Page:Poems Thaxter.djvu/64

I heard and shrank away from her afraid;
 But still she held me and would still abide;
Youth's bounding pulses slackened and obeyed,
 With slowly ebbing tide.

"Look thou beyond the evening star," she said,
 "Beyond the changing splendors of the day;
Accept the pain, the weariness, the dread,
 Accept and bid me stay!"

I turned and clasped her close with sudden strength,
 And slowly, sweetly, I became aware
Within my arms God's angel stood at length,
 White-robed and calm and fair.

And now I look beyond the evening star,
 Beyond the changing splendors of the day,
Knowing the pain He sends more precious far,
 More beautiful, than they.