II.
There lived two souls who only lived for love;
The one a maiden, full of joy and youth,
The other her young lord, a man of truth
And very valiant. Them did God above
Knit with those holy bands none may remove
Save He that formed them. But next year there came
God’s angel, with his face and wings of flame,
And bore the young wife’s soul off like a dove.
Then did her lord, disconsolate many years,
Cry bitterly to God to make them one,
And take his life, and silence the sweet past.
So Death came tenderly and stilled his tears,
Clad as a priest, and ’neath the winter’s sun
In a white grave re-wedded them at last.
III.
Quoth Death to Life: “Behold what strength is mine,
All others perish, yet I do not fail,
Where life aboundeth most, I most prevail,
I mete out all things with my measuring line.”
Then answered Life: “O boastful Death, not thine
The final triumph, what thy hands undo
My busy anvil forgeth out anew,
For one lamp darkened, I bring two to shine.”
Then answered Death: “Thy handiwork is fair,
But a slight breath will crumble it to dust.”
“Nay, Death,” said Life, “for in the vernal air
A sweeter blossom breaks the winter’s crust.”
Then God called down and stopped the foolish strife;
His servants both, for God made Death and Life.
COLUMBUS.
He caught the words which ocean thunders hurled
On heedless eastern coasts, in days gone by,
And to his dreams the ever-westering sky
The ensign of a glorious hope unfurled;
So, onward to the line of mists which curled
Around the setting sun, with steadfast eye,
He pushed his course, and, trusting God on high,
Threw wide the portals of a larger world.
The heart that watched through those drear autumn nights
The wide, dark sea, and man’s new empire sought,
Alone, uncheered, hath wrought a deed sublime,
Which, like a star behind the polar lights,
Will shine through splendours of man’s utmost thought,
Down golden eras to the end of time.
1892.