SEALED

Man has been famed

Time out of mind

For having gone lamed

Or deaf or blind

Or weighted down

With loads that bind.

And eye and ear

Now curtained are

To see or hear

Rhyme in a star

Since you, my dear,

Have gone so far.

And limbs that go

And lips that speak

Are not to know

That which they seek....

Does Time jest so

In a madman's freak?

No, Time jests not,

Nor have I guessed

What has overshot

All bitter jest

Since first Man got

Fate's manifest.

Cold eyes averse

And stony brows

And the old curse

On Adam's house

Despite, my verse

This truth allows:

A clear light hidden,

A tower of air,

A voice unbidden,

A secret stair,

And dream long-chidden

That makes aware

Thought of a time —

Who shall say how?

Oh, burnished grime,

Star-studded plough,

Common coin of rhyme

Ringing golden now!