Page:Poems Jackson.djvu/161

PRESENCE.

NAMELESS thing! which art and art not; spell
Whose bond can bind the powers of the air,
Compelling them thy face to hide or bear.
O voice! which, bringing not the faintest swell
Of sound, canst in the air so crowd and dwell
That all sounds die. O sight! which needst no share
Of sun, which sav'st blind eyes from their despair,
O touch! which dost not touch, and yet canst tell
To waiting flesh, by thy caress complete,
The whole of love, till veins grow red with heat;
O life of life! to which graves are not girt
With terror, and all death can bring no hurt.
O mystery of blessing! never lift
Thy veil! our one inalienable gift!

POLAR DAYS.

S some poor piteous Lapp., who under firs
Which bend and break with load of arctic snows
Has crept and crouched to watch when crimson glows
Begin, feels in his veins the thrilling stirs
Of warmer life, e'en while his fear deters
His trust; and when the orange turns to rose
In vain, and widening to the westward goes
The ruddy beam and fades, heartsick defers