The Chalice Of Tears

"O wizard, canst tell if my lover is true,
For he is aivay, away?"
"This chalice, maid, hold where the light streams through;
If ever it glows with a blood-red hue,
His love's as the winds that stray;
But if it still shows thro the changing years
The crystalline depths of its gathered tears,
His love, then, abides alway."
His love, then, abideth! Rejoice my soul!
"Nay, maiden, thyself must see.
The chalice for me brings not joy or dole;
His heart must be dead as a burned out coal
Who sees all the things to be.
The warmth of thy touch, as thou breath'st his name,
Alone can bring flashing the red-blood flame,
If gone is his love for thee."
"A chalice of tears by the love-lorn shed
Nay take it my lady fair
Hot tears that were rained for the newly dead,
Slow drops that were drained when the heart was bled,
The last before dry despair,
All mingled with spells neath the starless skies"
"O wizard, I would not believe mine eyes
If the blood-red gleams were there!"