Who from the meadows bright
Was snatched away to rule in the sad light
Of Hades, and to learn
Its lessons stern.
For Nature's faith is deep
That, waking from the dark and dreamless sleep,
Her flowers toward the sun shall wistful yearn,
And in the fragrant breast of Proserpine return.
Ah, lover true of men,
Forgive, forgive us, then,
If choked by tears we falter in our praise,
Remembering that we no more again
Shall hold glad converse with thy spirit brave,
Nor from thy lips hear words that lift and save,
Through all the lengthening number of our days!
By the great Silence thou art set apart
From all the restless travail of the heart
That beats in us
So passionate and strong—
Art passed beyond the evening angelus
And Memnon's morning song.
··········
Man's life on earth—how brief!
Yet we with Nature hold the high belief,
E'en when our hearts are breaking,
