To Hannah
Spirit girl to whom ’twas given To revisit scenes of pain, From the hell I thought was Heaven You have lifted me again; Through the world that I inherit, Where I loved her ere she died, I am walking with the spirit Of a dead girl by my side. Through my old possessions only For a very little while, And they say that I am lonely, And they pity, but I smile: For the brighter side has won me By the calmness that it brings, And the peace that is upon me Does not come of earthly things. Spirit girl, the good is in me, But the flesh you know is weak, And with no pure soul to win me I might miss the path I seek; Lead me by the love you bore me When you trod the earth with me, Till the light is clear before me And my spirit too is free.
Henry Lawson’s other poems:
- Wide Spaces
- The Shearers
- Australian Bards and Bush Reviewers
- Trooper Campbell
- The Uncultured Rhymer to His Cultured Critics
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