THERE came a whisper in the night, A little cry across the years; And I who heard, in deep affright, Awakened with unnumbered fears. "It is some deed that I have done, Some sin I wrought long, long ago; But hush! am I the only one? Wherefore am I then troubled so? "For all men do some evil deed, And some men falter, some men fall; Do ghosts of Selfishness and Greed Come back, O God, to haunt them all?" Then came a whisper in the night, A little cry across the years; And I who heard, in deep affright, Listened with wild, unnumbered fears. @3"I am the ghost of that pure deed You might have done, but did not do; I am the ghost of that good seed You might have sown when Life was new.@1 @3"And this it is that haunts you now, That deed undone, that seed unsown; Too late, too late to take the plough, The Spring is fled, the May is flown!"@1 And this I heard amid the night, This voice that called across the years, And when the dawn came, silver-white, I was companioned with my tears. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...NORTH WIND TO DUTIFUL BEAST MIDWAY BETWEEN DIAL & FOOT OF GARDEN CLOCK by MARIANNE MOORE BLACK SAMSON OF BRANDYWINE by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR PRISONED IN WINDSOR, HE RECOUNTETH HIS PLEASURE THERE PASSED by HENRY HOWARD MILK FOR THE CAT by HAROLD MONRO RIDDLE: TEETH AND GUMS by MOTHER GOOSE FOR A CHILD: 1. WALKING SONG by CHARLES WILLIAMS THE WANDERER by MATHILDE BLIND |