Tale of Archais

P A R T I FAINT hymns of tender-throated bacchanals Sigh through the forest, and forbidden dance Flashes the sunlight back with rhythmic glance Of dewy feet that trip ; while dainty falls Of spray-clad springs keep time : the summer haze Lies on the cornfields, the pale Corybant Dreams to the restless breeze that flings aslant Locks of vain love to strange and sunless rays That are the kiss of Bacchos’ wanton mouth. On such a lawn the tender Charicles Stretched limbs, that greet this morning of the May With sweet shy vigour, while from the south Toward his lips there came the shining breeze To taste life crystal-clear and die away.