 | Passion-Flowers |  |
156
THE FELLOW PILGRIM.
When I read o'er the lines I traced
When thou and I together were,
My wandering thoughts restrain their haste;
The power of thy mind is there;
When thou and I together were,
My wandering thoughts restrain their haste;
The power of thy mind is there;
The mind that laid its grasp on me,
A friendly grasp, but firm and strong,
First from my errors shook me free,
Then led me, brother-like, along,
A friendly grasp, but firm and strong,
First from my errors shook me free,
Then led me, brother-like, along,
'Mid lovely sights and holy sounds,
And landscapes smiling green and fair,
To thought and duty's noblest bounds,
And heart's delights, refined and rare.
And landscapes smiling green and fair,
To thought and duty's noblest bounds,
And heart's delights, refined and rare.
157
Beside thee, in the solemn aisle
The anthem's swelling notes I heard;
There seemed a glory in thy smile,
A lesson in thy lightest word.
The anthem's swelling notes I heard;
There seemed a glory in thy smile,
A lesson in thy lightest word.
The mighty cadence shook my heart
Like a frail pennon in the gale;
And while I wept and prayed apart,
Thy cheek with strange delight grew pale.
Like a frail pennon in the gale;
And while I wept and prayed apart,
Thy cheek with strange delight grew pale.
At tombs of poets and of kings
The pilgrim's pious debt I paid;
Oft as my faint soul spread its wings,
Thy manlier thought did give it aid.
The pilgrim's pious debt I paid;
Oft as my faint soul spread its wings,
Thy manlier thought did give it aid.
Thou knew'st not then how sick a heart
Essayed the measure of thine own,
Nor how thy probings made it smart
With sorrow to the world unknown.
Essayed the measure of thine own,
Nor how thy probings made it smart
With sorrow to the world unknown.
Be blest of God, and so farewell!
Southward the bird of exile flies,
But in her bosom bears a spell
That changes not with changing skies.
Southward the bird of exile flies,
But in her bosom bears a spell
That changes not with changing skies.
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