 | 'Twixt Kiss and Lip or Under the Sword. By the author of "Women Must Weep," [i.e. F. W. O. Ward] Third edition |  |
THE FATAL GIFT.
I craved foreknowledge, and the fatal gift
Of bringing future scenes so clearly nigh,
That I might read the shadow and the shift
Of coming years, as from a watch tower high.
Of bringing future scenes so clearly nigh,
That I might read the shadow and the shift
Of coming years, as from a watch tower high.
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Fate heard my prayer, and not without a sigh
Gave me the power I long desired, to lift
Its veil from far-off destiny, and sift
The solemn secrets of futurity.
Gave me the power I long desired, to lift
Its veil from far-off destiny, and sift
The solemn secrets of futurity.
But, ah! I little knew the boon I asked,
Nor all the terrors that my being tasked,
When that dread foresight was indeed my own;
Nor all the terrors that my being tasked,
When that dread foresight was indeed my own;
My pathway seemed with death and darkness strown,
And distant evils, once so kindly masked,
Arose each hour to torture me—when known.
And distant evils, once so kindly masked,
Arose each hour to torture me—when known.
| 'Twixt Kiss and Lip or Under the Sword. By the author of "Women Must Weep," [i.e. F. W. O. Ward] Third edition | |