IN after years a twilight ghost shall fill With shadowy presence all thy waiting room: From lips of air thou canst not kiss the bloom; Yet at old kisses will thy pulses thrill, And the old longing, that thou couldst not kill, Feeling her presence in the gathering gloom, Will mock thee with the hopelessness of doom, While she stands there and smiles, serene and still. Thou canst not vex her, then, with passion's pain: Call, and the silence will thy call repeat; But she will smile there, with cold lips and sweet, Forgetful of old tortures, and the chain That once she wore, the tears she wept in vain At passing from her threshold of thy feet. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SONGS AND THE POET (FOR SARA TEASDALE) by LOUIS UNTERMEYER THE FOREST MAID by WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT SONGS ON THE VOICES OF BIRDS; SEA-MEWS IN WINTER TIME by JEAN INGELOW PREJUDICE by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON THE ETERNAL JUSTICE by ANNE REEVE ALDRICH THE STRANGER by LAWRENCE ALMA-TADEMA ORNITHOPOLIS by EDMUND CHARLES BLUNDEN IN VINCULIS; SONNETS WRITTEN IN AN IRISH PRISON: HONOUR DISHONOURED by WILFRID SCAWEN BLUNT |