Archibald Lampman Poems

AEons ago ye were,
Before the struggling changeful race of man
Wrought into being, ere the tragic stir
Of human toil and deep desire began:
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In the silent depth of space,
Immeasurably old, immeasurably far,
Glittering with a silver flame
Through eternity,
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From where I sit, I see the stars,
And down the chilly floor
The moon between the frozen bars
Is glimmering dim and hoar.
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Friend, though thy soul should burn thee, yet be still
Thoughts were not meant for strife, nor tongues for swords,
...

Now being on the eve of death, discharged
From every mortal hope and earthly care,
I questioned how my soul might best employ
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Along the narrow sandy height
I watch them swiftly come and go,
Or round the leafless wood,
Like flurries of wind-driven snow,
...

I heard the city time-bells call
Far off in hollow towers,
And one by one with measured fall
Count out the old dead hours;
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Long hours ago, while yet the morn was blithe,
Nor sharp athirst had drunk the beaded dew,
A reaper came, and swung his cradled scythe
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Broad shadows fall. On all the mountain side
The scythe-swept fields are silent. Slowly home
By the long beach the high-piled hay-carts come,
Splashing the pale salt shallows. Over wide
...

To-day the world is wide and fair
With sunny fields of lucid air,
And waters dancing everywhere;
...