IMMORTAL shadow, faint and ever fair, Dear for unspoken words that might have been, Compelled to silent sorrow none may share, A ghost of Shakespeare's world, unheard, unseen, How many more like thee have voiceless stood Uncalled upon the threshold of his mind, The speechless children of a mighty brood Who were and are not! Never shall they find The happier comrades unto whom he gave Thought, speech, and action—they who shall not know The end of our realities, the grave, Nor what is sadder, life, nor any human woe. |