Page:Poems Whitney.djvu/131

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ariadne.
125
Too near the beating of earth's mighty heart,
Not to have learned in part how she can joy
      And grieve!

  'Twas on a night last June,
Into the clear, bold sky,
The little stars stole each with separate thrill,
And the mossed fir-top woke its mystic rune
      Close by.

  Upon yon westering slope,
Two glorious human shapes there stood,
Rosy with twilight, listening to my song:
I knew I sang to them of love and hope,
      Life's good.

  The little stars' soft rays
Again thrill through their realm of peace;
One shadow haunts the slope,—a song I sing
To match the broken music of her days—
      Then cease.