Edelweiss An Alpine Rhyme

...... 30 X.-A ICTURR .................................. 33 XT.--DEA ....................................... 35 SE.- IF T ILY R IGIIT I TAND O FI END IIEE ........ 37 XIIT.-TOIL AND REST . ............................. 39 xrV.-TWO AXD ONE . ............................. l1 xV.-Ahi0 c TIlE SAINT . S .. ...................... 13 XV1.-ENPURANC R. ................................ 4 9 EDELIVETSS. Y Alpine road, beneath an old fir trec, B rwo children vaited patiently far hours Or, e slept, and thcn the elder on her kncc Made place for baby hcad among her flowers. And to the strangers climbing tired and slow, Shc called, Buy roses, please, in accents mild, As if she feared the echo, soft and low, Of her own voice might malce the slccping child. And mnuy came and passed, and answered not The pleading of that young uplifted face, While, in cnch loiterers memory of the spot, I rvelt this hir picti re f ull of paticnt grace And one took offered Aowcrs with gentlc hand, And met with kindly glance the timid eyes, And said, in tones that children understand, RTy little girl, have you the Edelweiss Oh, not to-day, dcar lady, said the child. I cannot leave my little sister long I cannot carry her across the wild She grows large faster than my arms grow strong. If you stay on the nountaiila ll the night, At morning I rill run across the stccp, And get the mossy flowers ere sun is bright, And while my baby still is fast asleep. Your baby, little one Oh, yes, slle said. Yondcr, you see that old stone towcr shine There, in the chtlrch-yard, lies my mother, dead, And since she died the baby has been mine. Soft shone the ladys eres with tender mist, And ever, asshc pressed toward fields of ice, She pol dercd in her heart the half-madc tryst IVith this young seeker of the Edelweiss. At night, safe sheltered in the convents fold, IVhcrc white peaks stand in ermined majesty lIrherc sunsets pour great throbbing waves of gold Across thc mhitc caps of a mountain sea. At morn, with face subducd and reverent tone, Slowinding down, with spirit hushed and awed, As from a vision of the great white throne, Or vail half lifted from the face of God. The blessing of the hills her soul had caught Made all the mountain-track 3 path of prayer, Along which angel forms oflo, ing thought Led to the trystingplace -no child was there The wind was moaning in the old fir tree, Thc lizards crawling ocr the mossy seat Rut no fair child, with baby at her knee, And in the mold no track of little feet. No faded flowers strewing the stunted grass No young voice singing clear its woodland strain No brown eyes lifted as the strangers pass A murmur in the air, like far-off rain A black-cloud, creeping downward swift and still, Answered her listening heart, a hr-off knell, Almost beforc thcrc swept along the hill The slow, deep tolling of the valley bell. Once more there drifted cross thc face the mist Once more, rvith trembling soul and rcnder eyes, She hurried on to keep the half-n adc tryst, To meet the child, to claim the Edelweiss. EDEL WEISS... --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.