Page:Carroll - Three Sunsets.djvu/42

SOLITUDE. Here may the silent tears I weep
 * Lull the vexed spirit into rest,

As infants sob themselves to sleep
 * Upon a mother's breast.

But when the bitter hour is gone,
 * And the keen throbbing pangs are still,

Oh sweetest then to couch alone
 * Upon some silent hill!

To live in joys that once have been,
 * To put the cold world out of sight,

And deck life's drear and barren scene
 * With hues of rainbow-light.

For what to man the gift of breath,
 * If sorrow be his lot below;

If all the day that ends in death
 * Be dark with clouds of woe?

Shall the poor transport of an hour
 * Repay long years of sore distress—

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