Part FifthIt was no easy matter to convinceHeinrich that it was finished. Hard to sayThat though they could not meet (he saw her wince)She still must keep the locket to allaySuspicion in her husband. She would payHim from her savings bit by bit—the oathHe swore at that was startling to them both.Her resolution taken, Frau AltgeltAdhered to it, and suffered no regret.She found her husband all that she had feltHis music to contain. Her days were setIn his as though she were an amuletCased in bright gold. She joyed in her confining;Her eyes put out her looking-glass with shining.Charlotta was so gay that old, dull tasksWere furbished up to seem like rituals.She baked and brewed as one who only asksThe right to serve. Her daily manualsOf prayer were duties, and her festivalsWhen Theodore praised some dish, or frankly saidShe had a knack in making up a bed.So Autumn went, and all the mountains roundThe city glittered white with fallen snow,For it was Winter. Over the hard groundHerr Altgelt's footsteps came, each one a blow.On the swept flags behind the currant rowCharlotta stood to greet him. But his lipOnly flicked hers. His Concert-MeistershipWas first again. This evening he had gotImportant news. The opera ordered fromYoung Mozart was arrived. That old despot,The Bishop of Salzburg, had let him comeHimself to lead it, and the parts, still hotFrom copying, had been tried over. NeverHad any music started such a fever.The orchestra had cheered till they were hoarse,The singers clapped and clapped. The town was made,With such a great attraction through the courseOf Carnival time. In what utter shadeAll other cities would be left! The tradeIn music would all drift here naturally.In his excitement he forgot his tea.Lotta was forced to take his cup and putIt in his hand. But still he rattled on,Sipping at intervals. The new catgutStrings he was using gave out such a toneThe "Maestro" had remarked it, and had goneOut of his way to praise him. Lotta smiled,He was as happy as a little child.From that day on, Herr Altgelt, more and more,Absorbed himself in work. Lotta at firstWas patient and well-wishing. But it woreUpon her when two weeks had brought no burstOf loving from him. Then she feared the worst;That his short interest in her was a lightFlared up an instant only in the night.'Idomeneo' was the opera's name,A name that poor Charlotta learnt to hate.Herr Altgelt worked so hard he seldom cameHome for his tea, and it was very late,Past midnight sometimes, when he knocked. His stateWas like a flabby orange whose crushed skinIs thin with pulling, and all dented in.He practised every morning and her heartFollowed his bow. But often she would sit,While he was playing, quite withdrawn apart,Absently fingering and touching it,The locket, which now seemed to her a bitOf some gone youth. His music drew her tears,And through the notes he played, her dreading earsHeard Heinrich's voice, saying he had not changed;Beer merchants had no ecstasies to takeTheir minds off love. So far her thoughts had rangedAway from her stern vow, she chanced to takeHer way, one morning, quite by a mistake,Along the street where Heinrich had his shop.What harm to pass it since she should not stop!It matters nothing how one day she metHim on a bridge, and blushed, and hurried by.Nor how the following week he stood to letHer pass, the pavement narrowing suddenly.How once he took her basket, and once hePulled back a rearing horse who might have struckHer with his hoofs. It seemed the oddest luckHow many times their business took them eachRight to the other. Then at last he spoke,But she would only nod, he got no speechFrom her. Next time he treated it in joke,And that so lightly that her vow she brokeAnd answered. So they drifted into seeingEach other as before. There was no fleeing.Christmas was over and the CarnivalWas very near, and tripping from each tongueWas talk of the new opera. Each book-stallFlaunted it out in bills, what airs were sung,What singers hired. Pictures of the young"Maestro" were for sale. The town was mad.Only Charlotta felt depressed and sad.Each day now brought a struggle 'twixt her willAnd Heinrich's. 'Twixt her love for TheodoreAnd him. Sometimes she wished to killHerself to solve her problem. For a scoreOf reasons Heinrich tempted her. He boreHer moods with patience, and so surely urgedHimself upon her, she was slowly mergedInto his way of thinking, and to flyWith him seemed easy. But next morning wouldThe Stradivarius undo her mood.Then she would realize that she must cleaveAlways to Theodore. And she would tryTo convince Heinrich she should never leave,And afterwards she would go home and grieve.All thought in Munich centered on the partOf January when there would be given'Idomeneo' by Wolfgang Mozart.The twenty-ninth was fixed. And all seats, evenThose almost at the ceiling, which were drivenBehind the highest gallery, were sold.The inches of the theatre went for gold.Herr Altgelt was a shadow worn so thinWith work, he hardly printed black behindThe candle. He and his old violinMade up one person. He was not unkind,But dazed outside his playing, and the rind,The pine and maple of his fiddle, guardedA part of him which he had quite discarded.It woke in the silence of frost-bright nights,In little lights,Like will-o'-the-wisps flickering, fluttering,Here—there—Spurting, sputtering,Fading and lighting,Together, asunder—Till Lotta sat up in bed with wonder,And the faint grey patch of the window shoneUpon her sitting there, alone.For Theodore slept.The twenty-eighth was last rehearsal day,'Twas called for noon, so early morning meantHerr Altgelt's only time in which to playHis part alone. Drawn like a monk who's spentHimself in prayer and fasting, Theodore wentInto the kitchen, with a weary wordOf cheer to Lotta, careless if she heard.Lotta heard more than his spoken word.She heard the vibrating of strings and wood.She was washing the dishes, her hands all suds,When the sound began,Long as the spanOf a white road snaking about a hill.The orchards are filledWith cherry blossoms at butterfly poise.Hawthorn buds are cracking,And in the distance a shepherd is clackingHis shears, snip-snipping the wool from his sheep.The notes are asleep,Lying adrift on the airIn level linesLike sunlight hanging in pines and pines,Strung and threaded,All imbeddedIn the blue-green of the hazy pines.Lines—long, straight lines!And stems,Long, straight stemsPushing upTo the cup of blue, blue sky.Stems growing mistyWith the many of them,Red-green mistOf the trees,And theseWood-flavoured notes.The back is maple and the belly is pine.The rich notes twineAs though weaving in and out of leaves,Broad leavesFlapping slowly like elephants' ears,Waving and falling.Another sound peersThrough little pine fingers,And lingers, peeping.Ping! Ping! pizzicato, something is cheeping.There is a twittering up in the branches,A chirp and a lilt,And crimson atilt on a swaying twig.Wings! Wings!And a little ruffled-out throat which sings.The forest bends, tumultuousWith song.The woodpecker knocks,And the song-sparrow trills,Every fir, and cedar, and yewHas a nest or a bird,It is quite absurdTo hear them cutting across each other:Peewits, and thrushes, and larks, all at once,And a loud cuckoo is trying to smotherA wood-pigeon perched on a birch,"Roo—coo—oo—oo—""Cuckoo! Cuckoo! That's one for you!"A blackbird whistles, how sharp, how shrill!And the great trees tossAnd leaves blow down,You can almost hear them splash on the ground.The whistle again:It is double and loud!The leaves are splashing,And water is dashingOver those creepers, for they are shrouds;And men are running up them to furl the sails,For there is a capful of wind to-day,And we are already well under way.The deck is aslant in the bubbling breeze."Theodore, please.Oh, Dear, how you tease!"And the boatswain's whistle sounds again,And the men pull on the sheets:"My name is Hanging Johnny,Away-i-oh;They call me Hanging Johnny,So hang, boys, hang."The trees of the forest are masts, tall masts;They are swinging overHer and her lover.Almost swooningUnder the ballooning canvas,She liesLooking up in his eyesAs he bends farther over.Theodore, still her lover!The suds were dried upon Charlotta's hands,She leant against the table for support,Wholly forgotten. Theodore's eyes were brandsBurning upon his music. He stopped short.Charlotta almost heard the sound of bandsSnapping. She put one hand up to her heart,Her fingers touched the locket with a start.Herr Altgelt put his violin awayListlessly. "Lotta, I must have some rest.The strain will be a hideous one to-day.Don't speak to me at all. It will be bestIf I am quiet till I go." And lestShe disobey, he left her. On the stairsShe heard his mounting steps. What use were prayers!He could not hear, he was not there, for sheWas married to a mummy, a machine.Her hand closed on the locket bitterly.Before her, on a chair, lay the shagreenCase of his violin. She saw the cleanSun flash the open clasp. The locket's edgeCut at her fingers like a pushing wedge.A heavy cart went by, a distant bellChimed ten, the fire flickered in the grate.She was alone. Her throat began to swellWith sobs. What kept her here, why should she wait?The violin she had begun to hateLay in its case before her. Here she flungThe cover open. With the fiddle swungOver her head, the hanging clock's loud tickingCaught on her ear. 'Twas slow, and as she pausedThe little door in it came open, flickingA wooden cuckoo out: "Cuckoo!" It causedThe forest dream to come again. "Cuckoo!"Smashed on the grate, the violin broke in two."Cuckoo! Cuckoo!" the clock kept striking on;But no one listened. Frau Altgelt had gone.
A bullet through his heart at dawn. On the table a letter signed with a woman's name. A wind that goes howling round the house, and weeping as in shame. Cold November dawn peeping through the windows, cold dawn creeping over the floor, creeping up his cold legs, creeping over his cold body, creeping across his cold face. A glaze of thin yellow sunlight on the staring eyes. Wind howling through bent branches. A wind which never dies down. Howling, wailing. The gazing eyes glitter in the sunlight. The lids are frozen open and the eyes glitter.
The thudding of a pick on hard earth. A spade grinding and crunching. Overhead, branches writhing, winding, interlacing, unwinding, scattering; tortured twinings, tossings, creakings. Wind flinging branches apart, drawing them together, whispering and whining among them. A waning, lopsided moon cutting through black clouds. A stream of pebbles and earth and the empty spade gleams clear in the moonlight, then is rammed again into the black earth. Tramping of feet. Men and horses. Squeaking of wheels.
"Whoa! Ready, Jim?"
"All ready."
Something falls, settles, is still. Suicides have no coffin.
"Give us the stake, Jim. Now."
Pound! Pound!
"He'll never walk. Nailed to the ground."
An ash stick pierces his heart, if it buds the roots will hold him. He is a part of the earth now, clay to clay. Overhead the branches sway, and writhe, and twist in the wind. He'll never walk with a bullet in his heart, and an ash stick nailing him to the cold, black ground.
Six months he lay still. Six months. And the water welled up in his body, and soft blue spots chequered it. He lay still, for the ash stick held him in place. Six months! Then her face came out of a mist of green. Pink and white and frail like Dresden china, lilies-of-the-valley at her breast, puce-coloured silk sheening about her. Under the young green leaves, the horse at a foot-pace, the high yellow wheels of the chaise scarcely turning, her face, rippling like grain a-blowing, under her puce-coloured bonnet; and burning beside her, flaming within his correct blue coat and brass buttons, is someone. What has dimmed the sun? The horse steps on a rolling stone; a wind in the branches makes a moan. The little leaves tremble and shake, turn and quake, over and over, tearing their stems. There is a shower of young leaves, and a sudden-sprung gale wails in the trees.
The yellow-wheeled chaise is rocking—rocking, and all the branches are knocking—knocking. The sun in the sky is a flat, red plate, the branches creak and grate. She screams and cowers, for the green foliage is a lowering wave surging to smother her. But she sees nothing. The stake holds firm. The body writhes, the body squirms. The blue spots widen, the flesh tears, but the stake wears well in the deep, black ground. It holds the body in the still, black ground.
Two years! The body has been in the ground two years. It is worn away; it is clay to clay. Where the heart moulders, a greenish dust, the stake is thrust. Late August it is, and night; a night flauntingly jewelled with stars, a night of shooting stars and loud insect noises. Down the road to Tilbury, silence—and the slow flapping of large leaves. Down the road to Sutton, silence—and the darkness of heavy-foliaged trees. Down the road to Wayfleet, silence—and the whirring scrape of insects in the branches. Down the road to Edgarstown, silence—and stars like stepping-stones in a pathway overhead. It is very quiet at the cross-roads, and the sign-board points the way down the four roads, endlessly points the way where nobody wishes to go.
A horse is galloping, galloping up from Sutton. Shaking the wide, still leaves as he goes under them. Striking sparks with his iron shoes; silencing the katydids. Dr. Morgan riding to a child-birth over Tilbury way; riding to deliver a woman of her first-born son. One o'clock from Wayfleet bell tower, what a shower of shooting stars! And a breeze all of a sudden, jarring the big leaves and making them jerk up and down. Dr. Morgan's hat is blown from his head, the horse swerves, and curves away from the sign-post. An oath—spurs—a blurring of grey mist. A quick left twist, and the gelding is snorting and racing down the Tilbury road with the wind dropping away behind him.
The stake has wrenched, the stake has started, the body, flesh from flesh, has parted. But the bones hold tight, socket and ball, and clamping them down in the hard, black ground is the stake, wedged through ribs and spine. The bones may twist, and heave, and twine, but the stake holds them still in line. The breeze goes down, and the round stars shine, for the stake holds the fleshless bones in line.
Twenty years now! Twenty long years! The body has powdered itself away; it is clay to clay. It is brown earth mingled with brown earth. Only flaky bones remain, lain together so long they fit, although not one bone is knit to another. The stake is there too, rotted through, but upright still, and still piercing down between ribs and spine in a straight line.
Yellow stillness is on the cross-roads, yellow stillness is on the trees. The leaves hang drooping, wan. The four roads point four yellow ways, saffron and gamboge ribbons to the gaze. A little swirl of dust blows up Tilbury road, the wind which fans it has not strength to do more; it ceases, and the dust settles down. A little whirl of wind comes up Tilbury road. It brings a sound of wheels and feet. The wind reels a moment and faints to nothing under the sign-post. Wind again, wheels and feet louder. Wind again—again—again. A drop of rain, flat into the dust. Drop!—Drop! Thick heavy raindrops, and a shrieking wind bending the great trees and wrenching off their leaves.
Under the black sky, bowed and dripping with rain, up Tilbury road, comes the procession. A funeral procession, bound for the graveyard at Wayfleet. Feet and wheels—feet and wheels. And among them one who is carried.
The bones in the deep, still earth shiver and pull. There is a quiver through the rotted stake. Then stake and bones fall together in a little puffing of dust.
Like meshes of linked steel the rain shuts down behind the procession, now well along the Wayfleet road.
He wavers like smoke in the buffeting wind. His fingers blow out like smoke, his head ripples in the gale. Under the sign-post, in the pouring rain, he stands, and watches another quavering figure drifting down the Wayfleet road. Then swiftly he streams after it. It flickers among the trees. He licks out and winds about them. Over, under, blown, contorted. Spindrift after spindrift; smoke following smoke. There is a wailing through the trees, a wailing of fear, and after it laughter—laughter—laughter, skirling up to the black sky. Lightning jags over the funeral procession. A heavy clap of thunder. Then darkness and rain, and the sound of feet and wheels.
IHoopsBlue and pink sashes,Criss-cross shoes,Minna and Stella run out into the gardenTo play at hoop.Up and down the garden-paths they race,In the yellow sunshine,Each with a big round hoopWhite as a stripped willow-wand.Round and round turn the hoops,Their diamond whiteness cleaving the yellow sunshine.The gravel crunches and squeaks beneath them,And a large pebble springs them into the airTo go whirling for a foot or twoBefore they touch the earth againIn a series of little jumps.Spring, Hoops!Spit out a shower of blue and white brightness.The little criss-cross shoes twinkle behind you,The pink and blue sashes flutter like flags,The hoop-sticks are ready to beat you.Turn, turn, Hoops! In the yellow sunshine.Turn your stripped willow whitenessAlong the smooth paths.Stella sings:"Round and round, rolls my hoop,Scarcely touching the ground,With a swoop,And a bound,Round and round.With a bumpety, crunching, scattering sound,Down the garden it flies;In our eyesThe sun lies.See it spinOut and in;Through the paths it goes whirling,About the beds curling.Sway now to the loop,Faster, faster, my hoop.Round you come,Up you come,Quick and straight as before.Run, run, my hoop, run,Away from the sun."And the great hoop bounds along the path,Leaping into the wind-bright air.Minna sings:"Turn, hoop,Burn hoop,Twist and twineHoop of mine.Flash along,Leap along,Right at the sun.Run, hoop, run.Faster and faster,Whirl, twirl.Wheel like fire,And spin like glass;Fire's no whiterGlass is no brighter.Dance,Prance,Over and over,About and about,With the top of you under,And the bottom at top,But never a stop.Turn about, hoop, to the tap of my stick,I follow behind youTo touch and remind you.Burn and glitter, so white and quick,Round and round, to the tap of a stick."The hoop flies along between the flower-beds,Swaying the flowers with the wind of its passing.Beside the foxglove-border roll the hoops,And the little pink and white bells shake and jingleUp and down their tall spires;They roll under the snow-ball bush,And the ground behind them is strewn with white petals;They swirl round a corner,And jar a bee out of a Canterbury bell;They cast their shadows for an instantOver a bed of pansies,Catch against the spurs of a columbine,Jostle the quietness from a cluster of monk's-hood.Pat! Pat! behind them come the little criss-cross shoes,And the blue and pink sashes stream out in flappings of colour.Stella sings:"Hoop, hoop,Roll along,Faster bowl along,Hoop.Slow, to the turning,Now go!—Go!Quick!Here's the stick.Rat-a-tap-tap it,Pat it, flap it.Fly like a bird or a yellow-backed bee,See how soon you can reach that tree.Here is a path that is perfectly straight.Roll along, hoop, or we shall be late."Minna sings:"Trip about, slip about, whip aboutHoop.Wheel like a top at its quickest spin,Then, dear hoop, we shall surely win.First to the greenhouse and then to the wallCircle and circle,And let the wind push you,Poke you,Brush you,And not let you fall.Whirring you round like a wreath of mist.Hoopety hoop,Twist,Twist."Tap! Tap! go the hoop-sticks,And the hoops bowl along under a grape arbour.For an instant their willow whiteness is green,Pale white-green.Then they are out in the sunshine,Leaving the half-formed grape clustersA-tremble under their big leaves."I will beat you, Minna," cries Stella,Hitting her hoop smartly with her stick."Stella, Stella, we are winning," calls Minna,As her hoop curves round a bed of clove-pinks.A humming-bird whizzes past Stella's ear,And two or three yellow-and-black butterfliesFlutter, startled, out of a pillar rose.Round and round race the little girlsAfter their great white hoops.Suddenly Minna stops.Her hoop wavers an instant,But she catches it up on her stick."Listen, Stella!"Both the little girls are listening;And the scents of the garden rise up quietly about them."It's the chaise! It's Father!Perhaps he's brought us a book from Boston."Twinkle, twinkle, the little criss-cross shoesUp the garden path.Blue—pink—an instant, against the syringa hedge.But the hoops, white as stripped willow-wands,Lie in the grass,And the grasshoppers jump back and forthOver them.
IIBattledore and ShuttlecockThe shuttlecock soars upwardIn a parabola of whiteness,Turns,And sinks to a perfect arc.Plat! the battledore strikes it,And it rises again,Without haste,Winged and curving,Tracing its white flightAgainst the clipped hemlock-trees.Plat!Up again,Orange and sparkling with sun,Rounding under the blue sky,Dropping,Fading to grey-greenIn the shadow of the coned hemlocks."Ninety-one." "Ninety-two." "Ninety-three."The arms of the little girlsCome up—and up—Precisely,Like mechanical toys.The battledores beat at nothing,And toss the dazzle of snowOff their parchment drums."Ninety-four." Plat!"Ninety-five." Plat!Back and forthGoes the shuttlecock,Icicle-white,Leaping at the sharp-edged clouds,Overturning,Falling,Down,And down,Tinctured with pinkFrom the upthrusting shineOf Oriental poppies.The little girls sway to the counting rhythm;Left foot,Right foot.Plat! Plat!Yellow heat twines round the handles of the battledores,The parchment cracks with dryness;But the shuttlecockSwings slowly into the ice-blue sky,Heaving up on the warm airLike a foam-bubble on a wave,With feathers slanted and sustaining.Higher,Until the earth turns beneath it;Poised and swinging,With all the garden flowing beneath it,Scarlet, and blue, and purple, and white—Blurred colour reflections in rippled water—Changing—streaming—For the moment that Stella takes to lift her arm.Then the shuttlecock relinquishes,Bows,Descends;And the sharp blue spears of the airThrust it to earth.Again it mounts,Stepping up on the rising scents of flowers,Buoyed up and under by the shining heat.Above the foxgloves,Above the guelder-roses,Above the greenhouse glitter,Till the shafts of cooler airMeet it,Deflect it,Reject it,Then down,Down,Past the greenhouse,Past the guelder-rose bush,Past the foxgloves."Ninety-nine," Stella's battledore springs to the impact.Plunk! Like the snap of a taut string."Oh! Minna!"The shuttlecock drops zigzagedly,Out of orbit,Hits the path,And rolls over quite still.Dead white feathers,With a weight at the end.
IIIGarden GamesThe tall clock is striking twelve;And the little girls stop in the hall to watch it,And the big ships rocking in a half-circleAbove the dial.Twelve o'clock!Down the side stepsGo the little girls,Under their big round straw hats.Minna's has a pink ribbon,Stella's a blue,That is the way they know which is which.Twelve o'clock!An hour yet before dinner.Mother is busy in the still-room,And Hannah is making gingerbread.Slowly, with lagging steps,They follow the garden-path,Crushing a leaf of box for its acrid smell,Discussing what they shall do,And doing nothing."Stella, see that grasshopperClimbing up the bank!What a jump!Almost as long as my arm."Run, children, run.For the grasshopper is leaping away,In half-circle curves,Shuttlecock curves,Over the grasses.Hand in hand, the little girls call to him:"Grandfather, grandfather gray,Give me molasses, or I'll throw you away."The grasshopper leaps into the sunlight,Golden-green,And is gone."Let's catch a bee."Round whirl the little girls,And up the garden.Two heads are thrust among the Canterbury bells,Listening,And fingers clasp and unclasp behind backsIn a strain of silence.White bells,Blue bells,Hollow and reflexed.Deep tunnels of blue and white dimness,Cool wine-tunnels for bees.There is a floundering and buzzing over Minna's head."Bend it down, Stella. Quick! Quick!"The wide mouth of a blossomIs pressed together in Minna's fingers.The stem flies up, jiggling its flower-bells,And Minna holds the dark blue cup in her hand,With the beeImprisoned in it.Whirr! Buzz! Bump!Bump! Whiz! Bang!BANG!!The blue flower tears across like paper,And a gold-black bee darts away in the sunshine."If we could fly, we could catch him."The sunshine is hot on Stella's upturned face,As she stares after the bee."We'll follow him in a dove chariot.Come on, Stella."Run, children,Along the red gravel paths,For a bee is hard to catch,Even with a chariot of doves.Tall, still, and cowled,Stand the monk's-hoods;Taller than the heads of the little girls.A blossom for Minna.A blossom for Stella.Off comes the cowl,And there is a purple-painted chariot;Off comes the forward petal,And there are two little green doves,With green traces tying them to the chariot."Now we will get in, and fly right up to the clouds.Fly, Doves, up in the sky,With Minna and me,After the bee."Up one path,Down another,Run the little girls,Holding their dove chariots in front of them;But the bee is hidden in the trumpet of a honeysuckle,With his wings folded along his back.The dove chariots are thrown away,And the little girls wander slowly through the garden,Sucking the salvia tips,And squeezing the snapdragonsTo make them gape."I'm so hot,Let's pick a pansyAnd see the little man in his bath,And play we're he."A royal bath-tub,Hung with purple stuffs and yellow.The great purple-yellow wingsRise up behind the little red and green man;The purple-yellow wings fan him,He dabbles his feet in cool green.Off with the green sheath,And there are two spindly legs."Heigho!" sighs Minna."Heigho!" sighs Stella.There is not a flutter of wind,And the sun is directly overhead.Along the edge of the gardenWalk the little girls.Their hats, round and yellow like cheeses,Are dangling by the ribbons.The grass is a tumult of buttercups and daisies;Buttercups and daisies streaming awayUp the hill.The garden is purple, and pink, and orange, and scarlet;The garden is hot with colours.But the meadow is only yellow, and white, and green,Cool, and long, and quiet.The little girls pick buttercupsAnd hold them under each other's chins."You're as gold as Grandfather's snuff-box.You're going to be very rich, Minna.""Oh-o-o! Then I'll ask my husband to give me a pair of garnet earringsJust like Aunt Nancy's.I wonder if he will.I know. We'll tell fortunes.That's what we'll do."Plump down in the meadow grass,Stella and Minna,With their round yellow hats,Like cheeses,Beside them.Drop,Drop,Daisy petals."One I love,Two I love,Three I love I say..."The ground is peppered with daisy petals,And the little girls nibble the golden centres,And play it is cake.A bell rings.Dinner-time;And after dinner there are lessons.
IThe Trumpet-Vine ArbourThe throats of the little red trumpet-flowers are wide open,And the clangour of brass beats against the hot sunlight.They bray and blare at the burning sky.Red! Red! Coarse notes of red,Trumpeted at the blue sky.In long streaks of sound, molten metal,The vine declares itself.Clang!—from its red and yellow trumpets.Clang!—from its long, nasal trumpets,Splitting the sunlight into ribbons, tattered and shot with noise.I sit in the cool arbour, in a green-and-gold twilight.It is very still, for I cannot hear the trumpets,I only know that they are red and open,And that the sun above the arbour shakes with heat.My quill is newly mended,And makes fine-drawn lines with its point.Down the long, white paper it makes little lines,Just lines—up—down—criss-cross.My heart is strained out at the pin-point of my quill;It is thin and writhing like the marks of the pen.My hand marches to a squeaky tune,It marches down the paper to a squealing of fifes.My pen and the trumpet-flowers,And Washington's armies away over the smoke-tree to the Southwest."Yankee Doodle," my Darling! It is you against the British,Marching in your ragged shoes to batter down King George.What have you got in your hat? Not a feather, I wager.Just a hay-straw, for it is the harvest you are fighting for.Hay in your hat, and the whites of their eyes for a target!Like Bunker Hill, two years ago, when I watched all day from the house-topThrough Father's spy-glass.The red city, and the blue, bright water,And puffs of smoke which you made.Twenty miles away,Round by Cambridge, or over the Neck,But the smoke was white—white!To-day the trumpet-flowers are red—red—And I cannot see you fighting,But old Mr. Dimond has fled to Canada,And Myra sings "Yankee Doodle" at her milking.The red throats of the trumpets bray and clang in the sunshine,And the smoke-tree puffs dun blossoms into the blue air.
IIThe City of Falling LeavesLeaves fall,Brown leaves,Yellow leaves streaked with brown.They fall,Flutter,Fall again.The brown leaves,And the streaked yellow leaves,Loosen on their branchesAnd drift slowly downwards.One,One, two, three,One, two, five.All Venice is a falling of Autumn leaves—Brown,And yellow streaked with brown."That sonnet, Abate,Beautiful,I am quite exhausted by it.Your phrases turn about my heartAnd stifle me to swooning.Open the window, I beg.Lord! What a strumming of fiddles and mandolins!'Tis really a shame to stop indoors.Call my maid, or I will make you lace me yourself.Fie, how hot it is, not a breath of air!See how straight the leaves are falling.Marianna, I will have the yellow satin caught up with silver fringe,It peeps out delightfully from under a mantle.Am I well painted to-day, 'caro Abate mio'?You will be proud of me at the 'Ridotto', hey?Proud of being 'Cavalier Servente' to such a lady?""Can you doubt it, 'Bellissima Contessa'?A pinch more rouge on the right cheek,And Venus herself shines less...""You bore me, Abate,I vow I must change you!A letter, Achmet?Run and look out of the window, Abate.I will read my letter in peace."The little black slave with the yellow satin turbanGazes at his mistress with strained eyes.His yellow turban and black skinAre gorgeous—barbaric.The yellow satin dress with its silver flashingsLies on a chairBeside a black mantle and a black mask.Yellow and black,Gorgeous—barbaric.The lady reads her letter,And the leaves drift slowlyPast the long windows."How silly you look, my dear Abate,With that great brown leaf in your wig.Pluck it off, I beg you,Or I shall die of laughing."A yellow wallAflare in the sunlight,Chequered with shadows,Shadows of vine leaves,Shadows of masks.Masks coming, printing themselves for an instant,Then passing on,More masks always replacing them.Masks with tricorns and rapiers sticking out behindPursuing masks with plumes and high heels,The sunlight shining under their insteps.One,One, two,One, two, three,There is a thronging of shadows on the hot wall,Filigreed at the top with moving leaves.Yellow sunlight and black shadows,Yellow and black,Gorgeous—barbaric.Two masks stand together,And the shadow of a leaf falls through them,Marking the wall where they are not.From hat-tip to shoulder-tip,From elbow to sword-hilt,The leaf falls.The shadows mingle,Blur together,Slide along the wall and disappear.Gold of mosaics and candles,And night blackness lurking in the ceiling beams.Saint Mark's glitters with flames and reflections.A cloak brushes aside,And the yellow of satinLicks out over the coloured inlays of the pavement.Under the gold crucifixesThere is a meeting of handsReaching from black mantles.Sighing embraces, bold investigations,Hide in confessionals,Sheltered by the shuffling of feet.Gorgeous—barbaricIn its mail of jewels and gold,Saint Mark's looks down at the swarm of black masks;And outside in the palace gardens brown leaves fall,Flutter,Fall.Brown,And yellow streaked with brown.Blue-black, the sky over Venice,With a pricking of yellow stars.There is no moon,And the waves push darkly against the prowOf the gondola,Coming from MalamoccoAnd streaming toward Venice.It is black under the gondola hood,But the yellow of a satin dressGlares out like the eye of a watching tiger.Yellow compassed about with darkness,Yellow and black,Gorgeous—barbaric.The boatman sings,It is Tasso that he sings;The lovers seek each other beneath their mantles,And the gondola drifts over the lagoon, aslant to the coming dawn.But at Malamocco in front,In Venice behind,Fall the leaves,Brown,And yellow streaked with brown.They fall,Flutter,Fall.
Cross-ribboned shoes; a muslin gown,High-waisted, girdled with bright blue;A straw poke bonnet which hid the frownShe pluckered her little brows intoAs she picked her dainty passage throughThe dusty street. "Ah, Mademoiselle,A dirty pathway, we need rain,My poor fruits suffer, and the shellOf this nut's too big for its kernel, lainHere in the sun it has shrunk again.The baker down at the corner saysWe need a battle to shake the clouds;But I am a man of peace, my waysDon't look to the killing of men in crowds.Poor fellows with guns and bayonets for shrouds!Pray, Mademoiselle, come out of the sun.Let me dust off that wicker chair. It's coolIn here, for the green leaves I have runIn a curtain over the door, make a poolOf shade. You see the pears on that stool—The shadow keeps them plump and fair."Over the fruiterer's door, the leavesHeld back the sun, a greenish flareQuivered and sparked the shop, the sheavesOf sunbeams, glanced from the sign on the eaves,Shot from the golden letters, brokeAnd splintered to little scattered lights.Jeanne Tourmont entered the shop, her pokeBonnet tilted itself to rights,And her face looked out like the moon on nightsOf flickering clouds. "Monsieur Popain, IWant gooseberries, an apple or two,Or excellent plums, but not if they're high;Haven't you some which a strong wind blew?I've only a couple of francs for you."Monsieur Popain shrugged and rubbed his hands.What could he do, the times were sad.A couple of francs and such demands!And asking for fruits a little bad.Wind-blown indeed! He never hadAnything else than the very best.He pointed to baskets of blunted pearsWith the thin skin tight like a bursting vest,All yellow, and red, and brown, in smears.Monsieur Popain's voice denoted tears.He took up a pear with tender care,And pressed it with his hardened thumb."Smell it, Mademoiselle, the perfume thereIs like lavender, and sweet thoughts comeOnly from having a dish at home.And those grapes! They melt in the mouth like wine,Just a click of the tongue, and they burst to honey.They're only this morning off the vine,And I paid for them down in silver money.The Corporal's widow is witness, her ponyBrought them in at sunrise to-day.Those oranges—Gold! They're almost red.They seem little chips just broken awayFrom the sun itself. Or perhaps insteadYou'd like a pomegranate, they're rarely gay,When you split them the seeds are like crimson spray.Yes, they're high, they're high, and those Turkey figs,They all come from the South, and Nelson's shipsMake it a little hard for our rigs.They must be forever giving the slipsTo the cursed English, and when men clipsThrough powder to bring them, why dainties mountsA bit in price. Those almonds now,I'll strip off that husk, when one discountsA life or two in a nigger rowWith the man who grew them, it does seem howThey would come dear; and then the fightAt sea perhaps, our boats have heelsAnd mostly they sail along at night,But once in a way they're caught; one feelsIvory's not better nor finer—why peelsFrom an almond kernel are worth two sous.It's hard to sell them now," he sighed."Purses are tight, but I shall not lose.There's plenty of cheaper things to choose."He picked some currants out of a wideEarthen bowl. "They make the tongueAlmost fly out to suck them, brideCurrants they are, they were planted longAgo for some new Marquise, amongOther great beauties, before the ChateauWas left to rot. Now the Gardener's wife,He that marched off to his death at Marengo,Sells them to me; she keeps her lifeFrom snuffing out, with her pruning knife.She's a poor old thing, but she learnt the tradeWhen her man was young, and the young MarquisCouldn't have enough garden. The flowers he madeAll new! And the fruits! But 'twas said that heWas no friend to the people, and so they laidSome charge against him, a cavalcadeOf citizens took him away; they meantWell, but I think there was some mistake.He just pottered round in his garden, bentOn growing things; we were so awakeIn those days for the New Republic's sake.He's gone, and the garden is all that's leftNot in ruin, but the currants and apricots,And peaches, furred and sweet, with a cleftFull of morning dew, in those green-glazed pots,Why, Mademoiselle, there is never an eftOr worm among them, and as for theft,How the old woman keeps them I cannot say,But they're finer than any grown this way."Jeanne Tourmont drew back the filigree ringOf her striped silk purse, tipped it upside downAnd shook it, two coins fell with a dingOf striking silver, beneath her gownOne rolled, the other lay, a thingSparked white and sharply glistening,In a drop of sunlight between two shades.She jerked the purse, took its empty endsAnd crumpled them toward the centre braids.The whole collapsed to a mass of blendsOf colours and stripes. "Monsieur Popain, friendsWe have always been. In the days beforeThe Great Revolution my aunt was kindWhen you needed help. You need no more;'Tis we now who must beg at your door,And will you refuse?" The little manBustled, denied, his heart was good,But times were hard. He went to a panAnd poured upon the counter a floodOf pungent raspberries, tanged like wood.He took a melon with rough green rindAnd rubbed it well with his apron tip.Then he hunted over the shop to findSome walnuts cracking at the lip,And added to these a barberry slipWhose acrid, oval berries hungLike fringe and trembled. He reached a roundBasket, with handles, from where it swungAgainst the wall, laid it on the groundAnd filled it, then he searched and foundThe francs Jeanne Tourmont had let fall."You'll return the basket, Mademoiselle?"She smiled, "The next time that I call,Monsieur. You know that very well."'Twas lightly said, but meant to tell.Monsieur Popain bowed, somewhat abashed.She took her basket and stepped out.The sunlight was so bright it flashedHer eyes to blindness, and the routOf the little street was all about.Through glare and noise she stumbled, dazed.The heavy basket was a care.She heard a shout and almost grazedThe panels of a chaise and pair.The postboy yelled, and an amazedFace from the carriage window gazed.She jumped back just in time, her heartBeating with fear. Through whirling lightThe chaise departed, but her smartWas keen and bitter. In the whiteDust of the street she saw a brightStreak of colours, wet and gay,Red like blood. Crushed but fair,Her fruit stained the cobbles of the way.Monsieur Popain joined her there."Tiens, Mademoiselle,c'est le General Bonaparte, partant pour la Guerre!"