Grim "paper walls" of sternest doubt,
Willful, we misunderstand;
And yet, the enemy to rout,
May simply need my wave of hand;
A sunny smile, a little thing,
A power—a perfect talisman,
To ward away, as birds of wing,
The noisome vapors of earth's ban.
Oh, when memory bears set pallid lips,
When waxen hands lie limp and low
Beneath a sodden mound, there sips
Remorse, who dines at courts of woe,
Willful, we misunderstand;
And yet, the enemy to rout,
May simply need my wave of hand;
A sunny smile, a little thing,
A power—a perfect talisman,
To ward away, as birds of wing,
The noisome vapors of earth's ban.
Oh, when memory bears set pallid lips,
When waxen hands lie limp and low
Beneath a sodden mound, there sips
Remorse, who dines at courts of woe,
And gluts himself on misery.
If we had only known!
But 'tis not given us here to see,
Till later days have flown;
And yet we know, as know we must.
You dear, dear dead, if you could speak.
Would clasp our hands in perfect trust,
And whisper with white lips, and meek.
"I do, forgive, as He forgives."
Believing this, tho' heart is sore,
We courage take, for still there lives
The sentiment feeling o'er and o'er.
If we had only known!
But 'tis not given us here to see,
Till later days have flown;
And yet we know, as know we must.
You dear, dear dead, if you could speak.
Would clasp our hands in perfect trust,
And whisper with white lips, and meek.
"I do, forgive, as He forgives."
Believing this, tho' heart is sore,
We courage take, for still there lives
The sentiment feeling o'er and o'er.
—66—
