Poems (Bibesco)/XXVIII

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XXVIII
You said: "Watch over me while you're away."I hid you in my heart in still delight,As some quiet shadow, folding up the day,Denies her to the brilliance of the night.
You know, my love, the tiredness in my faceTo sudden loveliness is always litEach time you look at me. You give to spaceA further spaciousness, a holy writ.
While I'm away, my love, my old beguilingWill slowly rust in chosen abstinence,The smile you love will harden into smiling,Some brittle trick of feminine defence.
The voice you love will lose its golden shadowsAnd ripple brightly at an even pace,A tinkling rivulet of sunny shallowsA-glitter with an emptiness of grace.
The beauty that you gave my face will vanishMasked by some easy prettiness that may,Contenting others, give me time to banishThe smallest trace of what you took away.
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It is not difficult to hide the soul,Man does not search for such a foolish thingA secret substance, the incarnate symbolOf a mysterious awakening,
While I'm away, my love, the world will seeA woman you would never recognize.When I come back vainly they'll look for me,Unless they find the road to Paradise?
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