After War-time. <br /> <br />O LIFE, dear life, with sunbeam finger touching <br />This poor damp brow, or flying freshly by <br />On wings of mountain wind, or tenderly <br />In links of visionary embraces clutching <br />Me from the yawning grave-- <br />Can I believe thou yet hast power to save? <br /> <br />I see thee, O my life, like phantom giant <br />Stand on the hill-top, large against the dawn, <br />Upon the night-black clouds a picture drawn <br />Of aspect wonderful, with hope defiant, <br />And so majestic grown <br />I scarce discern the image as my own. <br /> <br />Those mists furl off, and through the vale resplendent <br />I see the pathway of my years prolong; <br />Not without labor, yet for labor strong; <br />Not without pain, but pain whose touch transcendent <br />By love's divinest laws <br />Heart unto heart, and all hearts upwards, draws. <br /> <br />O life, O love, your diverse tones bewildering <br />Make silence, like two meeting waves of sound; <br />I dream of wifely white arms, lisp of children-- <br />Never of ended wars, <br />Save kisses scaling honorable scars. <br /> <br />No more of battles! Save the combat glorious <br />To which all earth and heaven may witness stand; <br />The sword of the Spirit taking in my hand <br />I shall go forth, since in new fields victorious <br />The King yet grants that I <br />His servant live, or His good soldier die.<br /><br />Dinah Maria Mulock Craik<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/life-returning/
