Classic Poem

A LONE — and yet I'm not alone —
My loved and lost are in the room,
They gather round me one by one,
Amidst the silence and the gloom.

Methinks they are so near me now,
They twine their fingers in my hair;
Their kisses are on lip and brow,
They charm away each pain and care.

And yet, ah! yet, those shadows dear,
That haunt me in the twilight grey,
And whisper softly in mine ear,
Do only come, then haste away.

No hand to touch, no kindly eye
To flash its gladness into mine,
With mystic might, that bringeth nigh
A joy akin to the Divine.

That thrilling touch of loving hands,
That none but kindred hearts can feel;
That glance that knits our spirit bands
In stronger bonds than chains of steel.

Oh! eye that tells of love and hate,
Whence bringest thou thine awful power,
To seal a breaking spirit's fate,
Or with such gladness to endower?

From thee how strangely doth the soul
Look forth her passion and her pain;
O'er thee the thunder cloud can roll
With lightning flash and stormy rain.

And even in my solitude,
Across the waste of years there streams
The light that in its loving mood
Shone from one eye in sunny beams.

And voices that with magic spell
Come from afar with silvery chime,
Peal forth my sorrow's passing knell,
And lead me fairer heights to climb.

There's music round me in my room
That hath my spirit deeply stirred;
Amidst the silence and the gloom
Sweet vesper songs I've faintly heard.

And though I named my passing pain,
The darkness of a starless cloud
The silvery moon shines forth again,
And opal shadows round me crowd.

And I will hush this yearning moan,
And quench my spirit's wild unrest
Alone — I cannot be alone,
When with such radiant visions blest.