A Child of the People And Other Poems. By James Chapman Woods |
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 | A Child of the People |  |
I.
Now branch the roads; your hand, long held in mine,
Sadly, yet sharply here is drawn away,
As one whose wiser heart constrains to stay,
Whose fate impels across the border line,
Thither, where mellow marriage-tapers shine,
And gathering guests chafe at the hour's delay.
Break hands and go; heed not my thoughts to-day;
Do not yon maids for thee that garland twine?
Sadly, yet sharply here is drawn away,
As one whose wiser heart constrains to stay,
Whose fate impels across the border line,
Thither, where mellow marriage-tapers shine,
And gathering guests chafe at the hour's delay.
Break hands and go; heed not my thoughts to-day;
Do not yon maids for thee that garland twine?
How rich we are! We share the worlds anew;
Take earth and heaven; leave me at least the hells.
How poor we are! You have thoughts to cling to you;
I, thoughts to madden, and your last farewells,
And a blind song my brain beats cadenceto,—
Would I hear first her death or wedding bells?
Take earth and heaven; leave me at least the hells.
How poor we are! You have thoughts to cling to you;
I, thoughts to madden, and your last farewells,
And a blind song my brain beats cadenceto,—
Would I hear first her death or wedding bells?
| A Child of the People | |