A FALL.
LEAVE him in peace (if Peace can rest Unscathed by such a restless neighbour). We come but on an empty quest,
An empty labour.
Leave him at peace. No feebler light Can pierce the shades that now surround him ; Yet where man weakly strains for sight God may have found him.
Leave him at peace. Perchance alone (Who knows ?) a sudden flash may waken Thoughts of some fair thing once his own, But now forsaken.
Ay, haply, fallen as he is, Some higher hope he still may covet, Gaze from the depths of his abyss To heights above it ;— Miss the strong heart that prompted him To many a prize of high endeavour, Miss all the glances, then, but dim, Now lost for ever ; And at his nobler will's demands For wages worthier of earning, Toil on, outstretching piteous hands, Of speechless yearning, Yet not to us. We may not lend, Or he accept., our frail assistance; But strive, upborne by one sole friend, Through the drear distance.
He cannot reach his former seat,
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