Stedman and Hutchinson, comps. A Library of American Literature:
An Anthology in Eleven Volumes. 1891.
Vols. IX–XI: Literature of the Republic, Part IV., 1861–1889
Lifes Answer
By Milicent Washburn Shinn (18581940)“O
“How bitter is thine aching!
The happy winds are waking,
The linnets nest o’erhead;
And thou art like to breaking.
“Heart’s dearest, unto thee
I bring my misery,
And thou shalt healing shed,
And set my spirit free.”
He dared the seas that roll
Blackly ’twixt soul and soul:
Lost, drowning, sore dismayed,
All baffled of his goal,
“Ah, woe is me!” he cried,
“To find no love so wide
That it may clasp my mood,
Or close as grief abide.
At love’s or friendship’s door
Shall knock in vain no more;
For I will give it wings
Far, far from me to soar.
“Divinest, unto thee
I bring my misery,
And thou shalt healing shed;
Set thou my spirit free.”
Unmeet its wings to bear
One narrow human care,—
Wings wont to soar so strong
Under a world’s despair.
“Unto the wide world’s smart,
Answers the wide world’s heart;
Unheard the cries abide
Of each small soul apart.
“Most merciful, to thee
I bring my misery.
Be there no healing shed;
Clasp but my pain and me.
Strong silence, like a sea,
Flow deep above my head.”