In Memoriam

“Noblesse oblige”:—a worthy soul
     Of its high service pays the price;
The highest to the lowest yields
     Its whole of sacrifice.

As hang the heavy clouds in fold
     On fold on dark, funereal days,
The murk of evil’s mystery
     Shuts down on earthly ways;

While winds of destiny frequent
     Resound, shaking life’s unseen doors,
And Fate’s set footsteps ghostly beat
     Around the world’s vast shores.

But still the hope of good survives
     The thick mephitic gloom of sin,
And toward the sacred secret draws
     By changeful chance let in.

For One presides o’er chance and change,
     O’erruling and transforming all;
And movements that bewildering seem
     Within His purpose fall.

Nor will He stay His shaping clasp
     Around the troubled nations thrown,
Until humanity be raised,
     Configured to His own.

     Providence, Sept. 14.