And long, long ages hence, when the Land that we love so well
Has clasped us all (as a mother clasps her babe) to her motherly bosom,
Those who shall walk on the dust of us, with pride in their Land shall tell,
Holding the fruit in their grateful hands, of the birth of to-day, the blossom.
IN MY HEART.
I.
In my heart are many chambers through which I wander free;
Some are furnished, some are empty, some are sombre, some are light;
Some are open to all comers, and of some I keep the key,
And I enter in the stillness of the night.
II.
But there’s one I never enter,—it is closed to even me!
Only once its door was opened, and it shut for evermore;
And though sounds of many voices gather round it, like the sea,
It is silent, ever silent, as the shore.
III.
In that chamber, long ago, my love’s casket was concealed,
And the jewel that it sheltered I knew only one could win;
And my soul foreboded sorrow, should that jewel be revealed,
And I almost hoped that none might enter in.