Bells and Pomegranates.
"Is couched in his lair:
"And the meal—the rich dates—yellowed over
"With gold dust divine,
"And the locust's-flesh steeped in the pitcher—
"The full draught of wine,
"And the sleep in the dried river channel
"Where tall rushes tell
"The water was wont to go warbling
"So softly and well,—
"How good is man's life here, mere living!
"How fit to employ
"The heart and the soul and the senses
"For ever in joy!
"Hast thou loved the white locks of thy father
"Whose sword thou didst guard
"When he trusted thee forth to the wolf hunt
"For glorious reward?
"Didst thou see the thin hands of thy mother
"Held up, as men sung
"The song of the nearly-departed,
"And heard her faint tongue
"Joining in while it could to the witness
""Let one more attest,
""I have lived, seen God's hand thro' that life-time,
""And all was for best. . . "
"Then they sung thro' their tears, in strong triumph,
"Not much, but the rest!
"And thy brothers—the help and the contest,
"The working whence grew
"Such result, as from seething grape-bundles
"The spirit so true—
"And the friends of thy boyhood—that boyhood
"And the meal—the rich dates—yellowed over
"With gold dust divine,
"And the locust's-flesh steeped in the pitcher—
"The full draught of wine,
"And the sleep in the dried river channel
"Where tall rushes tell
"The water was wont to go warbling
"So softly and well,—
"How good is man's life here, mere living!
"How fit to employ
"The heart and the soul and the senses
"For ever in joy!
"Hast thou loved the white locks of thy father
"Whose sword thou didst guard
"When he trusted thee forth to the wolf hunt
"For glorious reward?
"Didst thou see the thin hands of thy mother
"Held up, as men sung
"The song of the nearly-departed,
"And heard her faint tongue
"Joining in while it could to the witness
""Let one more attest,
""I have lived, seen God's hand thro' that life-time,
""And all was for best. . . "
"Then they sung thro' their tears, in strong triumph,
"Not much, but the rest!
"And thy brothers—the help and the contest,
"The working whence grew
"Such result, as from seething grape-bundles
"The spirit so true—
"And the friends of thy boyhood—that boyhood
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