In the Wilderness

How beautiful was earth that day!The far blue sky had not a cloud;The river rippled on its way,Singing sweet songs aloud.

The delicate beauty of the springPervaded all the murmuring air;It touched with grace the meanest thingAnd made it very fair.

The blithe birds darted to and fro,The bees were humming round the hive,So happy in that radiant glow!So glad to be alive!

And I? My heart was calmly blest.I knew afar the war-cloud rolledLurid and dark, in fierce unrest,Laden with woes untold.

But on that day my fears were stilled;The very air I breathed was joy;The rest and peace my soul that filledHad nothing of alloy.

I took the flower he loved the best,The arbutus,—fairest child of May,—And with its perfume half oppressed,Twined many a lovely spray

About his picture on the wall;His eyes were on me all the while,And when I had arranged them allI thought he seemed to smile.

O Christ, be pitiful! That hourSaw him fall bleeding on the sod;And while I toyed with leaf and flowerHis soul went up to God!

For him one pang—and then a crown;For him the laurels heroes wear;For him a name whose long renownAges shall onward bear.

For me the cross without the crown;For me the drear and lonely life;O God! My sun, not his, went downOn that red field of strife.