Page:The Collected Poems of Dora Sigerson Shorter.djvu/35

16 Then he divided the house into two— I took a part. Now in my grief for his guidance I flew, Knowing his heart.

“At dawn he departed,” the little page said.— Time without end. Oh, on what broken wings laggard hours fled! He was my friend.

So the years passed me and shed in their flight Dust and decay; Ruin and rust on the old manor clings, Crumbling away.

Only my desolate chambers remain, Racked by the wind; All down the years go I seeking in vain— Never to find.

Vanished my love—my friend—not a cry! Leaving life's race, Like the bright meteors that slip in the sky. Leap into space.

The shadows are long, I crouch by the fire, Bitter with years, See all the shades of my former desire Ghostly through tears.

Down the long hall to me, weary of play, Comes my young hound; At my feet, tumbled, his dusty toy lay— What had he found?