30 
THE SOUL OF OSIRIS. 
The sleep of bird and flower 
Proclaims that Heaven has power 
 To guard its gentlest child. 
The lover knows the hour, 
And goes with dew for dower 
 To wed in woodland wild. 
The silvern grasses shake, 
And through the startled brake 
Glides the awakened snake, 
 Untamable and mild. 
 
The song of stars ;  the wail 
Of women wild and pale, 
 Forlorn and not forsaken ; 
The tremulous nightingale ; 
The waters wan that fail 
 By frost-love overtaken, 
Make sacred all the valley ; 
And softly, musically, 
The breezes lull and rally, 
 The pine stirs and is shaken. 
 
Beneath whose sombre shade 
I hold a lazy maid 
 In chaste arms and too tender. 
Lo !  she is fair !  God said ; 
And saw through the deep glade 
 How sweet she was and slender. 
But I—could I behold her 
Curved shapeliness of shoulder ?