 | 'Twixt Kiss and Lip or Under the Sword. By the author of "Women Must Weep," [i.e. F. W. O. Ward] Third edition |  |
ON A RAILWAY PLATFORM.
I stood beside the iron road
which runs from north to south,
And watched the iron horses load
that feed with fiery mouth;
That ever fretted to be gone,
and spurned their iron reins;
And when at length they thundered on,
tossed high their stormy manes.
which runs from north to south,
And watched the iron horses load
that feed with fiery mouth;
That ever fretted to be gone,
and spurned their iron reins;
And when at length they thundered on,
tossed high their stormy manes.
I watched the people, as they pass'd
and hurried to and fro,
Till I appeared myself at last
part of the ebb and flow,
To enter into all their grief
and mingle with their minds,
Borne like a helpless autumn leaf
upon the rushing winds.
and hurried to and fro,
Till I appeared myself at last
part of the ebb and flow,
To enter into all their grief
and mingle with their minds,
Borne like a helpless autumn leaf
upon the rushing winds.
278
Cast up and down by furious fears,
and robed with radiant hopes,
Now sinking in abysmal years
and now on mountain slopes,
Elate with every gust of joys,
and whirled with every woe,
With empty thoughts of idle toys
and blasts that passions blow.
and robed with radiant hopes,
Now sinking in abysmal years
and now on mountain slopes,
Elate with every gust of joys,
and whirled with every woe,
With empty thoughts of idle toys
and blasts that passions blow.
Till all the windows of all hearts
seemed opened to my gaze,
And the most hidden aims and arts
stood out from stormy haze,
In naked strength and startling lines,
as when the morning breaks,
And bursting through the shadow twines
around the sunlit peaks.
seemed opened to my gaze,
And the most hidden aims and arts
stood out from stormy haze,
In naked strength and startling lines,
as when the morning breaks,
And bursting through the shadow twines
around the sunlit peaks.
Till all the doors of that retreat
in which abides the soul,
Expanded in that secret seat
their very inmost whole.
And I moved with the mighty streams
of many-coloured life,
Lit here and there with blessed gleams
or evil clouds at strife.
in which abides the soul,
Expanded in that secret seat
their very inmost whole.
And I moved with the mighty streams
of many-coloured life,
Lit here and there with blessed gleams
or evil clouds at strife.
And in the thickest of the crowd
I saw unearthly shapes,
Some fair as angels brightly-browed
and some as hideous apes;
Both leading and misleading all,
for welfare or for woe;
And those that hearkened to their call,
were doomed like them to grow.
I saw unearthly shapes,
Some fair as angels brightly-browed
and some as hideous apes;
Both leading and misleading all,
for welfare or for woe;
And those that hearkened to their call,
were doomed like them to grow.
Till they became celestial forms
or into devils turned,
Who soared above the stress of storms
or with hell-torments burned.
While under some who blindly raved
would dread abysses yawn;
And gracious palms for others waved
with crowns of golden dawn.
or into devils turned,
Who soared above the stress of storms
or with hell-torments burned.
While under some who blindly raved
would dread abysses yawn;
And gracious palms for others waved
with crowns of golden dawn.
And all about the restless throng,
lo! serpents as of flame,
In silence crawled, and most among
those of the fairest frame;
For still through all the stormy haze
that blurred the view in part,
I saw the fairest, with amaze,
had yet the foulest heart.
lo! serpents as of flame,
In silence crawled, and most among
those of the fairest frame;
For still through all the stormy haze
that blurred the view in part,
I saw the fairest, with amaze,
had yet the foulest heart.
279
I marked a child with cherub eye,
and brow as bright as morn,
Tempted to listen to a lie
and darkly onward borne,
And hurried still from stage to stage,
till conscience none was left,
Down to the black and blotted page
of shameless hardened theft.
and brow as bright as morn,
Tempted to listen to a lie
and darkly onward borne,
And hurried still from stage to stage,
till conscience none was left,
Down to the black and blotted page
of shameless hardened theft.
Though a fair white-robed being strove
to guide the guilty feet,
That still preferred astray to rove
on path ways all unmeet;
And tried to hold the erring hands
that hungered still for wrongs,
And murmured as from distant lands
forgotten cradle songs.
to guide the guilty feet,
That still preferred astray to rove
on path ways all unmeet;
And tried to hold the erring hands
that hungered still for wrongs,
And murmured as from distant lands
forgotten cradle songs.
I marked a girl with maiden look
of modesty and joy,
Who pure and peaceful ways forsook,
to be a villain's toy;
Lured by the sin that whispering spoke
what loud it dared not say,
Until the pretty plaything broke
and then was thrown away.
of modesty and joy,
Who pure and peaceful ways forsook,
to be a villain's toy;
Lured by the sin that whispering spoke
what loud it dared not say,
Until the pretty plaything broke
and then was thrown away.
But yet a guardian angel stood
by the unshielded side
Of sweet and tender maidenhood
in all its gentle pride;
With unshed tears that fain would start
and words that breathed of hope,
And knocked for entrance at the heart
that would not to him ope.
by the unshielded side
Of sweet and tender maidenhood
in all its gentle pride;
With unshed tears that fain would start
and words that breathed of hope,
And knocked for entrance at the heart
that would not to him ope.
I marked a man of splendid mould.
who once had not a stain,
Driven by the maddening loss of gold
to sell his soul for gain;
To barter freedom even and fame,
his honour and his wife,
And then with the last shift of shame
to take his blasted life.
who once had not a stain,
Driven by the maddening loss of gold
to sell his soul for gain;
To barter freedom even and fame,
his honour and his wife,
And then with the last shift of shame
to take his blasted life.
While had he only given an ear
to duty's kindly voice,
And conquered his unworthy fear
by a majestic choice,
He would have heard the rustling robes
of angels from the skies,
And glimpses seen of radiant globes
of pure immortal eyes.
to duty's kindly voice,
And conquered his unworthy fear
by a majestic choice,
He would have heard the rustling robes
of angels from the skies,
And glimpses seen of radiant globes
of pure immortal eyes.
280
I marked a youth with passion fed
and fond indulgence fired,
By dark and devicus footsteps led,
through byeways crookt and mired;
Until he reached that dreadful day
when into crime he fell,
And crushed in awful anguish lay
within the murderer's cell.
and fond indulgence fired,
By dark and devicus footsteps led,
through byeways crookt and mired;
Until he reached that dreadful day
when into crime he fell,
And crushed in awful anguish lay
within the murderer's cell.
Yet even to the last dread scene,
there wrestled with his will,
A spirit form that would have been
his friend and helper still;
That spoke in conscience with a cry
which rang through many a dream,
And tolled with speechless agony
the solemn hour supreme.
there wrestled with his will,
A spirit form that would have been
his friend and helper still;
That spoke in conscience with a cry
which rang through many a dream,
And tolled with speechless agony
the solemn hour supreme.
And still with even these blessed aids
sent down from God to men,
The sinner chose the cursed shades
and things of guilty ken;
And the proud heart to all the hates,
when pity could not move,
Threw open wide the bolted gates
that yielded not to love.
sent down from God to men,
The sinner chose the cursed shades
and things of guilty ken;
And the proud heart to all the hates,
when pity could not move,
Threw open wide the bolted gates
that yielded not to love.
While glorious woman and great man,
that should have lived and left
The lives of many a lordly plan
in the grand world's grand weft,
Yet hearkened to those hellish apes
that carried nought but night,
And saw in them more lovely shapes
than in the forms of light.
that should have lived and left
The lives of many a lordly plan
in the grand world's grand weft,
Yet hearkened to those hellish apes
that carried nought but night,
And saw in them more lovely shapes
than in the forms of light.
They felt no horror at their touch,
when serpents framed like fire,
Said if they only ventured much
to win their soul's desire,
The doors of Eden would expand,
behind those earthly clods,
Its treasures bright at their command,
and they should be as gods.
when serpents framed like fire,
Said if they only ventured much
to win their soul's desire,
The doors of Eden would expand,
behind those earthly clods,
Its treasures bright at their command,
and they should be as gods.
And up and down the masses swept,
like waters in the wind,
While all about their victims crept,
or followed fast behind,
Those phantom forms of ghastly powers,
in silence and in gloom,
To bind them in their weaker hours
with chains of death and doom.
like waters in the wind,
While all about their victims crept,
or followed fast behind,
Those phantom forms of ghastly powers,
in silence and in gloom,
To bind them in their weaker hours
with chains of death and doom.
281
But then the veil that keeps apart
the spirit from the sense,
Descended on each troubled heart
with the old dazzling fence;
The portals and the windows closed,
that let my glances in,
And the smooth smiling fronts exposed
no semblance of the sin.
the spirit from the sense,
Descended on each troubled heart
with the old dazzling fence;
The portals and the windows closed,
that let my glances in,
And the smooth smiling fronts exposed
no semblance of the sin.
I only saw a glittering crowd
that eddied to and fro
I only heard the laughter loud
that killed the sigh of woe;
And knowing what lurked there to damn,
and held with iron tie,
I said the world was but a sham
and life was all a lie.
that eddied to and fro
I only heard the laughter loud
that killed the sigh of woe;
And knowing what lurked there to damn,
and held with iron tie,
I said the world was but a sham
and life was all a lie.
| 'Twixt Kiss and Lip or Under the Sword. By the author of "Women Must Weep," [i.e. F. W. O. Ward] Third edition | |