Dove-Eyed Lover
    Dove-eyed lover, still in the firelight,
    Flash of pure fire whenever you move,
    Skin pale as feathers, eyes dark as night,
    And the face of the woman I love.

    Flashing and spinning, pale ghost amid fire,
    Moving as if your feet spurned the ground,
    Kindling my heart that looks on with restless desire,
    And flashing and spinning, around and around.

    I knew you not when you stepped into the light,
    Though by your face you are cousin to my love.
    I thought you only a ghost come in from the night,
    Pale little ghost, with the eyes of a dove.

    But your eyes never leave me, and in them I see
    Something that one woman, and one woman only,
    Has ever turned upon and given to me.
    Why are you, dove-eyed, so alone and so lonely?

    A wonderful dancer, but none of the others,
    None of those who should be your adoring swains,
    Come to you, murmuring something of brothers.
    Why do you look at me, when you know that pains

    Of regret would tear my heart if I danced with you?
    My heart has already been given, and though a stranger
    I am to this land, I was trained to be true,
    And, above all, to never court woman's danger.

    I refuse to meet your eyes, even as we dance.
    Only because my love is not here do I feel even free
    To partner you, and even that is not safe from chance
    That she might come upon us, and suspect evil of me.

    Dove-eyed lover, you move also as a dove in flight.
    Your skin is too pale, and your eyes far too wide.
    Pure black they are, but gentle- the falling of night.
    What secrets do those eyes, so deep they are, hide?

    Dove-eyed lover, leave now! Go back into the dark!
    Trouble me no more with that lover's face, and eyes
    That make me doubt every time I ever heard the lark,
    And saw hope or sweetness in a sunrise.

    Go now and leave now! Spirit, I cry to thee!
    Leave me now! Take away this art of thine!
    Give me back the love that you have taken from me!
    Give me back that which thou stole, what is mine!

    I loved her when I walked into the firelight,
    But now I feel doubt assaulting the surety of love.
    Get thee away! Take thy enmity and the magic of night
    Back into the place that gave thee the eyes of a dove.

    I do not care what thou mightest offer me, what thou
    Might say to make up for losing the surety of love.
    See! I will turn and look away from thee now!
    No more do I meet thine eyes, dark eyes of a dove.

    The night is close all about the fire, but no more
    Do I feel the allure that was mine when I came here.
    Thou hast stolen all away, and though thou might soar
    Heaven's highest pathways, thine eyes do only sear.

    I feel thy hand on my arm, but I will not turn.
    I remember the sight of thee, flashing in the light.
    I will look into the night, but the darkness I spurn.
    Thou art a foulest creature of night.

    A flash and a whisper by my ear, a knife parting silk,
    And thou art gone, back into the night thou came from.
    I see one more flash, of skin or feathers like milk,
    And then thou art gone, for forever, and then some!

    I turn with all my fortitude back to the dance,
    And strive to forget the eyes of deepest black
    That watched me as thou whirled, fire-like, in trance.
    Why am I certain that thou wilt be back?