| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900. |
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| 888. Quatrains |
| | | By Thomas Stephens Collier |
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TIME
TIME has no flight—’t is we who speed along; | |
| The days and nights are but the same as when | |
| The earth awoke with the first rush of song, | |
| And felt the swiftly passing feet of men. | |
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INFALLIBILITY
“BELIEVE in me,” the Prophet cried,— | 5 |
| “I hold the key of life and light:” | |
| And, lo, one touched him, and he died | |
| Within the passing of a night. | |
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POWER
HAROUN, the Caliph, through the sunlit street | |
| Walked slowly with bent head and weary breath, | 10 |
| And cried, “Alas, I cannot stay my feet, | |
| That move unceasing toward the gate of Death.” | |
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DISAPPOINTMENT
FROM the drear wastes of unfulfilled desire, | |
| We harvest dreams that never come to pass, | |
| Then pour our wine amid the dying fire, | 15 |
| And on the cold hearth break the empty glass. | |
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COMPENSATION
NO ceaseless vigil with hard toil we keep, | |
| And to grim want give but a passing breath; | |
| For after labor comes the rest of sleep, | |
| And hunger cannot make its home with death. | 20 |
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