I HAVE come the selfsame pathTo the selfsame door,Years have left the roses thereBurning as before.While I watch them in the windQuick the hot tears start—Strange so frail a flame outlastsFire in the heart.

Still asOn windless nightsThe moon-cast shadows are,So still will be my heart when IAm dead.

The calm,Cool face of the riverAsked me for a kiss.

Visible, invisible,A fluctuating charm,An amber-colored amethystInhabits it; your armApproaches, andIt opens andIt closes;You have meantTo catch it,And it shrivels;You abandonYour intent—It opens, and itCloses and youReach for it—The blueSurrounding itGrows cloudy, andIt floats awayFrom you.

The net of law is spread so wide,No sinner from its sweep may hide.Its meshes are so fine and strong,They take in every child of wrong.O wondrous web of mystery!Big fish alone escape from thee!

Nature’s first green is gold,Her hardest hue to hold.Her early leaf’s a flower;But only so an hour.Then leaf subsides to leaf.So Eden sank to grief,So dawn goes down to day.Nothing gold can stay.