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BALAUSTION'S ADVENTURE.
33
Whence comes thy gleam of hope? I dare not hope:What is the circumstance that heartens thee?How could Admetos have dismissed a wifeSo worthy, unescorted to the grave?Before the gates I see no hallowed vaseOf fountain-water, such as suits death's door;Nor any dipt locks strew the vestibule,Though surely these drop when we grieve the dead:Nor sounds hand smitten against youthful hand,The women's way. And yet—the appointed time—How speak the word?—this day is even the dayOrdained her for departing from its light.O touch calamitous to heart and soul!Needs must one, when the good are tortured so,Sorrow,—one reckoned faithful from the first."
Then their souls rose together, and one sighWent up in cadence from the common mouth:
