AFTER THREE DAYS.
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In tone of sad amaze—
"Thus dealt with us, that art our dearest thing?
Behold, thy sire and I, three weary days,
Have sought thee sorrowing."
And I had stayed to hear
The loving words "How is it that ye sought?"—
But that the sudden lark, with matins clear,
Severed the links of thought.
Then over all there fell
Shadow and silence; and my dream was fled,
As fade the phantoms of a wizard's cell
When the dark charm is said.
Yet in the gathering light
I lay with half-shut eyes that would not wake,
Lovingly clinging to the skirts of night
For that sweet vision's sake.
Feb. 16, 1861.
