Come and let me make thee glad
In this house that I have made!
No where ( I am unafraid! )
Canst thou find its like on Earth:
Come, and learn the perfect worth
Of the labor I have had.
I have fashioned it for thee,
Every room and pictured wall;
Every marble pillar tall,
Every door and window-place;
All were done that thy fair face
Might look kindlier on me.
Here, moreover, thou shalt find
Strange, delightful, far-brought things:
Dulcimers, whose tightened strings,
Once, dead women loved to touch;
( Deeming they could mimic much
Of the music of the wind! )
Heavy candlesticks of brass;
Chess-men carved of ivory;
Mass-books written perfectly
By some patient monk of old;
Flagons wrought of thick, red gold,
Set with gems and colored glass;
Burnished armor, once some knight
( Dead, I deem, long wars ago! )
Its great strength was glad to know
When his Lady needed him:
( Now that both his eyes are dim
Both his sword and shield are bright! )
Come, and share these things with me,
Men have died to leave to us!
We shall find life glorious
In this splendid house of love;
Come, and claim thy part thereof,—
I have fashioned it for thee!