[neroshan]

Come Be With Me, my Love!

A stranger came to the door at eve,And he spoke the bridegroom fair.He bore a green-white stick in his hand,And, for all burden, care.He asked with the eyes more than the lipsFor a shelter for the night,And he turned and looked at the road afarWithout a window light.The bridegroom came forth into the porchWith, "Let us look at the sky,And question what of the night to be,Stranger, you and I."The woodbine leaves littered the yard,The woodbine berries were blue,Autumn, yes, winter was in the wind;"Stranger, I wish I knew."Within, the bride in the dusk alone Bent over the open fire,Her face rose-red with the glowing coalAnd the thought of the heart's desire.The bridegroom looked at the weary road,Yet saw but her within,And wished her heart in a case of goldAnd pinned with a silver pin.The bridegroom thought it little to giveA dole of bread, a purse,A heartfelt prayer for the poor of God,Or for the rich a curse;But whether or not a man was askedTo mar the love of twoby harboring woe in the bridal house,The bridegroom wished he knew.