The Conservative (Lovecraft)/October 1916/Respite

by H. P. Lovecraft

Respite

Through well-kept arbours fruitlessly I stray'd
In quest of respite from the causeless woes
That throng the weary spirit, and invade
The mind too seldom dreamless with repose.

Not neat-hedg'd path, nor garden's radiant grace.
Nor crystal fountain playing o'er the green,
Could cheer my heart, or from my soul efface
The tragedy of things that might have been.

The orchard boughs, bedeck'd with flow'rs of spring,
The verdant lawns, with skilful labour shorn.
To me no joy nor grateful thrill could bring;
In tears I came, and linger'd but to mourn.

One day, in idleness, ray footsteps found
The weed-chok'd slope that leads to sylvan deeps
Where leafy carpets clotheth untrodden ground,
And Nature, unadorn'd, her palace keeps.

'Twas there, in regions to mankind unknown.
Where swamp and brake benignant spirits hide,
I stood at last, with Nature's God alone,
And gain'd the respite that the world deny'd.

H.P. Lovecraft

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