Page:Life of John Boyle O'Reilly.djvu/594

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JOHN BOYLE O'REILLY.

My soul was seared like sin to see the falsehood of the place;
And the innocence that mocked me, while in dim unseen recesses
There were larking fouler secrets than the furtive reptile face.

And since then,—O, why the burden?—when the joyous faces greet me.
With their eyes of limpid innocence, and words devoid of art,
I cannot trust their seeming, but must ask what eyes would meet me
Could I look in sudden silence at the secrets of the heart!


LIFE IS A CONFLUENCE.

HUNGER goes sleeplessly
Thinking of food;
Evil lies painfully
Yearning for good.
Life is a confluence:
Nature must move,
Like the heart of a poet.
Toward beauty and love.