 | The Poetical Works of Walter C. Smith |  |
CHANGE
Ah! to have lived at Love's high pitch,
And then fall back on level lines
Of commonplace! to have been rich,
As one who ventures deep in mines,
And then to toil at hedge or ditch,
And dream of costly fares and wines!
And then fall back on level lines
Of commonplace! to have been rich,
As one who ventures deep in mines,
And then to toil at hedge or ditch,
And dream of costly fares and wines!
Gone from my life the impassioned strain
That gave it all its tender grace,
And now its gladness is the pain
That draws deep furrows on my face;
But I can never stoop again
To the dull round of commonplace.
That gave it all its tender grace,
And now its gladness is the pain
That draws deep furrows on my face;
But I can never stoop again
To the dull round of commonplace.
Another passion must knit up
These flagging energies of mine;
No muddy water for my cup!
But fill it full with generous wine;
Who knows what Love is, may not sup
On that which is not still divine.
These flagging energies of mine;
No muddy water for my cup!
But fill it full with generous wine;
Who knows what Love is, may not sup
On that which is not still divine.
He who was caught up, as he said,
To the third heavens, and heard and saw
Unutterable things, would tread
Earth, after, in a trance of awe,
Nor might he ever bow his head
To bear the yoke of meaner law.
To the third heavens, and heard and saw
Unutterable things, would tread
Earth, after, in a trance of awe,
Nor might he ever bow his head
To bear the yoke of meaner law.
I saw the people sad and dumb,
With none to utter their complaints,
But preached to of a world to come,
And damned because they were not saints:
And there, I said, is work for some
Whose heart with hunger in them faints.
With none to utter their complaints,
But preached to of a world to come,
And damned because they were not saints:
And there, I said, is work for some
Whose heart with hunger in them faints.
| The Poetical Works of Walter C. Smith | |