Classic Poem

XI.

If audible utterance then was mine
I know not; but my spirit cried
To her who from the far confine
Of bliss had wander'd to my side —
" O, earliest, latest, only love,
Forgive the heart where thou wast throned,
Its lapses from the life above,
Thy better influence disown'd!

XII.

" Forgive me for the scoffer's taunt,
The worldling's greed of wealth and power,
Or mean supremacies that vaunt
Their pageant state, their transient hour;
Forgive the doubt of human worth, —
How could he doubt, who knew thine own? —
Forgive the will that found in earth
The immortal spirit's goal and zone.

XIII.

" Lo, here at thy dear feet I fling
This sordid self — again aspire,
Again count love a holy thing,
And duty dearer than desire;
And doing good in humble ways
A joy beyond the reach of fame,
And right more blest with God to praise
Than wrong with all the world's acclaim! "

XIV.

The vision waned; I gained the steep;
The moonlit hamlet smiled below;
A path of splendour cross'd the deep;
From far I caught its musing flow.
With chasten'd heart, and self-accused,
I bless'd Him who, in forms of sense,
Or grand or lovely, has infused
For man redeeming influence.

XV.

For still, as taught bard's earliest lays,
A spirit-life in Nature dwells,
And mystic power the soul doth raise
When sunset fades or ocean swells;
And tender tones from stream and grove
With life's pathetic memories blend,
And lift the heart through human love
To Him who is love's source and end.