Classic Poem

WHEREIN HIS PASSION SEEMED ON POINT TO PROSPER WHEN DEATH INTERVENED

All my green years and all my golden flower
Had passed: and in a kind of compromise
With pain my heart grew gray — though the bright dyes
Of life had not yet dimmed their pride and power.
Already my dear enemy, hour by hour,
Was quieting suspicion in the guise
Of gay, yet timid trust, and darting eyes
In delicate mockery that made me cower.
The time drew near at hand when Love may dwell
With Chastity, and burning side by side
The lovers in each other may confide.
Death glared with envy on my citadel
Of hopes and happy fears, and at one stride
Loomed like a huge black shadow out of hell!