John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–1892). The Poetical Works in Four Volumes. 1892.
Poems by Elizabeth H. WhittierNight and Death
T
Through old pines afar;
The drear night is falling
Without moon or star.
The bold shore behind,
And the moan of its ebbing
Keeps time with the wind.
A spectre, I pass
Where, like moaning of broken hearts,
Surges the grass!
’T is white as a shroud;
Like a pall, hangs above it
The low drooping cloud.
And lull of the wind?
’T is the sound of the pine-leaves
And sea-waves behind.
I stand by her now;
And her pulse beats no quicker,
Nor crimsons her brow.
When last in my own,
Lies patient and folded,
And colder than stone.
To-night in the gale,
So she in her beauty
Sank mournful and pale.
Such words by her grave,
As I would not have spoken
Her last breath to save.
In heaven might tell,
While mine would be whispered
With shudders in hell!
Who bore her to bliss
Shut out from her new life
The vision of this;
And speak of my love,
She would leave for my darkness
Her glory above.