THE WIND OF DEATH.

THE wind of death, that softly blows
The last warm petal from the rose,
The last dry leaf from off the tree,
To-night has come to breathe on me.

There was a time I learned to hate

     As weaker mortals learn to love;
The passion held me fixed as fate,
Burned in my veins early and late;
     But now a wind falls from above—

The wind of death, that silently

Enshroudeth friend and enemy!

There was a time my soul was thrilled
     By keen ambition’s whip and spur;
My master forced me where he willed.
And with his power my life was filled:

     But now the old-time pulses stir [Page 154]

How faintly in the wind of death,
That bloweth lightly as a breath.

And once, but once, at Love’s dear feet
     I yielded strength and life and heart;

His look turned bitter into sweet,
His smile made all the world complete;
     The wind blows loves like leaves apart—

The wind of death, that darkly blows
Each separate ship of human woes

Far out on a mysterious sea,
I turn, I turn my face to thee. [Page 155]