ILICET
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|
FRIENDS,
let him rest
In midnight now.
Desire has gone
On the weary quest
With aching brow; |
5 |
Until
the dawn,
Friends, let him rest.
With
a boy's desire
He set the cup
To his lips to drink;
|
10 |
The
ruddy fire
Was lifted up
At day's cool brink,
With a boy's desire.
The
heart of a boy!
|
15 |
He tasted
life,
And the bitter sting
Of sorrow in joy,
Failure in strife,
Was pain to wring |
20 |
The
heart of a boy.
In
a childish whim,
He spilled the wine
Upon the floor,—
In beads on the brim
|
25 |
Was
a glitter of brine,—
Then, out at the door
In a childish whim!
Out
of the storm,
In the flickering light,
|
30 |
A broken
glass
Lies on our warm
Hearthstone 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 with 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 |
The
night with balm,
Let him return
To the silent Mother's
All-bountiful calm.
Friends,
let him rest
|
70 |
In midnight
now.
Desire has gone
On the weary quest
With aching brow:
Until the dawn, |
75 |
| Friends,
let him rest. |
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