The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1894-08-23
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PARDON.

A convict lay in a prison cell,
And gaZed at a picture, dim with wear
From his trembling hand dead rose fell;
LOOped in treSS of her amber hair
And the past, with all its joys and its pain,
Hooded his thoughts on the mighty tide.
He lived in the other days again;
A man of God knelt near by his side
And the perfume faint from the faded flower,
And the miniature dim of WOmans face,
Were scarce as faint, in the solemn hour,
AS the words they heard of a mans disgrace.
You say there is d better life-anOther-
A land where a soul that is saved may rest!
A place where a man may meet brother,
IT, even this late he die cOnfessed?'
l try to believe-but this life of mine
Make me all but doubt in God Divine.
9-O-11-Yes that's my number
What matter name in prison Lie;
"A man who is cut from the world aSunder,
Lives little in else than memories rife;
For the past is gone and the future-dead;
And the light of life on the grave is Shead.
But life is not long, and time is f1eeting.
will live fora little while you say?
Oh, mother, for but one word -One meeting;
Only to kneel at your feet and pray,
And still, had yet that privilege;
Who would but deem it a sacrilege?
do they pay, wonder the hours we tossed
On the river of life without thought or care?
But man heedS not nor reckOnS the cost:
TIL his hopes are lost, and he meets dlSpalr-
For the frOth will foam while the vintage cheers,
But the dregs are tasted i'll after years.
Oh, the hands I've casped, and the hands I've
From my teverish grasp, to greet new friends!
They are vanished, gone' or their pulse nave
And ne 'er could l make-if l wOuld-amends;
But the lingering pressure on one SOFT mana
Still clings TO my own like hre-brand
And the passionate lips that my own have kissed
In the bygOne days, IN wild delight,
OF maddening bliss through the gray grown
mist,
Come back like death to my lips tonight
While memories crowd my heart with their pain
Mocking my soul with the tears that staln
D,+ of ,rbot ox-oil aro tho tarn;Shad tears
OF man condemned by his fellow men?
Can an eXpiation of endless years
Lesson the thought OF his deed to them:
Oh my life was nerS--But her honor mine
And she wantOned each at a passing Snrlne.
They say that a man may err, and be saved.
But d woman who sins is lOSt-fOr all;
There's WOman'S face on my nearC engraved,
Whose sorrow was almost beyond recall;
Yet she went, you hope, to that land OF rest,
While Pm here dying. unshrlven, unblesSed.
Inever doubted; never asked
loved her too well for that, until,
With merclesS dread a mind was tasked -
That made each heart-throb quver and thrill
But when unto all the shame was known.
Her soul had gone to the judgment throne,
In a grave out there where the leaves are >trowI
Two hearts lay buried in one deep tomb
For my life went out when took her own;
But her spirit lives in my prison glOOm
And at night. when the lights are dim and low,
We live again in the long ago.
You wonder that / should love her again.
Or trust to her the love she dehed:
oh, little you know of the love OF men;
A woman can make them weak as child,
And whether in spirit or earthly mold
That love is all that my life can hold.
When the moonlight Sits through the windo
bars,
And falls on the floor before my cell.
sit in the quiet and watch the stars:
And wait the coming know full we'll
But loOk-the shadow is there by the door;
"Oh my lOve-my wife!.' Then forevormore.
Had the wan eyes closed, and spirit flown;
To the Mercy seat. at the Great White Throne
H. W. n. i'll Prison TruSty