 | The Vale of Arden and Other Poems |  |
69
A NOVEMBER PARABLE
Ah! piteous sight!
While yet the weird moonlight
Wove o'er the land her numbing spell,
Not a leaf fell
To break the crystal silence of the night.
While yet the weird moonlight
Wove o'er the land her numbing spell,
Not a leaf fell
To break the crystal silence of the night.
But since the frost-subduing sun
His azure seigniory
From the horizon-mist hath won,
Whence his white troops in massive splendour loom,
The stricken leaves unceasingly
Down flutter to their tomb.
His azure seigniory
From the horizon-mist hath won,
Whence his white troops in massive splendour loom,
The stricken leaves unceasingly
Down flutter to their tomb.
70
So one who long hath borne
Grief's bitter cold,
Till faith has failed and hope herself grown old,
Endureth till the last chill hour is fled,
But at the flash of joy's forgotten morn
Drops dead.
Grief's bitter cold,
Till faith has failed and hope herself grown old,
Endureth till the last chill hour is fled,
But at the flash of joy's forgotten morn
Drops dead.
| The Vale of Arden and Other Poems | |