50
THE BROTHER'S HAND.
A lifeboat brought him strangling to the coast.
He motioned them, in a despairing way,
To drown his body. For his soul was lost,
He said: it shook him off and plunged away
From the dark deck into the gulfs below,
For utter loneliness. And he must go
And find it, somewhere—for the Judgment Day.
He motioned them, in a despairing way,
To drown his body. For his soul was lost,
He said: it shook him off and plunged away
From the dark deck into the gulfs below,
For utter loneliness. And he must go
And find it, somewhere—for the Judgment Day.
Then he died smiling. . . . Frederick and his wife
Looked at him and each other, and then wound
Their arms about him. What was calm or strife
To him or them? What had they lost and found?
What thing was near? What things were gone afar?
With tears, and without words, they kissed the scar—
His brother's hand against him all his life.
Looked at him and each other, and then wound
Their arms about him. What was calm or strife
To him or them? What had they lost and found?
What thing was near? What things were gone afar?
With tears, and without words, they kissed the scar—
His brother's hand against him all his life.
