Spring went about the woods to-day, The soft-foot winter-thief, And found where idle sorrow lay 'Twixt flower and faded leaf. She looked on him, and found him fair For all she had been told; She knelt adown beside him there, And sang of days of old. His open eyes beheld her nought, Yet 'gan his lips to move; But life and deeds were in her thought, And he would sing of love. So sang they till their eyes did meet, And faded fear and shame; More bold he grew, and she more sweet, Until they sang the same. Until, say they who know the thing, Their very lips did kiss, And Sorrow laid abed with Spring Begat an earthly bliss. MEETING IN WINTER. Winter in the world it is, Round about the unhoped kiss Whose dream I long have sorrowed o'er; Round about the longing sore, That the touch of thee shall turn Into joy too deep to burn. Round thine eyes and round thy mouth Passeth no murmur of the south, When my lips a little while Leave thy quivering tender smile, As we twain, hand holding hand, Once again together stand. Sweet is that, as all is sweet; For the white drift shalt thou meet, Kind and cold-cheeked and mine own, Wrapped about with deep-furred gown In the broad-wheeled chariot: Then the north shall spare us not; The wide-reaching waste of snow Wilder, lonelier yet shall grow As the reddened sun falls down. But the warders of the town, When they flash the torches out O'er the snow amid their doubt, And their eyes at last behold Thy red-litten hair of gold; Shall they open, or in fear Cry, "Alas! What cometh here? Whence hath come this Heavenly To tell of all the world undone?" They shall open, and we shall see The long street litten scantily By the long stream of light before The guest-hall's half-open door; And our horses' bells shall cease As we reach the place of peace; Thou shalt tremble, as at last The worn threshold is o'er-past, And the fire-light blindeth thee: Trembling shalt thou cling to me As the sleepy merchants stare At thy cold hands slim and fair, Thy soft eyes and happy lips Worth all lading of their ships. O my love, how sweet and sweet That first kissing of thy feet, When the fire is sunk alow, And the hall made empty now Groweth solemn, dim and vast! O my love, the night shall last Longer than men tell thereof Laden with our lonely love! THE TWO SIDES OF THE RIVER _The Youths_. O Winter, O white winter, wert thou gone No more within the wilds were I alone Leaping with bent bow over stock and stone! No more alone my love the lamp should burn, Watching the weary spindle twist and turn, Or o'er the web hold back her tears and yearn: O winter, O white winter, wert thou gone! _The Maidens_. Sweet thoughts fly swiftlier than the drifting snow, And with the twisting threads sweet longings grow, And o'er the web sweet pictures come and go, For no white winter are we long alone. _The Youths_.