After the Storm

O! Afterthought, Thou art a stern Taskmaster! Thy Glare’s as gentle, as is Sun on Snow! O! Heart! Would She have stayed, if I had asked her? Admittedly, there’s no grimmer disaster, Than sudden fury rupturing House and Row! O! Afterthought, Thou art a stern Taskmaster! Amid the clods and falling dust and plaster, Will we know we are reaping what we Sow? O! Heart! Would She have stayed, if I had asked her? Aimed at my Heart: she ran faster, and faster! (The storm outstripped, no matter where she’d go.) O! Afterthought, Thou art a stern Taskmaster! Dim hope! I pulled her under an alabaster Fountain, round which the dusky funnel did flow, O! Heart! Would She have stayed, if I had asked her? When all had passed, still was the oleaster… But she lay still, felled by a mighty blow! O! Afterthought, Thou art a stern Taskmaster! O! Heart! Would She have stayed, if I had asked her?