 | Later Lyrics |  |
119
WAITING.
I have set my house in order
For a stately step to grace;
I have bidden the mirrors keep record
Of a never-forgotten face;
I have brightened with thrifty cunning
The walls of my sylvan home:
They are beautiful in the shadow
Of him who vouchsafes to come.
For a stately step to grace;
I have bidden the mirrors keep record
Of a never-forgotten face;
I have brightened with thrifty cunning
The walls of my sylvan home:
They are beautiful in the shadow
Of him who vouchsafes to come.
I have swept the leaves from the greensward,
And the gray stones twinkle and shine;
I have loosened each fretful tangle
Of the twisted cedar and vine;
I have ordered the waters waste not
Their splendors upon mine eye,
But to wait, like my heart, for thy footsteps,
And gush when thou drawest nigh.
And the gray stones twinkle and shine;
I have loosened each fretful tangle
Of the twisted cedar and vine;
I have ordered the waters waste not
Their splendors upon mine eye,
But to wait, like my heart, for thy footsteps,
And gush when thou drawest nigh.
120
Myself I would dress for thy presence;
But there I must stand and weep,
Since the years that teach Love's value
His vanishing treasure sweep.
But words that are spells of magic,
And merciful looks and ways,
Shall brighten the rusted features
That faded when none did praise.
But there I must stand and weep,
Since the years that teach Love's value
His vanishing treasure sweep.
But words that are spells of magic,
And merciful looks and ways,
Shall brighten the rusted features
That faded when none did praise.
Thou gracious and lordly creature,
Do the trees, when thou passest by,
Let down their fair arms to enlace thee,
And the flowers reach up to thine eye?
Do they wait, all athrill, when thou passest,
For a touch of thy life divine?
Do they fold their meek hands when thou fleetest,
And die for a breath of thine?
Do the trees, when thou passest by,
Let down their fair arms to enlace thee,
And the flowers reach up to thine eye?
Do they wait, all athrill, when thou passest,
For a touch of thy life divine?
Do they fold their meek hands when thou fleetest,
And die for a breath of thine?
My heart has leapt forth to embrace thee;
It clings, like a babe, to thy breast;
And my blood is a storm-stirred ocean
That waits for the word of rest.
Time loses his paltry measure
Now that Love's eterne draws near,
And the lingering moments that part us
Are endless in hope and fear.
It clings, like a babe, to thy breast;
And my blood is a storm-stirred ocean
That waits for the word of rest.
121
Now that Love's eterne draws near,
And the lingering moments that part us
Are endless in hope and fear.
Oh! what if, beyond thy sunshine,
Some gathering storm should brood?
Thy rapture, forsaking, shall leave me
Alone with God's orphanhood.
The heart thou hast blest so inly
Shall wait no inglorious breath:
Come hither, then, ye who walk twinly;
So enter here, Love and Death!
Some gathering storm should brood?
Thy rapture, forsaking, shall leave me
Alone with God's orphanhood.
The heart thou hast blest so inly
Shall wait no inglorious breath:
Come hither, then, ye who walk twinly;
So enter here, Love and Death!
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