English Roses by F. Harald Williams [i.e. F. W. O. Ward] |
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THE WILDERNESS OF SIN. |
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 | English Roses |  |
THE WILDERNESS OF SIN.
I wandered through the Wilderness of Sin,
By stock and stone and evermore alone,
Where the black fountains of the earth begin;
The ground was iron, the heaven above seemed brass,
A lost wind wailed a little while and failed
And shivered life out on the dry dead grass;
Gaunt blasted rocks rose threatening in the air
They vainly pawed, with lean arms fire-begnawed
And writhings frozen into dumb despair;
While stunted trees put forth their withered hands,
And on my march a fated funeral arch
Hung here and there like spent infernal brands.
By stock and stone and evermore alone,
Where the black fountains of the earth begin;
The ground was iron, the heaven above seemed brass,
A lost wind wailed a little while and failed
And shivered life out on the dry dead grass;
Gaunt blasted rocks rose threatening in the air
They vainly pawed, with lean arms fire-begnawed
And writhings frozen into dumb despair;
465
And on my march a fated funeral arch
Hung here and there like spent infernal brands.
The silence cursed me as I struggled on,
Across the dust that was a quaking crust
Of gloom through which the glare of torment shone;
And scorched my feet and scourged my flagging might
The dark salt scurf, that tossed its troubled surf
Up to the shadow that was all the light;
And then at times a shudder pierced the globe
As doth the chill before the the corpse is still,
And dying nature round it draws its robe;
And yet I trod the Wilderness of Sin
With steadfast face set towards the resting-place,
And proved that Heaven and hell were close akin.
Across the dust that was a quaking crust
Of gloom through which the glare of torment shone;
And scorched my feet and scourged my flagging might
The dark salt scurf, that tossed its troubled surf
Up to the shadow that was all the light;
And then at times a shudder pierced the globe
As doth the chill before the the corpse is still,
And dying nature round it draws its robe;
And yet I trod the Wilderness of Sin
With steadfast face set towards the resting-place,
And proved that Heaven and hell were close akin.
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