I heard the shudd'ring grasses bend
And the wild sheoak sigh
Out of the dead, unhappy night
I saw the wind go by.
Among the fragrant forest mould
Her feet trailed pale and bare.
The poplars' trembling fingers caught
The tangle of her hair.
All lightly strewn with beaded rain,
All gold with netted leaves.
I saw the wind go creeping by--
Go swinging 'neath the eaves.
Wild music on her silver strings
She made. The river reeds
Piped shrill from out their watery bed.
The cypress in her weeds
Made moan. With wanton arms out-flung,
The wild wind as her dower
Shook from her hair the beaded rain
Into the lilies' flower.
Her phantom skirts among the leaves
Blown backward like a veil,
I saw the wind go creeping by--
Go lilting down the dale.
First published in The Australasian, 14 April 1917
