THOU UNBELIEVING HEART

LADY that flutters in the bridal cage Waiting love’s absent lord, Count not the coinage of the sun So artlessly. Have you not seen The loping stranger pictured on your floor? Innocent Lady, have you not heard The beast that thunders at your door? You have spent your female faith In him whom you denied; You have sent him to his death, And he went forth proud With his hawk and his meek-eyed hound. Lady, the bird still screams, The old dog licks his hand, Do not study your dreams. The feet of your lord in swift Pursuit are terrible Like flames. When you are left No longer beautiful, A tumbled tower of bone, Still will he follow that death, With hawk and hound in vain, While you, for lack of faith, Shall scream and catch your breath. Lady that flutters in the bridal cage Waiting love’s absent lord, The beast he hunts and may not find Is hunting you who shall be found. Erase the picture from your floor. Innocent Lady, you have heard The lion thunder at your door.