From childhood’s eve I have not been
As others were—I have not seen
As others saw—and yet I read
Your words and see the common thread—
From that same source I too have sampled—
Our souls likewise were trampled—
For all we lov’d—we lov’d alone—
(Divided alone by dusks and dawn
Were our most stormy lives thus drawn—)
From ev’ry depth of good and ill and lies and oath
The mystery which binds us both—
From the torrent, or the fountain—
From the red cliff of the mountain—
(I too have felt that flow
Oft swept and tossed despite the glow)
Of the sun that ’round us roll’d—
And held us firm in time’s tight fold—
From the lightning in the sky
As it pass’d you flying by—
(I too have heard the mighty peal
And awed at such unreserv’d zeal—)
From the thunder, and the storm—
And the cloud that took the form
(When the rest of Heaven was blue)
Of a demon in your view—
That unconquerable constraint—
My soul could scarce acquaint
Itself to gasp at such a burden take—
A lesser man might sooner break—
I yearn that my Redeemer might
Permit this child a passing right
To part the veil and pass on through—
If not myself, then a word or two—
I’d pound my fist upon the knobless door
And race across the gleaming floor
Of the mansion He made for writers—
That blessed pavilion of flowers—
I would embrace you, my Brother,
And relieve you of mortal wonder—
Although the sky be clear and blue—
I have seen that demon too—
If only your exhausted heart
And mine hadn’t been thus set apart—
