Angels and Women (1924)

54 ANGELS AND WOMEN
His hand was strong and warm as he aided
my weak attempts to climb the rock of sacrifice.
Now his eyes are without light, his
face is stony; he answers not when I implore
him; his cold hands lie motionless, though
the trees weigh heavily upon his breast; he
regards not my mother as she sits weeping
by the side of the haughty Satanas.
O strange, inexplicable Death! I walk as
in a dream. Stay, sweet vision, thy words
I do not comprehend. I catch the gleam--
Alas! my life is changed; and yet the moon.
rises as of old; the winds play idly with the
cypress branches, all unconscious or careless
of the fearful mystery in the arbor; and the
voice of the river, as in the days gone by,
breathes through the soft night air the same
strange words: "Coming, coming, coming1"
DISASTER
Seven days have passed since last I wrote,
bringing other alarming events. I once