Page:The Dream of Pythagoras and Other Poems.djvu/40

 And shook them on his lip; I gave my fruit

To streDgthen the faint stranger, and I sang

Soft echoes to the winds, living in nought

For self; but in all things for others' good.

The storm arose, and patiently I bore

And yielded to his tyranny; I bow'd

My tenderest foliage to his angry blast,

And sujffer'd him to tear it without sigh,

And scatter on the waste my all of wealth.

The billowing sands o'erwhelm'd me, yet I stood

Silent beneath them; so they roll'd away.

And rending up my roots, left me a wreck

Upon the wilderness.

" ' Twas thus, my sons,

I dream'd my spirit wander'd, till at length,

As desolate 1 mourn'd my helpless woe,

My guardian angel took me to his heart.

And thus he said: ' Spirit, well tried and true!

Conqueror I have made thee, and prepar'd

For human life; behold! I wave the palm

Of immortality before thine eyes:

'Tis thine; it shall be thine, if thou aright

Acquit thee of the part which yet remains,

And teach what thou hast leam'd.'