Three Weeks passed since I had seen Her —
Some Disease had vext
'Twas with Text and Village Singing
I beheld Her next
And a Company — our pleasure
To discourse alone —
Gracious now to me as any —
Gracious unto none —
Borne without dissent of Either
To the...
Through lane it lay — through bramble —
Through clearing and through wood —
Banditti often passed us
Upon the lonely road.
The wolf came peering curious —
The owl looked puzzled down —
The serpent's satin figure
Glid stealthily along —
The tempests touched our garments...
Through the Dark Sod — as Education —
The Lily passes sure —
Feels her white foot — no trepidation —
Her faith — no fear —
Afterward — in the Meadow —
Swinging her Beryl Bell —
The Mold-life — all forgotten — now —
In Ecstasy — and Dell —
Through the strait pass of suffering —
The Martyrs — even — trod.
Their feet — upon Temptations —
Their faces — upon God —
A stately — shriven — Company —
Convulsion — playing round —
Harmless — as streaks of Meteor —
Upon a Planet's Bond —
Their faith — the...
Through those old Grounds of memory,
The sauntering alone
Is a divine intemperance
A prudent man would shun.
Of liquors that are vended
'Tis easy to beware
But statutes do not meddle
With the internal bar.
Pernicious as the sunset
Permitting to pursue
But...
Through what transports of Patience
I reached the stolid Bliss
To breathe my Blank without thee
Attest me this and this —
By that bleak exultation
I won as near as this
Thy privilege of dying
Abbreviate me this —
Tie the Strings to my Life, My Lord,
Then, I am ready to go!
Just a look at the Horses —
Rapid! That will do!
Put me in on the firmest side —
So I shall never fall —
For we must ride to the Judgment —
And it's partly, down Hill —
But never I mind the steeper —
...
Till Death — is narrow Loving —
The scantest Heart extant
Will hold you till your privilege
Of Finiteness — be spent —
But He whose loss procures you
Such Destitution that
Your Life too abject for itself
Thenceforward imitate —
Until — Resemblance perfect —
...