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Poem by Thomas Hardy


In Tenebris I


‘Percussus sum sicut fœnum, et aruit cor meum.’ – PS. CI

Wintertime nighs;
But my bereavement-pain
It cannot bring again:
Twice no one dies.

Flower-petals flee;
But, since it once hath been,
No more that severing scene
Can harrow me.

Birds faint in dread:
I shall not lose old strength
In the lone frost’s black length:
Strength long since fled!

Leaves freeze to dun;
But friends can not turn cold
This season as of old
For him with none.

Tempests may scath;
But love can not make smart
Again this year his heart
Who no heart hath.

Black is night’s cope;
But death will not appal
One who, past doubtings all,
Waits in unhope.



Thomas Hardy


Thomas Hardy's other poems:
  1. An Expostulation
  2. Her Love-Birds
  3. The Collector Cleans His Picture
  4. The Aërolite
  5. The Harvest-Supper


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