Aurora's fair flushed face some paler grew,
And in a faltering voice she said: " O Boy,
Inspired spirit of the woodlands dim,
Within thy ardent eyes I read thy tale;
Within the gentle pressure of thy hand
I feel Felicity's precipitous dawn.
Within thy fervent words I find a love
Such as all women crave but few receive.
The youth throbs in my veins; I ne'er have loved
But languished without solace of my dreams;
'Tis but sufficient that I look on thee
To know that Heav'n has stooped for me at last!
O midnight clustered curls, I long to kiss
Thy sweet scents deep into my inmost soul! "

Then with a swaying motion, as a bough
Bends with the Autumn wind, Aurora leaned
O'er Atys and envelop'd him in embrace.
The mantle of her heavy tresses fell,
Enfolding and bewildering him as wine ...
A stealthy dusk throbbed o'er the sky and in
The far-off west, diffused the daylight paused
Ere seeking slumber pillowed on the hills.
The flowerful fields were fading in the pale
Lavender light the sunset wings still shed.
The tremulous winds were drowsy with dark night;
The river waves that stole along the shore
Were songless with infusive sleepiness,
And Darkness with a grim persistency
Lurked in the wild nooks and the sheltered spots,
Fearful to show its face before the wood

Where shadowed 'neath bent boughs the lovers sat
Talking of Love and the Eternal joy ...
Dawning within their love, felicity
Had filled their hearts and all thro'out the day
In close communion they had whiled the hours
In happiness, unthinking of Time's flight.
For in great love. Time is effaced; one knows
Not of its passage — for one seems to lose
The vital hold upon the visible world
And soar within infinitude of joy.

Atys' white brow grew clouded as the dark
Obscured his vision of the loveliness
Of her who lay enfolded in his arms.
The close-leaved boughs above made their sweet nook
E'en more sequestered seem, and shadows dark
Stole o'er their brows upturned in happy love.

" Ah, Sweet, " said Atys bending to her kiss,
" Cruel shadows sever sight from me, and I
Can only feel thee resting on my breast —
And smell thy tresses' aroma — just as
An unseen flow'r's loveliness that lies
Hid 'neath the chaliced snows, a relic of
The fragrant Maytime freshness vanished o'er.
And now I weep to think that night is come —
Night that should be our own, but yet is not. "
Aurora stirred upon the grass and spoke:
" O love of mine! This is our hour of hours,
We shall imbue a mortal passion with
The fumes of immortality, and spend
Our youth in sweet communion, for too soon
Comes Death with its atoning misery ...
Love me this hour I beg of thee, and well,
Ere hurrying dawn will fell our scheme of joy. "
And as she spoke she threw herself into
Her lover's arms in sweet abandonment ...
But of a sudden thunder loud arose,
A din of basso notes that shook the air,
Reverberant echoing in the woodland dells;
The pine-trees swayed in terror and their tall
Towering limbs shed leaves affrightedly;
Great gusts of wind swept fiercely, scattering
Blossoms, within the mutinous air surcharged
With the storm's fury, — and the lovers lay
Blinded and mute with fear, their hands entwined
Despairingly, and their eyes closely shut
As if excluding vision of the scene,
So terrible upon their eve of love.

It was the warning of omnipotent Sol
Who had invoked the aid of Jupiter,
With Vulcan's workmen, the cruel Cyclopes,
For being powerless with his shafts of sun,
At night, he strove to thus condemn Love's joy.

Then wild winds shook the forest, and the stream
Sobbed loudly on the shore, while lightning gleamed
Within the darkened skies and thunder roared
As monsters rant in ravenous famishment.
The wooded glens were shaken with the storm,
While a deep voice arose from out the clouds:
" Mortal and goddess wed not on this night,
Else Sol's stern anger is incurred thereby. "

Within the rampant winds there rose the sound
Of frantic kisses flung defiantly ...
But still the scarlet flames from Heaven flared
And smote with thunderbolts the woodland spot
Where love had reigned supreme a while before.

Then Atys with blanched face arose in fright,
His trembling lips turned dumb, — and thus he fell
Heavily to the mossy earth, smote by
Unerring aims of Toriteaulis' bolt.
His quivering body lay beneath the trees
White like a rain-drenched flower, with his long
Black clustered curls in piteous disarray,
While o'er him bent the weeping form of her
Who loved and lost and bathed him in her tears.

E PILOGUE

Upon the summit of green Kronos, where
The Sun forms diamonds for Juno's crown
And leafy bows shed shadows numberless —
A pine-tree stands in mute tranquillity,
Its handsome boughs held high in princely pride.
And every morn with dawn Aurora comes
Aflush with joy to worship in its shade,
And to renew the raptures of her love.