Poems (Ford)/Alone Forever

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ALONE FOREVER.
A mother stands, with breaking heart, And eyes that quench the light,Upon the shore where stood her boy, Now sailing out of sight;The wild waves seem to mock her woe, And say she'll see him never;From her wrung heart bursts forth the cry: Alone—alone forever!
A sad-faced mourner bends above A cherished idol's grave;Her agonizing prayers and tears All powerless were to save;The dull sound of each falling clod Her heart-strings seems to sever,And grief wrings forth the hopeless wail: Alone—alone forever!
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An orphan lays his homeless head Upon the churchyard mold,Where father, mother, sisters sleep, With pulseless hearts and cold;In this wide world the lips so loved Shall smile upon him never,And, clasping the cold earth, he sobs: Alone—alone forever!
The outcast, sick of sin and woe, Along the busy streetMay look in vain, with wistful eye, Some kindly face to meet;Mailed in self-justice, pity-proof, Proud Virtue spurns her ever,And from the foot of Mercy's throne Would hurl her down forever.
Friendship and love were idle words In this brief, changing life,Did they not span the gulf 'twixt heaven And earth's stern toil and strife,Were their bright links not knit too strong For Fate's rude hand to sever,Was there no land where loved ones meet To part no more forever.
Sad soul, that o'er life's weary way Still gropeth darkly on, ​Faint not! soon on thy tear-dimmed gaze An endless day shall dawn;The bands of clay that bind thee here Death's angel soon will sever,And in the glorious world beyond None cry—Alone forever!

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