Then judge me as thou wilt, I cannot flee,

I cannot turn away from thee forever,

For there are bonds that wisdom cannot sever

And slaves with souls far freer than the free.

Such strong desires the universal Giver

With unknown plan has buried deep in me

That the exquisite joy of watching thee

Has dominated all my life's endeavor.

Thou weariest of having me so near,

I feel the scorn thou hast within thy heart,

And yet thy face has never seemed so dear

As now, when I am minded to depart.

Though thou shouldst drive me hence, I love thee so

That I would watch thee when thou dost not know.

Fly, joyous wind, through all the wakened earth

Now when the portals of the dawn outpour

A myriad wonders from the radiant store

Of spring's deep passion and loud-ringing mirth.

Cry to the world that I despair no more,

Heart greets my heart and hope has proved its worth;

Fly where the legions of the sun have birth,

Chant everywhere and everywhere adore.

Circle the basking hills in fragrant flight,

Shout Rapture! Rapture! if sweet sorrow passes,

And whisper low in intimate delight

My love-song to the undulating grasses.

Grief is no more, love rises with the spring,

O fly, free wind, and Rapture! Rapture! sing.

Long after both of us are scattered dust

And some strange souls perchance shall read of thee,

Finding the yearnings that have crushed from me

These poor confessions of my love and trust,

I know how misinterpreted will be

These lines, for men will laugh, or more unjust,

Thinking not once of love, but only lust,

Will stain the vesture of our memory.

And yet a few there may be who will feel

My deep devotion and my true desires,

And know that these unhappy words reveal

Only new images in changeless fires;

And they perchance will linger with a sigh

To think that beauty such as thine must die.