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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
AT PEACE, by CARROLL RYAN Poet's Biography
First Line: O, footsteps sounding in the night
Last Line: I am at peace.
Alternate Author Name(s): Ryan, William Thomas Carroll
Subject(s): Peace; Rest
First Line: O, footsteps sounding in the night
Last Line: I am at peace.
Alternate Author Name(s): Ryan, William Thomas Carroll
Subject(s): Peace; Rest
O, footsteps sounding in the night
Along the empty city street,
Go ye, like me, in laggard flight,
Your doom to meet?
Or go ye to a region blest
Some place of quiet—call it home,
Where you may ease your toil and rest,
While I must roam?
O, voices, calling through the gloom,
Speak ye but to my heart alone
Of hope that rises o'er the doom
Which I bemoan?
Or are ye echoes of the past,
When love was young and life was glad,
When nothing could a shadow cast,
Or make me sad?
O, music falling from the stars,
A promise of the things to be
When, passed beyond these mortal bars,
I will be free,
Art thou the spirit of the sphere
Where dwells the love I thought was dead?
Spirit of beauty! thou art near;
I hear thy tread!
O, footsteps, voices, music, all
I ever knew to love, behold
I've drawn the curtain, spread the pall,
My hearth is cold!
All silent now, I hear no sound,
And soon the throbbing heart must cease
A mighty presence wraps me round.
I am at peace.
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