Part 8

I knew it, and he knew it, I believe, But silence held us alien to the end; And I have now no magic to retrieve That year, to stop that hunger for a friend.

CORTÈGE

Four o’clock this afternoon, Fifteen hundred miles away: So it goes, the crazy tune, So it pounds and hums all day.

Four o’clock this afternoon, Earth will hide them far away: Best they go to go so soon, Best for them the grave to-day.

Had she gone but half so soon, Half the world had passed away. Four o’clock this afternoon, Best for them they go to-day.

Four o’clock this afternoon Love will hide them deep, they say; Love that made the grave so soon, Fifteen hundred miles away.

Four o’clock this afternoon-- Ah, but they go slow to-day: Slow to suit my crazy tune, Past the need of all we say.

Best it came to come so soon, Best for them they go to-day: Four o’clock this afternoon, Fifteen hundred miles away.

THE WIFE OF PALISSY

Yes, you have it; I can see. Beautiful?... Dear, look at me! Look and let my shame confess Triumph after weariness. Beautiful? Ah, yes.

Lift it where the beams are bright; Hold it where the western light, Shining in above my bed, Throws a glory on your head, Now it is all said.

All there was for me to say From the first until to-day. Long denied and long deferred, Now I say it in one word-- Now; and you have heard.

Life would have its way with us, And I’ve called it glorious: For I know the glory now And I read it on your brow. You have shown me how.

I can feel your cheeks all wet, But your eyes will not forget: In the frown you cannot hide I can read where faith and pride Are not satisfied.

But the word was, two should live: Two should suffer--and forgive: By the steep and weary way, For the glory of the clay, Two should have their day.

We have toiled and we have wept For the gift the gods have kept: Clashing and unreconciled When we might as well have smiled, We have played the child.

But the clashing is all past, And the gift is yours at last. Lift it--hold it high again!... Did I doubt you now and then? Well, we are not men.

Never mind; we know the way,-- And I do not need to stay. Let us have it well confessed: You to triumph, I to rest. That will be the best.

TWILIGHT SONG

Through the shine, through the rain We have shared the day’s load; To the old march again We have tramped the long road; We have laughed, we have cried, And we’ve tossed the King’s crown; We have fought, we have died, And we’ve trod the day down. So it’s lift the old song Ere the night flies again, Where the road leads along Through the shine, through the rain.

Long ago, far away, Came a sign from the skies; And we feared then to pray For the new sun to rise: With the King there at hand, Not a child stepped or stirred-- Where the light filled the land And the light brought the word; For we knew then the gleam Though we feared then the day, And the dawn smote the dream Long ago, far away.

But the road leads us all, For the King now is dead; And we know, stand or fall, We have shared the day’s bread. We can laugh down the dream, For the dream breaks and flies; And we trust now the gleam, For the gleam never dies;-- So it’s off now the load, For we know the night’s call, And we know now the road And the road leads us all.

Through the shine, through the rain, We have wrought the day’s quest; To the old march again We have earned the day’s rest; We have laughed, we have cried, And we’ve heard the King’s groans; We have fought, we have died, And we’ve burned the King’s bones, And we lift the old song Ere the night flies again, Where the road leads along Through the shine, through the rain.

The Riverside Press

_Electrotyped and printed by H. O. Houghton & Co. Cambridge, Mass., U. S. A._

Transcriber’s Notes

• Italics represented with surrounding _underscores_.

• Small caps converted to ALL CAPS.

• Obvious typographic errors and omissions silently corrected.

• Variations in hyphenation kept as in the original.

• New original cover art included with this eBook is granted to the public domain.