Came Those Who Saw

Came those who saw and loved her,
She was so fair to see !
No whit their homage moved her,
So proud she was, so free ;
But, ah, her soul was turning
With strange and mystic yearning.
With some divine discerning,
Beyond them all — to me.

As light to lids that quiver
Throughout a night forlorn,
She came — a royal giver —
My temple to adorn ;
And my soul rose to meet her,
To welcome her, to greet her,
To name, proclaim, her sweeter
And dearer than the morn.

For her most rare devising
Was mixed no common clay,
Nor earthly form, disguising
Its frailty for a day :
But sun and shadow blended
And fire and love descended
In one creation splendid
Nor less superb than they.

You, of the finer moulding —
You, of the clearer light —
Whose spirit-life, unfolding,
Illumined my spirit's night,
Stoop not to end my dreaming,
To stain the vision gleaming,
Or mar that glory, seeming
Too high for touch or sight.