Oh, what a night for a soul to go! The wind a hawk, and the fields in snow; No screening cover of leaves in the wood, Nor a star abroad the way to show. Do they part in peace,—soul with its clay? Tenant and landlord, what do they say? Was it sigh of sorrow or of release I heard just now as the face turned gray? What if, aghast on the shoreless main Of Eternity, it sought again The shelter and rest of the isle of Time, And knocked at the door of its house of pain! On the tavern hearth the embers glow, The laugh is deep, and the flagons low; But without, the wind and the trackless sky, And night at the gates where a soul would go.
Iter Supremum
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Oh, what a night for a soul to go! The wind a hawk, and the fields in snow; No screening cover of leaves in the wood, Nor a star abroad the way to show. Do they part in peace,—soul with its clay? Tenant and landlord, what do they say? Was it sigh of sorrow or of release I heard just now as the...
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My window is the open sky, The flower in farthest wood is mine; I am the heir to all gone by, The eldest son of all the line. And when the robbers Time and Death Athwart my path conspiring stand, I cheat them with a clod, a breath, And pass the sword from hand to hand!
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Within me are two souls that pity each The other for the ends they seek, yet smile Forgiveness, as two friends that love the while The folly against which each feigns to preach. And while one barters in the market-place, Or drains the cup before the tavern fire, The other, winged...