 | [Poems by Cary in] The poems of Alice and Phoebe Cary with introduction and notes |  |
REMORSE.
O sweetest friend I ever had
How sinks my heavy heart to know
That life, which was so bright for thee,
Has lost its sunshine and its glow!
How sinks my heavy heart to know
That life, which was so bright for thee,
Has lost its sunshine and its glow!
I cannot think of thee as one
Sighing for calm repose in vain;
Nor of the beauty of thy smile,
Faded and sadly dim with pain.
Sighing for calm repose in vain;
Nor of the beauty of thy smile,
Faded and sadly dim with pain.
Thou surely shouldst not be to-day
Lying upon the autumn leaves,
But in the borderfields of hope,
Binding the blossoms into sheaves.
Lying upon the autumn leaves,
But in the borderfields of hope,
Binding the blossoms into sheaves.
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For, with a shadow on thy way,
The sunshine of my life is o'er,
And flowery dell and fresh green holt
Can charm my footsteps nevermore!
The sunshine of my life is o'er,
And flowery dell and fresh green holt
Can charm my footsteps nevermore!
And if I have not always seen
The beauty of thy deeds aright,—
If I have failed to make thy path
As smooth and even as I might,—
The beauty of thy deeds aright,—
If I have failed to make thy path
As smooth and even as I might,—
Not thine the fault, but mine the sin,
And I have felt its heaviest curse
Fall on the heart that aches to-day,
With vain repentance and remorse,—
And I have felt its heaviest curse
Fall on the heart that aches to-day,
With vain repentance and remorse,—
A heart that lifts its cry to thee,
Above this wild and awful blast,
That sweeping from the hills of home,
Brings bitterest memories of the past.
Above this wild and awful blast,
That sweeping from the hills of home,
Brings bitterest memories of the past.
O, sweet forgiveness, from thy love,
Send to me o'er the waste between;
Not as thou hop'st to be forgiven,
For thou hast never bowed to sin.
Send to me o'er the waste between;
Not as thou hop'st to be forgiven,
For thou hast never bowed to sin.
Pure as thy light of life was given,
Thou still hast kept its steady flame;
And the chaste garment of thy soul
Is white and spotless as it came.
Thou still hast kept its steady flame;
And the chaste garment of thy soul
Is white and spotless as it came.
| [Poems by Cary in] The poems of Alice and Phoebe Cary with introduction and notes | |