Poems (Odom)/A Little Ray Over the Window
A LITTLE RAY OVER THE WINDOW.
A little ray over the window; Thank God, that the night-time has passed,And the day with its glorious beauty Is crowning the whole world at last.
I stand at the vine-covered lattice, And throw the green blinds open wide,Looking out on the sun-tinted beauty Flooding in on the morning tide.
Low over the hillside and valley Is waving a curtain of mist,And surely the clouds to the eastward The rosiest angels have kissed.
The dewdrops in beautiful clusters Lie thick on the emerald leaves;And white, waxen roses are dropping Their pure petals down from the eaves.
A breath of soft perfume comes floating, And gently drifts over my face;The spirits of peace and of beauty Are thrilling with rapture the place.
I turn and look back to the shadows That fell through the silence of night,Counting slowly the wearisome hours That tired my soul in their flight.
The dreams that came over my spirit And beaded my lashes with tears,The memories sacred and holy Of other and happier years;
The unspoken, passionate longing— Of sleepless and bitter regret—For one whom I ever remember, One heart, I can never forget.
Sometimes when the terrible darkness Drifts down to the earth like a pall,And silence is lying so heavy In chamber, and door-way, and hall.
The thought of my husband comes thrilling Through being, and bosom, and brain,Till being and bosom are shaken And broken with quivering pain.
To know that I never shall see him, Nor wait for his coming again;To dream of his old loving kisses, And know that my dreaming is vain!
To whisper his name to the darkness, Baptizing the silence with tears;Through the lens of my terrible sorrow, The hours seem desolate years.
Through the window of faith, oh! my Father, Send down to my spirit the light,And strengthen my soul to remember That earth is a region of night;
That only in heaven the shadows Shall tremble forever away,And weary hearts drink in the beauty Of endless and glorious day.