Page:Poems Dudley.djvu/59

Unkindness undeserved, you feel
 As creatures feel their death,
Borne through the blood-taint in the air
 And caught upon their breath;

Most agony the bullock knows,
 Not in the last dull strife;
But when he learns his Gods were fiends
 Whose kindness sought his life;

So you, O child of many griefs,
 The crowd can never share,
Breathe anguish from a glittering smile,
 And from a glance, despair.

You burn at stakes invisible
 Along the great highway;
Where grosser souls are mirthful, you
 Retire alone to pray.

Each morn some cherished dream endures
 A cross that none may see;
Through many a midnight hour you watch
 In lone Gethsemane.

And yet, I see upon your face
 Warm lines of joy increase;
The light beyond the storm shines through
 Interstices of Peace.