Part 8 (1/2)
XX.
Say only this; but pray for me withal, And let a pitying thought possess thee then, Whether at home, at sea, or in a glen In some wild nook. It were a joy to fall Dead at thy feet, as at a trumpet's call, For I should then be peerless among men!
[Ill.u.s.tration: Letter VII HOPE]
LETTER VII.
HOPE.
I.
O tears of mine! Ye start I know not why, Unless, indeed, to prove that I am glad, Albeit fast wedded to a thought so sad I scarce can deem that my despair will die, Or that the sun, careering up the sky, Will warm again a world that seem'd so mad.
II.
And yet, who knows? The world is, to the mind, Much as we make it; and the things we tend Wear, for the nonce, the liveries that we lend.
And some such things are fair, though ill-defined, And some are scathing, like the wintry wind; And some begin, and some will never end.
III.
How can I think, ye tears! that I have been The thing I was--so doubting, so unfit, And so unblest, with brows for ever knit, And hair unkempt, and face becoming lean And cold and pale, as if I late had seen Medusa's head, and all the scowls of it?
IV.
Oh, why is this? Oh, why have I so long Brooded on grief, and made myself a bane To golden fields and all the happy plain Where once I met the Lady of my Song, The lady for whose sake I shall be strong, But never weak or diffident again?
V.
I was too shorn of hope. I did employ Words like a mourner; and to Her I bow'd, As one might kneel to Glory in its shroud.
But I am crown'd to-day, and not so coy-- Crown'd with a kiss, and sceptred with a joy; And all the world shall see that I am proud.
VI.
I shall be sated now. I shall receive More than the guerdon of my wildest thought, More than the most that ecstasy has taught To saints in Heaven; and more than poets weave In madcap verse, to warn us, or deceive; And more than Adam knew ere Eve was brought.
VII.
I know the meaning now of all the signs, And all the joys I dreamt of in my dreams.
I realise the comfort of the streams When they reflect the shadows of the pines.