 | Benoni |  |
299
THE BRIDGE OF SIGHS.
Last winter, on the New Year's Eve,
When thro' the silent lips of Night
A cry as of a quickening babe
Shot thro' our waiting hearts, and white
When thro' the silent lips of Night
A cry as of a quickening babe
Shot thro' our waiting hearts, and white
Among the ruins of her throne
Sat Conscience, while the sad and true
Recorder of a dying year
Gave up her tablets to the new,—
Sat Conscience, while the sad and true
Recorder of a dying year
Gave up her tablets to the new,—
Hope had not died—a ruddy burst
Show'd sometimes that she still was there;
Nor yet had frozen into life
The black assurance of Despair.
Show'd sometimes that she still was there;
Nor yet had frozen into life
The black assurance of Despair.
Twelve martial months, deform'd and dead,
Lie heap'd against the doors of Time
Since then: they thunder'd like a band
Of rash assailants in their prime
Lie heap'd against the doors of Time
Since then: they thunder'd like a band
Of rash assailants in their prime
300
Of heart, against the bastion'd walls
Where Knowledge lies and Peace; but lo!
Those walls are smiling huge and calm
Above a crush'd dishonour'd foe.
Where Knowledge lies and Peace; but lo!
Those walls are smiling huge and calm
Above a crush'd dishonour'd foe.
Yet thou, Siberian year, whose team
Of reckless days begin to move
And whirl us o'er the frozen steppes
More far from boyhood and from love,—
Of reckless days begin to move
And whirl us o'er the frozen steppes
More far from boyhood and from love,—
Proceed—these ice-drops are not tears,
But chill'd effusions of the air;
Proceed—this exile shall not jar
One murmur thro' the voice of Prayer,
But chill'd effusions of the air;
Proceed—this exile shall not jar
One murmur thro' the voice of Prayer,
If o'er the pillow of our dreams
We see the slope that angels trod—
See the link'd bars of cloudy pearl
Dissolving upwards into God.
We see the slope that angels trod—
See the link'd bars of cloudy pearl
Dissolving upwards into God.
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