| |
| SWEET eyes by sorrow still unwet, | |
| To you the world is radiant yet, | |
| A palace-hall of splendid truth | |
| Touched by the golden haze of youth, | |
| Where hopes and joys are ever rife | 5 |
| Amid the mystery of life; | |
| And seeking all to understand, | |
| The world to you is Wonderland. | |
| |
| I turn and watch with unshed tears | |
| The furrowed track of ended years; | 10 |
| I see the eager hopes that wane, | |
| The joys that die in deathless pain, | |
| The coward Faith that falsehoods shake, | |
| The souls that faint, the hearts that break, | |
| The Truth by livid lips bemoaned, | 15 |
| The Right defiled, the Wrong enthroned,— | |
| And, striving still to understand, | |
| The world to me is Wonderland. | |
| |
| A little time, then by and by | |
| The puzzled thought itself shall die. | 20 |
| When, like the throb of distant drums, | |
| The call inevitable comes | |
| To blurring brain and weary limb, | |
| And when the aching eyes grow dim, | |
| And fast the gathering shadows creep | 25 |
| To lull the drowsy sense asleep, | |
| We two shall slumber hand in hand | |
| To wake, perhaps, in Wonderland. | |
| |
