“In a Gondola.”
O earth and sky make fair this eventide,1
In robes of royal splendour be ye drest !2
Gleam, paths of glory from the purple west,3
Where o’er the waters yonder boat doth glide,4
For there the Victor takes his homeward ride,5
There, crowned with God’s own flowers on brow
and breast,6
and breast,6
The Poet passes onward to his rest,—7
The Bridegroom goes to meet again his Bride
!8
A great world mourns him, where his body lies9
Shall many a poet-heart its homage pay10
To that Great Soul that upward wings its way,—11
While from the radiant heights of Paradise12
One leans with raptured greeting in her eyes,—13
“ The night is o’er, Beloved, it is Day !”14