University of Virginia Library


260

LOOKING DOWN.

Afloat on the brim of a placid stream,
Pleasant it is to lie and dream,
With heaven above, and far below
The deeps of death—sad deeps that know
The still reflections of earth and sky
In their silent, serene obscurity.
And hanging thus upon Life's thin rim,
Death seems so sweet in that silvery, dim,
Deep world below, that it seems half-best
To sink into it and there find rest,
Both, both together, ere age can come,
And loving has lost its perfect bloom.
One tilt, dear love, and we both might be
Beyond earth's sorrows eternally.