THE Past walks here, noiseless, unasked, alone; Knockers are silent, and beside each stone Grass peers, unharmed by lagging steps and slow That with the dark and dawn pass to and fro. The Past walks here, unseen forevermore, Save by some heart who, in her half-closed door, Looks forth and hears the great pulse beat afar, -- The hum and thrill and all the sounds that are, And listening remembers, half in fear, As a forgotten tune reechoes near, Or from some lilac bush a breath blows sweet Through the unanswering dusk, the voiceless street, -- Looks forth and sighs, -- with candle held above, -- "It is too late for laughter, -- or for love." | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A BANJO SONG by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON SONNET: 50 by GEORGE SANTAYANA CHRISTMAS AT SEA by ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON THE WALLABOUT MARTYRS by WALT WHITMAN WRITTEN ON THE DEATH OF OUR BELOVED GENERAL STONEWALL JACKSON by CAROLINE AUGUSTA BALL THE SIGHING TIME by EDMUND CHARLES BLUNDEN DOWN THE RIVER by BARCROFT HENRY BOAKE |