Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, AN EPILOGUE, by ANNIE MATHESON


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

AN EPILOGUE, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: And so the play is over, and we doff
Last Line: The clouds of sunset, veiling heaven's gate.
Subject(s): Easter; God; Holidays; Love; The Resurrection


AND so the play is over, and we doff
The actor's mask for one more subtle, worn
By those who hide therein from the world's scorn,
Smiling for all to see, when some forlorn
Hope dies, and afar off
They see their doom; or frowning hard perchance
Above joy's secret fires,
When their fulfilled desires
On fluttering wings advance
And round them dance.

The play is over, and 'twas but a play
Within a play; the wider stage still holds
Its tragedy and comedy, replete
With godlike pain and laughter, sweet
Singing, low moans,
And strife that moulds
Our clumsy clay to that complete
Manhood which inly groans
Toward Godhood, fain would meet
Once more the vital breath
That made men living souls, and is more than Death,
Life, Love.—

Often above
The murmur of the actors on this stage,
Prattle of youth, and prattle of old age,
Eager discussion of the moment's need
And foolish greed
Of coming morrows, will be heard,
Like music half articulate with passion,
The meaning of it all, that makes the play
Worth playing, and has stirred
Even the pastime of an Easter day
To sudden grandeur, though the passing fashion
Of the mere show has vanished soon away
And only left the meaning. Who shall say
What it does mean?—
The power of Love?—
Joy of self-sacrifice? All that has been
The soul of the world to keep it from its grave?—

Not always, like Alcestis, can Love save
The life of the belovèd. Some have poured
Their lives like water out upon the ground,
Yet scarce availed
To make the road less rough, or the hot dust
Less wearying; these nor quailed
Nor doubted, but with one accord
Joyed in the sacrifice; and some have stood
Keeping their trust
With noble hardihood
In the thick of the battle for an enemy's sake,
Or for the one they loved who still returned
Their love with hate: yet might not their heart break
Until the fight was over, and they learned
That other life was safe. And a few wait
With patient hands and feet till the God say,
'The sacrificial strife
Is over; thou shalt die:'—Ah! they,
Set free at last from the life
That was a costlier offering than death,
Shall with their ebbing breath
Find then a strange release,
Shall know at last,
In that great joy, the meaning of the past,
And in the sudden peace
Where storm and whirlwind cease,
Bless the tempestuous fate
That filled their mortal day,
While, in immortal bliss, resplendent, melt away
The clouds of sunset, veiling heaven's gate.





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