Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, HONOUR, by FREDERICK WILLIAM HENRY MYERS


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

HONOUR, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: A man and woman together, a man and woman apart
Last Line: Give back that gift to the giver, thine heart to the bosom of thee.
Alternate Author Name(s): Myers, Frederic
Subject(s): Honor


A MAN and woman together, a man and woman apart,
In the stress of the soul's worst weather, the anchorless ebb of the heart,
They can say to each other no longer, as lovers were wont to say,
"Death is strong, but Love is stronger; there is night and then there is day";
Their souls can whisper no more, "There is better than sleep in the sod,
We await the ineffable shore, and between us two there is God":
Nay now without hope or dream must true friend sever from friend,
With the long years worse than they seem, and nothingness black at the end:
And the darkness of death is upon her, the light of his eyes is dim,
But Honour has spoken, Honour, enough for her and for him.

Oh what shall he do with the vision, when deep in the night it comes,
With soul and body's division, with tremor of dreamland drums;
When his heart is broken and tender, and his whole soul rises and cries
For the soft waist swaying and slender, the child-like passionate eyes?
Or where shall she turn to deliver her life from the longing unrest,
When sweet sleep flies with a shiver, and her heart is alone in her breast?
It is hard, it is cruel upon her, her soft eyes glow and are dim,
But Honour has spoken, Honour, enough for her and for him.

I had guessed not, did I not know, that the spirit of man was so strong
To prefer irredeemable woe to the slightest shadow of wrong;
I had guessed not, had I not known, that twain in their last emprize,
Full-souled, and awake, and alone, with the whole world's love in their eyes,
With no faith in God to appal them, no fear of man in their breast,
With nothing but Honour to call them, could yet find Honour the best,—
Could stay the stream of the river and turn the tides of the sea,
Give back that gift to the giver, thine heart to the bosom of thee.





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