Page:Poems Hornblower.djvu/123

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111

Which never more must gaze on human kind?
How can lie crave for mercy from the God
He has offended, when from fellow-beings,
Frail, passionate, and suffering, like himself,
He hath been cast forth thus? Upon his sin
He muses in distraction, till his anguish
Swells in wild agony, and 'mid the waves
Of fear, and shame, and terror, comes the doubt,
The overwhelming doubt, that reason will forsake him,
Amid the utter wreck of all beside.
Then starting from the cold earth, high he spreads
Despairing arms—and with pale, quivering lips,
And outstretched head, and eyes that seem to crave
The sight of human face, as the lost mariner
Looks to the shore in sinking, still he stands,
And mute as death, to listen for a voice!
The very wind that howls against his grating
Is music to Mm, and his heart throbs quicker
To catch another, and a human sound!
No; the faint heavings of his own thin breath,
The slight convulsive movements of his heart,
Come chill upon him, and, with sickening ear,
He feels there is no other: the flushed cheek,
That had a moment warmed with mortal hope,
Fades to a damper paleness, and he sinks
Submissive on his stone; while his weak pulse