Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900.
By Martha GilbertDickinson1567 Separation
T
Some with fond, grieving eyes that overflow,
Some with brave hands that strengthen as they go;
Ah yes, I know—I know.
That fall in silence, like an evil spell,
Without one wistful message of farewell;
Ah yes, too hard to tell.
One token for the days when life shall miss
A spirit from the world of vanished bliss;
Ah no—not even this.
Their skyward songs, to journey with the sun,—
Nor folded hands to show that life is done;
Ah no, for life is young.
No centuries of absence to divide,—
Just soul-space, standing daily side by side;
Ah, wiser to have died.
Yet had one over universes flown,
So far each heart hath from the other grown,
Alone were less alone.