Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, ?, by F. A." "LE H. [PSEUD.]


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

?, by                    
First Line: This mortal body that I wear
Last Line: The light of hope may linger still
Alternate Author Name(s): "le H., F. A.;
Subject(s): Quiet Life


THIS mortal body that I wear
Will soon return to whence it came,
Resolved into the earth and air
By foul decay or purer flame.
The elements again will take
The atoms that they have bestowed,
And give them in their turn to make
Some other thinking soul's abode.

To die -- is it another birth?
Or is it but an endless swoon?
Will we still roam the plains of earth,
Or climb the mountains of the moon?
Will memory still retain its hold
Upon the sad and sunny past,
Or in the eternal future's mould
Are all the precious metals cast?

Will love and truth and honor live,
And hate and wrong and falsehood die?
Will only grace and beauty give
Their glory to the by and by?
Or will the fruits and flowers and weeds
Still rankly flourish side by side, --
The laurels of heroic deeds
Twined with the poisonous vine of pride?

The child I danced upon my knee,
The sunlit hair and heaven-hued eyes,
Whose laughter filled my heart with glee,
My sweetest joy, my dearest prize, --
The years of grief have reached a score,
Yet still her soft embrace I miss, --
Will she upon the other shore
Welcome me with a spirit-kiss?

My boy grown near to man's estate,
My wife whose smile had blest the years,
Victims of a relentless fate --
I yielded to the grave with tears.
And like a seared and blasted tree,
Alone I stand where tempests lower;
The joys of earth have fled from me,
But yet I fear the parting hour.

Great Lord of Life, Creative Power,
If thou canst hear thy creatures' call,
Before that dark impending hour
Disclose to me the mighty All.
Unlock the volume sealed so long,
The mystery of death and pain,
The cause and final doom of wrong,
That all the race have sought in vain.

Yet stay; I would not read the book;
Too awful might its secret be
For mortal eyes to rashly look
Upon the dreadful mystery.
Let me grope on through life's dark maze,
And blindly bow before thy will,
That o'er my few remaining days
The light of hope may linger still.





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