In a Belgian Garden and Other Poems

<SPAN name="bowl"></SPAN> <h3> The Golden Bowl<br/> </h3> <p class="poem"> On seeing a picture of a boy gazing at a golden bowl,<br/> which, among Eastern nations, was a symbol of life.<br/></p> <p class="poem"> In a dream he seems to lie<br/> <SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1em">Gazing at the golden bowl,</SPAN><br/> Where dim visions passing by<br/> <SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1em">Whisper vaguely to his soul.</SPAN><br/></p> <p class="poem"> Restless phantoms come and go<br/> <SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1em">Crowned with cypress or with bays;</SPAN><br/> Sad or merry, swift or slow,<br/> <SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1em">Tread they through the mystic maze.</SPAN><br/></p> <p class="poem"> Still the pageant winds along,<br/> <SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1em">Youth and age and love and lust,</SPAN><br/> Till at last the motley throng<br/> <SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1em">Fades and crumbles into dust.</SPAN><br/></p> <p class="poem"> All in vain upon the bowl<br/> <SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1em">Gaze the wondering, boyish eyes;</SPAN><br/> He shall read its hidden scroll<br/> <SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1em">Only when it shattered lies.</SPAN><br/></p> <p class="poem"> For a wondrous light shall gleam<br/> From the scattered fragments born.<br/> Boy, dream on, for life's a dream,<br/> Followed by a golden morn.<br/></p> <br/><br/><br/> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />