De Profundis by Katharine Tynan Hinkson. Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. 1895. A Victorian Anthology, 1837-1895

Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). A Victorian Anthology, 1837–1895. 1895.

De Profundis

Katharine Tynan Hinkson (b. 186–)


YOU must be troubled, Asthore,
Because last night you came
And stood on the moonlit floor,
And called again my name.
In dreams I felt your tears,	5
In dreams mine eyes were wet;
O, dead for seven long years!
And can you not forget?
Are you not happy yet?
The mass-bell shall be rung,	10
The mass be said and sung,
And God will surely hear;
Go back and sleep, my dear!

You went away when you heard
The red cock’s clarion crow.	15
You have given my heart a sword,
You have given my life a woe,
I, who your burden bore,
On whom your sorrows fell;
You had to travel, Asthore,	20
Your bitter need to tell,
And I—was faring well!
The mass-bell shall be rung,
The mass be said and sung,
And God will surely hear;	25
Go back and sleep, my dear!