Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, IN THE SHADOW, by MARGARET ELIZABETH MUNSON SANGSTER


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

IN THE SHADOW, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: We walk within the shadow, and we feel its
Last Line: But the shadow fades at dawning, and the east is flecked with gold.
Alternate Author Name(s): Van Deth, Gerrit, Mrs.
Subject(s): Echoes; Memory; Rest; Shadows


WE walk within the shadow, and we feel its thickening fold
That wraps us round and holds us close, a cloak against the cold;
The day is growing sombre, and the joyous light has fled,
And beneath our feet the road is rough, and clouds are overhead.

We sit within the shadow, and in that silence dumb,
To us in softened echoes remembered voices come;
Dear eyes that closed in slumber once, dear hands that straightened lie,
Awaken tender yearnings as the day wanes slowly by.

We rest within the shadow, though the hurrying people go
On errands swift for gold and gain, beyond us, to and fro;
We have no care for transient things; we wish no more to strive
As once we did; we rest, we dream, we feel but half alive.

Our resting and our waiting, and our plodding on the way,
With the sunshine of the past casting darkness on to-day,
With no caring for the future, while the heartache holds us fast,
With no thought for any pleasure—ah! 'tis well these cannot last.

For the shadow always lifts, and the sunlight glows again;
There are sudden gleams of brightness, sweet clear shining after rain;
And we gird ourselves for action, strengthened we arise and go
From the sanctuary outward, where the feet tramp to and fro.

Life must have its sometime sorrow; but the years that drift along
Touch the minor chords but seldom; there are spaces blithe with song.
Sometimes we must face the shadow, where the wind blows keen and cold,
But the shadow fades at dawning, and the east is flecked with gold.





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