I ha' seen him cow a thousand men

On the hills o' Galilee.

They whined as he walked out calm between, Wi' his eyes like the gray o' the sea.

Like the sea that brooks no voyaging,
With the winds unleashed and free,
Like the sea that he cowed at Genseret
Wi' twey words spoke suddently.

A master of men was the Goodly Fere,

A mate of the wind and sea.

If they think they ha' slain our Goodly Fere They are fools eternally.

I ha' seen him eat o' the honey-comb

Sin' they nailed him to the tree.

BALLAD FOR GLOOM

For God, our God, is a gallant foe
That playeth behind the veil.

I have loved my God as a child at heart
That seeketh deep bosoms for rest,

I have loved my God as maid to man-
But lo, this thing is best:

To love your God as a gallant foe

that plays behind the veil,

To meet your God as the night winds meet beyond Arcturus' pale.

I have played with God for a woman,

I have staked with my God for truth,

I have lost to my God as a man, clear-eyedHis dice be not of ruth.

For I am made as a naked blade,

But hear ye this thing in sooth:

Who loseth to God as man to man

Shall win at the turn of the game.

I have drawn my blade where the lightnings meet
But the ending is the same:

Who loseth to God as the sword-blades lose
Shall win at the end of the game.

For God, our God, is a gallant foe

that playeth behind the veil.

Whom God deigns not to overthrow
hath need of triple mail.

LA FRAISNE

Scene: The Ash Wood of Malvern

For I was a gaunt grave councillor,
Being in all things wise, and very old;
But I have put aside this folly and the cold
That old age weareth for a cloak.

I was quite strong-at least they said so-
The young men at the sword-play;
But I have put aside this folly, being gay
In another fashion that more suiteth me.

I have curled mid the boles of the ash wood,
I have hidden my face where the oak
Spread his leaves over me, and the yoke
Of the old ways of men have I cast aside.

By the still pool of Mar-nan-otha
Have I found me a bride

That was a dog-wood tree some syne.
She hath called me from mine old ways;
She hath hushed my rancor of council,
Bidding me praise

Naught but the wind that flutters in the leaves.

She hath drawn me from mine old ways,

Till men say that I am mad;

But I have seen the sorrow of men, and am glad,

For I know that the wailing and bitterness are a folly.

And I? I have put aside all folly and all grief.

I wrapped my tears in an ellum leaf

And left them under a stone;

And now men call me mad because I have thrown

All folly from me, putting it aside

To leave the old barren ways of men,

Because my bride

Is a pool of the wood; and

Though all men say that I am mad

It is only that I am glad—

Very glad, for my bride hath toward me a great love

That is sweeter than the love of women

That plague and burn and drive one away.

Aie-e! "Tis true that I am gay,

Quite gay, for I have her alone here

And no man troubleth us.

Once when I was among the young men

...

And they said I was quite strong, among the young men

Once there was a woman

. . . but I forget . . . she was

. I hope she will not come again.

I do not like to remember things any more.

I like one little band of winds that blow

In the ash trees here:

For we are quite alone,
Here 'mid the ash trees.

THE RIVER-MERCHANT'S WIFE: A LETTER
From the Chinese of Li Po

While my hair was still cut straight across my forehead
I played about the front gate, pulling flowers.
You came by on bamboo stilts, playing horse;
You walked about my seat, playing with blue plums.
And we went on living in the village of Chokan:
Two small people, without dislike or suspicion.

At fourteen I married My Lord you.

I never laughed, being bashful.

Lowering my head, I looked at the wall.

Called to, a thousand times, I never looked back.

At fifteen I stopped scowling;

I desired my dust to be mingled with yours
Forever and forever, and forever.

Why should I climb the look-out?

At sixteen you departed,

You went into far Ku-to-Yen, by the river of swirling eddies,

And you have been gone five months.

The monkeys make sorrowful noise overhead.

You dragged your feet when you went out.

By the gate now, the moss is grown, the different mosses,

Too deep to clear them away!

The leaves fall early this autumn, in wind.

The paired butterflies are already yellow with August

Over the grass in the west garden

They hurt me.

I grow older.

If you are coming down through the narrows of the river Kiang, Please let me know beforehand,

And I will come out to meet you,

As far as Cho-fu-Sa.

EXILE'S LETTER

From the Chinese of Li Po; written by him while in exile about 760 A. D., to the Hereditary War Councillor of Sho, "recollecting former companionship."

To So-Kin of Rakuho, ancient friend, Chancellor of Gen.
Now I remember that you built me a special tavern,

By the south side of the bridge at Ten-Shin.

With yellow gold and white jewels we paid for songs and laughter, And we were drunk for month on month, forgetting the kings and

princes.

Intelligent men came drifting in, from the sea and from the west border,

And with them, and with you especially,

There was nothing at cross-purpose;

And they made nothing of sea-crossing or of mountain-crossing, If only they could be of that fellowship.

And we all spoke out our hearts and minds, and without regret.

And then I was sent off to South Wei, smothered in laurel groves,
And you to the north of Raku-hoku,

Till we had nothing but thoughts and memories in common,
And then, when separation had come to its worst,

We met, and travelled together into Sen-Go

Through all the thirty-six folds of the turning and twisting waters;

Into a valley of a thousand bright flowers

That was the first valley,

And into ten thousand valleys, full of voices and pine-winds.

And with silver harness and reins of gold,

Out came the East-of-Kan foreman and his company;

And there came also the "True-man" of Shi-yo to meet me,

Playing on a jeweled mouth-organ.

In the storied houses of San-Ko they gave us more Sennin music; Many instruments, like the sound of young phoenix broods.

And the foreman of Kan-Chu, drunk, danced

Because his long sleeves wouldn't keep still

With that music playing.