[Editor: This poem by Mary Eliza Fullerton was published in Moods and Melodies: Sonnets and Lyrics (1908).]
The Skull.
Oh bowl that held the hot imprisoned fire,
Cup where the sacred essence used to burn —
That fluent essence that shall ne’er return —
Old home of Aspiration and Desire:
What art thou now to honour and admire?
A thing inconsequential one might spurn,
Thou art not e’en the scattered ashes’ urn;—
Husk of the spirit that shall not expire.
Thou cage and shell of ancient busy Thought,
Nurse-house of Soul, the domicile of him
Long fled thy osseous walls that Nature wrought
To please proud Time’s caprice and passing whim;
’Twixt two eternities a moment caught,
He rose from thee to join the seraphim.
Source:
Mary E. Fullerton, Moods and Melodies: Sonnets and Lyrics, Melbourne: Thomas C. Lothian, 1908, p. 11
Editor’s notes:
art = (archaic) are
caprice = a sudden, unpredictable, or whimsical change, such as of the weather or of someone’s mind; an impulsive and unpredictable change of attitude, behaviour, decision, or mood; a disposition or tendency of a person to change their mind without any apparent or adequate reason, as if on a whim or fancy, or to do things impulsively
e’en = (archaic) a contraction of “even”
ne’er = (vernacular) an archaic contraction of “never”
osseous = bony; consisting of, containing, resembling, or relating to bone
seraphim = angels which are regarded as a highly-ranked order of angel (the Seraphim are mentioned in the Bible, in Isaiah 6: “I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne . . . Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings”)
thee = (archaic) you (regarding a person as the object in a sentence)
thou = (archaic) you (regarding a person as the subject in a sentence)
thy = (archaic) your
’twixt = (vernacular) a contraction of “betwixt” (i.e. between) (may be spelt with or without an apostrophe: ’twixt, twixt)
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