Page:Felicia Hemans in The New Monthly Magazine Volume 23 1828.pdf/9



Through long, long years to seek, to strive, to yearn For human love, and never quench that thirst; To pour the soul out, winning no return, O'er fragile idols, by delusion nursed— No more!

On things that fail us, reed by reed, to lean, To mourn the changed, the far away, the dead; To send our searching spirits through th' unseen, Intensely questioning for treasures fled— No more!

Words of triumphant music!—bear we on    The weight of life, the chain, th' ungenial air; Their deathless meaning, when our tasks are done, To learn in joy:—to struggle, to despair— No more!*