Stasis

I weep an old man's tears

So quickly do I age,

Old beyond my numbered years

And on this dimming stage

I walk by sorrow hailed

In the uncompassed night,

The will to seek abruptly failed

As failed the inner sight.

All joy has fled the heart

As my beloved's breath,

Dying I held her body close

And felt the chill of death

Upon those cherished limbs,

Yet could not feel her pain

As she traversed alone those spheres

Denied to mortal men.

And now the iris bloom

And fragrant peonies flush

The garden is a wonder-loom,

Every tree and bush

A pedestal for song.

In this enamoured air

One cannot hold a sadness long

Or burden of despair.