Emma Lazarus: Loneliness

Emma Lazarus

(1849 – 1887)

 

Loneliness

 

All stupor of surprise hath passed away;

She sees, with clearer vision than before,

A world far off of light and laughter gay,

Herself alone and lonely evermore.

Folk come and go, and reach her in no wise,

Mere flitting phantoms to her heavy eyes.

 

All outward things, that once seemed part of her,

Fall from her, like the leaves in autumn shed.

She feels as one embalmed in spice and myrrh,

With the heart eaten out, a long time dead;

Unchanged without, the features and the form;

Within, devoured by the thin red worm.

 

By her own prowess she must stand or fall,

This grief is to be conquered day by day.

Who could befriend her? who could make this small,

Or her strength great? she meets it as she may.

A weary struggle and a constant pain,

She dreams not they may ever cease nor wane.

 

Emma Lazarus poetry

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