 | Gathered leaves |  |
281
[Unpublished Poems]
LINES
Stay with me, happy Day!Fly not away!
Dost thou think, when thou art fled,
I shall but love thee better, being dead?
Not so, not so!
To-morrow I shall say,
‘'Twas long ago!—
He lies, for ever shorn of rainbow wings,
Among forgotten things.’
GRIEF AND DEATH
Deep joy was mine, I owned a fountain fair
That watered with its soft refreshing dew
The plants and flowers that in my garden grew
And made them spring and bud and blossom there
That watered with its soft refreshing dew
The plants and flowers that in my garden grew
And made them spring and bud and blossom there
And boasting of the world without, I spake,
‘Come sit within my honeysuckle bowers,
And breathe the sweet scent of my lily flowers,
And listen to the song the waters make.’
‘Come sit within my honeysuckle bowers,
And breathe the sweet scent of my lily flowers,
And listen to the song the waters make.’
Strong grief was mine, I gat me forth alone,
Into my garden dry and bare I stept,
And laid me down upon the grass and wept.
No ear, divine or human, heard my moan,
For joy bids welcome all the guests that come,
But sorrow hath no voice—Despair is dumb.
Into my garden dry and bare I stept,
And laid me down upon the grass and wept.
No ear, divine or human, heard my moan,
For joy bids welcome all the guests that come,
But sorrow hath no voice—Despair is dumb.
282
TO ONE WHO WAS NURSING A BLIND FATHER
The other dayI thought and thought and ever thought again,
How, while I sat in joy, apart from men,
In perfect joy of sun and sea and air,
You sat within the reach of nothing fair,
In darkness with the darkened. Then and there
Intolerable pity broke in prayer
Hushed by a whisper those wild words above:
‘How dar'st thou pity whom I greatly love.’
TO ---
Dear, you are on the road to fame,And I, upon no road at all;
But wander where men's voices call,
This way and that; no two the same.
And thou wilt make thyself a name
To captivate and to enthrall.
And when the dusky years shall fall,
To live in characters of flame.
Yet to one goal our footsteps tend,
Though diversely they wander here,
Where we begin will be our end,
And I, the nameless, do not fear
That thou wilt e'er forget, my friend,
How once we called each other Dear.
283
TO AN OLD FRIEND
Now when the sweet sunny weather
Quickens all that once was dead
I remember how we two,
You and I, I and you,
Wandered about the streets together,
Reading the books that had to be read,
Saying the things that cannot be said.
Quickens all that once was dead
I remember how we two,
You and I, I and you,
Wandered about the streets together,
Reading the books that had to be read,
Saying the things that cannot be said.
The world was young, and we were younger
In those bright forgotten days,
I remember how we two,
You and I, I and you,
Read and read for the spirit's hunger,
Walked in the old familiar ways,
Talked and talked for each other's praise.
In those bright forgotten days,
I remember how we two,
You and I, I and you,
Read and read for the spirit's hunger,
Walked in the old familiar ways,
Talked and talked for each other's praise.
The world is young, but we are older,
Many a book we shall read no more—
I remember how we two,
You and I, I and you,
Vowed that love should not grow colder,
That we would love as we loved before,
And the years should make us love the more.
Many a book we shall read no more—
I remember how we two,
You and I, I and you,
Vowed that love should not grow colder,
That we would love as we loved before,
And the years should make us love the more.
TO TIME THE COMFORTER
Dumb Comforter of woes!The depths of whose deep comfort no one knows;
Whose consolations on the spirit steal
More gently than Love's gentlest word; and heal
Where Love falls back affrighted; only life
Proves Thee the Comforter of mortal strife,
Of all that doth begin and end—that He
May speak in thy dread silence endlessly!
| Gathered leaves | |