University of Virginia Library


92

SONNET XVII. THE CHILD.

And now the child is gone.—Her simple woes
Will torture thine almighty brain no more.
Thou art free,—thou art free! Thy shackled life is o'er:
Her death wide open life's gold gateway throws.
Thou hast thy longed-for infinite repose!
Now thou mayest ponder on the lonely shore
Uninterrupted, and thy soul outpour:
No more the stream of questions by thee flows.
Silence is thine. And is the silence rest?—
I asked the question: and I was aware
Of a lone man who beat upon his breast,
And sighed, and groaned to the unanswering air,
“All fame and genius would I give to hold
Once more in mine the child's hand as of old!”