ROMANY SONG

And at the windows all along,
Oh, all along, a lovely throng
Of faces fair, beyond compare,
Beamed out upon him riding there!

Each face was like a radiant gem,
A sparkling gem; and yet for them
No swift smile came, like sudden flame,
No arrowy glance took certain aim.

He turned away from all their grace;
From all that grace of perfect face,
He turned to me, to only me,
The little lass who blushed to see.

27

NORA PERRY.

ROMANY SONG.

F I were your little baby,

IF

If you were my mother old,

You would give me a kiss, my darling,

"Oh, sir, you are far too bold."

But as you are not my mother,
But as I am not your son,

Ah! that is another matter;

So, may be, I'll give you one.

LELAND'S ANGLO-ROMANY SONGS.

LOVE.

HEN daffodils began to blow,

WHE

And apple-blossoms thick to snow Upon the brown and breaking mould, — 'Twas in the spring, we kissed and sighed And loved, and heaven and earth defied,

We were so young and bold.

The fluttering bob-link dropped his song,
The first young swallow curved along,
The daisy stared in sturdy pride,
When, loitering on, we plucked the flowers,
But dared not own those thoughts of ours
Which yet we could not hide.

Tiptoe you bent the lilac spray
And shook its rain of dew away

And reached it to me with a smile: "Smell that, how full of spring it is " 'Tis now as full of memories

As 't was of dew erewhile.

Your hand I took, to help you down
The broken wall, from stone to stone,
Across the shallow bubbling brook.
Ah! what a thrill went from that palm,
That would not let my blood be calm,

And through my pulses shook.

A PEARL-A GIRL.

Often our eyes met as we turned,

And both our cheeks with passion burned,
And both our hearts grew riotous,

Till, as we sat beneath the grove,

I kissed you

whispering, "We love".

As thus I do - and thus.

When passion had found utterance,
Our frightened hearts began to glance
Into the Future's every day;

And how shall we our love conceal,

Or dare our passion to reveal,

"We are too young," they'll say.

Alas! we are not now too young,
Yet love to us hath safely clung,

Despite of sorrow, years, and care
But ah! we have not what we had,
We cannot be so free, so glad,
So foolish as we were.

29

WILLIAM WETMORE STORY.

A

A PEARL-A GIRL.

SIMPLE ring with a single stone,

To the vulgar eye no stone of price: Whisper the right word, that alone,

Forth starts a sprite, like fire from ice,

And lo! you are lord (says an Eastern scroll)

Of heaven and earth, lord whole and sole,

Through the power in a pearl.

A woman ('tis I this time that say),
With little the world counts worthy praise:
Utter the true word,-out and away

Escapes her soul: I am wrapt in blaze,
Creation's lord, of heaven and earth
Lord whole and sole - by a minute's birth,

Through the love in a girl.

ROBERT BROWNING.

THE

WHAT ELSE?

HEY walked together, in the dusk,
Along the garden's shrubbery-edge;
The heavy roses' scattered musk

Blew faint across the cedar-hedge:
A spotted snake came gliding through :-
To shield her from imagined harms,
What should he do, what could he do,
But take her safe into his arms?

While for one happy moment still
Her head was leaning on his breast,
He felt a little tremor thrill

The hand against his shoulder prest:
The parted lips were trembling too :
Some feeling for her fears to show,
What should he do, what could he do,
But kiss her ere he let her go?

Redder than in the garden bed

The roses blossomed to her cheek:

CALIFORNI