Subject: (de)parting 'vr'
Lift not the painted veil which those who live
Call Life; though unreal shapes be pictured there
And it but mimic all we would believe
With colours idly spread, -- behind, lurk Fear
And Hope, twin Destinies, who ever weave
Their shadows o'er the chasm, sightless and drear.
I knew one who had lifted it . . . he sought,
For his lost heart was tender, things to love
But found them not, alas; nor was there aught
The world contains, the which he could approve.
Through the unheeding many he did move,
A splendour among shadows--a bright blot
Upon this gloomy scene -- a Spirit that strove
For truth, and like the Preacher, found it not. --
winking out along the veil,
bon voyage, friends, acquaintances, strangers--
hr
