<html xmlns:tei="http://www.tei-c.org/ns/1.0"><body><h1 align="" class="head">Reincarnation</h1><div class="stanza"><p class="line">I LOVED you in Babylon.</p><p class="line">Sweet Heart! you were a dancer then</p><p class="line">And I watched where your little feet</p><p class="line">Just stirred the dust within the market-place.</p><p class="line">You passed me slow and down the sunlit street,</p><p class="line">I saw the longing in the eyes of men</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">Who caught the smile which glorified your face.</p><p class="line">A moment—little heart!—and you were gone;</p><p class="line">But where you passed—you knew it not—</p><p class="line">I marked and kissed the spot.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">I loved you in royal Rome.</p><p class="line">Sweet Heart! you were a vestal there</p><p class="line">And I came to offer my gift.</p><p class="line">A poor slave with a pigeon dearly bought.</p><p class="line">Its feathers purer than snow's whitest drift.</p><p class="line">With fevered soul I made my silent prayer</p><p class="line">Though I could never touch the bliss I sought.</p><p class="line">While holy Vesta's temple was your home.</p><p class="line">A feather fell—how should you see?—</p><p class="line">Till death it stayed with me.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">I love you in London town.</p><p class="line">Sweet Heart! you are a princess now</p><p class="line">And the blue blood runs in your veins;</p><p class="line">While I, alas! am but of common birth</p><p class="line">Whom war is splashing with its crimson stains.</p><p class="line">A soldier who has taken Honour's vow</p><p class="line">To share the grandest task on God's wide earth.</p><p class="line">One night you wore red roses in your gown.</p><p class="line">A petal dropped—you never guessed—</p><p class="line">I hid it in my breast.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">So shall I still love on.</p><p class="line">Sweet Heart! your soul was close to me</p><p class="line">When the world's first dreams were made.</p><p class="line">We two were whispering love at God's own side</p><p class="line">Or ever sunlight on the mountains played.</p><p class="line">And through a wilderness of worlds I see</p><p class="line">A time when reunited we shall glide</p><p class="line">Unto the Soul of souls, the Perfect One.</p><p class="line">Pass, life or lives! you'll understand</p><p class="line">When Love gives me your hand.</p></div></body></html> · Great War