The Collected Songs of Charles Mackay With Illustrations by John Gilbert |
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THE MASTER-KEYS. |
 | The Collected Songs of Charles Mackay |  |
163
THE MASTER-KEYS.
I
How small the master-keys of thought,That ope the gate of parted years,
And show the chambers richly wrought,
Bedew'd with bygone tears!
A rose-leaf folded in the page
Awakes emotion strong;
And floods no pity can assuage
Come bursting at a song.
II
A stranger's look, a transient word,A touch, an odour, or a sigh,
A little whisper, scarcely heard,
The lifting of an eye,
May all be keys to open wide
The twilight halls of Time,
And show the cells where Passion died,
Or Folly grew to Crime.
III
Oh, turn them not! Be hush'd the strain!We may not gaze on Sorrow's heart;
Be hid, ye flowers, that breathe of pain!
Ye memories, depart!
The moonbeam lights the storied glass,
But darkness hovers round;
Beware, intruder, how you pass!—
You tread on holy ground.
| The Collected Songs of Charles Mackay | |