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Haunts and Bypaths
by Thorne Smith
Near a Pine Forest
So that you may enjoy the beauty
Of the light that falls on the mountains,
I give you your freedom now,
And I place in your hand
A reed still wet from the lake
From which I drew it
In the hush of the morning mist
For I knew you would go
Outward today on a path that I could not follow
And I feared for you lest you might weary
Along the way.
And because I knew you would want for the sound of music
I have notched a hole in the reed
And fashioned a flute,
So that you might play as you pass through the criss-cross shadows
That swarm so heavy and silent among the trees
And that those who await your coming
Might hear your music
And hasten to meet you
And play with you on the way;
But tarry not long in the woods
For One will be waiting
At the end of the path to welcome you back to His fields,
His woods and His lakes and His hills and His silent places
For which you have longed
And which you have gone to find.
I place a rose at your breast,
See, little traveler,
For you to bear on your way
As a gift to Him
From one who would fain have kept you a little longer,
But being unworthy has let you return again
To that land from which you departed
One singing morning,
One morning all drenched with the singing of boughs and of birds.
So that you may travel unbruised
Through the rugged country,
I cover your feet with sandals
And bind them with thongs,
And, see, I drape on your form
With reverent fingers
A scarf of purple and scarlet and green and gold,
As gay as the heart
That sorrowed awhile at the ending.
Because it was burdened with things
That it could not bear.
And now you are well arrayed
For the glad outgoing,
And He, when He sees you, will know
I have treasured you well,
For you are more fair and more beautiful
Now at the leaving
Than when you came singing your way
Through the spreading dawn,
A song that was laden with faith
And glowing with dreams.
You will leave me now to the past
In a haunted vista,
Where the pine trees whisper your name
To the stars at night;
So, I shall press on your lips
This kiss at the parting.
Now it is over and ended;
I turn away;
But the sound of your song
Is following, following after
And the tread of your feet falls close
And I see your eyes
And feel the breath of your lips,
And among the shadows
You have hidden yourself from me.
You were fond of hiding.
It is over and ended now,
And the ending is over.
I turn my back,
See, I have turned away.
If you fear the shades in the woods
When the night is falling
Remember to call, and Love, I shall answer your call
Though you will not hear,
For you will be far from hearing
The cry that breaks and tears itself from my heart
For the traveler so little and lonely among the trees.
Be gay as you go
And take care in your flight to remember
The reed, and the rose, and the beautiful scarf, that you wear,
For He will be happy and pleased
When He sees you are near Him
To know that I treasured you well
And clad you in raiment
As fair as the dawn
Out of which you came to me singing
A song that washes like sobs
In the vaults of my ears.
You are gone! You are no more here,
And the light is ebbing.
Is it dark where you tread, little traveler,
And strange and cold?
Play loud on your flute, play loud!
Perhaps they will hear you.
Play loud, little one, play loud,
And send back an echo.
Is it dark in the woods?
Play on, I shall not grieve!
