Elegies
The beauteous frown of sleep upon his brow,
Dreaming he lies, deep in the dawn's chill dew;
No more his flocks their desert pasture roam,
No more he toils, a miner in the wild;
But ah! for ever, evermore exiled,
For ever lost the solemn hope of home!
Brave, hardy wanderer, still through loss and pain
Athirst for beauty in earth, sky, and sea,
For thee no glaring prize, no vulgar gain
Was destined—but sweet Nature wedded thee;
And caught thee up with her to heaven's third height,
And things, by man unspeakable, she told—
Oh, what a soul was swept into the night!
Oh, what a heart in the cold deep lies cold!
What passion buried there its joy and pain!
Oh, sea and storm! Oh, homeward bound in vain!
Oh, home bereft, what long expectant years
Closed with that darling life in hopeless tears!
Dreaming he lies, deep in the dawn's chill dew;
No more his flocks their desert pasture roam,
No more he toils, a miner in the wild;
But ah! for ever, evermore exiled,
For ever lost the solemn hope of home!
Brave, hardy wanderer, still through loss and pain
Athirst for beauty in earth, sky, and sea,
For thee no glaring prize, no vulgar gain
Was destined—but sweet Nature wedded thee;
And caught thee up with her to heaven's third height,
And things, by man unspeakable, she told—
Oh, what a soul was swept into the night!
Oh, what a heart in the cold deep lies cold!
What passion buried there its joy and pain!
Oh, sea and storm! Oh, homeward bound in vain!
Oh, home bereft, what long expectant years
Closed with that darling life in hopeless tears!
III
Vain broken promise of unfinished lives!
From your untimely ashes what survives?
Who shall fulfil your unlived half of life?
Who win the crown of your unfoughten strife?
Is your lost future like the dusky shade
The new moon carries in her golden boat?
From your untimely ashes what survives?
Who shall fulfil your unlived half of life?
Who win the crown of your unfoughten strife?
Is your lost future like the dusky shade
The new moon carries in her golden boat?
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