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Thy soul shall find itself alone

‘Mid dark thoughts of the gray tombstone —

Not one, of all the crowd, to pry

Into thine hour of secrecy

Aye!!

Be silent in that solitude,

Which is not loneliness — for then

The spirits of the dead who stood

In life before thee are again

In death around thee — and their will

Shall overshadow thee: be still

The night, tho’ clear, light shall frown —

And the stars shall look not down

From their high thrones in the heaven,

With light like Hope to mortals given

But their red orbs, without beam,

To thy weariness shall seem

As a burning and a fever

Which would cling to thee for ever

Now are thoughts thou shalt not banish,

Now are visions ne’er to vanish;

From thy spirit shall they pass

No more — like dew-drop from the grass

The breeze — the breath of God — is still —

And the mist upon the hill,

How it hangs upon the trees,

A mystery of mysteries!

Thy soul shall find itself alone

‘Mid dark thoughts of the gray tombstone —

Not one, of all the crowd, to pry

Into thine hour of secrecy

Aye!!

Spirits of the Dead!

Spirits of the Dead!

Spirits of the Dead!

The night, tho’ clear, light shall frown —

And the stars shall look not down

From their high thrones in the heaven,

With light like Hope to mortals given —

But their red orbs, without beam,

To thy weariness shall seem

As a burning and a fever

Which would cling to thee for ever.

For ever…