The Singing Shepherd

O saw you our belovéd where the cedars darken over The moon-white iris grown beside the stream? Or did you meet him walking in the honey-breathing clover, The first star flowered before him like a dream? O far and very far away from all your quiet fountains, From all your solemn valleys rich in sleep, I only heard a shepherd singing on the mountains, Singing as he folded in the sheep.

O found you our belovéd ere the winds of morning found him In the thickets by still waters where love is? Did you know him from his fellows by the thorny bents that crowned him Among the lily-gardens that are his? O far away and far away from all the hidden meadows, From the gardens where the year goes shod in gold, I only heard a shepherd singing in the shadows As he carried home the younglings to the fold.