| Andrew Macphail, comp. The Book of Sorrow. 1916. | | | XVI. Crossed Hands and Closed Eyes
‘In the dim chamber’ | | By John Hay (1838–1905) |
| | | IN the dim chamber whence but yesterday | |
| Passed my belovèd, filled with awe I stand; | |
| And haunting Loves fluttering on every hand | |
| Whisper her praises who is far away. | |
| A thousand delicate fancies glance and play | 5 |
| On every object which her robes have fanned, | |
| And tenderest thoughts and hopes bloom and expand | |
| In the sweet memory of her beauty’s ray. | |
| Ah! could that glass but hold the faintest trace | |
| Of all the loveliness once mirrored there, | 10 |
| The clustering glory of the shadowy hair | |
| That framed so well the dear young angel-face! | |
| But no, it shows my own face, full of care, | |
| And my heart is her beauty’s dwelling-place. | | | | |
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