Higginson and Bigelow, comps. American Sonnets. 1891.
A ParableLouise (Chandler) Moulton (18351908)
I
And proffered goodly rooms wherein to dwell,
Hung round with tapestries, and garnished well,
That I might take mine ease and pleasure there;
And there I sought a refuge from despair,
A joy that should my life’s long gloom dispel;
But ominously through those halls there fell
Strange sounds, as of old music in the air.
And in the moonlight saw I, white and cold,
A presence radiant in the radiant space,
With smiling lips that never had grown old;
And then I knew the secret none had told,
And shivered there, an alien in that place.