82
POEMS.
And so frail wind flowers trembling 'neath the breath
Of noisome smoke, ye little know ere long
Your drooping heads will sadly close in death,
To leave but this poor song!
Of noisome smoke, ye little know ere long
Your drooping heads will sadly close in death,
To leave but this poor song!
THE CLOSED GATE.
CONTRIBUTED TO "GREAT THOUGHTS."
BROAD the terrace is and stately,
Arched with trees on either side,
Beauteous elms that wave sedately
In their summer leaves of pride:
But the entrance gate is closed
As if death in life reposed.
Arched with trees on either side,
Beauteous elms that wave sedately
In their summer leaves of pride:
But the entrance gate is closed
As if death in life reposed.
I can see a garden lying
In the distance dim and fair,
I can hear the breezes sighing
Melancholy music there.
In the distance dim and fair,
I can hear the breezes sighing
Melancholy music there.
Old worn griffins, stony-hearted,
With a grin sit on the gate,
Evil forms of the departed—
Cold and grim and desolate.
With a grin sit on the gate,
Evil forms of the departed—
Cold and grim and desolate.
And they guard, as if for ever
Those unlifted hinges old,
Staring sentinels that never
Will their mystery unfold.
Those unlifted hinges old,
Staring sentinels that never
Will their mystery unfold.
