Page:The complete poems of Emily Bronte.djvu/72

18 That every phase of earthly joy

Must always fade, and always cloy:

'This I foresaw—and would not chase

The fleeting treacheries;

But, with firm foot and tranquil face,

Held backward from that tempting race,

Gazed o'er the sands the waves efface,

To the enduring seas—

There cast my anchor of desire

Deep in unknown eternity;

Nor ever let my spirit tire,

With looking for what is to be!

'It is hope's spell that glorifies,

Like youth, to my maturer eyes,

All Nature's million mysteries,

The fearful and the fair—

Hope soothes me in the griefs I know;

She lulls my pain for others' woe,

And makes me strong to undergo

What I am born to bear.

Glad comforter! will I not brave,

Unawed, the darkness of the grave?

Nay, smile to hear Death's billows rave—

Sustained, my guide, by thee?

The more unjust seems present fate,

The more my spirit swells elate,

Strong, in thy strength, to anticipate

Rewarding destiny!