Bayard Taylor

Bedouin Song

FROM the Desert I come to thee
    On a stallion shod with fire;
And the winds are left behind
    In the speed of my desire.
Under your window I stand,
    And the midnight hears my cry:
I love thee, I love but thee,
    With a love that shall not die
        Till the sun grows cold, 
        And the stars are old, 
    And the leaves of the Judgement Book unfold!

Look from thy window and see
    My passion and my pain;
I lie on the sands below,
    And I faint in thy disdain.
Let the night-wind touch thy brow
    With the heat of my burning sigh,
And melt thee to hear the vow
    Of a love that shall not die
        Till the sun grows cold, 
        And the stars are old, 
    And the leaves of the Judgement Book unfold!

My steps are nightly driven,
    By the fever in my breast,
To hear form thy lips
    The words that shall give me rest.
Open the door of thy heart,
    And open thy chamber door,
And my kisses shall teach thy lips
    The love that shall fade no more
        Till the sun grows cold, 
        And the stars are old, 
    And the leaves of the Judgement Book unfold!