Fathers and Sons
manor-house there come two aged and decrepit folk, a man and his wife.
Supporting one another with a step which ever grows heavier, they
approach the railing, sink upon their knees, and weep long, bitter
tears as they gaze at the dumb headstone where their son lies sleeping.
Then they exchange a word or two, dust the stone with assiduous care,
lay upon it a sprig of fir, and offer a last petition. Yet even then
they can scarce bear to tear themselves from the spot where they can
draw nearest to their son, and to their memories of him.
But are those tears, those prayers, all fruitless? Is that love, that
hallowed, selfless love, of theirs to be wholly unavailing? No, no,
and a thousand times no! For, though the heart which lies within that
tomb may have been passionate and wild and erring, the flowers which
bloom in that spot contemplate us with eyes of naught but peace and
innocence, and speak to us of naught but the eternal, mighty calm of
"unheeding" nature, as an image of the Eternal Reconciliation, and of
the Life which shall have no End.
[1] In the text this word is given in English.
[2] _i.e._ the emancipation of the serfs, which was carried out in 1861.