 | Poems : medley and Palestina |  |
II
A Hope.
A little hope!It may not be true!
And the heavens above me seem to ope
Their curtains of blue;
And the angel ladders of sunlight slope
For me to mount and pass through.
The tale that I heard
Was only the chirp of a random bird,
A babble some ancient grimalkin purred,
The repetition of nobody's word,
A note that hazard or fantasy blew,
That the freaky pigmies of elfland drew
From harebell trumpets jeweled with dew.
62
I who have dared with heroes to cope,
Who barely yesterday ceased to gird
My loins for battle with treason's crew?
Why should I throb and reel and shiver
Like a reed in the river,
Because an airy inanity stirred,
Because an arrow from falsehood's quiver
Out of vacancy whirred,
Into nothingness flew
And is spent forever?
Now peace has come,
The air with promise of love is laden;
I will turn my back on the silenced drum
And seek the rest of my childhood's home,
There to worship once more and sue
Before the face of the fairest girl
God ever wrought in coral and pearl,
Or marble of Aidenn.
| Poems : medley and Palestina | |