 | Rhymes of our planet |  |
117
A PASTEL
My friend was a guest of the morning train;
And once, as a prosperous town it neared,
He idly glanced through the window-pane,
And this is the picture that appeared:
And once, as a prosperous town it neared,
He idly glanced through the window-pane,
And this is the picture that appeared:
A good-faced man in a fiendish plight;
His cheeks were bloated and stained with red;
He slept the day of a sin-cursed night,
A pillow of stones beneath his head.
His cheeks were bloated and stained with red;
He slept the day of a sin-cursed night,
A pillow of stones beneath his head.
By him the midnight's revelling storm
Sent stains to the morning's balmy breath,
And manhood's towering, godlike form
Lay low in the tomb of a drunkard-death.
Sent stains to the morning's balmy breath,
And manhood's towering, godlike form
Lay low in the tomb of a drunkard-death.
And close by his side a woman stood,
And brooded this wreck of a man above;
Her brow was a glimpse of all things good;
Her eyes were symbols of home and love:
And brooded this wreck of a man above;
Her brow was a glimpse of all things good;
Her eyes were symbols of home and love:
118
Stood close by his side, and yet apart,
A motionless gesture of despair;
As if she would clasp him to her heart,
If only the man himself were there.
A motionless gesture of despair;
As if she would clasp him to her heart,
If only the man himself were there.
She stood as maybe, if she had known
What marks the one she had found there bore,
She had prayed to God with a bitter moan
To keep her searching for evermore.
What marks the one she had found there bore,
She had prayed to God with a bitter moan
To keep her searching for evermore.
She stood like one who had felt the touch
Of needless worry and senseless strife;
Who early in years had learned how much
Of death there is in a woman's life.
Of needless worry and senseless strife;
Who early in years had learned how much
Of death there is in a woman's life.
She stood like one who had set a goal:
Who ne'er by her God would be denied,
Until He had helped her lead that soul
Safe up to the hill-tops by her side.
Who ne'er by her God would be denied,
Until He had helped her lead that soul
Safe up to the hill-tops by her side.
All this appeared in a moment's glance—
This flash-light picture of grief and wrong;
The train made sudden and swift advance,
But carried the husband and wife along.
This flash-light picture of grief and wrong;
The train made sudden and swift advance,
But carried the husband and wife along.
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For ever after, my friend confessed,
Went with him that scene of crime and pain;
Through days of striving and nights of rest,
It hung in the halls of his heart and brain.
Went with him that scene of crime and pain;
Through days of striving and nights of rest,
It hung in the halls of his heart and brain.
And other pictures are wont to throng:
Of sleeping children and weeping wives—
Waiting and waiting the whole night long
For one they love as they love their lives;
Of sleeping children and weeping wives—
Waiting and waiting the whole night long
For one they love as they love their lives;
Of praying for him till night is o'er;
Of listening for his step in vain;
Then searching as if on fields of gore,
And finding him almost worse than slain.
Of listening for his step in vain;
Then searching as if on fields of gore,
And finding him almost worse than slain.
But sometimes these will vanish away;
And Faith is painting a promise bright
That God, and Woman, and Home, some day,
Will draw Mankind to the hills of right.
And Faith is painting a promise bright
That God, and Woman, and Home, some day,
Will draw Mankind to the hills of right.
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