Ambergris

70 AMBERGRIS FROM ALICE : AN ADULTERY Red Poppy I have no heart to sing. What offering I may bring, Alice, to thee ? My great love’s lifted wing Weakens, unwearying, And droops with me, Singing the sun-kindled hair Close in the face more fair, The sweet soul shining there For God to see. Surely some angel shed Flowers for the maiden head, Ephemeral flowers ! I yearn, not comforted. My heart is vainly bled Through age-long hours. To thee my spirit turns ; My bright soul aches and burns, As a dry valley yearns For spring and showers. Splendid, remove, a fane Alone and unprofane I know thy breast. These bitter tears of pain Flood me, and fall again Not into rest. Me, whose sole purpose is To gain one gainless kiss, And make a bird’s my bliss, Shrined in that nest.