The fair sun shone, but ghastly and wan
There came a spectral dream;
The stone stood fast, but a dim fear passed
Through buttress, and roof, and beam:
With sad, sad heart life did depart,
A ghostly silence fell;
With sad, sad heart they turned to depart,
And—farewell, home, farewell.
III.
THOUGHTS.
Darkest clouds drop tender rain,
Every leaf and blade is fain
Its own jewel to obtain
From the casket of its pain.
And the thunder, black as night,
Down descends in orbs of white,
For the sun to fill with light,
Tiny chambers of his might.
Precious beads of hope are pearled
On each sorrow through the world,
Softest dews of peace in showers
Lie beneath the clouded hours.
IV.
THE JOURNEY.
The ice froze cold, as cold as death,
Yet runs the stream below;
The very spring breathes bitter breath,
But still the flowerets blow.
Nor shall it perish from the land,
The living seed they bore,
As forth they fared, that pilgrim band,
As pilgrims went of yore.
Lead, river, down the mountain glen,
Glide ’mid the sunny slopes;
Now lose thyself, now come again,
E’en like a pilgrim’s hopes.
And careless rivulets with their peace
Smiled on the passers-by,
From many a valley, where the trees
See but their own dear sky.