SHE HEARS STRANGE SOUND AND KNOWS NOT WHAT IT IS

Sweetheart, amid the forest, in the night, Didst thou once hear a sound—some branches break? And didst thou question then what might be there? Know, dear, that thou art unattended never. When all thy beauty once was made, and passed From heaven to earth, then wert thou far too fair And exquisite to wander through this world Alone, a prey to all the things that live. So God, thy father, sent with thee to earth A troop of spirits and kind creatures strange, To guard all paths on which thy fairy feet Should roam, and shield thee from the envious beasts Of land and sea, made wild and desperate With thine enchantment and dear ways of thee. So, sweet, if in the night, whilst gazing up, Enchanting with thine eyes some envied star, That star is of a sudden lost to thee, And shadows from dark, sweeping wings pass by,— Or if again thou hearest footfalls dim, And crushing sounds within the forest black, Be not afraid, my fairest, close thine eyes, ’Tis but the passing of thy guarding host.