THE ROAMER
Book II
"Is the earth heavier for the corpse that lies,
Or lighter for the spirit flown away,
That she has fixed so deep the lust of life?"
The Roamer heard; and as from tides of night
Earth seemed emerging round him; the white moon
Lifted the low hills from the raven shade;
And like the eternal deluge petrified
In heaven-shouldering billows, the black Range
Bore up the snowy threshold of the stars;
His soul yet felt its dread, his heart its chill.
That one who had renewed his pain stood nigh
In the bright glitter of the mountain moon,
A youth thought-worn; the color of his face
Hovered between the bloom and bronze, nor yet
Had time renewed in him his twentieth May;
Upon his full brow moulded tenderly
The morning sorrow of our life sat throned;
