 | This, that and the other |  |
THE TWO GRAVES.
There are two graves far, far apart,
And the deep sea rolls between;
O'er one they 've piled the marble high,
O'er one the grass grows green.
In the one within a gorgeous fane,
Lies she whom I called my bride,
Before whose feet I knelt of old,
In her father's halls of pride.
In the one behind the village church,
Where wild-flowers nod in prayer,
Is resting the shade of the purest dream
That brightened my life of care!
The one had waves of raven hair,
Bound round with diamond light,
Like the circlet of the evening stars
Upon the brow of night!
The other had curls like threads of gold,
And a smile as faint and mild
As those which the olden artists paint,
In their dreams of the young Christ-child!
And the deep sea rolls between;
O'er one they 've piled the marble high,
O'er one the grass grows green.
In the one within a gorgeous fane,
Lies she whom I called my bride,
Before whose feet I knelt of old,
In her father's halls of pride.
In the one behind the village church,
Where wild-flowers nod in prayer,
Is resting the shade of the purest dream
That brightened my life of care!
The one had waves of raven hair,
Bound round with diamond light,
Like the circlet of the evening stars
Upon the brow of night!
The other had curls like threads of gold,
And a smile as faint and mild
As those which the olden artists paint,
In their dreams of the young Christ-child!
370
One brought me a castle gray and old,
And jewels, and gold, and lands,
With serfs to bow at my lightest word,
And go at my first commands.
The other brought but the earnest love
That glowed in her starlit eyes,
And blest my heart like the downward rays
From the distant Paradise!
I wedded the one with stately pomp,
In a grand cathedral aisle,
And bells were ringing, in high church-towers,
A sounding chime, the while.
I wedded the other as quakers wed,
In the forest still and deep,
When hushed were the sounds of noisy life,
And the flowers had gone to sleep.
O, blithe was my night-haired love, I ween,
With the light in her bright black eye;
But dearer far was my cottage girl,
In her angel purity.
The demons wandering over earth
For the one spun out a shroud,
And they laid her low, where wax-lights glow,
In the old cathedral proud.
The other, when holy stars shone down,
Was hearing the angels sing,
And a truant seraph folded her
In the clasp of his viewless wing!
And jewels, and gold, and lands,
With serfs to bow at my lightest word,
And go at my first commands.
The other brought but the earnest love
That glowed in her starlit eyes,
And blest my heart like the downward rays
From the distant Paradise!
I wedded the one with stately pomp,
In a grand cathedral aisle,
And bells were ringing, in high church-towers,
A sounding chime, the while.
I wedded the other as quakers wed,
In the forest still and deep,
When hushed were the sounds of noisy life,
And the flowers had gone to sleep.
O, blithe was my night-haired love, I ween,
With the light in her bright black eye;
But dearer far was my cottage girl,
In her angel purity.
The demons wandering over earth
For the one spun out a shroud,
And they laid her low, where wax-lights glow,
In the old cathedral proud.
The other, when holy stars shone down,
Was hearing the angels sing,
And a truant seraph folded her
In the clasp of his viewless wing!
371
They told me the one was lying dead,
And a tear came to mine eye;
But joy-dreams chased the gloom away,
And a smile went flitting by.
They told me the other had gone to sleep,
And I sought the battle's strife;
For I hated the light of the rosy day,
And I cursed the light of life!
The one lies still in her far-off tomb,
Where the tall wax-tapers gleam,
And their slant rays shine on the marble shrine
With a fixed and ruddy beam.
But over the other the night-stars swing,
When the light of day has fled,
And the wild winds sigh her gentle name,
Till I wish that I were dead!
And a tear came to mine eye;
But joy-dreams chased the gloom away,
And a smile went flitting by.
They told me the other had gone to sleep,
And I sought the battle's strife;
For I hated the light of the rosy day,
And I cursed the light of life!
The one lies still in her far-off tomb,
Where the tall wax-tapers gleam,
And their slant rays shine on the marble shrine
With a fixed and ruddy beam.
But over the other the night-stars swing,
When the light of day has fled,
And the wild winds sigh her gentle name,
Till I wish that I were dead!
| This, that and the other | |