Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). A Victorian Anthology, 1837–1895. 1895.
William Canton b. 1845Karma
I
And the tops of the beeches were lost in the mist, and the mist ringed us round;
All the low leaves were silvered with dew, and the herbage with dew was impearled;
And the turmoil of life was but vaguely divined through the mist as a sound.
Like a fruit when it colors,—and fragrance from flowers, and a scent from the soil;
And a lamb in the grass, in the flowers, in the dew, nibbled, whiter than snow;
And the white summer mist was a fold for us both against sorrow and toil.
But the lamb from the grass in its little green heaven never lifted its head:
It was innocent, whiter than snow; it was glad in the flowers, took no heed;
But the sound from the fields in the mist made me grieve as for one that is dead.
Saying: “Hark! once again in the flesh shall ye twain live your life for a span;
But since whiteness of snow is as nought in mine eyes without pity of heart,
Lo! the lamb shall be born as a wolf, with a wolf’s heart, but thou as a man!”