
   The high, remorseless powers!
Would I had covered their cruel shrine
   With holocausts of flowers!
Then perchance they had held their hand
   Ere they turned your heart to stone,
And sent me wandering over the land —
   Exiled, alone!