Poem by James Elroy Flecker

Narcissus

O thou with whom I dallied
   Through all the hours of noon,—
Sweet water-boy, more pallid
   Than any watery moon;
Above thy body turning
   White lily-buds were strewn:
Alas, the silver morning,
   Alas, the golden noon!

Alas, the clouds of sorrow,
   The waters of despair!
I sought thee on the morrow,
   And never found thee there.
Since first I saw thee splendid,
   Since last I called thee fair,
My happy ways have ended
   By waters of despair.

The pool that was thy dwelling
   I hardly knew again,
So black it was, and swelling
   With bitter wind and rain.

Amid the reeds I lingered
   Between desire and pain
Till evening, rosy-fingered,
   Beckoned to night again.

Yet once when sudden quiet
   Had visited the skies,
And stilled the stormy riot,
   I looked upon thine eyes.
I saw they wept and trembled
   With glittering mysteries,
But yellow clouds assembled
   Redarkening the skies.

O listless thou art lying
   In waters cool and sweet,
While I, dumb brother, dying,
   Faint in the desert heat.
Though thou dost love another,
   Still let my lips entreat:
Men call me fair, O brother,
   And women honey-sweet.

1. November Eves
2. The Second Sonnet of Bathrolaire
3. The First Sonnet of Bathrolaire
4. Sirmio
5. Fountains

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