In Memoriam A. H. H. Obiit MDCCCXXXIII: 3. O Sorrow, cruel

O Sorrow, cruel fellowship, O Priestess in the vaults of Death, O sweet and bitter in a breath, What whispers from thy lying lip? "The stars," she whispers, "blindly run; A web is wov'n across the sky; From out waste places comes a cry, And murmurs from the dying sun: "And all the phantom, Nature, stands-- With all the music in her tone, A hollow echo of my own,-- A hollow form with empty hands."

And shall I take a thing so blind, Embrace her as my natural good; Or crush her, like a vice of blood, Upon the threshold of the mind?