I HOLD a shadow's cold, soft hand, I look in eyes you cannot see, And words you cannot understand Come back, as from a distant land, -- The far-off land of Memory. Forgive me that I sit apart And hold the shadow's hand in mine, The past broods darkly in my heart, And bitter are the tears that start; I would not mix them with the wine. The hour will pass: the shade will go To his dark home, and swift forget, At rest the daisied turf below, The sun-warmed hours we used to know, And the old paths wherein we met. I am alive! Why should the dead With cold hand hold the quick in thrall? To his far place the shade has sped, Now Life with Life may gayly wed! . . . My heart misgives me, after all. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE LAWYERS KNOW TOO MUCH by CARL SANDBURG PLAINT OF THE DISGUSTED BRITON IN THE STATES by GEORGE SANTAYANA UPON THE DEATH OF MY EVER CONSTANT FRIEND DOCTOR DONNE, DEAN OF PAUL'S by HENRY KING (1592-1669) ONCE I PASS'D THROUGH A POPULOUS CITY by WALT WHITMAN THE ACHARNIANS: A PLEA FOR THE ENEMY by ARISTOPHANES PSALM 12. SALVUM ME FAC by OLD TESTAMENT BIBLE LOVE'S WORD by HARRY RANDOLPH BLYTHE BRITANNIA'S PASTORALS: BOOK 2. THE THIRD SONG by WILLIAM BROWNE (1591-1643) |