Two dead men boarded a spectral ship In the astral Port of Space; On that ghost-filled barque, they met in the dark, And halted, face to face.
‘ Now whither away’ — called one of the ghosts, ‘ This ship sets sail for Earth. On the astral plane you must remain, Where the newly dead have birth.’
‘ But I could not stay and I would not stay,’ The other ghost replied; ‘ I must hurry back to the old Earth track And stand at my loved one's side.
‘ She weeps for me in her lonely room, In the land from whence I came; Oh! stow me away in this ship, I pray, For I hear her call my name.’
‘ You must not go, and you shall not go,’ The first ghost cried in wrath. ‘ Your work is planned, in the astral land, And a guide will show you the path.’
‘ But the one I love’ —‘ I loved her too,’ The first ghost stood and cried; ‘ And year on year I waited here, Yea, waited till you died.
‘ For I would not come between you two, Nor shadow her joy with fear, But mine is the right, I claim this night To visit the earthly sphere.
‘ For you are dead, and I am dead, And you had her long — so long. And to look on the grace of her worshipped face, Ah! now it can do no wrong.
‘ I am fettered to Earth by love of her, And hers is the spell divine, That can help me rise, to the realm that lies Just over the astral line.
‘ I have kept to the laws of God and man, I have suffered and made no moan; Now my little share of joy, I swear I will have — and have it alone.’
A skeleton crew the anchor drew, And the ship from the port swung free; With a muffled clang the ghost bell rang, And the boat sailed out to sea.
And one ghost stood on the deck and laughed, As only a glad ghost can; While a swooning soul was dragged to his goal, To work out the astral span.
And a woman wept, and prayed ere she slept, For a dream to ease her pain; But she dreamed instead of a man long dead, Who had loved her all in vain.
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