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Beyond the Hills of Dream

Chapter 12: Afterglow
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About This Book

A sequence of lyrical poems moves between meditations on nature and elegy, intimate love lyrics, classical and historical sketches, and reflections on public life. Seasonal and landscape imagery—shorelines, woods, hills, and morning light—frames explorations of loss, memory, longing, and the consolations of fancy; several elegies mourn vanished friends or past ages while narrative pieces recall antiquity and voyages. The voice shifts from private yearning and pastoral observation to occasional public-address poems that honor places and figures, blending mythic allusion with local scenery and contemplative religious tones. The collection combines late‑Victorian musicality with restrained moral and reflective temper.

After the clangor of battle,
There comes a moment of rest,
And the simple hopes and the simple joys
And the simple thoughts are best.
After the victor’s pæan,
After the thunder of gun,
There comes a lull that must come to all
Before the set of the sun.
Then what is the happiest memory?
Is it the foe’s defeat?
Is it the splendid praise of a world
That thunders by at your feet?
Nay, nay, to the life-worn spirit
The happiest thoughts are those
That carry us back to the simple joys
And the sweetness of life’s repose.
A simple love and a simple trust
And a simple duty done
Are truer torches to light to death
Than a whole world’s victories won.