52
THE FATHER AND HIS CHILD.
He heard the blessed word "forgive;"
Could it new life impart?
He could not hear the sound and live,
For death was on his heart.
And to his bosom came the thought,
The burning consciousness,
His own ingratitude had wrought
His latest wretchedness.
Could it new life impart?
He could not hear the sound and live,
For death was on his heart.
And to his bosom came the thought,
The burning consciousness,
His own ingratitude had wrought
His latest wretchedness.
Ah! Belisarius, could thine eye,
Thy dying monarch see,
With conscience pointing still on high,
Great thy revenge would be!
But love knelt down at mercy's shrine,
And waved him to the tomb,
Another tribunal than thine
Adjudged his final doom.
Thy dying monarch see,
With conscience pointing still on high,
Great thy revenge would be!
But love knelt down at mercy's shrine,
And waved him to the tomb,
Another tribunal than thine
Adjudged his final doom.
