ILICET
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FRIENDS,
let him rest
In midnight now.
Desire has gone
On the weary quest
With aching brow;
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5 |
Until
the dawn,
Friends, let him rest.
With a boy’s desire
He set the cup
To his lips to drink;
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10 |
The
ruddy fire
Was lifted up
At day’s cool brink,
With a boy’s desire.
The heart of a boy!
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15 |
He tasted
life,
And the bitter sting
Of sorrow in joy,
Failure in strife,
Was pain to wring
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20 |
| The
heart of a boy.
In a childish whim,
He spilled the wine
Upon the floor,—
In beads on the brim
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25 |
Was
a glitter of brine,—
Then, out at the door
In a childish whim!
Out of the storm,
In the flickering light,
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30 |
A broken
glass
Lies on our warm
Heathstone to-night,
While shadows pass
Out of the storm.
|
35 |
Friends, let him rest
In midnight now.
Desire has gone
On the weary quest
With aching brow:
|
40 |
Until
the dawn,
Friends, let him rest.
In sorrow and shame
For the craven heart,
In manhood’s breast
|
45 |
With
valor’s name,
Let him depart
Unto his rest
In sorrow and shame.
In after years
|
50 |
God,
who bestows
Or withholds the valor,
Shall wipe all tears—
Haply, who knows?—
From his face’s pallor
|
55 |
| In after
years.
He could not learn
To fight wit his peers
In sturdier fashion;
Let him return
|
60 |
Through
the night with tears,
Stung with the passion
He could not learn.
All-bountiful, calm,
Where the great stars burn,
|
65 |
And
the spring bloom smothers
The night with balm,
Let him return
To the silent Mother’s
All-bountiful calm.
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70 |
Friends, let him rest.
In midnight now.
Desire has gone
On the weary quest
With aching brow;
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75 |
Until
the dawn,
Friends, let him rest.
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