The Mirage! ah, the Mirage, O how fair

The Mirage! ah, the Mirage ' O how fair
And wonderful it seem'd, flashed overhead
From world to world! Bright faces glimmer'd there,
Hands beckon'd, and my grief was comforted!
Wherefore, O God, I did not fear to tread
That darkness, and to breathe that deadly air,
For there was comfort yet in my despair,
And since God lived, I was not wholly dead!
Then came the crowning grief, the final fear
That snapt my heart in twain, Unpitying One!
The Hand was drawn away, the path grew drear,
The Mirage faded, and the Dream was done;
And lo, the Heaven that once had seem'd so near
Had fled, to shine no more in moon or sun!