Poems and sonnets of Louise Chandler Moulton / [by Louise Chandler Moulton] [electronic text]

LOVER AND FRIEND HAST THOU PUT FAR FROM ME.

PSALM lxxxviii. 18.

I HEAR the soft September rain intone, And cheerful crickets chirping in the grass— I bow my head, I, who am all alone: The light winds see, and shiver as they pass.

No other thing is so bereft as I,— The rain-drops fill, and mingle as they fall,— The chirping cricket knows his neighbor nigh,— Leaves sway responsive to the light wind's call.

But Friend and Lover Thou hast put afar, And left me only Thy great, solemn sky,— I try to pierce beyond the farthest star To search Thee out, and find Thee ere I die;

But dim my vision is, or Thou dost hide Thy sacred splendor from my yearning eyes: Be pitiful, O God, and open wide To me, bereft, Thy heavenly Paradise.

Give me one glimpse of that sweet, far-off rest — Then I can bear Earth's solitude again; My soul, returning from that heavenly quest, Shall smile, triumphant, at each transient pain.

Nor would I vex my heart with grief or strife, Though Friend and Lover Thou hast put afar, If I could see, through my worn tent of Life, The steadfast shining of Thy morning star.