 | Western windows and other poems |  |
229
STEPS OF GHOSTS.
In the olden mansion lying,
That knew me long ago,
I see the far white river
Shivering in the snow.
That knew me long ago,
I see the far white river
Shivering in the snow.
The moon, so close by the window,
Freezes in the trees with her light—
A glitter of motionless silence,
All the ice-lit branches bright!
Freezes in the trees with her light—
A glitter of motionless silence,
All the ice-lit branches bright!
Jarring the drowsy stillness,
There are footsteps on the stair,
Lifting their ghostly echoes
From the chambers every-where!
There are footsteps on the stair,
Lifting their ghostly echoes
From the chambers every-where!
How near they startle the stairway!
I feel the opening door!
Now, far and fainter, and dying,
They echo in me no more!
I feel the opening door!
Now, far and fainter, and dying,
They echo in me no more!
230
In a moment the door will open!
How near they grow again!—
They have left the ghost of their silence
Walking within my brain!
How near they grow again!—
They have left the ghost of their silence
Walking within my brain!
Upon the haunted stairway
I have heard them oft before;
In this olden house, returning,
They haunt me evermore.
I have heard them oft before;
In this olden house, returning,
They haunt me evermore.
Strangers have never heard them—
I know they all are mine,
Rising, O heart, and dying
On that haunted stair of thine.
I know they all are mine,
Rising, O heart, and dying
On that haunted stair of thine.
To me forever returning
Myself forever fled,
Startling the stair forever and ever,
I hear my footsteps dead!
Myself forever fled,
Startling the stair forever and ever,
I hear my footsteps dead!
O life, make braver thy beating!
The terror on the stair
Is the long, long dread procession
That follows thee every-where!
The terror on the stair
Is the long, long dread procession
That follows thee every-where!
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