Irene's Dream
That books can teach, shone bright upon my soul,
Without books—and the images and thoughts
Of noble fiction, such as we receive,
Here, by dead written signs, into our soul
Were lived around and with me, everywhere
Peopling the vivid atmosphere with forms
That here are only names—and none the less
My heart was desolation. But my mind
Grew great with wisdom, and with strange new truths—
Now fading, as the days go, to a blank—
Of all that dream-world nothing left but pain.
*****
In that dream I have lived out all my life,
Exhausted all the possibilities
Kept bright on Time's horizon—such a glow
Of more than earthly daylight left behind
As makes this earth one twilight—such a glimpse—
This mystery's door—into the Universe
As makes Earth seem a prison . . . .
Such brief companionship with mighty souls,
Such vast imaginations—gone from me
Past all recovery—as have left my brain
Bereaved for ever . . . . Oh! And Love so strange
Turned to as strange a loss—in that one night
Have smit my life with loneliness, and left me,
Amongst the known and the belov'd, forlorn.,
Without books—and the images and thoughts
Of noble fiction, such as we receive,
Here, by dead written signs, into our soul
Were lived around and with me, everywhere
Peopling the vivid atmosphere with forms
That here are only names—and none the less
My heart was desolation. But my mind
Grew great with wisdom, and with strange new truths—
Now fading, as the days go, to a blank—
Of all that dream-world nothing left but pain.
*****
In that dream I have lived out all my life,
Exhausted all the possibilities
Kept bright on Time's horizon—such a glow
Of more than earthly daylight left behind
As makes this earth one twilight—such a glimpse—
This mystery's door—into the Universe
As makes Earth seem a prison . . . .
Such brief companionship with mighty souls,
Such vast imaginations—gone from me
Past all recovery—as have left my brain
Bereaved for ever . . . . Oh! And Love so strange
Turned to as strange a loss—in that one night
Have smit my life with loneliness, and left me,
Amongst the known and the belov'd, forlorn.,
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