Page:A New Zealand verse (1906).pdf/239
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Nausicaa.
203
But they are dead now I am left forlorn.The common day to its oblivion goes,Endless is that which bears great joys, great woes:O love;—a little time, and you are sweet:Most tardily you come,—but go most fleet.
“I woke from sleep,And looked to find him by me; find him near;I searched the copses deep—Naxos is desolate that was most dear.Ah sea, thou bitter sea;His prow hath cleft thy wave, and thou hast closedSwift in his wake to hide the secret wayStolen ere break of day:—And not one dream, as peaceful I reposed,To warn of passing joy!—Hope, hope and love, he will but try you both;He will return: my heart is, ah, so lothTo think that he would utterly destroyOur new-found heaven of wonder-hearted joy.”
(She stands knee-deep in the water, with arms outstretched, gazing seawards. From a distance comes a sound of bells, singing and laughing.)
CXLIII.
Nausicaa.
I should be happy—all men tell me so.To-morrow’s sun will see my wedding-day,And all mine handmaids, comrades of my youth;Cluster around me, babbling of the feast,