Elizabeth's Chamber

I ENTERED her half-opened door,—
A presence, voiceful as of seas
When overland their mellow roar
Comes homeward on the summer breeze,
Gave greeting to my listening heart.
In vain I crossed the echoing room ;
The voice was still a voice apart,
Though memories ripened into bloom,
Touched by the sacred presence there,
Pervading perishable things ;
A grace that filled the common air
With sense of overshadowing wings.
The pendent blossoms fading breathed
Into new life to speak of her,
The gathered autumn boughs hung wreathed
To welcome their lost worshipper.
But still she came not: silence dwelt
And solitude where she abode ;
Their dumb lips told the truth I felt;
Though lonely be the place she trod,
Earth is her radiant chamber now;
Her spirit gilds the morning cloud
And the bright sun, until his brow
Sinks in the sea’s circumfluent shroud.
But in the heart of love a bed
Is laid, whereon her sleep is sweet:
There lives she whom the world calls dead.
There we may kiss her gracious feet.