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 | 'Twixt Kiss and Lip or Under the Sword. By the author of "Women Must Weep," [i.e. F. W. O. Ward] Third edition |  |
705
THE FERRYMAN.
A ferryman with wild and withered face,
With lean and hungry looks, and restless eyes
That long to hide but cannot find a place,
Away from earth and the pursuing skies;
With lean and hungry looks, and restless eyes
That long to hide but cannot find a place,
Away from earth and the pursuing skies;
A river that from darkness seems to rise,
And into darkness flows, within a space
Too short for weeping and too sad for sighs,
And ever rolls and never gathers grace.
And into darkness flows, within a space
Too short for weeping and too sad for sighs,
And ever rolls and never gathers grace.
A ferryman, a river, and a boat,
And sweet familiar forms I see, that float
Down into silence on the solemn stream;
And sweet familiar forms I see, that float
Down into silence on the solemn stream;
And then a cloud comes o'er my bitter dream,
Yet as it breaks I cannot choose but note,
That even Charon ferries now—by steam.
Yet as it breaks I cannot choose but note,
That even Charon ferries now—by steam.
| 'Twixt Kiss and Lip or Under the Sword. By the author of "Women Must Weep," [i.e. F. W. O. Ward] Third edition | |