 | Poems and Sonnets |  |
146
IT'S ALL GONE AWAY.
It's all gone away,
The light of the day,
Now skies are gray,
And closed are the eyes
Of Love, hope flies,
But miseries stay!
The light of the day,
Now skies are gray,
And closed are the eyes
Of Love, hope flies,
But miseries stay!
Never again
Shall it be as when
Strength as of ten
Was ours in the flower
Of life, and the power
Of manifold men!
Shall it be as when
Strength as of ten
Was ours in the flower
Of life, and the power
Of manifold men!
147
Weak as the grass
Limbs of us pass
Brittle as glass
To the grave that waits
With a grin on its gates—
Life is a farce,
Limbs of us pass
Brittle as glass
To the grave that waits
With a grin on its gates—
Life is a farce,
Only without
Laughter, and shout
Of delight, and the pout
Of lips that admire
The actors' fire,
And sparkle about;
Laughter, and shout
Of delight, and the pout
Of lips that admire
The actors' fire,
And sparkle about;
Left of the fun
Of the play there is none,
Never a pun
In the drama of life
To lighten the strife
With a ray of the sun;
Of the play there is none,
Never a pun
In the drama of life
To lighten the strife
With a ray of the sun;
148
Slowly we go
All of a row,
Roses that blow,
And flowers that are faded,
To the churchyard shaded
By tombs that grow;
All of a row,
Roses that blow,
And flowers that are faded,
To the churchyard shaded
By tombs that grow;
What does it matter?
Earth is the fatter,
Beauty we scatter
All over the ground,
Soon to be found
In the worms' wet platter;
Earth is the fatter,
Beauty we scatter
All over the ground,
Soon to be found
In the worms' wet platter;
Lips are in bloom
Ripe for the gloom
Of a sunless tomb,
And flowers are fair—
We fix them there
For decay to consume;
Ripe for the gloom
Of a sunless tomb,
And flowers are fair—
We fix them there
For decay to consume;
149
The younger the better
For death the setter
Of plants, the abettor
Of grey grave-mists
And skeletons kissed
By the clank of a fetter;
For death the setter
Of plants, the abettor
Of grey grave-mists
And skeletons kissed
By the clank of a fetter;
Bloom upon cheeks
For a time—till leaks
Life's can, and he seeks
With slow sad strides
Like a ghost that glides
Death's pitiless peaks;
For a time—till leaks
Life's can, and he seeks
With slow sad strides
Like a ghost that glides
Death's pitiless peaks;
Upon these he sits,
And Loveliness flits,
And they are at quits,
Sad Life and Death—
Life gives us breath,
Our throats Death slits!
And Loveliness flits,
And they are at quits,
Sad Life and Death—
Life gives us breath,
Our throats Death slits!
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