Prothalamion

O DAWN that ushers in the bridal day,
And with the twilight brings the bridal joy,
Yours is the torch that once would light the way
Of that fair pagan boy,
Who guided hearts, and married their delight,
And closed the portals on the nuptial night.
No more he comes, all wingèd with desire,
And flambeau burning bright ;
No more he brings his unawakened lyre,
And makes the strings dance to the blowing breeze ;
No more his careless heart is set on fire
In bower after bower of amorous ease.

Long years ago, when on the Syrian hills
A glory shone, and all the world grew light,
Ours was the day, and his the endless night ;
We left him dreaming on Hymettus mount.
Where murmur of the bees his slumber fills,
And all the bubbling rills.
The honey stolen from the wilding hive
Clings to the dryad’s lip ; he dreams it sweet,
And her fond kisses keep his hope alive,
But waking finds the sun upon the plain,
With all the world in combat at his feet,
And all his vassals fallen from his train.

No more we follow where his torches led,
No more we listen to his careless song ;
Our hopes are high, and his dominion dead.
The graven tablets that undid this wrong,
The holy heart that made the whole world hear,
Have taught us wisdom ; and with wings of fire
We can outsoar his torches, burnt too bright ;
We have unfettered love from her old fear,
Like some enchanted sprite,
That has escaped the caverns of desire.
O bridal dawn, your light is not his light!

And you, twin souls, who on this happy day
Have married hearts, and mingled the two streams
Of your own fates in this more perfect way,
Behold the bright girl April’s dancing eyes
Grow brighter with your dreams.
She sets the sun ’mid showers in the skies,
To mock your tender tears ; and on the hills,
Through the dank earth, wrapped in her curling leaf,
The bloodroot flower forgets her winter’s grief,
In longing for your bridal. Maytime brings
Arbutus and anemone, and fills
The woods with perfume, but the April sun
Holds court in heaven, and the robin sings
Full-hearted carols when the bride is won.

O lady, weeping at your own delight,
A happy sorrow mellowing your tear,
The plighted day, the consecrated night,
The honeyed month, the slow-revolving year,
Are yours and his by right.
O guiding star of his unsundered fate,
Through life and death, through hopes that cannot die,
Keep his strong heart elate ;
Be pilot of your yet unweathered bark,
Faithful to that bright planet in the sky,
Through reaches of the far mysterious dark.

O happy youth, bringing the bride-heart home,
To seal with nuptial rapture her sweet fate,
From out of highest heaven’s awful dome
You were ordained to mate, —
Twin passions of a single hallowed heart,
Who join the sweet and strong with perfect art,
And marry good with great ;
No mystic portent and no elfin power
Rouse your desire in watches of the night,
Nor fair Armida of the blissful bower ;
Her deepest magic is her womanhood ;
But through the shadows of our earthly wood
Follow your star that makes the heaven bright.

Not here within the bridal clasp of hands,
But in the Eden of your highest hope,
The perfect future stands ;
You do foretoken that diviner day
We eat our hearts in praying for, and grope
Through shadows on the never ending way ;
The goal is far, but earth and heaven the prize.
On this bright dawn let us forget our fears,
And yield to every hope your nuptials rouse ;
For echoing Sinai, Nazareth is wise,
And all the heartache of the grinding years
Is buried in your deathless marriage vows.

So sang the wood thrush throbbing in my brain,
But the blithe robin dancing in my heart
Carols a softer strain :
No time is this for peril or for pain,
When bright-eyed April plays her happiest part,
Smiling through dewy lashes ; no time this,
When youth meets youth, and bridegroom takes his bride,
And love and living seem a single bliss.
O rapture in the twilight clasp of arms,
O melody, O joy of virgin charms,
Youth and the young year, budding side by side,
Make all Spring’s flowers blossom in your kiss!