The Verge of Tears

THERE was a moment when I could have wept,
Wept from a full heart: all the cords grew tight
That in their orbits move the spheres of sight;
Across my brain the blind sirocco swept ;
My throat ached, and a withering palsy crept
Upon my tongue, that then I had not might
To fashion forth a sound, howe’er so slight.
Still and appalled my soul within me kept.

Thou who hast stood upon the verge of tears,
Needs not I tell thee of that desolate bourn,
But only this : when thou shalt reach the verge,
Be thou not other than thy human peers ;
Weep then, oh weep ! lest tears unshed return,
And be, long afterwards, thy spirit’s stinging scourge !