Songs and Sonnets (Coleman)/Bondage

by Helena Jane Coleman

For works with similar titles, see Bondage.

BONDAGE.

 

Throughout the long, monotonous hours of day,
With lifeless tread and apathetic eyes,
The slave, inured to toil and sacrifice,
Bends all his powers to the master's sway;
But with releasing darkness he can lay
Aside the mask and be himself, and rise
To face the deep serenity of skies
That veil the waiting gods, and weep and pray.

So with my soul, that through the daylight hours
Yields to the world, its master, weary, dumb,
In bondage to the trivial, all its powers,
And yet behind the surface fret and strife
In anguish sees, when night and silence come,
The unattained divinity of life.