 | Studies of Sensation and Event |  |
40
THE HAND.
Lone o'er the moors I strayed;
With basely timid mind,
Because by some betrayed,
Denouncing human-kind;—
I heard the lonely wind,
And wickedly did mourn,
I could not share its loneliness,
And all things human scorn.
With basely timid mind,
Because by some betrayed,
Denouncing human-kind;—
I heard the lonely wind,
And wickedly did mourn,
I could not share its loneliness,
And all things human scorn.
And bitter were the tears,
I cursed as they fell;
And bitterer the sneers,
I strove not to repel;
With blindly muttered yell,
I cried unto mine heart,—
“Thou shalt beat the world in falsehood,
And stab it ere we part.”
I cursed as they fell;
And bitterer the sneers,
I strove not to repel;
With blindly muttered yell,
I cried unto mine heart,—
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And stab it ere we part.”
My hand I backward drave
As one who seeks a knife;
When startlingly did crave,
To quell that hand's wild strife,
Some other hand; all rife
With kindness, clasped it hard,
On mine quick frequent claspings,
That would not be debarred.
As one who seeks a knife;
When startlingly did crave,
To quell that hand's wild strife,
Some other hand; all rife
With kindness, clasped it hard,
On mine quick frequent claspings,
That would not be debarred.
I dared not turn my gaze
To the creature of the hand;
And no sound did it raise,
Its nature to disband
Of mystery; vast, and grand,
The moors around me spread,
And I thought, some angel message
Perchance their God may have sped.
To the creature of the hand;
And no sound did it raise,
Its nature to disband
Of mystery; vast, and grand,
The moors around me spread,
And I thought, some angel message
Perchance their God may have sped.
But it pressed another press,
So full of earnest prayer,
While o'er it fell a tress
Of cool soft human hair,—
I feared not;—I did dare
Turn round, 'twas Hannah there:—
Oh! to no one out of heaven
Could I what passed declare.
So full of earnest prayer,
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Of cool soft human hair,—
I feared not;—I did dare
Turn round, 'twas Hannah there:—
Oh! to no one out of heaven
Could I what passed declare.
We wandered o'er the moor,
Through all that blessed day;
And we drank its waters pure,
And felt the world away;
In many a dell we lay,
And we twined flower-crowns bright;
And I fed her with moor berries,
And blessed her glad eye-light.
Through all that blessed day;
And we drank its waters pure,
And felt the world away;
In many a dell we lay,
And we twined flower-crowns bright;
And I fed her with moor berries,
And blessed her glad eye-light.
And still that earnest pray-er
That saved me many stings,
Was oft a silent sayer
Of countless loving things;—
I'll ring it all with rings,
Each ring a jewelled band;
For heaven shouldn't purchase
That little sister hand.
That saved me many stings,
Was oft a silent sayer
Of countless loving things;—
I'll ring it all with rings,
Each ring a jewelled band;
For heaven shouldn't purchase
That little sister hand.
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