The Soul of Osiris

30 THE SOUL OF OSIRIS. The sleep of bird and flower Proclaims that Heaven has power To guard its gentlest child. The lover knows the hour, And goes with dew for dower To wed in woodland wild. The silvern grasses shake, And through the startled brake Glides the awakened snake, Untamable and mild. The song of stars ; the wail Of women wild and pale, Forlorn and not forsaken ; The tremulous nightingale ; The waters wan that fail By frost-love overtaken, Make sacred all the valley ; And softly, musically, The breezes lull and rally, The pine stirs and is shaken. Beneath whose sombre shade I hold a lazy maid In chaste arms and too tender. Lo ! she is fair ! God said ; And saw through the deep glade How sweet she was and slender. But I—could I behold her Curved shapeliness of shoulder ?