III.
CONSOLATION.
Alone? Ah, no: beneath the earth’s fair crust
Assemble all the beautiful and good
Whose memory transfigures womanhood;
And kingly men are there, the brave, the just;
How sweet to mingle with that sacred dust!
Standing to-night where we so oft have stood,
Their fragrance fills the silent solitude—
Sweet flowers of human love and hope and trust.
Where’er thou art, O sister of my soul,