Spirits of the Dead

Thy soul shall find itself alone
Mid dark thoughts of the gray tomb stone
Not one, of all the crowd, to pry
Into thine hour of secrecy:

Be silent in that solitude,
Which is not loneliness for then
The spirits of the dead who stood
In life before thee are again
In death around thee and their will
Shall overshadow thee: be still.

The night tho clear shall frown
And the stars shall look not down,
From their high thrones in the heaven,
With light like Hope to mortals given
But their red orbs, without beam,
To thy weariness shall seem
As a burning and a fever
Which would cling to thee for ever.

Now are thoughts thou shalt not banish
Now are visions never to vanish
From thy spirit shall they pass
No more like dew drop from the grass.

The breeze the breath of God is still
And the mist upon the hill
Shadowy shadowy yet unbroken,
Is a symbol and a token
How it hangs upon the trees,
A mystery of mysteries!