Chips, fragments and vestiges by Gail Hamilton collected and arranged by H. Augusta Dodge |
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A VISION |
 | Chips, fragments and vestiges by Gail Hamilton |  |
A VISION
I saw, upon a summit lone,
A temple rise to sight;
About its turrets played the beams
Of an unearthly light.
A temple rise to sight;
About its turrets played the beams
Of an unearthly light.
I saw a valley dark and wide,
Veiled all by misty shrouds,
Save where the cliffs of either side
Peered out from restless clouds.
Veiled all by misty shrouds,
Save where the cliffs of either side
Peered out from restless clouds.
176
I saw a plain where light young forms
Were gliding 'mid the bowers,
Beneath whose quivering shades they twined
Bright wreaths of brilliant flowers.
Were gliding 'mid the bowers,
Beneath whose quivering shades they twined
Bright wreaths of brilliant flowers.
They sported ever heedlessly
All o'er that sunny plain;
Nor looked they downward to the vale
Nor upward to the fane.
All o'er that sunny plain;
Nor looked they downward to the vale
Nor upward to the fane.
From out the plain went sep'rate ways;
One, winding to the height,
The other ended at the vale,
In darkness, black as night.
One, winding to the height,
The other ended at the vale,
In darkness, black as night.
I saw each spirit choose his path
When passing out the plain;
But none might stop in all the way
Or backward turn again.
When passing out the plain;
But none might stop in all the way
Or backward turn again.
Three-score and ten the milestones were
Along the downward way;
Three-score and ten along the path
That led to endless day;
Along the downward way;
Three-score and ten along the path
That led to endless day;
Save twelve they passed upon the plain
As carelessly they went;
And heeded not the sep'rate paths
Whither their footsteps bent.
As carelessly they went;
And heeded not the sep'rate paths
Whither their footsteps bent.
177
I saw sometimes the upward way
To wind a beetling verge;
But spirits from the fane came down
The wayworn, on to urge.
To wind a beetling verge;
But spirits from the fane came down
The wayworn, on to urge.
Some passed the milestones in the plain
Then took the upward way;
Nor paused till they from out the fane
Received them into day.
Then took the upward way;
Nor paused till they from out the fane
Received them into day.
Some walked awhile the downward path
Then turned them from the train,
And sought across a tangled wild
The upward path to gain.
Then turned them from the train,
And sought across a tangled wild
The upward path to gain.
Far in the dim and cloud-capt heights,
I saw a weary one,
Who almost all the steeps had climbed,
The fane had almost won.
I saw a weary one,
Who almost all the steeps had climbed,
The fane had almost won.
And then I saw the temple gates
For him, wide open flung,
One flash of glory down the steep,
And then they backward swung.
For him, wide open flung,
One flash of glory down the steep,
And then they backward swung.
The vision past, I heard a voice,
The magic of whose strain,
My spirit thrilled, as down I looked
Once more towards the plain.
The magic of whose strain,
My spirit thrilled, as down I looked
Once more towards the plain.
178
I saw a being, fair to sight,
She was a child of song;
And by the love-light in her eye,
They knew her in the throng.
She was a child of song;
And by the love-light in her eye,
They knew her in the throng.
The broader way towards the vale
At first her footsteps chose,
But soon she wearied of the path,
Its joys were turned to woes.
At first her footsteps chose,
But soon she wearied of the path,
Its joys were turned to woes.
Way-worn, up to the fane of life
A hopeful glance she cast,
And then to gain the other way
Across the wild she passed.
A hopeful glance she cast,
And then to gain the other way
Across the wild she passed.
I saw a kindred spirit come—
He, too, had left the plain—
He chose her from the pilgrim throng
The heights with him to gain.
He, too, had left the plain—
He chose her from the pilgrim throng
The heights with him to gain.
A score of milestones had she passed
When spirits from the height
Came down to bear her up the steep
To realms of endless light.
When spirits from the height
Came down to bear her up the steep
To realms of endless light.
I saw the joy of earthly things
Fade from her upturned eye;
Her lips grew pallid when they bore
Her spirit up on high.
Fade from her upturned eye;
Her lips grew pallid when they bore
Her spirit up on high.
179
Again I saw the temple gates
For her wide open flung,
One flash of glory down the steep,
And then they backward swung.
For her wide open flung,
One flash of glory down the steep,
And then they backward swung.
They called her Rhoda in the way
And Rhoda in the plain,
Another name she bears among
The spirits of the fane.
And Rhoda in the plain,
Another name she bears among
The spirits of the fane.
| Chips, fragments and vestiges by Gail Hamilton | |