Page:General William Booth enters into Heaven, and other poems.djvu/103

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Nicholas Vachel Lindsay
87

EDEN IN WINTER


[Supposed to be chanted to some rude instrument at a modern fireplace]

CHANT we the story now
  Tho' in a house we sleep;
Tho' by a hearth of coals
Vigil to-night we keep.
Chant we the story now,
Of the vague love we knew
When I from out the sea
Rose to the feet of you.

Bird from the cliffs you came,
Flew thro' the snow to me,
Facing the icy blast
There by the icy sea.
How did I reach your feet?
Why should I—at the end
Hold out half-frozen hands
Dumbly to you my friend?
Ne'er had I woman seen,