Then suddenly she looked up 



And I was blind in a tawny-gold day 



Till she took her eyes away. 



So she came down from above 

 And emptied my heart of love . . . 

 So I held my heart aloft 

 To the cuckoo that fluttered above, 

 And she settled soft. 



It seemed that I and the morning world 

 Were pressed cup-shape to take this reiver 

 Bird who was weary to have furled 

 Her wings on us, 

 As we were weary to receive her : 



This bird, this rich 

 Sumptuous central grain, 

 This mutable witch. 

 This one refrain. 

 This laugh in the fight. 

 This clot of light. 

 This core of night. 



She spoke, and I closed my eyes 

 To shut hallucinations out. 

 I echoed with surprise 

 Hearing my mere lips shout 

 The answer they did devise. 



Again, I saw a brown bird hover 

 Over the flowers at my feet ; 

 I felt a brown bird hover 

 Over my heart, and sweet 



32 



