Poems (Sill)/Truth at Last
OES a man ever give up hope, I wonder,—Face the grim fact, seeing it clear as day?When Bennen saw the snow slip, heard its thunderLow, louder, roaring round him, felt the speedGrow swifter as the avalanche hurled downward,Did he for just one heart-throb—did he indeedKnow with all certainty, as they swept onward,There was the end, where the crag dropped away?Or did he think, even till they plunged and fell, Some miracle would stop them? Nay, they tellThat he turned round, face forward, calm and pale,Stretching his arms out toward his native valeAs if in mute, unspeakable farewell,And so went down.—'T is something, if at last,Though only for a flash, a man may seeClear-eyed the future as he sees the past,From doubt, or fear, or hope's illusion free;
TRUTH AT LAST.
OES a man ever give up hope, I wonder,—Face the grim fact, seeing it clear as day?When Bennen saw the snow slip, heard its thunderLow, louder, roaring round him, felt the speedGrow swifter as the avalanche hurled downward,Did he for just one heart-throb—did he indeedKnow with all certainty, as they swept onward,There was the end, where the crag dropped away?Or did he think, even till they plunged and fell, Some miracle would stop them? Nay, they tellThat he turned round, face forward, calm and pale,Stretching his arms out toward his native valeAs if in mute, unspeakable farewell,And so went down.—'T is something, if at last,Though only for a flash, a man may seeClear-eyed the future as he sees the past,From doubt, or fear, or hope's illusion free;