A Life's Parallels
Never on this side of the grave again,
On this side of the river,
On this side of the garner of the grain.
Never,? 5 Ever while time flows on and on and on,
That narrow noiseless river,
Ever while corn bows heavy-headed, wan,
Ever,? Never despairing, often fainting, rueing,
10 But looking back, ah never!
Faint yet pursuing, faint yet still pursuing
Ever.
1881
From Later Life 17
Something this foggy day, a something which
Is neither of this fog nor of today,
Has set me dreaming of the winds that play
Past certain cliffs, along one certain beach,
5 And turn the topmost edge of waves to spray:
Ah pleasant pebbly strand so far away,
So out of reach while quite within my reach, As out of reach as India or Cathay!0 China (poetic) I am sick of where I am and where I am not,
io I am sick of foresight and of memory,
I am sick of all I have and all I see, I am sick of self, and there is nothing new;
Oh weary impatient patience of my lot!?
Thus with myself: how fares it, Friends, with you?
Cardinal Newman1
In the grave, whither thou goest2 O weary Champion of the Cross, lie still:
Sleep thou at length the all-embracing sleep:
Long was thy sowing-day, rest now and reap:
1. Written on the occasion of the death of John 2. Ecclesiastes 9.10. Henry Newman (1 801 -1890).
.
WILLIAM MORRIS / 1481
Thy fast was long, feast now thy spirit's fill.
5
Yea, take thy fill of love, because thy will
Chose love not in the shallows but the deep:
Thy tides were springtides, set against the neap3 Of calmer souls: thy flood rebuked their rill.? small stream Now night has come to thee?please God, of rest:
10 So some time must it come to every man;
To first and last, where many last are first.4
Now fixed and finished thine eternal plan,
Thy best has done its best, thy worst its worst:
Thy best its best, Please God, thy best its best. 1890
Sleeping at Last
Sleeping at last, the trouble & tumult over,
Sleeping at last, the struggle & horror past,
Cold & white out of sight of friend & of lover
Sleeping at last. 5 No more a tired heart downcast or overcast,
No more pangs that wring or shifting fears that hover,
Sleeping at last in a dreamless sleep locked fast. Fast asleep. Singing birds in their leafy cover
Cannot wake her, nor shake her the gusty blast,
