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THE MASK.

I.

I

HAVE a smiling face, she said,
I have a jest for all I meet;

I have a garland for my head,
And all its flowers are sweet,-

And so you call me gay,

she said.

II.

Grief taught to me this smile, she said,
And Wrong did teach this jesting bold;
These flowers were plucked from garden-bed
While a death-chime was tolled-
And what now will you say?—she said.

III.

Behind no prison-grate, she said,

Which slurs the sunshine half a mile,

Are captives so uncomforted,

As souls behind a smile.

God's pity let us pray, she said.

IV.

I know my face is bright, she said,-
Such brightness, dying suns diffuse!

I bear upon my forehead shed,
The sign of what I lose,-
The ending of my day, she said.

V.

If I dared leave this smile, she said.
And take a moan upon my mouth,
And tie a cypress round my head,
And let my tears run smooth,-
It were the happier way, she said.

VI.

And since that must not be, she said,
I fain your bitter world would leave.
How calmly, calmly, smile the Dead,
Who do not, therefore, grieve!
The yea of Heaven is yea, she said.

VII.

But in your bitter world, she said,
Face-joy's a costly mask to wear,
And bought with pangs long nourished
And rounded to despair.

Grief's earnest makes life's play, she said.

Ye

VIII.

weep for those who weep ?—she saidAh fools!-I bid you pass them by; Go, weep for those whose hearts have bled, What time their eyes were dry! Whom sadder can I say?—she said.

CALLS ON THE HEART.

I.

FREE Heart, that singest to-day,

Like a bird on the first green spray;

Wilt thou go forth to the world,
Where the hawk hath his wing unfurled
To follow, perhaps, thy way?

Where the tamer, thine own, will bind,
And, to make thee sing, will blind,-
While the little hip grows for the free behind?
Heart, wilt thou go?

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The world, thou hast heard it told,
Has counted its robber-gold,

And the pieces stick to the hand.

The world goes riding it fair and grand,

While the truth is bought and sold! World-voice east, world-voices west, They call thee, Heart, from thine early rest, "Come hither, come hither and be our guest." Heart, wilt thou go?

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III.

Who calleth thee, Heart? World's Strife,

With a golden heft to his knife:
World's Mirth, with a finger fine
That draws on a board in wine,

Her blood-red plans of life:
World's Gain, with a brow knit down:
World's Fame, with a laurel crown,
Which rustles most as the leaves turn brown-
Heart, wilt thou go?
-"No, no!

Calm hearts are wiser so."

IV.

Hast heard that Proserpina
(Once fooling) was snatched away,
To partake the dark king's seat,—
And that the tears ran fast on her feet,

To think how the sun shone yesterday? With her ankles sunken in asphodel,

She wept for the roses of earth, which fell From her lap, when the wild car drave to hell. Heart, wilt thou go?

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And what is this place not seen,
Where Hearts may hide serene ?—
""Tis a fair still house well-kept,
Which humble thoughts have swept,
And holy prayers made clean.

There, I sit with Love in the sun,

And we two never have done

Singing sweeter songs than are guessed by one." Heart, wilt thou go? -"No, no!

Warm hearts are fuller so."

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That Love may be kept too near.
Hast heard, O Heart, that tale,
How Love may be false and frail
To a heart once holden dear?
"But this true Love of mine
Clings fast as the clinging vine,
And mingles pure as the grapes in wine."
-Heart, wilt thou go?
"No, no!

Full hearts beat higher so."

VII.

O Heart, O Love, beware!-
Look up, and boast not there.
For who has twirled at the pin?
'Tis the world, between Death and Sin,-
The world, and the world's Despair!

And Death has quickened his pace
To the hearth, with a mocking face,

Familiar as Love, in Love's own place-
Heart, wilt thou go?

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