Nora

CALM and fair   
 Flows the stream of Nora’s life,   
 Moving with a lazy air   
   Far from strife.   
  
 Goddesses           
Must have looked from just such eyes,   
 Full of still felicities,—   
   No surprise,   
  
 No endeavour   
(For endeavour mars perfection),           
 And, one almost fancies, never   
   Strong affection.   
  
 Far too cold   
Seems that face for dream of mine,   
 Though, if set in sculptured mould,           
   How divine!   
  
 As she stands   
Looking from the window forth,   
 Gazing o’er the sunny lands   
   To the north,           
  
 Light and shade   
Cross and quiver to and fro,   
 By the she-oak’s tresses made,   
   Waving slow   
  
 In the breeze;           
But no varying light you trace,   
 Save from flittings such as these,   
   On her face.   
  
 Calmly moving   
On her daily household ways,           
 Little can you see for loving,   
   Much for praise.   
  
 One alone   
Sets her quiet life aglow,   
 And, whene’er she hears his tone,           
   Then, I know   
  
 That her form   
Has a richer, fuller grace,   
 And the colour rushes warm   
   To her face.           
  
 From her eyes   
All the hidden life peeps out,   
 From her lips strange melodies   
   Float about   
  
 All astir,           
Thoughts and hopes, unguessed before,   
 Gleam, till Love can ask of her   
   Nothing more.   
  
 ’Tis as though,   
Walking on a charmèd shore,           
 Blind to all the gleam and glow   
   Which it bore,   
  
 On our sight   
Flashed the flush of roses blowing,   
 Dewdrops sparkling in the light,           
   Rivers flowing;   
  
 For at last   
One had come, whose star-tipt wand   
 Woke to gladness, as he passed   
   Through the land.           
  
 Shall we then   
Grudge the favoured one his due?   
 Fate gives wands to other men,   
   Charmèd too!   
  
 Unaware           
While we wander to and fro,   
 Flowers may blossom here and there   
   As we go.   
  
 Lives are bound   
Each to each by secret spell,           
 And a fairy-land lies round   
   Us as well.