 | Claribel and Other Poems |  |
220
AFTER A DEFEAT
Yet we labour, ever hoping,
Though misfortune mocks endeavour;
Down disaster's desperate sloping
Yet we struggle, hoping ever,—
Wearily.
Though misfortune mocks endeavour;
Down disaster's desperate sloping
Yet we struggle, hoping ever,—
Wearily.
Even as the stream is flowing
To the sea with ceaseless motion,
Never wave its current knowing,
Pass our lives to sorrow's ocean,
Ceaselessly.
To the sea with ceaseless motion,
Never wave its current knowing,
Pass our lives to sorrow's ocean,
Ceaselessly.
Weep'st thou, Hope! unhappy mother,
O'er thy dead child, Misery?
Let us sit by one another,
And our moan shall echo thee
Drearily.
O'er thy dead child, Misery?
Let us sit by one another,
And our moan shall echo thee
Drearily.
Yet, though Hope herself be dying
In despite of Love and Glory,
Our crush'd lives beside her lying
Should maintain the same high story,
Steadfastly.
In despite of Love and Glory,
Our crush'd lives beside her lying
Should maintain the same high story,
Steadfastly.
221
Yet, O Hope! thy ghost shall lead us
Through the graves of Time's commotion,
Till the Eternal Watchers heed us,
Till they give to our devotion
Victory.
Through the graves of Time's commotion,
Till the Eternal Watchers heed us,
Till they give to our devotion
Victory.
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