Littell's Living Age/Volume 169/Issue 2184/From "L'Annee Terrible"

"Moi-même, un jour, après la mort, je connaîtrai."

shall one day, after death, be taught My unknown destiny; And bend o'er you from realms celestial, fraught With dawn and mystery.

Shall learn, why exiled; why a shroud was thrown Over your childhood's sense; And why my justice and my love alone To all seem an offence.

Shall learn why, as you gaily carolled songs, O'er my funereal head, — Mine, to whom pity for all woe belongs, — Such gloomy darkness spread.

Why upon me the ruthless shadows lie; Why all these hecatombs; Why endless winter wraps me round; and why I flourish over tombs.

Why such wars, tears, and misery should be; Why things with grief replete; Why God willed me to be a cypress-tree, While you were roses sweet.