The Downing legends : Stories in Rhyme The witch of Shiloh, the last of the Wampanoags, the gentle earl, the enchanted voyage |
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| 17. | XVII |
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 | The Downing legends : Stories in Rhyme |  |
XVII
A man he truly seemed; and yet
Some awful variance was set
Betwixt this man and other men,
The gladsome folk we daily ken.
You might have fancied him a soul
From distant stellar realms of dole
Who never happed before on earth,
Nor heard of Bethlem's wondrous birth;
For utter sorrow brimmed his eyes
And choked his breath with many sighs,
As though he knew the wrath to come,
But knew not how to fly therefrom.
Some awful variance was set
Betwixt this man and other men,
The gladsome folk we daily ken.
You might have fancied him a soul
From distant stellar realms of dole
Who never happed before on earth,
Nor heard of Bethlem's wondrous birth;
For utter sorrow brimmed his eyes
And choked his breath with many sighs,
As though he knew the wrath to come,
But knew not how to fly therefrom.
175
Moreover, man is rarely seen
So strangely meek in act and mien;
For, baring solemnly his head,
He knelt and humbly pressed his red
And comely mouth against the deck;
And many times he kissed the wreck
With choking sobs and whisperings
Of incommunicable things;
As one who, chancing on the spot,
Where erst he aimed a mortal shot,
May kneel above the hidden corse
In sudden pang of hot remorse,
And swear repentance there of crime
And holier life for coming time.
So strangely meek in act and mien;
For, baring solemnly his head,
He knelt and humbly pressed his red
And comely mouth against the deck;
And many times he kissed the wreck
With choking sobs and whisperings
Of incommunicable things;
As one who, chancing on the spot,
Where erst he aimed a mortal shot,
May kneel above the hidden corse
In sudden pang of hot remorse,
And swear repentance there of crime
And holier life for coming time.
At last he rose with calmer face,
As though a messenger of grace
Had swiftly flown from mercy's throne
With pardoning answer to his moan.
Then, turning tow'rd our castaways,
Who stared the while in dumb amaze,
He bent his lips to Esther's wrist,
Then likewise kist her father's fist,
The meekest wight that ever laid
A kiss on hand of man or maid.
As though a messenger of grace
Had swiftly flown from mercy's throne
With pardoning answer to his moan.
Then, turning tow'rd our castaways,
Who stared the while in dumb amaze,
He bent his lips to Esther's wrist,
Then likewise kist her father's fist,
The meekest wight that ever laid
A kiss on hand of man or maid.
| The Downing legends : Stories in Rhyme | |