Classic Poem

A child, I lay upon my bed,
Craving the light.
The darkness caverned me with dread —
Vast, merciless the night.
Sudden a sound that broke the terror spell,
A rustle on the stair, a creaking floor,
The dear maternal step I knew so well,
And then a rush of radiance at the door!
But ere my childish passion of relief
Could vent — " Hush, go to sleep! " — her firm command.
The door closed cruelly upon my grief;
The saving light had vanished in her hand.

A woman, yearning for illumining
Along the bitter path I trod alone,
I prayed impassion'dly the fates might bring
Some radiance from the great unknown.
A desolation blacker than the night
Of childish fears was mine, when lo, one day —
All my starved being reaching for the light —
Love's miracle spilled stars upon my way!
But as I gazed
My whole life thrilling to the gold —
Joy-blinded, bliss-submerged — amazed,
I saw the magic pass. The dream was told.

O God! Are not we mortals worthy love,
That it should shine on us such little while;
Just a soul's gasp — heaven's curtain rent above,
Pouring upon our sight an angel's smile —
And then — " Hush, hush — not yet! " the dread command;
The smothered glory and the vanished spark;
The loved lamp taken by an unseen hand,
Leaving us sobbing in the dark?