46
Poems
And welcomed in their stead the black-winged brood
Of evil birds that bring their gifts of woe,—
The jealous thought, the doubt of all things good,
The bitter mockery of each cherished dream,
The beauty of things gone beyond recall,
The loss of faith, when faith should stand supreme,
The loss of love, when love was all in all.
They cast their shadow twixt the sun and me,
The beauty of the world they darkened o'er,
The whiteness of the clouds I could not see,
The bird's song held no music as of yore.
The wave, in dancing, dimpling, ripples played.
The flowers gave bloom and perfume all in vain;
Nature with lavish hand her sweets displayed
And smiled her gratitude for sun and rain.
And my dear guardian angel drooped his wing,
And waited patiently alone, apart,
Until my wish should grant him leave to fling
Those birds of evil council from my heart.
Of evil birds that bring their gifts of woe,—
The jealous thought, the doubt of all things good,
The bitter mockery of each cherished dream,
The beauty of things gone beyond recall,
The loss of faith, when faith should stand supreme,
The loss of love, when love was all in all.
They cast their shadow twixt the sun and me,
The beauty of the world they darkened o'er,
The whiteness of the clouds I could not see,
The bird's song held no music as of yore.
The wave, in dancing, dimpling, ripples played.
The flowers gave bloom and perfume all in vain;
Nature with lavish hand her sweets displayed
And smiled her gratitude for sun and rain.
And my dear guardian angel drooped his wing,
And waited patiently alone, apart,
Until my wish should grant him leave to fling
Those birds of evil council from my heart.
"God, watch between us when we parted are!"—
Are we not parted, more than if the world,
With all its mountains, prairies, stretching far,
Its rolling ocean, in whose heart lies furled
The secrets of the ages, lies between?
Are we not parted, more than if the world,
With all its mountains, prairies, stretching far,
Its rolling ocean, in whose heart lies furled
The secrets of the ages, lies between?
