Richard le Gallienne

The Palaces of the Rose

A Valentine

Which of my palaces? Gold one by one, Of all the splendid houses of my throne, This day in grave thought have I over-gone: Those roofs of stars where I have lived alone Gladly with God; those blue-encompassed bowers Hushed round with lakes, and guarded with still flowers, Where I have watched a face from eve till morn, Wondering at being born — Then on from morn again till the next eve, Still with strange eyes, unable to believe; And yet, though week and month and year went by. Incredulous of my ensorcelled eye. O had I thus in trance for ever stayed, Still were she there in the reed-girdled isle, And I there still — I who go treading now Eternity, a-hungered mile by mile: Because I pressed one kiss upon her brow, — After a thousand years that seemed an hour Of looking on my flower, After that patient planetary fast, One kiss at last; One kiss — and then strange dust that once was she. Sayest thou, Rose, "What is all this to me?" This would I answer, if it pleaseth thee, Thou Rose and Nightingale so strangely one: That of my palaces, gold one by one, I fell a-thinking, pondering which to-day, The day of the Blessed Saint, Saint Valentine, Which of those many palaces of mine, I, with bowed head and lowly bended knee, Might bring to thee. O which of all my lordly roofs that rise To kiss the starry skies May with great beams make safe that golden head, With all that treasure of hair showered and spread. Careless as though it were not gold at all — Yet in the midnight lighting the black hall; And all that whiteness lying there as though It were but driven snow. Pondering on all these pinnacles and towers, That, as I come with trumpets, call me lord, And crown their battlements with girlhood flowers, I can but think of one. 'Twas not my sword That won it, nor was it aught I did or dreamed, But O it is a palace worthy thee! For all about it flows the eternal sea, A blue moat guarding an immortal queen; And over it an everlasting crown That, as the moon comes and the sun goes down, Adds jewel after jewel, gem on gem, To the august appropriate diadem Of her, in whom all potencies that are Wield sceptres and with quiet hands control, Kind as that fairy wand the evening star, Or the strong angel that we call the soul. Thou splendid girl that seemest the mother of all, Dear Ceres-Aphrodite, with every lure That draws the bee to honey, with the call Of moth-winged night to sinners, yet as pure As the white nun that counts the stars for beads; Thou blest Madonna of all broken needs, Thou Melusine, thou sister of sorrowing man, Thou wave-like laughter, thou dear sob in the throat, Thou all-enfolding mercy, and thou song That gathers up each wild and wandering note, And takes and breaks and heals and breaks the heart With the omnipotent tenderness of art; And thou Intelligence of rose-leaves made That makes that little thing the brain afraid. For thee my Castle of the Spring prepares: On the four winds are sped my couriers, For thee the towered trees are hung with green; Once more for thee, O queen, The banquet hall with ancient tapestry Of woven vines grows fair and still more fair. And ah! how in the minstrel gallery Again there is the sudden string and stir Of music touching the old instruments, While on the ancient floor The rushes as of yore Nymphs of the house of spring plait for your feet — Ancestral ornaments. And everywhere a hurrying to and fro, And whispers saying, "She is so sweet — so sweet"; O violets, be ye not too late to blow, O daffodils be fleet: For, when she comes, all must be in its place, All ready for her entrance at the door, All gladness and all glory for her face, All flowers for her flower-feet a floor; And, for her sleep at night in that great bed Where her great locks are spread, O be ye ready, ye young woodland streams To sing her back her dreams.

Contents / Contents, p. 2