I

It shall ease thy mortal strife
'Gainst the immortal woe of life,
Till thyself, restored, shall prove
By what grace the Heavens do move.

Take of English flowers these-
Spring's full-facèd primroses,
Summer's wild wide-hearted rose,
Autumn's wall-flower of the close,
And, thy darkness to illume,
Winter's bee-thronged ivy-bloom.
Seek and serve them where they bide
From Candlemas to Christmas-tide,
For these simples, used aright,
Can restore a failing sight.

These shall cleanse and purify
Webbed and inward-turning eye;
These shall show thee treasure hid,
Thy familiar fields amid;

And reveal (which is thy need)
Every man a King indeed!

THE PRAIRIE

SEE the grass shake in the sun for leagues on either hand, I see a river loop and run about a treeless landAn empty plain, a steely pond, a distance diamond-clear, And low blue naked hills beyond. And what is that to fear?"

"Go softly by that river-side or, when you would depart, You'll find its every winding tied and knotted round your heart.

Be wary as the seasons pass, or you may ne'er outrun
The wind that sets that yellowed grass a-shiver 'neath the

Sun."

"I hear the summer storm outblown-the drip of the grateful wheat.

I hear the hard trail telephone a far-off horse's feet.

I hear the horns of Autumn blow to the wild-fowl overhead; And I hear the hush before the snow. And what is that to dread?"

"Take heed what spell the lightning weaves-what charm the echoes shape

Or, bound among a million sheaves, your soul shall not escape. Bar home the door of summer nights lest those high planets drown

The memory of near delights in all the longed-for town."

"What need have I to long or fear? Now, friendly, I behold My faithful seasons robe the year in silver and in gold. Now I possess and am possessed of the land where I would be, And the curve of half Earth's generous breast shall soothe and ravish me!"

JOBSON'S AMEN

BLESSED be the English and all their ways and works. Cursed be the Infidels, Hereticks, and Turks!"

"Amen," quo' Jobson, "but where I used to lie

Was neither Candle, Bell nor Book to curse my brethren by:

"But a palm-tree in full bearing, bowing down, bowing down, To a surf that drove unsparing at the brown, walled townConches in a temple, oil-lamps in a dome—

And a low moon out of Africa said: "This way home!""

"Blessed be the English and all that they profess. Cursed be the Savages that prance in nakedness!" "Amen," quo' Jobson, "but where I used to lie

Was neither shirt nor pantaloons to catch my brethren by:

"But a well-wheel slowly creaking, going round, going round,
By a water-channel leaking over drowned, warm ground-
Parrots very busy in the trellised pepper-vine-
And a high sun over Asia shouting: Rise and shine!"

"Blessed be the English and everything they own. Cursed be the Infidels that bow to wood and stone!" "Amen," quo' Jobson, "but where I used to lie Was neither pew nor Gospelleer to save my brethren by:

"But a desert stretched and stricken, left and right, left and right,

Where the piled mirages thicken under white-hot lightA skull beneath a sand-hill and a viper coiled insideAnd a red wind out of Libya roaring: 'Run and hide!””

"Blessed be the English and all they make or do.
Cursed be the Hereticks who doubt that this is true!"
"Amen," quo' Jobson, "but where I mean to die
Is neither rule nor calliper to judge the matter by:

"But Himalaya heavenward-heading, sheer and vast, sheer

and vast,

In a million summits bedding on the last world's past-
A certain sacred mountain where the scented cedars climb,
And-the feet of my Beloved hurrying back through Time!"

CHAPTER HEADINGS

PLAIN TALES FROM THE HILLS

LOOK, you have cast out Love! What Gods are these

You bid me please?

The Three in One, the One in Three? Not so!

It may be they shall give me greater ease
Than your cold Christ and tangled Trinities.

When the earth was sick and the skies were grey,
And the woods were rotted with rain,

The Dead Man rode through the autumn day
To visit his love again.

His love she neither saw nor heard,

So heavy was her shame;

And tho' the babe within her stirred
She knew not that he came.

Lispeth.

The Other Man.

Cry "Murder" in the market-place, and each
Will turn upon his neighbour anxious eyes
Asking: "Art thou the man?" We hunted Cain
Some centuries ago across the world.

This bred the fear our own misdeeds maintain
To-day.

Go, stalk the red deer o'er the heather,

Ride, follow the fox if you can!

But, for pleasure and profit together,

His Wedded Wife.

Allow me the hunting of Man

The chase of the Human, the search for the Soul
To its ruin the hunting of Man.

"Stopped in the straight when the race was his own
Look at him cutting it-cur to the bone!"

Ask ere the youngster be rated and chidden
What did he carry and how was he ridden?

Pig.

Maybe they used him too much at the start.
Maybe Fate's weight-cloths are breaking his heart.
In the Pride of his Youth.

“And some are sulky, while some will plunge.
(So ho! Steady! Stand still, you !)

Some you must gentle, and some you must lunge.
(There! There! Who wants to kill you ?)
Some there are losses in every trade-
Will break their hearts ere bitted and made,
Will fight like fiends as the rope cuts hard,
And die dumb-mad in the breaking-yard.'

The World hath set its heavy yoke
Upon the old white-bearded folk
Who strive to please the King.
God's mercy is upon the young,
God's wisdom in the baby tongue
That fears not anything.

Thrown Away.

Tod's Amendment.

Not though you die to-night, O Sweet, and wail,
A spectre at my door,

Shall mortal Fear make Love immortal fail—

I shall but love you more,

Who, from Death's House returning, give me still

One moment's comfort in my matchless ill.

By Word of Mouth.