Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE DESERT, by MAXWELL STRUTHERS BURT


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE DESERT, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Out of the dark I called to you; out of the enfolding / dark you came
Last Line: And only the wind that walks by dusk is over us, and god's grave will.
Alternate Author Name(s): Burt, Struthers
Subject(s): Deserts; Food & Eating; Love; Lust; Man-woman Relationships; Male-female Relations


OUT of the dark I called to you; out of the enfolding dark you came;
And your coming was a light above far hills, when, star by star, the evening
breaks to flame.

A small wind stirred the hush that held the night; I felt the heat-wan desert
flowers rejoice;
And suddenly in hidden cañon clear, the laughter of a river's singing
voice.

O, swift your heart as desert wind at eve; and swift as desert wind the feet of
you;
And your cool hands are twilight after sun, when sago lilies lift their cups for
dew.

Fierce and cool, and fierce again the hours, dusk after blue and silence after
light;
And, sudden as the stopping of a heart, the fall of night.

I could not know the mystery of you, silver as tall white lilies in the sand;
I could not know you, fierce and cool and sweet, were not the desert here on
either hand.

Love in the crowd is laughter heard far off; a dream of following one beloved,
forlorn,
On a long road that never knows an end, where weary night awakes to weary morn.

But here we are a woman and a man, stark, splendid, honest, stript of shame;
So that our love burns bright and fierce as fire, when no wind stirs the flame.

And I will kiss you in the hour of toil, when all our blood is sweet as sun-
warmed wine;
And I will kiss you when the dark is come, folding us close, your throbbing
breast on mine.

Cling to my lips, the desert night is here! Cling to my lips, the desert night
is still!
And only the wind that walks by dusk is over us, and God's grave will.





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