 | Benoni |  |
157
[O sweet sad face, so ghastly dim]
O sweet sad face, so ghastly dim,
So pale, so much in love with tears,—
Which makest all my brain to swim
With memories of the former years—
So pale, so much in love with tears,—
Which makest all my brain to swim
With memories of the former years—
Which broodest like a pictured dome
Above me ever as I move,
And will not let my spirit roam
From thee and mournfulness and love,—
Above me ever as I move,
And will not let my spirit roam
From thee and mournfulness and love,—
Pass not away: for these—the strife
Of diverse sorrows in thine eyes,—
The feeling of another's life
Ravell'd in strangest sympathies
Of diverse sorrows in thine eyes,—
The feeling of another's life
Ravell'd in strangest sympathies
About our own,—the stings of crime,
The unburied ghosts of what we were
Still wandering on abreast of Time,
To keep our hearts from growing sere,—
The unburied ghosts of what we were
Still wandering on abreast of Time,
To keep our hearts from growing sere,—
158
Are well; they make us grieve, and Grief
Is Wisdom's mother in her pangs;
And wisdom, strong in firm belief,
Grinds to their gums the poison'd fangs
Is Wisdom's mother in her pangs;
And wisdom, strong in firm belief,
Grinds to their gums the poison'd fangs
Of old remorse, and leaves us calm;
And sorrow, mellow'd thro' the past,
Comes o'er us like a bitter balm,
And grafts our sober'd spirits fast
And sorrow, mellow'd thro' the past,
Comes o'er us like a bitter balm,
And grafts our sober'd spirits fast
Upon the Tree of Life, and gives
A holier purpose, that doth frame
The after manhood of our lives
To deeds more worthy of its name:
A holier purpose, that doth frame
The after manhood of our lives
To deeds more worthy of its name:
And, tracking thy heart's woe or weal
With shade or sunshine of my own,
There comes a touch of joy, to feel
Not wholly selfish nor alone.
With shade or sunshine of my own,
There comes a touch of joy, to feel
Not wholly selfish nor alone.
Pass not away: but oh, no more
Be so unreal, so vague, so far—
The mirage of a moonlit shore,
The unsettled reflex of a star:
Be so unreal, so vague, so far—
The mirage of a moonlit shore,
The unsettled reflex of a star:
159
Dawn on the range of Time and Space,
Dawn clear and cloudless on my heart;
And give me, of thy tender grace,
To see and know thee where thou art.
Dawn clear and cloudless on my heart;
And give me, of thy tender grace,
To see and know thee where thou art.
Thy place is empty by the hearth—
Thy home is silent, lacking thee—
Thy steps are elsewhere on the earth—
Thy face remains behind with me.
Thy home is silent, lacking thee—
Thy steps are elsewhere on the earth—
Thy face remains behind with me.
Sweet face! let happier thoughts begin
To brighten thro' thee, which for me
May bathe awhile in sleep the sin
That was, and is, and is to be.
To brighten thro' thee, which for me
May bathe awhile in sleep the sin
That was, and is, and is to be.
| Benoni | |