Page:The Man Who Died Twice (1924).djvu/73

 Till in oblivion there might then be peace;

And so at first there was—if there be peace

In the complete oblivion of achievement.

Instead of bursting as he prayed it might,

And ending him with one destroying blast

Of unendurable fulfilment, slowly

And imperceptibly that cloud of sound

Became a singing mist, which, having melted,

Revealed a fire that he had always felt,

But never known before. No lightning shaft

Of blinding and immediate dissolution

Was yet impending: there was only joy,

And a vast wonder that all this had been

So near him for so long. Smiling and still,

He listened gratefully. It had come at last;

And those far sent celestial messengers