 | The defence of Rome |  |
64
AN EXILE.
Ah childlike soul and tender,
How came she all this way?
What fate severe could send her
To seek our dreary day?
How came she all this way?
What fate severe could send her
To seek our dreary day?
Or did compassion draw her
To this dim world of care,
That all might know who saw her
Her home was otherwhere?
To this dim world of care,
That all might know who saw her
Her home was otherwhere?
Our cloudy gloom clings round her,
She knows not whence she came,
The frost of life has bound her
And hates her seraph flame.
She knows not whence she came,
The frost of life has bound her
And hates her seraph flame.
65
Yet halting still or speeding
Some lamp of light she bears,
While through the world unheeding
Her lonely way she fares.
Some lamp of light she bears,
While through the world unheeding
Her lonely way she fares.
For still with wistful longing
She fain would play her part,
The angel thoughts are thronging
About her wounded heart.
She fain would play her part,
The angel thoughts are thronging
About her wounded heart.
But loads her touch had lightened
For her sake heavier grow,
And souls her grace had brightened
Are darker for her woe.
For her sake heavier grow,
And souls her grace had brightened
Are darker for her woe.
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