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10 Lyrics and Legends,
I kept so still within my place
That though I did not see a face,
I heard each breath that passed my way,
And knew what every heart did say.
I knew their hopes, I knew their fears,
I heard their laughter and their tears;
But over all I heard a plaint,
Now lifted high, now falling faint,—
A plaint of doubt, and doubting dread;
A questioning, hungry cry that spread
From heart to heart until I heard,
Sometimes, no other sound or word.
And all the while the rootlets grew
About my bed ; from old and new
I felt the quickening pulse and breath,
The throes of life that conquered death.
