Variations on an Old Theme

OH, what a night for a soul to go!
The wind a hawk, and the fields in snow;
No screening cover of leaves in the wood,
Nor a star abroad the way to show.

Do they part in peace, — soul with its clay ?
Tenant and landlord, what do they say ?
Was it sigh of sorrow or of release
I heard just now as the face turned gray ?

What if, aghast on the shoreless main
Of Eternity, it sought again
The shelter and rest of the isle of Time,
And knocked at the door of its house of pain!

On the tavern hearth the embers glow,
The laugh is deep, and the flagons low;
But without, the wind and the trackless sky,
And night at the gates where a soul would go.

SEE how the dwelling trembles to its fall, —
The wondrous house of life, now leased to death
How softly in and out moves the light breath,
And gently in the tender-memoried hall
Speaks the loved owner, soon beyond recall !
In the fast-closing windows glimmereth
A dying glory, as when sunset saith
Good-night, sweet dreams, and faith and hope to all.

Thus, full of enterprise and joyous trust,
Perched on a sill, serene and plumed for flight,
A dove will pause, while ruin round it lies.
So, too, dear soul, although thy house be dust,
Yet thou thyself, now free as morning light,
Canst find another home, ’neath other skies.