WRITTEN AFTER VISITING A TOMB.
325
Then didst thou pass me in radiance by,
Child of the sunbeam, bright butterfly!
Thou that dost bear on thy fairy wings,
No burden of mortal sufferings!
Thou wert flitting past that solemn tomb,
Over a bright world of joy and bloom,
And strangely I felt, as I saw thee shine,
The all that severed thy life and mine.
Mine, with its inborn mysterious things,
Of love and grief, its unfathomed springs.
And quick thoughts wandering o'er earth and sky,
With voices to question eternity!
Thine, in its reckless and joyous way,
Like an embodied breeze at play!
Child of the sunlight!—thou winged and free!
One moment, one moment, I envied thee!
