13. Ante Aram

BEFORE thy shrine I kneel, an unknown worshipper,

Chanting strange hymns to thee and sorrowful litanies,

Incense of dirges, prayers that are as holy myrrh.

Ah, goddess, on thy throne of tears and faint low sighs,

Weary at last to theeward come the feet that err,

And empty hearts grown tired of the world’s vanities.

How fair this cool deep silence to a wanderer

Deaf with the roar of winds along the open skies!

Sweet, after sting and bitter kiss of sea-water,

The pale Lethean wine within thy chalices!

I come before thee, I, too tired wanderer,

To heed the horror of the shrine, the distant cries,

And evil whispers in the gloom, or the swift whirr

Of terrible wings—I, least of all thy votaries,

With a faint hope to see the scented darkness stir,

And, parting, frame within its quiet mysteries

One face, with lips than autumn-lilies tenderer,

And voice more sweet than the far plaint of viols is,

Or the soft moan of any grey-eyed lute-player.