Lilith

While fairer grew each day that elfin throng.

To pluck the mangoes brown, fair Lilith sped One morn. Quick throbbed her heart. On mossy bed Lay all her babes. With face like morning, shone One there, and wide her yellow hair out-blown As "twere in play. Red-flushed her cheeks, and deep About her lips the baby smiles. Asleep Was one, white-gleaming, pure as pearl unseen In sunless caves, close-shut. And one did lean Against his fellow, lithe, sun-flushed and brown, With rings of jetty hair that low adown His bosom streamed. And one there was, whose dream O"erflowed with laughter. And one did seem Half-waking. One, with dimpled arms in sleep Thrust elbow-deep in moss, that sure did weep Ere yet he slept, and on his cheek scarce dried The wilful tears.

Then low, pale Lilith cried As near she drew, down-bending tender eyes: "And are ye here, my babes; and will ye rise If I but break your sleep?" His naked feet One faintly moved as low she leant; and warm His slumbrous breath stirred "gainst her circling arm, And slow aneath his closed lids slipped a waft Of wind, that loosed a trickling tear. Its craft The mother-heart forgot thereat. "At last, Close to my breast, my babes," she cried, and fast Laughing, outstretched her eager hands and strong.

Then lay with empty arms.

The elfin throng Breasted the pulsing air with mocking song.

"Alas," she said, "could ye not give one kiss- One tender clasp of hands! And must I miss Your throbbing hearts from my cold, barren breast, Ye soulless ones, that flout my lonely rest?"

There, prostrate, long lay Lilith, and there, late "Mid dew-fall, Eblis found his stricken mate.

"O Eblis, say o"er me what curse hangs bare, For now no more," she said, "this realm seems fair.

Its fruits grow bitter, all its light falls chill.

With thee, my prince, poor Lilith mates but ill- Earth-born, with angel linked. Alas, is left No joy to me, of my sweet ones bereft.

Methinks soft baby lips might erewhile drain From Lilith"s famished heart its wildest pain.

Wherefore, my Eblis, it were wise to seek Surcease of grief. That Lilith, is so weak Who wedded thee; and that she sinned, knew not.

Yet, if we part, mayhap may follow naught Of other ills."

"Sweet love," he laughed, "o"er-late Thou art so timorous. At Eden"s gate Not so, what time the angel barred her way My Lilith stood. Shelter within my arms. Oh, say, Was not our young love sweet? Hath it grown cold?

With me thou sharest endless life; nor old, Nor shrivelled, shalt thou be. And not one trace Of earth"s decay (sure doom of thy sad race) Shall taint thy babes. For lo, I give Thy soulless ones immortal youth. They live Without a pang. And yet, methinks the cry Of Earth adown the ages sounds, when die Its babes; and mothers bend dumb lips above, And fold still hands, that answer not their love.

Lilith, doth not indeed my love outweigh Caresses missed from phantom babes? Astray From Eden long, here in this fair domain To bide; and through long cycles fearless reign Methinks were joy. In summer sheen Wide spreads thy land. The marge of islets green The palm-trees skirt. Soft shine the dusk lagoons And inland mountains. Mirk the jungle"s glooms, And fair thy fertile plains. Oh, sweet the glow When we together watch the day, that low Among the winds lies still. Shut lilies blow While here we wait. Come, for they fain would show Their golden hearts. Or, love, with me to float Were it not sweet, through flowery bays remote, Past coves and peaks? Or pierce yon ocean"s verge, And through wild tumbling waves our sails to urge?"

"Yea, sweet is love," she said, "and sweet to roam By listless currents lulled; or "mid the foam Low dip our feathery oars," she sighed, "yet sore Is still the mother-heart that hears no more The lisping tongues. And sad, when baby smiles Have left it desolate. And baby wiles Shall cheer it never more."

"Yet," Eblis said, "Lilith, no longer mourn. For I have read Upon a scroll as samite glistening white, All coming fate, close hid from human sight, Great peoples yet shall dwell in these dusk lands.

Then shall thy children, shadowy bands That fly thy fond caress, with them abide In closest fellowship. And though they hide Sometimes from human ken their better selves, Still loved, remain these tricksy elves.

Though yet indeed some quips and pranks they play, "Tis but a jest, men know, when far away The flickering marsh-fires swift they light And children follow their false tapers bright Among the spongy bogs. The ship-lad smiles, When distant "mid the waves the phantom isles Rise green. "Tis but a harmless jest that sets On lonely plains, domes, mosques, and minarets, And o"er the desert sands, mirage uplifts When glimmering waves shine through deep rifts Of crested palms.

"Still dearer they when wide To undiscovered lands men boldly ride Across new seas, and turn their venturous prows.

When tempests shriek, and wet about their brows The salt spray dashes fierce, one, watching, cries, "Good mates, no storm I fear, for yonder rise The Elf-babes "mid the foam. Ye goblin crew, That sail these unknown seas, we follow you To harbor safe. Ho, ho! With beckoning hands, Wind-driven, loud they cry-My mates! the lands, The golden lands we seek, are ours!"

"In Earth"s brown bosom pent, the hardy wight Long in deep caverns dwells; and hard doth smite The rocky caves. Nor sees the golden spoil Through weary days of wasted, lonely toil.

From his wild eyes, far-flying hides the prize, Till desperate, angered, worn, aloud he cries: "Vain, vain! The caves my labor answer not, Nor yellow threads, that gleam in any grot.

Hard, cruel, silent hills, my strength ye mock, And seal your treasures close in flinty rock; So, after toilsome years, sweet wife, I bring To thee no sparkling love-gift. Nay, nor anything To cheer our failing time."

"Then round him hears He st.u.r.dy blows, and listening, almost fears He dreams. But swift the echoes rise, and still More loudly roll, and quick replies the hill.

Reverberant, through all the caverns round, The uproar swells, and fills the world with sound.

Then lists he once again. "With l.u.s.ty shocks Your hammers ring against the hard-ribbed rocks- Goblins!" he boldly shouts, "smite! smite! ye bring My treasure forth, dark-beating goblin wing Among the gleaming caves, whose dusk veins hold The gold. At last! At last, the ruddy gold!"

"And lone, in stricken fields, the husbandman Sits pale, with anxious eyes that hopeless scan The burning sky. Hot lie the glimmering plain And uplands parched. "Behold, the bending grain, Fair in the springtide, now is dead; and dry The brooks. If yet the rainfall fail, we die Of famine sore. No bleating lambs I hear in fold Safe shut, nor lowing kine; nor on the wold The whir of mounting bird: Nor thrives about me Any living thing. So seemeth, end must be Of striving. Since all the land is cursed, What matter if by famine scorched, or thirst, We die?" he saith.

"And thick the warlock swarm Above his head, wide-spreading dark wings warm, Fast flitted by. The waiting fields he stands Among. And laughing, claps exultant hands.

"Good speed ye, Sprites! that bring the welcome cloud And pile the vapors thick," he shouts aloud.

Oh! sweet shall bloom again the bending grain, And clothe afresh the wide, the wasted plain.

The clouds sweep black. Ha, ha! Against my cheek The big drops fall. Merry the goblins shriek.

Behold, they mount, they sink, they rise again.

Ho, friendly elves, that bring the longed-for rain!""

Thereat, he, smiling, ceased. And when soft crept The listening stars across the sky, they slept Untroubled, "neath the mango-trees.

But when midway The night was spent, Prince Eblis waking lay.

Soft Lilith"s breathing "mong the droopt leaves stirred.

And he, sore troubled, mused on every word That Lilith spake ere yet they slept. In all Foreseeing much of ill that might befall Their love. "O, queenly soul! Of finer grain Thou art than angels are. And more in brain Than man, I hold thee. Sooth, yet taints thee still One touch of womankind. And since so chill She finds her babes, must I forego my vow?

For one flaw, Hope"s clear crystal break? Oh, how Ally her cause with mine! So doth she long For human love-a baby hand is strong To hurl my empire down. From her soft heart Red, baby lips can drain revenge, and start Unbidden tears. And pity wakes to life When "mong dead embers she sits lone, and strife Is done.

"Then, at Regret"s dull heels, lo, fast, Retrieving follows. Happy days long past She will recall. If so for love she yearn, Back to her early home once more will turn, Pardoning her wilful lord. And he again Shall win the woman I so love, and fain Would hold forever. Lilith, thou one balm Of my lost soul in all this world! Shall calm My sufferings, or love me, any one, save thee, When thou in Adam"s arms forgettest me?

My only love! Nay, then, "twere surely wise To shut these baby faces from her eyes, New seeds of wrath to sow, her hate so feed That all her rankling wounds afresh shall bleed.

And in her ears "Good Adam!" will I cry, Lest she forget Eden she lost thereby.

Yea, "Adam!" I will laugh. Till her red lips with guile O"erflow. And she shall curse him loud. With subtlest wile Safe won, then shall she ever be mine own.

Soul-bound to me in hate, more terrible than death In hate, that long outlasts Love"s puny breath- O cunning craft, that with the self-same blow Forever wins my love, and smites my foe!

"Last night, when Lilith slept, lest I might mar Her dreams, from our green couch I rose, and far Pa.s.sed silent. Know I not the spell that draws My feet unwilling, Edenward. Its laws I may not brave to rend my foe. Nor there The Angel pa.s.s, unseen. The night so fair, As p.r.o.ne among the glistening leaves I lay, On Adam shone. Not sad, as on a day Erstwhile he seemed. And I could almost swear The sound of silvery laughter on the air Fell soft. And a fleet footfall "mong the flowers Scattered the dew. Yet "mid those silent bowers Naught else I saw or heard save rippling flow Of waters, and the moonshine white. Oh, low Speak, Eblis, lest aloud the night may tell Thy secret to the stars. Yet it were well If lies the hidden cure for Lilith"s woe Close shut in Paradise.

"All would we know, If we, close hid without those verdant walls, Together watched. What fate soe"er befalls I care not, if with me she bide."

Down bent He o"er her hair, thick with the night-dew sprent.

Soft kissed it, crying, "Love, the morn shines bright.

Waken, my Lilith, now. Through lands of night Our happy course afar doth ever wend; Past smiling sh.o.r.es where mighty rivers bend, Past cove and cape and isle, and winding bay And still blue mists, that hang athwart the day."

Thereat she rose, and joyously they sped By broad lagoons where musky odors shed New blooms. About them coiled long wreaths of vine, And slim lianas drooped, and marish lichens fine.

And fared they on o"er many a slanting beach And mountain crest; past many an open reach And forest wild-till over Paradise They saw the stars, clear, tender, loving, rise.

Then "neath the screen of those rose-girdled walls They hid without, listing the waterfalls, Or bird belated, twittering to its nest.

So still the spot, the very gra.s.s to rest Seemed hushed.

The garden-close, a clinging rose o"ercrept.

Its l.u.s.trous stem without that drooping swept Thick set with buds as tintless as the snows On sunless hills, when wild the north wind blows.

Lilith a-tiptoe stood; upreaching, caught The swaying boughs. Her eyes with longing fraught Close scanned her old deserted home. Then came Upon her spirit sadness, as if blame Unuttered breathed through those remembered glades And touched the odors moist "mong mirky shades.

With wistful gaze, she traced each bosky dell, Each winding path. And sweet youth"s memories fell About her.

Then was she ware of Adam, slow Pacing the pleasance-ways. With ruddy glow Fresh shone his cheeks, and crisp his hair out-blown By wanton winds. His lips were mirthful grown.

Once he made pause hard by the coppice green That hid the watcher. Once the leafy screen So near he pa.s.sed, from the overhanging edge He brushed a rose. The hindering hedge Quick through, in sudden blessing slim white hand Fain had she reached. "O Eden mine! Dear land,"

She sighed. And springing warm the tender tide Of teardrops gemmed the roses at her side.

So greets the weary wanderer once more His early home. The lintels worn, the door Age-stained; the iris clumps, in sheltered nook; The mill-wheel rotting o"er the shrunken brook; The sunny orchard, sloping west; and far And cold, above his mother"s grave, a star- Then quick unbidden tears, the heart"s warm rain, O"erflow his soul, and leave it pure again.

So Lilith backward turned to holier days, Watching through misty tears where trod those ways Her feet in other times.

Sudden and sweet Came down those paths a glimpse of flying feet; A sound of girlish laughter smote the air.

In jealous rage, Lilith uprose to dare The guarding Angel"s wrath. But, silver clear, The mocking laugh of Eblis caught her ear.

"Thou hast forgot," he said, "this peaceful land, Living, thou canst not enter."

But her hand Grasped once again the roses" shining strand, And "neath her guileful touch, like scarlet flame The snowy flowers burned. So, first Earth"s shame Around them set the spiked thorns.

Long there Pale Lilith looked, as coldly still and fair As carven stone. Then, with a fierce despair, A sense of utter loss, downbending there, With fingers hot she tore the hedge apart And laid thereto her face. With sorer smart She gazed again. For now, the twain at rest Were laid. Pure as a dream, Eve"s sinless breast A babe close pressed. One pink foot, small and warm, Among the leaves was hid. One dimpled arm Aneath her head.

Low Eblis sneered. "I wot In young Eve"s arms my Lilith is forgot.

Oh, soon," he said, "these earth-worms changeful turn- From the oped rose when red the shut buds burn."

But wild eyes on the babe she fixed. "Oh, blind,"

She cried, "was I. Yea, if the wanton wind Doth mock, I will not chide. Was it for this I wandered far, and bartered Eden"s bliss?

For this have lost the very bloom of life?

So Adam comfort finds, not knowing strife!

Look you, that fragile thing at Adam"s side- I heed her not. But Lilith is denied The treasure she so careless doth possess.

See how the babe, scarce waking, doth caress The mother! Look! Oh, hear the mother croon Above her child! Ah, Eblis, love, I swoon- I shall not know such joy. Alas, to me No babe shall come! Accursed may she be, Cursed Adam too. Thrice heavy on the head Of this poor babe my wrong be visited."

So, trembling, she brake off.

"Fast fades the light, Sweet love. Once more to our dark realm of night Let us return," he said.

As on fared they With merry jest, Eblis gan cheer the way.

"Nay, otherwhiles mirth pleased," she said. "Knowest thou What name she bears, who dwells in Eden now?

When Lilith went, long tarried Adam lone?"

She said. Replied he, "All to me is known Since that same hour you parted. What befell, To thee as we wend onward I will tell.

"Calm morn in Eden streaked the skies with red, And flushed the waiting hills above the gra.s.sy bed Where Adam, joyless, saw new rise the sun, Unwinding golden webs night-vapors spun Athwart low meads. Slow, droning murmurs sent The waking bees, with bloom and fragrance blent.

Unheeded poured her music blithesome Day The reedy brooks beside and shallows gray.

For lone to Adam seemed the place, and cold; The landscape dumb, as one aneath the mould.

For Lilith"s sake, no more was Eden fair.

Bloomless the days, the nights bowed down with care.

Oft pacing pathways dim, he saw the gleam Of strange-faced flowers beside the purling stream, Or toyed with circling leaves; or plucked the gra.s.s, And watched through rifted trees the clouds o"erpa.s.s; Wide roaming, heard the waters idly break Far "gainst the curving beach.

"And grieving, spake, "Oh, sweet with thee each hour-each wilding way, And sweet the memory of each gathered spray.

Could you not wait, dear love? Or come once more?