HONOUR'S MARTYR
The moon is full this winter
night;
The stars are clear, though
few;
And every window glistens
bright
With leaves of frozen dew.
The sweet moon through your
lattice gleams,
And lights your room like
day;
And there you pass, in happy
dreams,
The peaceful hours away!
While I, with effort hardly
quelling
The anguish in my breast,
Wander about the silent
dwelling,
And cannot think of rest.
The old clock in the gloomy
hall
Ticks on, from hour to hour;And
every time its measured call
Seems lingering slow and
slower:
And, oh, how slow that keen-eyed
star
Has tracked the chilly gray!
What, watching yet! how
very far
The morning lies away!
Without your chamber door
I stand;
Love, are you slumbering
still?
My cold heart, underneath
my hand,
Has almost ceased to thrill.
Bleak, bleak the east wind
sobs and sighs,
And drowns the turret bell,
Whose sad note, undistinguished,
dies
Unheard, like my farewell!
To-morrow, Scorn will blight
my name,
And Hate will trample me,
Will load me with a coward's
shame--
A traitor's perjury.
False friends will launch
their covert sneers;
True friends will wish me
dead;
And I shall cause the bitterest
tears
That you have ever shed.
The dark deeds of my outlawed
race
Will then like virtues shine;
And men will pardon their
disgrace,
Beside the guilt of mine.
For, who forgives the accursed
crime
Of dastard treachery?
Rebellion, in its chosen
time,
May Freedom's champion be;
Revenge may stain a righteous
sword,
It may be just to slay;
But, traitor, traitor,--from
THAT word
All true breasts shrink
away!
Oh, I would give my heart
to death,
To keep my honour fair;
Yet, I'll not give my inward
faith
My honour's NAME to spare!
Not even to keep your priceless
love,
Dare I, Beloved, deceive;
This treason should the
future prove,
Then, only then, believe!
I know the path I ought to
go
I follow fearlessly,
Inquiring not what deeper
woe
Stern duty stores for me.
So foes pursue, and cold
allies
Mistrust me, every one:
Let me be false in others'
eyes,
If faithful in my own. |