THE QUEST RENEWED

It is too soon, too soon, though time be brief,

Quite to forswear thy quest,

O Light, whose farewell dyes the falling leaf,

Fades thro’ the fading west.

Thou'rt flown too soon! I stretch my hands out still,

O, Light of Life, to Thee,

Who leav'st an Olivet in each far blue hill,

A sorrow on every sea.

It is too soon, here while the loud world roars

For wealth and power and fame,

Too soon quite to forget those other shores

Afar, from whence I came;

Too soon even to forget the first dear dream

Dreamed far away, when tears could freely flow;

And life seemed infinite, as that sky's great gleam

Deepened, to which I go;

Too soon even to forget the fluttering fire

And those old books beside the friendly hearth,

When time seemed endless as my own desire,

And angels walked our earth;

Too soon quite to forget amid the throng

What once the silent hills, the sounding beach

Taught me — where singing was the prize of song,

And heaven within my reach.

It is too soon amid the cynic sneers,

The sophist smiles, the greedy mouths and hands,

Quite to forget the light of those dead years

And my lost mountain-lands;

Too soon to lose that everlasting hope

( For so it seemed ) of youth in love's pure reign,

Though while I linger on this darkening slope

Nought seems quite worth the pain.

It is too soon for me to break that trust,

O, Light of Light, flown far past sun and moon,

Burn back thro’ this dark panoply of dust;

Or let me follow — soon.