The Seven Gifts

I gave my clear-eyed boy a star
Of clematis from summer days
That dwelt among the scented ways
Of an old garden still and far:
--So that it lights his dreams with truth
From that walled garden of my youth,
I gave my clear-eyed boy a star.

I gave my soft-haired boy a crown
Of olives from the groves of Greece,
That all life's passions turn to peace
For him, and perilous paths lead down
To clear calm lakes beneath the moon;
--So that his brow be cool at noon,
I give my soft-haired boy a crown.

I give my red-lipped boy a rose
Fresh from the dew of waking dawn,
--A rose for my fair dancing faun
Whose laughter all the summer knows:
--Sweet, careless, unstained, fragrant boy,
So that love bring him only joy,
I give my red-lipped boy a rose.

I give my white-skinned boy a pearl
Fair as his body and as strange
As still pools veiled in mists that change
Their mysteries as they wreath and curl:
--So that his visions ever be
Wonderous and subtle as the sea,
I give my white-skinned boy a pearl.

I give my singing boy a lute
With silver strings whose chant belongs
To Youth for him who sings his songs
Among the ripening flowers and fruit:
--So that I hear his voice in Spring
When I lie unawakening,
I give my singing boy a lute.

I give my laughing boy a kiss
--To poor for lips so exquisite--
With curious fleeting tears in it
That glitter through a love like this;
--So that he never know the pain
Of red bruised mouth bruised red in vain,
I give my laughing boy a kiss.

I gave my sweet-souled boy my heart
That has been cleansed by bitter tears
Of all the fruitless weary years
Which hope and sorrow set apart:
--So that his pain shall pass before
Into myself and be no more,
I give my sweet-souled boy my heart.

Edmund John.