More Songs of Africa

ALIEN earth and alien river-brink;
Alien stars that stand before the door;
Small sad house that sheltered all my sleep —
I am gone and shall return no more.

Small sad house that shook beneath the rain;
Leaf-thatched roof that rustled in the sun —
You are left all brown among the trees,
Like a nest when nesting time is done.

Here I dreamed, and here I woke to weep;
Hence I go, to dream and weep no more.
Leaf-thatched house, I leave you to your sleep;
Wistful dream — behold, I bar the door!

The jewels of the Southern Cross
Are fallen every one;
I would not turn the ship about
For loss of star or sun;
I would not turn the ship about
For all the stars, to hunt them out.

About the ship’s sides in the dark
How bright the fires shine!
The little fires of my delight
That kindle in the brine,

The primrose fires of my delight,
How quick about the ship at night!

The figure at the keen prow leaps
And runs upon the sea;
The ship’s heart like a man’s heart yearns
To northward and to thee;
And, like my heart, the ship’s heart yearns,
And sobs and hurries and returns.

The apple tree but knocketh light,
And straight you rise to see;
You open to the quiet night
In answer to the tree;
You lean to where it blossoms white —
Who never leaned to me.

You lean to where the net of Spring
Shines in the moonlit air;
Your maiden fancy droops a wing
Above that silver snare —
A heart in blossom was a thing
Too common for your care.