 | Elegies and memorials |  |
48
DEJECTION AND HOPE.
We, unlike children of one mother,
Began our climbing with each other,
I and my gold-locked, star-eyed brother.
Began our climbing with each other,
I and my gold-locked, star-eyed brother.
Slow climbed I step by step, while Hope,
With one light bound, an antelope,
Sprang past me up the mountain slope.
With one light bound, an antelope,
Sprang past me up the mountain slope.
A grey-haired toiler, I attain
A half-way height, content, for pain
And weariness, with little gain.
A half-way height, content, for pain
And weariness, with little gain.
I see, as when I first began,
High up in heaven,—a shining span,—
Aerial cities strange to man.
High up in heaven,—a shining span,—
Aerial cities strange to man.
They drew me on through wastes forlorn,
Seeking the gateways of the morn,
From those green dells where I was born.
Seeking the gateways of the morn,
From those green dells where I was born.
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They drew me on without a sigh,
Till all was desert round mine eye,—
Those glorious cities of the sky.
Till all was desert round mine eye,—
Those glorious cities of the sky.
I ne'er shall reach their dazzling spires,
Yet, stilled at last all vain desires,
I sit and gaze while daylight tires.
Yet, stilled at last all vain desires,
I sit and gaze while daylight tires.
Yon winged soarer, where is he?
Look where deep down a chasm you see
Yawn like a hell-mouth dismally.
Look where deep down a chasm you see
Yawn like a hell-mouth dismally.
At sunset, when the eaglet brood
From their rock-turret screaming viewed
A shade across the light intrude,
From their rock-turret screaming viewed
A shade across the light intrude,
Swift as he clomb he fell, and lies,
With shattered bones, a sacrifice
To the black cavern-deities.
With shattered bones, a sacrifice
To the black cavern-deities.
There comes the prowling wolf, Despair,
At twilight for his wonted fare—
How many hopes hath he found there!
At twilight for his wonted fare—
How many hopes hath he found there!
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