She chained her in a cavern frore;

She set a sign upon the door.

The key into the ocean fell:

The maid forgot the lamp as well.

She waited for the days of spring;

Year by year did seven die,

And every year one passed her by.

She waited thro' the winter's cold,

And her tresses, waiting too,

Recalled the light that once they knew.

They sought the light, they found it out,

Crept thro' the rocks and round about,

And lit the rocks with all their gold.

He comes at eve that passed of old;

Amazed at the wondrous sight,

He does not dare approach the light.

He deems it is a mystic sign,

Or else a spring that gushes gold,

Or angels at their sport divine:

He turns, and passes as of old.

If he one day come again,

     What shall then be said?

– Say that one awaited him,

     Always, that is dead.

Ay, but if he ask me more,

     Yet know me not again?

– Speak as any sister might,

     Lest he be in pain.

If he ask where you are gone,

     What shall I reply?

– Give him then my golden ring,

     Make him no reply.

If he ask me why the hall

     Shows a silent floor?

– Show him then the smouldered lamp

     And the open door.

If he ask me of the hour

     When you fell asleep?

–Tell him, tell him that I smiled

     Lest my love should weep.

Three little maids they have done to death,

To see what hid within their hearts.

The first little heart was full of bliss,

And lo, wherever its blood might run,

Three serpents hissed till three years were done.

The second was full of gentlehood,

And lo, wherever its blood might run

Three lambs that fed till three years were done.

The third was full of pain and woe,

And lo, wherever the red blood crept

Archangels three their vigil kept.

Maidens with bounden eyes

               (O loose the scarves of gold!) –

Maidens with bounden eyes,

They sought their destinies.

At noon they opened wide

               (O keep the scarves of gold!)­

At noon they opened wide

The palace of the plain:

There they greeted life

               (Bind close the scarves of gold!)­

There they greeted life,

And turned them back again.

The three blind sisters,

(Hope is not cold)

The three blind sisters

Light their lamps of gold.

Up the tower go they,

(They and you and we)

Up the tower go they

To wait the seventh day.

Ah, saith one, turning,

(Still let us hope)

Ah, saith one, turning,

I hear our lamps burning….

Ah, the second saith,

(They and you and we)

Ah, the second saith,

'Tis the king's tread.

Nay, the holiest saith,

(Still let us hope)

Nay, the holiest saith,

But our light is dead.

There came one here to say,

(O child, I am afraid!)

There came one here to say

'Twas time to haste away. . . .

A burning lamp I bore,

(O child, I am afraid!)

A burning lamp I bore,

And went upon my way!

At the first door,

(O child, I am afraid!)

At the first door

The flame shook sore. . . .

Then, at the second,

(O child, I am afraid!)

Then, at the second,

The flame spoke and beckoned. . . .

The third door is wide,

(O child, but this is fear!)

The third door is wide,

And the flame has died!

Orlamonde had seven daughters:

     When the fairy died

The seven maids, the seven daughters,

     Sought to win outside.

Then they lit their seven lamps;

     Through all the towers they sought;

They opened full four hundred chambers;

     The day, they found it not.

They came to the echoing caverns deep;

     Down, tho' the air was cold,

They went, and in a stubborn door

     Found a key of gold.

They see the ocean through the chinks;

     They fear to die outside;

They beat on the unmoving door

     They dare not open wide.

She had three crowns of gold:

To whom did she give the three?

One she gave to her parents dear,

And they have bought three reeds of gold,

And kept her till the spring was near.

And one to those that loved her well:

And they have bought three nets of gold,

And kept her till the autumn fell.

And one she gave to those she bore,

And they have bought three gyves of iron,

To chain her till the winter's o'er.

Toward the castle she made her way,

(Hardly yet was the sun on the sea)

Toward the castle she made her way;

Knight looked at knight and looked away;

The women had never a word to say.

She came to rest before the door,

(Hardly yet was the sun on the sea)

She came to rest before the door;

They heard the queen as she paced the floor,

And the king that asked her what would she.

"What do you seek, O where do you go?

(Have a care, it is hard to see)

What do you seek, O where do you go?

Doth one await you there below?"

But never a word, a word spake she.

Down she went to the one unknown,

(Have a care, it is hard to see)

Down she went to the one unknown,

And round the queen her arms were thrown;

Never a word did either say;

Without a word they went their way.

The king wept by the open door,

(Have a care, it is hard to see)

The king wept by the open door;

They heard the footsteps of the queen,

And the fall of the leaves where she had been.

Her lover went his way,

(I heard the gate)

Her lover went his way,

Yet she was gay.

When he came again,

(I heard the lamp)

When he came again,

Another made the twain.

And the dead I met,

(I heard her spirit cry)

And the dead I met,

She who waits him yet.

Mother, mother, do you not hear?

Mother, they come; there is news to tell!

– Give me your hands, my daughter dear:

'Tis but a ship that saileth well.

Mother dear, have a care, give heed!

–They go, my daughter, away they speed.

Mother, the danger is sore, alas!

– Child, my child, it will quickly pass.

Mother, mother, She draweth near!

– It is down in the harbour, daughter dear.

Mother, mother, She opens the door!

– Child, they go, to return no more.

Mother, She enters! I am afraid!

– Child, they now have the anchor weighed.

Mother, I hear Her speaking low.

– Child, my child, it is they that go.

Mother, She makes the stars go dark!

– Child, 'tis the sails of a shadowy bark.

Mother, She knocks at the casement still!

– Child, maybe it is fastened ill. . . .

Mother, mother, my sight grows dim. . . .

– Child, they sail for the open sea.

On every hand I can hear but Him. . . .

– O child, what is it, and who is He?

Now your lamps are all alight,

The sun's in the garden on every side

– Now your lamps are all alight;

The sun through every chink is bright:

Open the doors on the garden wide!

The keys of the doors are lost one and all,

We must be patient whate'er befall;

The keys they fell from the tower on high.

We must be patient whate'er befall,

Wait and wait as the days go by.

The days to be will open the doors.

The keys are safe in the forest wide.

The forest blazes on every side;

The light of the dying leafage pours

Blazing bright beneath the doors.

The days to be already ail,

The days to be they fear and fail,

The days to be will never come;

For day by day will die as we,

Even as we, in this our tomb.

Sisters, sisters, thirty years

     I sought where he might be;

Thirty years I sought for him:

     Never did I see.

Thirty years the way I trod;

     Long the road and hot;

Sisters, he was everywhere,

     He who yet is not.

Sisters, sad the hour and late.

     My sandal's thongs unpick.

Even as I the evening dies,

     And my soul is sick.

You whose years are seventeen,

     Forth and seek him too;

Sisters, sisters, take my staff,

     Seek the whole world through.

There were three sisters fain to die!

Her crown of gold each putteth on,

And forth to seek their death they're gone.

They wandered to the forest forth:

"Give us our death, O forest old,

For here are our three crowns of gold."

The forest broke into a smile,

And kisses gave to each twice twain,

That showed them all the future plain.

There were three sisters fain to die:

They wandered forth to seek the sea:

They found it after summers three.

"Give us our death, thou ocean old,

For here are our three crowns of gold."

Then the ocean began to weep:

Three hundred kisses it gave the three,

And all the past was plain to see.

There were three sisters fain to die:

To find the city they sought awhile;

They found it midmost of an isle.

"Give us our death, thou city old,

For here are our three crowns of gold."

The city opened then and there,

And covered them with kisses dear

That showed them all the present clear.

CANTICLE OF THE VIRGIN IN "SISTER BEATRICE"¹

I hold, to every sin,

To every soul that weeps,

My hands with pardon filled

Out of the starry deeps.

No sin is there that lives

When love hath vigil kept;

No soul is there that mourns

When love but once hath wept.

And tho' on many paths

Of earth love lose its way,

Its tears will find me out

And shall not go astray.