Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, TO ONE IN HEAVEN, by CHARLES HANSON TOWNE


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

TO ONE IN HEAVEN, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: After you died, a few stray letters came
Last Line: O little angel-maid, god's gifts are freely given!
Subject(s): Death; Love; Love - Loss Of; Dead, The


After you died, a few stray letters came,
Bearing your name.
A friend across the sea
Wrote with the old light laughter; tenderly
She wished that you were with her, never knowing
That now for you the winds of heaven were blowing;
That you were faring to a distant bourne,
Whence your white feet would nevermore return.

And then there came,
Like little bundles of flame,
Bright-colored ribbons -- red, and yellow, and blue,
Samples from some gay shop, dainty as you.
A bit of lace, a bit of gossamer,
A rainbow sheaf, like dreams that never were.
And when I saw them, through my blinding tears,
I thought of your bright years,
Your love of all this filmy green and gold --
And your brief story told.

I hope the angels give you your desire,
O little heart of fire --
Give you the fairy garments that you crave
Even beyond the grave!
You would not be quite happy in your new place
Without your golden lace,
Without those little, trivial, tender things
The looms wove out of dim imaginings.
For you loved feathery textures, airy spinnings,
Like cobwebs from the world's remote beginnings;
Soft stuffs as fleecy as the clouds above,
That grew more lovely for your lovely love.

Who knows but now your wings may be of fleece,
Your robe of some fine fabric made of these:
Rainbows and star-dust and a lost moonbeam,
And a white thought from Lady Mary's dream
Of that first moment when she knew that One
Would live through her. . . . Is this your garment, spun
From rapture at the living loom of heaven?
O little angel-maid, God's gifts are freely given!





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