Stars of the Desert. Adela Florence Cory Nicolson
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Youth, the divine reminiscence of some lost Heaven,
Beauty, the dream of the eyes, the desire of the heart.
"Beauty, that women adore and secretly pray for,
To find, to possess, to bequeath to the world again,
The loveliest stake that Life allows them to play for,
At the risk of death; with certain foreknowledge of pain."
Dancing Girl (singing in the distance)
"What will you do with your seventeenth year,
You with the eyes of a dove?
Give it to Love, he will hold you lightly,
Betray you and wound you more than slightly,
But lead you into Paradise nightly,
Give it to Love!!"
He heard and waited awhile, but the days flew by,
And brought a more brilliant sun to the azure sky.
The scent of the flowers grew stronger, grew keen as pain,
And Youth's sweet ferment rose from his heart to his brain
Until, when the west was red, and the evening breeze
Broke fresh on his lips, he went to the Peepul trees.
Song of the Churel
"Ah, come to me, I want you so!
Why will you make me wait?
The golden sunsets burn and glow,
The twilight moments come and go,
I watch you wander to and fro,
Why do you hesitate?
"So very brief Youth's season is,
Ah, wherefore waste a single night?
Put up your lips for mine to kiss,
Take the first promise of delight.
"Upon Life's pale and tragic face,
Youth passes like a blush.
It blooms, an evanescent grace,
Alas, for such a little space,
And fading, hardly leaves a trace,
Of all its radiant flush.
"We cannot force one night to last,
Or stay a single star at will,
And though the Pulse of Youth is fast,
The Wings of Time are swifter still.
"So much I want your silken hair,
Your youth, intact and free,
A thousand nights, serenely fair,
With scented silence everywhere,
Consenting stars and pliant air,
Would pass too soon for me.
"Too soon the rising flood of morn
Our isle of night would overflow,
And force upon our eyes forlorn
Its lovely but unwanted glow.
"The magic Garden of Delight
Is ours; I hold the key.
Take up Love's sceptre, yours by right
And learn his mystery and might,
Ah, come and reign with me to-night,
In silent ecstasy!
"Come, while the silver stars above
Rain down their light serene and still,
And if you cannot come for love,
Ah, come on any terms you will!"
•••••
How should the youth resist, deny,
Or turn his lips from hers away?
Nightly, beneath th' unheeding sky,
The fierce Churel caressed her prey.
Nightly, the flickering Peepul trees,
Echoed his soft and broken sighs,
While the faint eddies of the breeze
In pity fanned his sleepless eyes.
Frailer he grew, more wan and pale,
Possession only fed Desire,
Like wax he felt his forces fail
Consumed in her insistent fire.
Till lost in dreams, his fainting breath
Shed on her lips in one last sigh,
He neither knew nor noticed death.
This is the loveliest way to die!
Beneath the Peepuls dead he lay,
Pale on his face the starlight fell,
In ecstasy he passed away.
Such is the love of the Churel.
Rabat: Morocco
Oh, walled, white City, rising from the plain,
Between the grey-green grass, the grey-blue skies,
How we have longed for you, and watched in vain
Till your pale beauty rose upon our eyes.
From Orange groves, beyond your gated walls,
Faint scents of Citron bloom float far away.
Upon each wind-worn face the perfume falls
Till we forget the journey of the day.
Forget the weary march, its dust and heat,
The frequent carrion that taints the air,
The three-inch spur, the lame and stumbling feet,
The pointed stirrup, clogged with blood and hair.
Forget the wretched brute, that strains and strives,
Staggers a few more paces with his load
Then falls and dies, beneath the open knives,
The kicks and curses of the savage road.
Let us forget (in such forgetfulness
Lies the one chance, perhaps, of life at all!)
While our burnt lips receive the soft caress
Exhaled from Orange flowers beyond the wall.
Ah, sea-set City, grant my heart's request!
Where your slim minarets soar white above
Your fragrant Orange gardens, grant me rest,
And from some child of yours, a little love.
Ah, walled, white City, grant me a little love!
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