Page:Poems Hoffman.djvu/553

Consciousness wanders into sweet repose,
For lost in sleep Nature finds strength and courage,
And for a time the heart no anguish knows,
While mind and soul regain their wasted strength.

Yes, let her sleep, assured that she will waken
Better prepared life's arduous tasks to meet,
Better prepared to find in paths of duty
True pearls of happiness strewn at her feet;
Poor tired child, thy idol was but clay;
May loving guardian angels 'round thee hover,
And twine their sweetest garlands through thy dreams;
What though the morn beheld but heavy clouds,
The starlight floods the night with holiest beams;
Surely at eventide it shall be light!

Chapter IV
(Despair)

Alone in the twilight with thoughts for companions,
He walks to and fro like a sentinel guard;
Once hopeful and handsome, but now every feature,
With a settled despair, like a heavy cloud, marred;

A hopelessness, pitiful in one so youthful,
Seems taking possession of body and soul;
No music can lift the dark shroud from his spirit,
No friend can the stone from its sepulcher roll.
Shall he go to the one who has trusted him fully?
But no, she can never believe him again;
Oh, why had he traded true worth for vain beauty,
That brought at the last but its merited pain!

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