 | Love-Songs |  |
123
SO HE CEASED TO BELIEVE IN MAN.
A thinker, young, was worried and stung
By gibes of friends and priests;
The peace he sought could not be brought
By pleasure or jovial feasts;
A peace they proffered, a rest they offered
Far from the battle's van—
So he ceased to believe in Man!
By gibes of friends and priests;
The peace he sought could not be brought
By pleasure or jovial feasts;
A peace they proffered, a rest they offered
Far from the battle's van—
So he ceased to believe in Man!
He ceased to believe in Man and receive
The gifts Man has to hold:
The strong despair whose face is fair,
Yea, sweeter than wrought gold;
The endless scope of desperate hope;
The proud Church waved her fan—
So he ceased to believe in Man!
The gifts Man has to hold:
The strong despair whose face is fair,
Yea, sweeter than wrought gold;
The endless scope of desperate hope;
The proud Church waved her fan—
So he ceased to believe in Man!
He could no more upon the shore
Delight in ocean's waves;
He could no longer stand far stronger
Than foam-white leagues of graves;
His power was spent, his head was bent,
He trembled, pale and wan—
So he ceased to believe in Man!
Delight in ocean's waves;
He could no longer stand far stronger
Than foam-white leagues of graves;
His power was spent, his head was bent,
He trembled, pale and wan—
So he ceased to believe in Man!
135
The glorious earth no more with mirth
Unutterable delayed him:
The pleasant flowers and woodbine bowers
Had all, he thought, betrayed him;
The roses red were fickle and dead;
He could not life's girth span—
So he ceased to believe in Man!
Unutterable delayed him:
The pleasant flowers and woodbine bowers
Had all, he thought, betrayed him;
The roses red were fickle and dead;
He could not life's girth span—
So he ceased to believe in Man!
The wondrous sound of music bound
His being now in vain;
A woman's eyes (wherein there lies
A cure for every pain)
Could not entreat, were no more sweet;
He failed their depth to scan—
So he ceased to believe in Man!
His being now in vain;
A woman's eyes (wherein there lies
A cure for every pain)
Could not entreat, were no more sweet;
He failed their depth to scan—
So he ceased to believe in Man!
And heaven-sent love was but a dove,
No lustre on its pinions;
The struggle of thought went all for nought,
The woods were death's dominions;
The azure sky was hollow and dry,
Earth groaned beneath a ban—
So he ceased to believe in Man!
No lustre on its pinions;
The struggle of thought went all for nought,
The woods were death's dominions;
The azure sky was hollow and dry,
Earth groaned beneath a ban—
So he ceased to believe in Man!
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