Star over Bethlehem - Agatha Christie [27]
(And Something that walks in the wood).
Skirling and whirling, the leaves are alive!
Driven by Death in a devilish dance!
Shrieking and swaying of terrified trees!
A wind that goes sobbing and shivering by …
And Fear—naked Fear passes out of the wood!
The Road of Dreams
The Road of Dreams leads up the Hill
So straight and white
And bordered wide
With almond trees on either side
In rosy flush of Spring’s delight!
Against the frown
Of branches brown
The blossoms laugh and gleam,
Within my dream …
There is no Joy like Joy in Dreams …
Up—up the Hill
My flying feet
Go magically winged and fleet
And like a bird that flies at will!
So shall I find
What God designed
There—where the Open Country lies
Before my eyes …
There is no Fear like Fear in Dreams …
Which, swift as Death
Pursuing fast,
Gains on me, till I feel at last
Upon my neck its icy breath …
The Dream is dead!
The Joy is fled!
The Road of Dreams
Leads up the Hill and faintly gleams …
Oh! Dream most fond,
What lies beyond?
Beyond the Hill …
Heritage
THE South Wind comes a-whispering, a-whispering from the Sea,
And tells of waters cool and clear,
Of far off strands
With golden sands
And Halcyon days to be.
And oh! there’s life a-stirring at the very heart of me
That listens to the South Wind, to the South Wind from the Sea.
The Forest come a-murmuring, a-murmuring all around,
And speaks of magic dark and sweet,
Of charms untold,
Enchantments old,
Of nymphs with hair unbound …
And oh! the life a-stirring, it quivers at the sound,
It quivers at the murmur of the Forest all around.
There’s a Voice that comes a-calling, a-calling from the Lea:
“Who walks with Me in wind and storm,
He knows no rest
But only zest
God’s great wide world to see!”
And oh! the life that’s stirring, it struggles to be free
As it hears the Voice a-calling, a-calling from the Lea!
The Wanderer
IN the dark woods I shall find peace!
There shall I learn at last
Forgetfulness!
Or, if that may not be,
I will remember what is past
Most joyfully!
On the high hills where once I went,
I shall not come again
Triumphantly!
But it remains for me
To laugh into the face of pain
Defiantly!
By the deep seas I dwelt content,
There, by your side,
In harmony …
Now there is left for me
Naught but to face the incoming tide
Courageously!
In the dark grave there lies release,
There shall I sleep anew
Nor wake again …
And if that shall not be,
I will remember only you,
And live as you would have me do
Most valiantly!
The Dream City
I KNOW a city where black lions dwell
And guard a fountain in a giant square.
The City rises round it, white and proud.
The streets are broad and wide—and you and I
Walk there together, gladly, side by side;
We go in silence—speak no word, but each
The other’s thought has understood and heard …
Our feet seem not to touch the ground, so swift
And fleet we speed together on our way.
Between us there is understanding. Ay!
And all around is Beauty—also Peace …
It is a dream … But oh! when Life shall cease,
And many thousand years have passed away,
We may be born again, perchance, and dwell
In that great city built by mightier men
Who toiling through long centuries, have learnt
To banish Pain … It may be so—who knows …?
It may be you and I shall live again …
A Passing
A WHIRLING of dead leaves,
A gathering in of sheaves,
The stripping of the trees,
The ebbing of the seas,
The shifting of the sands,
A vision of far lands …
A sundering and a thundering
Of prison bars that fall!
The answer to a call
New destiny to shape …
A silence … and a breath …
We call it—Death!
Nor dare to say—Escape!