§ 1  Neighbours that faced across the narrowing seas,
Lay Sestos and Abydos, and on these
Love bent his bow; a single arrow flamed.
Piercing two mortals: one, Leander named,
A youth who gave Abydos her renown,
One, Hero, a fair girl of Sestos-town, —
Twin-stars of those two cities; and either shone
As splendid as its bright companion.
Still may the traveller see the high tower stand,
Where once the lamp in Sestian Hero's hand
Pointed her lover's path; and still there ring.
From old Abydan walls re-echoing,
The voices of the melancholy tide,
That tell how young Leander loved and died.
How came the Abydan youth to long for her
Who lived apart in Sestos, and to stir
An answering passion? Hero, of noble blood,
Served Aphrodite, in pure maidenhood,
A lovely priestess, where her ancestry
Had built a tower that overtopped the sea.
And there, a second Cytherean queen.
She dwelt, with shamefastness and modest mien,
Never consorting with the girlish throng,
Nor ever dancing, other maids among.
Lest the fine flower of beauty should be soiled
In spiteful hands. By jealousy undespoiled,
She worshipped Cytherea, and adored
Eros, the archer, and often heavenward
Offered atoning gifts; but even so.
She learned the anguish of his fiery bow.
For now was due the holy Cyprian feast,
Wherein the Sestian folk, greatest and least.
Honour Adonis and queen Aphrodite; all
Gathered, astir to keep high festival.
From every island sea-engarlanded.
From plains Thessalian, and the rocky head
Of Cyprus; none remained of womankind
In all Cythera; nor was left behind
On Lebanon, in any odorous glen,

§ 50  A worshipper; no one of neighbouring men
Lagged, whether Phrygian or Abydan gates
Poured out their citizens to cross the straits.
And many a gallant came — love-smitten youth
Cares little for the sacrifice, in truth.
But much for the maidens sacrificing there.
Now up the temple-aisle went Hero fair.
And from her perfect face a radiancy
Shone, as the clear moon in a cloudless sky.
The snow upon her cheek was blent with red.
Like tinges of the blush-rose; you had said
"Her body is a garden of red roses
Breaking in blossom, for her robe discloses
Each limb a flower, till, when she walks, there meet
The white hem and the roses of her feet."
There are three Graces only, say the wise?
Nay, but in either of Hero's lucent eyes
A hundred laughter-loving Graces proved
The servant worth her mistress. So she moved
Fairer than woman, and herself appeared
The avatar of the deity she revered.
And the hearts of men were fluttered, and beat fast
With ecstasy; for as her light feet passed
Over the marble pavement, in her train
All eyes and minds and eager souls were fain
To follow; and one cried, marvelling, "I have known
The city that is famed as Helen's own.
Where maiden vies with maiden in beauty rare.
But I saw none at Sparta who might dare
Accept the challenge of that flawless face.
Surely a youthful goddess — a new Grace —
Ministers to Aphrodite. I have gazed
Till vision is weary, and am still amazed.
Let me but win her, and then quickly die! —
I grudge no god his immortality
Should I make Hero mine. And if I pray
An impious prayer, O Goddess, filching away
Thine own, give me her equal! "Thus he cried.
But most were silent, spell-bound and tongue-tied.
Not so Leander: passionately, he brooked
No tame concealment of his love. He looked.
And life, without her, seemed a thing of nought:
Such burning fire shot from her eyes, and caught
His heart defenceless. Beauty's arrows fly
Swifter than any archer's: eye strikes eye
And penetrates by this pathway to the goal.
Where waits the prize of an enraptured soul.
Even so by turns he wonders, blushes, trembles.
And plucks up courage, blushing, as he dissembles
The hope his stammering tongue dares not unfold;
Then Passion checks the blush, and Love grows bold,
Bidding the youth come near and greet the maid
With tender looks, more eloquent to persuade
Than spoken words. And she, his guile perceiving,
Rejoiced in silence, but her bosom's heaving

§ 100  Sent him the message of her soft-drawn sighs.
As she would glance, and turn away her eyes,
And glance again. Thus joyfully he learned
That his love-signs were read, his love not
spurned.
But while he sought for secrecy, to gain
His full desire, daylight began to wane
Westward, and in the east horizon dim
The evening star silvered the heaven's rim.
Then, as the train of Night was sweeping near,
Leander, venturous with abated fear,
Came, and just touched her rosy finger-tips,
And looked, with no word uttered; and Hero's lips
Were silent, and the fingers that he had seized
She quickly drew away, as if displeased.
But he, observing marks of willingness
Beneath the anger, caught her fair-wrought dress,
To lead her toward the temple's deepest shade.
And Hero followed, faltering and afraid,
With such reproaches as are woman's use;
"Others — not I — may do thy pleasure: loose
My dress from thy rough lust-emboldened clutch.
Respect my parents' anger; nay, to touch
Aphrodite's priestess is an evil thing,
And virgins may not yield to wantoning."
Her words were wrathful, but a gentler mood
Was heralded, and the lover understood
Love's hidden augury, and he kissed the maid
Upon her white and fragrant neck, and said:
"O mirror of the Cyprian queen divine,
Athena's other self, who dost outshine
All shining excellence of mortal birth.
Daughter of Jove, a visitor upon earth!
Happy thy father, happy she who bare,
In thee, a wonder! Hearken to my prayer.
Pity my plight, show thyself in true deed
The votary of thy Goddess. Thou shouldst heed
Her ordinance, and the mysteries— darkly sealed
To maidenhood — wherein she stands revealed,
Commanding an initiate minister
To love. Therefore, if thou dost worship her,
Bear the delightful yoke she lays on thee.
And follow her sweet laws. Receive from me
My vows, and — if thou wilt — my love, and take
The booty Eros captured for thy sake.

§ 150  Thou knowest how Hermes of the Golden Rod
Brought the strong Hercules beneath the nod
And lightest whim of Lydian Omphale.
Me Cytherea brings more urgently
Than Hermes. And by another be forewarned —
Arcadian Atalanta — when she scorned
Meilanion, her suitor, prizing more
Her maidenhood. But Aphrodite, sore
At slighted honour, sent infatuate
Desire upon disdain. Of such a fate,
Dearest, beware; stern is the punishment."
So with soft passion-luring words he bent
The will that struggled with her heart. But shame
Covered her; with eyes downcast and cheeks aflame
And face that feared to encounter him, she beat
The floor with tappings of her nervous feet,
And drew her cloak closelier to her side.
And still was silent — tokens that betide
The nearness of love's self-abandoning.
For now she felt the sweet-and-bitter sting
Fixt by the goad that Aphrodite plies.
And loved Leander, though her modest eyes
Looked down, and shunned his countenance set fast
On the bright vision of her neck. At last,
With changeful flushes, and virginal cheeks aglow
In crimson-eddying flood, she murmured low:
"Sir, such fine talk as this would surely turn
A stone to weeping! How camest thou to learn
Subtlety, and clever phrase of argument?
Ah me! who brought thee hither, vainly sent?
How dost thou hope, a wanderer unknown,
Untestified, to have me for thine own?
By ceremony, and the sacred marriage-tie?
My kinsfolk would forbid it. Or wilt thou try,
As a pretended stranger, travel-worn,
To linger here, seeking the pleasure born
In stolen love? Not so may I be won.
Tongues wag; a secret thing in darkness done
Is soon the gossip of the market-place.
And yet ... I would be told thy name and race:
My name — thou knowest — is Hero, and I dwell
Where a tall tower, before the citadel
Of Sestos, hangs upon the sounding sea.
There, with one maiden, for all my company.
Harsh parents keep me, sorrowing for dearth
Of fellowship, and the joy of friendly mirth
And song; but to my ears cometh alone
The windy water's never-ceasing moan."
She ended, and would gladly have unsaid
The words for very shame, and veiled her head
Beneath her cloak. But his turbulent passion drove
Leander towards the hoped-for meed of love.
For guileful Eros, once having pierced his prey
Himself will heal the wound, and show the way
Whereby his slaves learn wisdom from distress.

§ 200  So now he taught his victim craftiness.
Prompting a plan — but, all too late for rueing,
Leander's wisdom turned to his undoing.
"Lady," he said, "for such a sweet reward,
I'd brave the ocean, though it beat and roared
And foamed with fire. Nightly, to thy dear bed.
A lover sea-drenched and wave-buffeted,
I'll swim the Hellespont, from where my home
Lies in Abydos — no long way to come.
One thing I ask — that on the other side
Thy tower shall hold a lamp, my beacon-guide;
So shall I be love's ship, and sail aright.
Shaping my dark course by that starry light.
I shall not watch the slow Arcturus set,
Nor mark Orion's piloting, nor yet
The Wain that never sinks; for my own star
Will lead me safe across Love's harbour-bar.
Only take care, lest some wind's violent breath
Put out the light, and drag me to my death;
For know, that in the constancy of that flame
I live. And now, — if thou wouldst learn my name —
Thy husband is Leander." Thus their troth
Was plighted, and a covenant made for both.
For her, to hold the shining lamp, for him.
Over the flame-lit waterpath to swim.
So with their love declared, their trysting sped.
But with desire still to be perfected.
They went their ways — she, back to the tower;
but he Noted the landmarks round him carefully.
Lest his night-wandering feet might lose the road,
And then sailed homeward to his own abode
In great Abydos. Wistfully they went,
Longing for their love's full accomplishment,
When, much entreated, tardy night should rise.
At length a robe of darkness wrapped the skies.
And all men, save Leander, turned to sleep;
But he stood wakefully by the unquiet deep.
Impatient, till the fatal lamp should bring
His marriage-hour with happy summoning.
And Hero, when the last sunbeam had dwindled.
Lighted the lamp, and straightway love was kindled
Within Leander's heart. He, on solid ground,
Heard the wild thunder-throated waves resound,
And shrank from plunging. But new hopes were near,
To feed his soul with comfort: "Love I fear,

§ 250  And fearful is the Ocean; yet the waves
Are only water; and in my heart there raves
A burning flame. Heed thou the deadlier fire,
My heart! nor let the sea foil thy desire.
What harm can water work thee, being the home
Of Aphrodite, born from the sea-foam?
Hers is the Ocean, hers my agony."
So saving, he threw off him speedily
His tunic, and rolled it close about his hair,
Then leapt into the sea — his only care
To reach the lamp — voyaging in strange guise.
Himself the ship, mariner, and merchandise.
But in the high tower Hero, at her task
Of safeguarding the lamp, would often mask
Its flame from the wind-quarter, and with her dress
Would screen it against a sudden gustiness.
Until Leander fought his perilous way
To the calm anchorage in the Sestian bay.
And thence she brought him breathless to her door.
Still flecked with spray of frothy water hoar.
And with a mute embrace led her bridegroom
To the dear welcome of her maiden-room.
Therein, she bathed his body, and sprinkled him
With oil rose-scented on each quivering limb,
That washed away the pungent-savoured brine.
And leaned across the bed, to intertwine
Her arms with his, speaking soft words of love:
"Husband, my husband! Thou has laboured above
All others who have toiled to earn their brides;
Thou hast had full surfeit of the salty tides
And rankness of the monster-peopled seas.
Now let my arms bring to thy labour ease."
So Hero spoke, and suffered him to untie
Her girdle, and they essayed the mystery
Of Aphrodite's grace, in wedlock true,
Though without marriage-hymn or dances due,
Or music round the bridal bed, or prayer
That the Queen of Gods might smile upon the pair.
No torches lit the room, no nimble feet
Of maidens whirled in the swift dance, to greet
Their homecoming. Father or mother none
Sang songs to Hymen; by the bed alone
Silence was bridesmaid, and the priestess Night,
Dark celebrant, performed the holy rite.
Nor dared the bridegroom linger till the morn;
In haste, with broken joys, untimely torn
From Hero, and still fragrant with the breath
Clinging to those whom Cypris favoureth.
He rose, and swam to his own countrymen.
But Hero stayed, escaping her parents' ken,
A wedded wife by night, a maid by day;
And many prayers these two were wont to pray
That the high sun might quicken to the west.
So for a little while, safe and unguessed.
The secret prospered, and the Cyprian spell.
With its sweet working ineluctable,
Gave their far-sundered loves a happy boon
In darkness. But wild winter came, full soon,
When by strong blasts, tumultuously driven.
The sea's foundations were upheaved and riven.
And the huddled waves fled from the tempest-whips,
And sailors trembled, drawing their painted ships
High on the thirsty sands above the wrack.

§ 300  But no mad sea, Leander, could bend back
Thy stubborn purpose, when from Hero's tower
The bright lamp beckoning at the appointed hour
. Flashed out its faithless, merciless command.
Ah! had she been content, and stayed her hand.
Nor kindled that brief star, too quickly cooled!
But tyrant Fate and Passion overruled.
And the witched lamp, promising Love's delight,
Brought only death. In that dark watch of night.
When winds are fiercest, flinging at the sea
The deadliest javelins of their armoury,
Leander, all-impetuous for his bride.
Started to breast the swollen surf, and ride
The storm-foot horse of the unmastered main.
That carried him helpless, a rider without rein.
Wave curled on wave; the sea and heavenly vault
Were mixed, and all the winds in savage assault
Shrieked as they fought — the West wind with the East,
South with the terrible North; nor ever ceased
The thunder of the unforgiving surge.
And pitifully Leander called, to urge
The aid of Her, who rose from the sea-spray
— Pitifully cried to Him, whom seas obey,
The lord Poseidon. Often would he entreat
Boreas, not to forget those kisses sweet
Of Attic Oreithyia; but all failed:
Love had confronted Fate, and Fate prevailed.
On every side a barrier of waves stood
Unscalable, and then broke in a great flood.
That swept him hither and thither, till at length
His feet grew impotent, and all the strength
In his unresting arms was spent in vain.
And the waves gripped his throat, that he should drain
A bitter draught. And then a violent gust
Blew out the lamp, unequal to its trust.
And, with the flame, Leander's love and life.
Meanwhile, with dull foreboding thought, his wife
Watched, leaden-eyed, in sleepless vigilance.
Till the day came — but on the wide expanse
Came no sight of Leander, though her gaze.
This way and that, ranged the long water-ways
— If the swimmer might have missed the landing-place.
The lamp being lost. And there, at the tower's base.
Beneath her on the rocks, she saw him bleeding,
And beaten into a mangled thing unheeding.
Frenzied, she rushed, and with her garments rent,
Leapt desperately from the high battlement
To draw her last breath at her husband's side.
So Love, in Death itself, was satisfied.