The Two Children

From Wikisource
 
Jump to: navigation, search

Heavy hangs the rain-drop
  From the burdened spray;
Heavy broods the damp mist
  On uplands far away.

Heavy looms the dull sky,
  Heavy rolls the sea;
And heavy throbs the young heart
  Beneath that lonely tree.

Never has a blue streak
  Cleft the clouds since morn;
Never has his grim fate
  Smiled since he was born.

Frowning on the infant,
  Shadowing childhood's joy
Guardian-angel knows not
  That melancholy boy.

Day is passing swiftly
  Its sad and sombre prime;
Boyhood sad is merging
  In sadder manhood's time:

All the flowers are praying
  For sun, before they close,
And he prays too—unconscious—
  That sunless human rose.

Blossom—that the west-wind
  Has never wooed to blow,
Scentless are thy petals,
  Thy dew is cold as snow!

Soul—where kindred kindness,
  No early promise woke,
Barren is thy beauty,
  As weed upon a rock.

Wither—soul and blossom!
  You both were vainly given;
Earth reserves no blessing
  For the unblest of heaven!

PD-icon.svg This work published before January 1, 1923 is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.
Personal tools
Namespaces
Variants
Actions
Navigation
Toolbox
Print/export