 | Thought and word |  |
41
LOSS.
Grieve not much for loss of wealth,Loss of friends, or loss of fame,
Loss of years, or loss of health;
Answer, hast thou lost the shame
Whose early tremor once could flush
Thy cheek, and make thine eyes to gush,
And send thy spirit, sad and sore,
To kneel with face upon the floor,
Burden'd with consciousness of sin?
Art thou cold and hard within,—
Sometimes looking back surprised
On thy old mood, scarce recognized,
As on a picture of thy face
In blooming childhood's transient grace?
Then hast thou cause for grief; and most
In seldom missing what is lost.
With the loss of Yesterday,
Thou hast lost To-day, To-morrow,—
All thou might'st have been. O pray,
(If pray thou canst) for poignant sorrow!
| Thought and word | |