Page:Zinzendorff and Other Poems.pdf/210

210  Innocence need not fear. Go to thy sleep 'Mid Ocean's sunless flowers. The lullaby Of the mermaiden shall be thy requiem, And the white coral thou didst love to mix Among thy penciled shells, shall lightly rear A canopy above thee. Amber drops Shall gem thy golden tresses, and thy ear No more the echoes of the warring main Appalled shall hear. Thy God shall guard thy rest.

 

it on the blast. There is a sound Of heavy pinions on the midnight cloud, A wailing riseth from the strong man's couch: He with the busiest of the throng did mix When morning shone, and now ere set of sun, The gasp and death-cry warn thee where he lies, —Death treadeth on the heels of buoyant health, Leaving no interval for shrift or prayer. The hearse doth meet us wheresoe'er we turn, And pass unheeded, like a household thing. The angel of Destruction walks his round, At noon-day in the city, and the tomb Doth gather riches till its treasure-vaults O'erflow. Around their mournful board at eve, The stricken and diminished circle draw, Each on the other fixing that sad glance Which asks, "who next?" While every heart responds, 