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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/16735-8.txt b/16735-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9c3ba74 --- /dev/null +++ b/16735-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7109 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Lays of Ancient Virginia, and Other Poems +by James Avis Bartley + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Lays of Ancient Virginia, and Other Poems + +Author: James Avis Bartley + +Release Date: September 23, 2005 [EBook #16735] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LAYS OF ANCIENT VIRGINIA *** + + + + +Produced by Mark C. Orton, Pilar Somoza and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + +LAYS +OF +ANCIENT VIRGINIA, +AND OTHER +POEMS: + +BY + +JAMES AVIS BARTLEY, +OF ORANGE COUNTY, VIRGINIA. + +RICHMOND: +J.W. RANDOLPH, PUBLISHER +1855 + + + + +Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1855, + +BY J.A. BARTLEY, + +In the Clerk's Office of the Eastern District Court of the United States +for the Eastern District of Virginia. + +G.S. ALLEN & CO., PRINTERS, CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA. + + + + + TO MY FATHER, + THIS VOLUME IS INSCRIBED + BY HIS SON, + + THE AUTHOR. + + + + + + +PREFATORY LETTER TO THE PUBLIC. + + +DEAR PUBLIC: + +These Poems were written with pleasure; if they be read with pleasure, I +shall be requited amply. How often the Guardian Angel of the Father of +Virginia in surpassing loveliness rose before my imagining eyes! Like +the spirit of a dream, she glided through the foliage, verdant and +shadowy. Enchanted myself, the desire to enchant others seized me. The +"Poet's Enchanted Life" is a gallery of poetic pictures of nature. Most +of the minor and miscellaneous pieces, breathe the spirit of virtuous +affection. If critics censure me unjustly or intemperately, I will fight +them--but I hope to find them, as well as you, dear Public, very kind +friends of a loving Author. + + J.A. BARTLEY. + + + + +POCAHONTAS. + + +Where yonder moss-grown ruin[A] lonely stands, +Which from the James, the Pilgrim may survey, +Stretch alway forth its old, forsaken hands +As if to beg some friend its fall to stay, +And now the wild vine flaunts in greenness gay; +Erst rose a Castle, known to deathless fame, +Though now the mournful rampart falls away, +Hither Virginia's hero-father came, +To found a glorious state, and give these regions name. + +For, then, both far and near the forest wide, +Stretched from the main unto the setting sun, +And Bears and Panthers walked in fiercest pride, +And slept at ease when their red feast was done, +But here of white men there had ne'er walked one, +But a fierce race of wild and savage hue, +Their simple life from chase and angling won, +And oft, when wrath arose, each other slew, +In bloody wars which dyed their soil with crimson dew. + +I ween it was a novel sight to see +The white man landing in the vasty wild, +Which each familiar creature seemed to flee, +Where not a christian dwelling ever smiled, +Nor e'er a well-known sound the ear beguiled, +But all was wild and hideous--and the heart, +Mayhap, of stout man, trembled as a child, +--And oft the exile's tear would, gushing, start, +That ever he was lured from Albion's coast to part. + +But there was one, the chieftain, of that band, +Whose soul no dread, however great, could chill, +His was the towering mind, the mighty hand, +On which, his feeble followers resting, still +Would fear no peril from approaching ill. +With him the strangers built their rugged home, +And turned the soil, and eat, and drank their fill; +Glad that to this fair Eden they had come, +And reconciled became to their adopted home. + +Thus pass'd away in peaceful happiness, +A little space by yonder river's side, +But now arose the wail of keen distress, +Gaunt Famine, with his murderous eye, they spied, +Stalk round the walls of those who wept and sighed, +And when their venturous chieftain wandered forth, +Ill hap betrayed him to the savage pride, +The death-club rose, his head upon the earth, +To perish there and thus, that man of kingly worth. + +Not yet! before that last sad deed be done, +An Indian maiden springs beneath the blow, +And says her virgin blood shall freely run, +For him, extended on the ground below, +See! how, her face upturned, her tears do flow, +See Love and anguish painted in her eyes, +That, like a Seraph's, in their pity, glow, +And surely Angels, looking from the skies +Claimed this poor savage girl a sister in disguise. + +Those eyes, those tears prevent the falling stroke, +For Powhatan could not withstand her tears, +His favorite child, who, charmed, beneath the oak, +His savage spirit from her dawning years, +The wondering white man now he kindly rears, +And bids his menials haste the Indian's fare +For him whom now his daughter's love endears, +And lo! within the Lion's horrid lair, +The Dove has brought her mate, and sees him unhurt there. + +Oh Love! how powerful o'er all thou art, +In dusky breasts or breasts of whiter hue, +To thy delicious touch the human heart +Throbs with respondent transport ever true. +On Love's swift wings, this Indian virgin flew, +To snatch from hateful death the lovely chief, +Love drew her tears, like showers of pearly dew, +Love filled her passionate breast with tender grief +And love still drinks her soul, and naught can give relief. + +She decks her long, black hair with gayest flowers +And tries each girlish art to warm his breast, +And, straying oft, among the leafy bowers, +Whilst Luna's silvery smiles upon them rest, +And Earth sleeps deeply, in that beauty drest, +The lonely Muckawiss[B], with doleful strain, +Pities her fate--alas, she is not blest, +But hopes and doubts, and dares to hope again, +That Smith may love, and ne'er is free from love's soft pain. + +And fair was she, the dim wood's lustrous child, +Though born amid a race of uncouth men, +And gentle as the fawn, which, through the wild, +Trembled with timorous haste, and fled, and when +She stood within the rude and silent glen, +Of deepest forests, she appear'd more bright, +Than other nymphs who roamed these regions then, +And now--for o'er her form and sylph-like waist, +A native modesty entranced the most fastidious taste. + +He whom she loved to all these charms was cold, +Though well he saw her bosom's gentle fire, +Stern is the soul that worships fame or gold, +To all that softer ecstacies inspire. +A stony heart these tyrants e'er require, +Brave Smith ne'er thought of Pocahontas' love, +But only that his name would glitter higher +In coming centuries, others' names above, +Whose soon contented souls an humbler distance rove. + +To cheat her pining soul of this dear dream, +They told a dreary tale that he had died, +While to her father's hut, like some fair gleam +Of sunlight, with some heavenly thought, she hied, +And now both day and night, how sorely sighed, +And inly groaned the poor bereaved maid, +Nor could restrain strong nature's gushing tide, +That in the dark, cold grave, her love was laid;-- +Disconsolate, she moved along the leafy glade. + +Pausing beside her Smith's imagined tomb, +Weeping, by moonlight pale, she strewed fair flowers, +To wither o'er him, emblems of his bloom +So soon departed from these lovely bowers. +Once plucked, these buds will never bless the showers, +Sweet charities, by wearing wonted charms, +But lose for aye their balm for summer hours; +So all her showery grief him no more charms, +To spring and rest a joy in her exulting arms. + +She deems he sleeps within the envious ground, +Which stole him early from her young, warm breast, +No more her brow with wild flower wreaths is bound, +And all her ornaments, neglected, rest; +Since fled is now the dreamy hope which blest +Her artless soul, she loathes her glance to fling +On corals, braids, and flowers, and royal vest, +And slowly wanders like some moon-struck thing, +Through gloomy cypress groves, and by yon haunted spring. + +But time must soothe the most exquisite smart +Of love, when wounded by the dart of death; +For life would flee, should not such woe depart, +Too deeply weighing on the heart beneath. +Fair Pocahontas breathes the wonted breath +Of tranquil life, a creature darkly bright, +Decking her hair again with many a wreath, +Walking amid the high wood's gentle night, +Charming her wild, old Father's heart with strange delight. + +Yet nought could make her cease to view with love, +The tender memory of the mournful past; +And once when warring clouds grew black above, +The shrieking Earth with awful night o'ercast, +And long foiled Hatred hoped to glut his fast +With English gore, with irksome steps she stole, +O'er deep morass, through tangled brake, and cast +The boon of life to each devoted soul, +Who slept within that Castle's frail and weak control. + +Oh! we might marvel that her savage heart, +Would show such love to her loved father's foes; +But love like this, will act no selfish part; +Over drear earth, diffusing joy, it goes, +Its breath the fragrance of the earliest rose, +Its voice the sound of an unearthly thing, +Its form an Angel's, and as pure as those, +Who come to gladdened man on shining wing, +Which scatters round the sweets of an immortal spring. + +Now when the dogwood gemmed with blossoms white, +The gorgeous grove where oak and stately pine, +Upthrew their gnarled arms of massy might, +And thus a leafy canopy did twine, +This dusky Dryad would with grace recline, +Along the mossy bank of crystal stream, +In whose smooth glass her angel beauties shine, +Beside brave Rolfe, a man of pallid gleam, +Who sighed his soul to her, and taught her love's true dream. + +Beneath the silver moon, resplendent queen, +With simple rites, these mingling souls were wed; +The happy stars looked down, with brighter sheen, +To view love's wretched fears for ever fled; +The wild flowers trembled in their dewy bed, +And up a most enchanting fragrance sent; +The blissful Hours, unnoticed, onward sped; +And, with their gentle music sweetly blent, +The breathing winds and waters murmured their content. + +Ah me! what deep, celestial transports thrill'd +These beating bosoms, in so sweet a scene: +What tears of tender joy their visions filled, +Scanning each other's soul-absorbing mien +And, in that bower of paradisal green, +Happy, they sighed, in accents fond and warm, +That thus enclosed Earth's primal pair had been, +Where oft they spied bright Seraph's glorious form, +And rose on high afar the grove's eternal charm. + +There oft the mocking bird, a songster gay, +Would soothe their souls, with multifarious song, +Singing his farewell-hymns to dying Day, +As fade his smiles the darkening glades along; +And when the frowns of night more thickly throng, +The amorous firefly led them at that hour, +O'er wooded hills, and marshes deep and long, +To their sweet rest, which sank, with grateful power, +Along their wearied nerves, in their wild, oaken bower. + +As flows the stream, with calm, unruffled wave, +O'er shining sands, to kiss the glassy main, +So flowed the life their gracious Maker gave, +Nor felt the obstructive power of obvious pain; +So deep o'er them was Passion's rapturous reign, +That mid their bower's delicious solitude, +They dreamed their hearts might never sigh again; +By love their gentle spirits were subdued, +To the deep rapture of a heavenly seeming mood. + +Alas! the race of Pocahontas flow, +As waves, away, which can return no more; +No more o'er plain and peak they bear the bow, +Or shove the skiff from yonder curving shore; +Their reign, their histories, their names are o'er; +The plow insults their sires' indignant bones; +The very land disowns its look of yore; +Vast cities rise, and hark! I hear the tones +Of many mingling Tongues; and boundless labour groans. + +And paler nymphs are sweetly wooed and won, +Upon this soil, and they are happy too, +But of these fairer English damsels, none +Have shown devotion more divinely true, +Than thou, untutor'd maid of dusky hue; +Nor shall thy tribes from memory vanish quite, +While beauteous deeds as angels ofttimes do, +Still sway the generous mind with heavenly might, +For thine would snatch even worse from Time's oblivious night. + +The tallest fir, that decks the blooming grove, +Decays the first, the most abounding rose, +By worms is first consumed; the pearl we love +Is stolen first, the star that brightest glows +To gild the gloom, is first that sets, and those +Whose lovely lives on earth we prized the most, +And most assuaged the pangs of thronging woes, +Which--oh how oft! our fated paths have cross'd, +By all are ever mourned, "the loved and early lost." + +So Rolfe's dear spouse was early snatched away,-- +But left one pledge of her undying love-- +(Perchance her happy spirit oft would stray +Round their dear footsteps wheresoe'er they rove) +And Europe's turf grow green her heart above. +No more could grief or joy disturb her breast. +Soft by her tomb let musing Fancy move! +Let not a sound of thoughtlessness molest +The melancholy spot of her eternal rest! + +Her fair form sank low in the gloomy earth-- +Her spirit soared and found a brighter home, +Where now with sun-bright smiles, she wanders forth, +Beneath the glories of a heavenly dome; +Where Seraphs o'er bright fields forever roam, +And flowers aloft Life's never dying tree, +Whither no evil thing can ever come; +Where now she blends her heart and harp to sing +A ceaseless song of praise to her Eternal King. + +But oft the eye which scans yon ruin old, +Where Jamestown erst in simple grandeur rose, +Shall fill with tears--as there it doth behold-- +For it will speak to him of heroes' woes, +Felt erewhile whence this river gently flows,-- +And sprang this famous, Hero-bearing State;-- +And while with pride his patriot bosom glows, +His heart her gentle history will relate, +And warmly laud her deeds, and mourn her early fate. + + +[Footnote A: Jamestown.] + +[Footnote B: Whip-poor-will.] + + + + +A SONG. + + +Amid the tempest, wild and dark, + Upon Life's troubled sea; +One only star illumes the scene, + With heavenly brilliancy. + +Oh! sweetly o'er the howling deeps, + Its venturing beam shines out; +And bright, relieves my weeping eye, + And calms my soul from doubt. + +That star is pure Religion's light. + A pole star, calm but blest, +It guides my lost and trembling bark, + To Heaven's sweet port of rest. + + + + +ELFINDALE. + + +PART FIRST. + +Sweet Frankie lives in Elfindale; +Where all the flowers are fair, and frail +(Like her fair self,) a slender fairy, +And like a zephyr, playsome, airy, +But lovelier far, than buxom Mary. +Now, since I saw her full, bright eyes, +And heard her tongue's rich melodies, + Solace the evening air, +Sweet Elfindale, e'er loved of yore, +Has grown more fair, beloved more, +A part of some fay-walked shore, + A haunt of beauties rare. +The gay dawn smells more fragrant there, +(When youthful May, new, fresh and fair, +Comes, bird-like through the laughing air,) + Than it was even of old; +And Evening throws a richer dress, +(O'er Elfindale's mild loveliness,) + Of fading pink and gold. +The moonlight nights are lovelier now, + On silent Elfindale; +More pure the beams, more soft the glow, + That sleeps upon the vale: +So much of beauty God hath given +To sweetest Frankie--gracious Heaven! +She spares so much to beautify, +Fair Elfindale to my charm'd eye,-- +And yet she loses none at all +Of that which holds my soul in thrall. +Now, if my harp shall echo well, +The story of her life, and tell, +In worthy feet, her beauty's power +That flourished as a springtime flower, +I shall be richer, happier far +Than one should own a round, bright star. +And what if the fair maid should smile, + To hear my warbled strain? +Ah! that would all my grief beguile, + Undo the life of Pain. +I one time saw a laughing mirth +Leap in the maiden's eyes, +And thought the too aspiring earth +Had robbed the jewelled skies, +Of one bright angel, even her: +She made my very being stir. + +I ne'er saw sweet Frankie's mother, + What I had glowed to see, +Yet think no mortal earth's another, + Bore child so fair as she. +I ween that mother was a queen + In royal qualities, +And in her lofty eyes and mien, + Lurked lovely majesties. +I ne'er saw sweet Frankie's mother, + What I had glowed to see; +But cannot, long-lost mother! smother + The love that swells for thee. + +When Frankie came into this world, + In lovely Elfindale, +The winds were lulled, and waves lay curled, + Beneath the moonlight pale: +The cold stars twinkled far above, +And danced, with their bright eyes of love; +The gleaming waters did rejoice, +And breathed a soft, enamored voice; +The sleeping zephyr on his flowers, +Awaked to bless the gliding hours +Which gave this tiny being, birth, +A bliss, a Blessing to the earth. +She was, in truth, a beauteous child: +At three years old her eyes were wild +With something of a playfulness; +And then she had the softest tress +Of auburn tint, that fell and flew +About her neck of damask hue. +To watch throughout the Summer day, +The butterfly's capricious play, +Or humming bird's bright, rainbow wings, +And all gay, joyous, natural things. +To hear the poets of the grove, +Sing forth their little lays of love; +Or to survey the stars come forth, +Or dancing rainbows hug the earth: +These were the pastime and the play, +That whiled her infant hours away. +And blest was sylvan Elfindale, +With child so fair within its pale. + +That was a bland and holy morn, +Like one, on very purpose, born, + A gray godmother stood, +Before the chancel's sacred place, +With Frankie's sweet and artless grace, + And heard the preacher good. +And as the bright baptism fell, +Upon her fallen tresses well, +And o'er her bosom's chastened swell, + The beauteous maiden smiled: +She looked a wingless cherub then-- +My inmost spirit fluttered, when + I said, O wondrous child! +I thought a troop of angels stood +Amid that lofty fane, +And (I in that ecstatic mood) +They sped to bliss again. +That, whole bright day, I wandered wide, + O'er sunny hill and vale, +And thought no day of brighter pride + E'er lay on Elfindale; +I thought, that day dear Frankie love, +Had been new-linked with those above; +And henceforth angels would attend +The maiden, to her journey's end. + +Fair Frankie grew in attributes +That harmonized like golden flutes, + Or harps of silver strain: +She loved the Lovely--growing so, +With every year's advancing flow;-- + She was the Death of Pain! +The dwellers in green Elfindale, + Were happier all for her, +The very flowers she loved to trail, + With pleasure's thrill, would stir. +She loved both man and brute that dwelt + Within that vale of Good; +And they, as bettered beings, felt + New virtue--as they should. +And thus a shining, golden chain, + Of many links of love, +Knit Frankie to the peopled plain, + And to the good above. +Affection's wreathed rings of beauty, + Bound round a globe of gold; +It is my verse's pleasing duty, + To say to all, behold, +Sweet Frank that central globe of worth; +That gems, with pride, this spot of earth, +This flower-engirdled, blissful vale, +This heart-delighting Elfindale. + +And now when lovely Frankie stood, +In the dear pride of womanhood, + The queen of Elfindale; +One sought her for her loveliness-- +A joy--a heaven of happiness-- +An earth-born angel meant to bless +My throbbing soul with rich excess + Of joys that never fail. +She sat hid in a garden bower, + Watching the first, sweet star, +That crowns the lovely twilight hour, + And glows to earth from far. +A sad sweet dream oppressed her thought, + And tinged her calm, white face; +Her eyes fixed fast, their radiance fraught, + With melancholy grace. +I stole unto her close retreat, + As winds creep on a vale; +And, standing, gazed upon the sweet, + Sweet queen of Elfindale. +She turned her head, she faintly smiled, + She bent her gaze on me; +It made my very spirit wild, + With thrilling ecstacy. +I caught and clasped, her to my heart, + Yet never spoke a word;-- +But the twin-vow that could not part, + By Love in Heaven was heard. + + +PART SECOND. + +Again unto the lofty fane, + Sweet Frankie lightly went; +With smiling joy and same of pair + Upon her features blent. +Again, as on that sunny morn, + When white-winged angels stood, +To see her, of bright water, born, + Before the preacher good. +Again within the chancel's gloom, + She sweetly, gently stands; +With marriage hymn, with rich perfume, + With Hymen's happy bands; +With wild-rose wreaths, with gayest bloom, + And wreathed maiden's hands. +But, now she stands with me even there, + With sweetly downcast eyes, +So purely white, so passing fair, + Like one of Paradise. +The preacher speaks the solemn words, + Yet fraught with deepest bliss; +We twain in one are bound by chords, + With sob--with clasp--with kiss. +Returning from that sacred place, + All earth and sky rejoiced, +And all the winds and waters' race + Their compliments then voiced. +The birds sang sweetly on the spray, + As they ne'er sang before; +And love lay o'er the world away, + A robe of golden ore. + +And now, we live in Elfindale, + Dear Frank and I together; +And there is light on this sweet dale, + In calm, or stormy weather. +A fairy daughter leaps between + Our nightly moving paces; +Upon whose soft and marble brow, + Gleam many artless graces. +We dwell, we dwell, in Elfindale-- + I--child--and happy mother; +And, if earth holds a sweeter vale, + We cannot wish another. +Life has been arched with bluer skies, + By curved rainbows brighter; +And nature--ah! what wondrous dyes, + Now lavishly bedight her. +Love has become a glorious robe, + With thickest gold o'erladen; +And now we dwell upon a globe + Which is, indeed, an Aidenn. +I dwell with fixed eyes upon + My wife and cherub maiden, +I feel the light of that fire-sun, + That broadly shines on Aidenn,-- +And all our days that brightly run, + Are heavily joy-laden-- +And now we know our grief is done, + And that we dwell in Aidenn. + + + + +OF A SKYLARK. + + +At dawn I rose from silent sleep, + And heard a sky-lark singing, +Amid the azure far and deep, + Till all the arch was ringing. + +And now, as deeper, deeper still + His form sank into heaven, +Me-seemed his heart's concentered thrill, + To his loved Lord was given. + +If I possessed such wondrous wings, + I would soar and sing to heaven, +Till my freed soul from sordid things, + Should thus be widely riven. + + + + +THE PRINCESS OF PERU. + +RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED TO MISS MARY T. ROBERTSON OF ABINGDON, VA. + + +Far to the wilds of rich Peru, +Gonzalo came--of pallid hue, +Strange in these Western lands of night, +Where nought, save woman's eyes, are bright. +But these have all that outward beam, +Reflected from their glances' gleam +Of light and fire, that kindle bliss; +Or sink to gloom in Death's abyss. +Gonzalo came, a son of Spain, +That land which gleams beyond the main, +And sent its children to these lands, +To gather gold with reckless hands. +And, he, Gonzalo, stood a tower, +In sturdy grace, and manly power; +No Indian's weapon was to him, +More than a sea-reed, slight and slim; +And yet to brown Iola's eye, +He seemed the lord of lady's sigh. +Gonzalo seen, her thought, her dream, +With fancy's love-fraught visions teem. +She deemed that orb of glorious fire, +To which her country's souls aspire, +That crimson god whose glowing face +Illumines all the mortal race: +She deemed his glory, only, vied +With brave Gonzalo's matchless pride. +And down along the green, fresh earth, +Where sin not yet had known its birth; +She knelt, and cast her hands and eyes, +To the bright God of those bright skies; +And worshipped him whose blessed beams, +Had given Gonzalo to her dreams. +Iola, princess of Peru, +Most fair (though of a dusky hue,) +Like this new, unpolluted clime, +Unknown to hate, unknown to crime, +Where all that dwell know but to love, +(The gentleness which marks the dove.) +And like that rich, unguarded shore, +She knew to be, and seem no more; +And like that land so rich in bloom, +Its branches wrought at noon a gloom; +Her form was bright with beauty's hues, +Which each propitious year renews; +And, as within its bosom lay, +Treasures which mocked the sun's bright ray; +In her rich soul shone wealth to shame, +That tropic sun's meridian flame. +She stood a lovely being fraught, +With that most dear to human thought, +The power to love, to force the bliss +Of heaven, to such a world as this. + Iola, dearest maiden, threw +A wondrous charm o'er all who knew +Her loveliness; her menial train +Adored her even to anxious pain. +And to her father's rapturous eyes, +She shone a rainbow--whose bright dyes +Illumed his aged spirit's night; +A thing of loveliness and light. +And in and out the Inca's hall +She went, returned to his known call. +She seemed a sunbeam sent from heaven, +To make his troubled spirit even; +For, if his soul, oppressed with grief, +In aught of earthly, sought relief; +Iola's image quickly seen, +His soul grew peaceful and serene. +In his tried spirits' darkest mood, +She was an omen still of good. + Such was the maid with hue of night, +But soul and eyes like midday light, +Whose beauty shed a sparkling spell, +O'er Peru's plain and shadowy dell;-- +Who mid the rugged Andes stood, +The charm of polished womanhood, +And many a stranger wondered where, +She caught that grace and beauty's air. + +"Iola!" said Gonzalo, "far +Where shines yon lovely evening star, +Sings many a gay and loving maid, +Beneath the cooling olive shade. +Their brows are whiter, too, than thine, +But yet none to me are so divine, +As thine, fair maid of dark Peru, +With heart like its Volcanoes too. +E'er since I landed on those shores, +Of endless spring, and brightest ores, +I have not thought of ought but thee, +Ne'er can my bosom now be free. +List! sweet Iola! am I vain? +I deem thou lovest we well again; +For, when I sought thy downcast eyes, +They met mine with a glad surprise; +And when I spake to thee full low, +Thy voice was like a fountain's flow, +So softly sweet, so lulling, too, +It bathed my soul in rapture's dew. +Iola! sure I love thee well, +And if thou wilt thy father tell, +I deem he will not eye me ill, +Whose love is with his daughter still." + Iola raised her glance to heaven, +Then to Gonzalo, darting, even +Her soul, into his own, and said; +"This soil with blood was never red; +And, sure, my father would not slay, +Those men for whom his child will pray. +But why thinkest thou of blood? the thought, +With wretched fear is ever fraught. +Think, think of love, and gentle peace, +Gonzalo! let these bodings cease. +Think, think of love--here on my heart, +Repose, and even Death's stern dart, +By Love conjured, will turn away, +Some unloved thing of earth to slay." +"Angel of good!" Gonzalo cried, +"A thousand joys are at thy side, +Thou comest to light my dangerous way, +With calm, and pure, and heavenly ray. +I feel thou art a spirit sent, +From heaven's snow-white battlement, +To lead me through these stranger wilds, +With voice and actions like a child's, +So guiltless in thy love--so dear, +I bless thy goodness with a tear. +Oh! like thy climate's deathless spring, +Succeeding days and years shall bring, +Living affection to my heart, +Till we no more on earth can part." +"Then, dear Gonzalo! let us meet, +As oft as evening airs are sweet, +In yonder bower--my own--my dove, +And I will be thy gentle love. +That bower my Inca-father reared, +For good such thing to him appeared, +Where his Iola might be lone, +To dream of fancies all her own. +Yes! oft as evening shades came down, +On giant Andes' glittering crown +Of endless snow, that shines afar +Next to the radiant zenith star; +Then throw their dark and sombre lines, +Upon the mountain's lower pines: +Come, then, to me, and we will speak, +Sweet thrilling words, and on my cheek, +Thy lip shall feed till we expire, +In glowing love's consuming fire." +"Yes, I will come, maid of Peru! +Though Fate, yon soaring Andes threw, +Between my wish and thee my love, +That lofty barrier I'd remove; +And press to thee with Condor's flight, +To thee, to love, to life's delight. +N'er since these eyes beheld the day, +Have they seen aught, whose potent sway, +Could bend my will, as thou, dear maid! +Sweet star, amid my spirit's shade. +Not all the wealth that gleams around +Within thy country's magic bound, +And fills my world with loudest fame, +Of this new world's most wondrous name, +Sways more with me than idle dream, +Or transient bubbles on a stream, +Compared, Iola! with thy power;-- +And I will come to thy sweet bower." + + * * * * * + +"Iola! art thou in thy bower, +At this most dear, appointed hour? +On fleetest pinions I have come, +To meet thee mid this richest bloom, +Thy Inca father's garden flowers, +Whose odors fall like balmy showers; +But, of them all, thou art the flower +Who hast the most delightful power, +And of the wondrous birds that sing +Amid this garden's blooming spring; +Thou art the loveliest; and thy voice +Most meet to bid my soul rejoice." +Iola spoke not in reply; +But gazed on him with vacant eye: +Still was she silent as the grave, +O'er those we love but could not save; +And she seemed calm as tropic sea, +When its hushed waves from winds are free. +Gonzalo wondered; why no word, +Came from that lip that mocked the bird +Of her own land, in melody, +When warbling from his cocoa tree. +But why, O gem of rich Peru, +Thy silence strange, thy aspect new? +What envious power has bound thy voice, +Which erst could bid my soul rejoice. +Oh! surely some malignant sprite +From realms of most infernal night, +Has taken thy angel voice away;-- +But speak, Iola, speak, I pray! +Her tears gushed forth like tropic rain, +That widely floods the blooming plain; +And thus began, "Gonzalo! thou +Deceived'st me--but I know thee now. +Ask me not how I know it sooth; +Enough, I know the bitter truth. +I felt forebodings of this hour; +It did my happiest thoughts o'er power, +With a dark weight; but then I thought, +'Twas by my foolish fancy wrought. +'Twas like the omen which precedes +The earthquake when the summer reeds +Are strangely still, until the shock +The central earth shall wildly rock. +Thou dost not love me, child of Spain! +Thy heart can love no thing but gain; +The paltry dust I tread above, +To thee, is more than woman's love. +My love is vain, and life is less +Since lost my hope of happiness +Look from this garden;--far below +Yon Andes' sides with verdure glow, +But far on high, the icy chill +Of winter glitters, glitters still: +I am that lonely verdure--thou +That mountain's cold, unchanging brow. +I'll ne'er upbraid thee--no--oh no! +For love is kind, in deepest woe, +I love thee still, and will till Death, +Shall win my love with living breath. +This even, farewell--yes, yes, adieu! +No years our meeting can renew. +Would that when round these royal bowers, +I played in childhood's happy hours, +The Condor bird had borne me high, +On his huge pinions through the sky, +Upon yon mountain's snowy crest, +To hush his high and hungry nest. +Farewell, Gonzalo! fly with speed, +Leave shade and silence to my need." + + * * * * * + +There was a cry of terror in the hall +Of Peru's monarch, and a startling call; +But no reply--Iola sure was gone; +Yet none knew why or whither she had flown. +Her Inca-father put his crown aside, +And filled the temple with loud prayer--a tide +Of lamentation rolled along the fair +And blooming realm; heaven wore a dim despair. +She ne'er was found; but how or when she died +None knew; by her own hand; or if she cried, +Vainly, in wild beasts' clutch;--but ne'er before +Din wail so wild resound along the shore +Of fair Peru; her father lived not long, +After this chord was snapped in his life's song. + + + + +THE HOLY LADY. + + +Oh, Heaven hath given to earth some souls, + Of rarest loveliness, +Whose being's constant current rolls, + The wretched still to bless. + +Well wishing Heaven hath given to earth, + Some hearts of purest fire, +To renovate our sinful birth, + And raise our low desire. + +The Holy Lady did not go + Afar, by sea or land, +But ministered to sighing wo, + And suffering near at hand. + +'Twas sweet to see the Lady fair, + Each blessed sabbath morn, +Wear such a sweetly solemn air, + Of bright devotion, born. + +'Twas sweet to see her bow at eve, + On lowly bended knee, +To pray, and sadly, sweetly grieve, + For man's perversity. + +But sure were we that city fine, + Wherein this Lady dwelt, +Was bettered by a power divine, + And heavenly prompting felt. + +When she was old, her heart not cold, + A youthful beauty lay, +A light most wondrous to behold! + Upon her tresses gray. + +The charm of goodness does not fade, + Like natural beauty's flower, +But blooms in glory undecayed, + And death-defying power. + + + + +TIME AND ETERNITY. + + +The darkness falls on wood and field, + On lofty peak, on silent sea, +The infant Moon and Planets yield + A faint and feeble brilliancy. + +Cans't thou behold the look and shape + Of mount and main, of wold and wood? +The morrow's sun, o'er sea and cape, + Will show them out, both plain and good. + +Time darkens all to mortal eyes + Save what faint reason's stars illume: +But when Eternity shall rise, + All shall their shapes and hues assume. + + + + +YEMEN. + + +My soul has been wandering in Yemen, + The land of the aloe and myrrh; +Where the breezes that blow from the ocean, + Brought feelings of heaven to her. + +In the joy-giving vallies of Yemen, + On its mountains that blush with their bloom; +My soul has been wandering but lately, + To hide from the weight of her gloom. + +My Soul, like the fleet horse of Yemen, + Flew chainless o'er mountain and plain, +Till she paused by the flower-scented ocean, + Then returned on her pinions, again. + +In that beautiful world, in that Yemen, + My Soul lately wandered in bliss; +Till she found there a glorious maiden, + She vainly had sighed for, in this. + +Then my Soul walked far with this maiden-- + In this beautiful region of gold, +And died on the love-burdened accents, + From the fount of her bosom that rolled. + +Oh Yemen! whose name is the Happy, + Whose mountains are fragrant with bloom-- +My Soul met her Consort there lately-- + And now she says nothing of gloom. + + + + +LILLY: A POEM. + + +The May sun sheds an amber beam, + Upon the river's liquid plain, +But never to that glorious gleam, + Her eyes will ope again: +Sweet Lilly, come again, +Sweet Lilly, come again. + +We look across the landscape wide, + Where spring bemocks the thought of pain, +And scatters charms with lavish pride;-- + The vernal joy is all in vain: +Sweet Lilly, come again, +Sweet Lilly, come again. + +The summer breezes lightly lift + The clustered flowers oppressed with rain, +Which fleecy cloud-sieves downward sift,-- + It falls on Lilly's form in vain: +Sweet Lilly, come again, +Sweet Lilly, come again. + +Oh! can the glory of the year, + The Spring that decks the widening plain, +Thus strive to make the maid appear, + But yield the hopeless task in vain: +Sweet Lilly, come again; +Sweet Lilly, come again. + +Silence!--where brighter May suns beam, + On greener hills and vales, +Bright Lilly walks, as in a dream, + Fann'd by celestial gales:-- +Now, Lill! come not again! +Now, Lill! come not again. + + + + +ADIEU TO EMORY. + + +Adieu to thee, Emory! adieu to thee now! +There is grief in my spirit, there's gloom on my brow, +I have left the sweet scenes where I knelt at thy shrine, +O Learning! thy wreath with my name to entwine. + +Adieu to the scenes where, when study was o'er, +And the toil of the mind was remembered no more; +I roamed o'er the mountains, forgetful, afar, +'Neath the light of the beautiful Evening Star. + +Like the light of that star--like a splendor on high-- +Like a Heavenly Dream that was born in the sky-- +Bright Poesy burst on my pathway even there, +And a rainbow of Beauty encircled the air. + +Ah! she shone with a brilliance more dazzling and strong, +Than e'er to a child of the earth could belong; +And her pinions that waved through the rose-scented air, +Had a tint that was brighter than thought can declare. + +Yet adieu to thee, Emory,--thy scenes I regret; +In a far distant scene, I may think of them yet; +Fond Fancy may roam o'er thy mountains again, +And love them as freshly and warmly as then. + +Yet, the tears gush unbidden, when breathing adieu,-- +With the change of our years, our hearts are changed too! +And, haply, the world, with its coldness, will chill +My feelings at length, as bleak winter the rill. + +Adieu to thy scenes, adieu to thee now! +There is grief in my spirit--there is gloom on my brow-- +Though Fancy may paint all thy beauty once more, +The days that have flitted, she cannot restore. + + + + +VIRGINIA. + + +Thy soil, Virginia! is all hallowed ground, + Made such by steps of patriots; thy high fame, +Alway unto our ears, a glorious sound, + Kindles, in all high hearts, heroic flame. + +I walk beneath thy forests, high and lone, + I hear a voice that sinks into my heart, +The voice of fetterless Liberty; the tone + Which bids the flame of patriotism start. + +Greece was the land of heroes, and her soil + Is sacred with the deathless memory +Of martyred virtue, which on Death could smile, + At Marathon and proud Thermopylæ: + +Gray Rome shall never lose the magic charm, + That valor's fire can pour along a land; +That charm shall bid the hearts of mankind warm, + Long after her last stone hath ceased to stand: + +Yet, thou, Virginia! art a prouder land, + For when thy hills become red shrines to Right; +Thy plains become the spots, where, smiling, stand, + The angels, gentle Peace and true Delight. + +And now, how fair thy homes! on every hand, + Thy cities and thy country domes arise, +From mountains vast, to ocean's shelly strand, + And bring a pride into our gazing eyes! + +How brave thy polished sons! their hearts how free! + How far above the plotting of the mean! +How they contemn all base chicanery, + And proudly move, as men, through every scene! + +And when thy daughters, an angelic train, + Roam mid thy flowery walks, how sweet their love! +And when they speak--the sound seems like a strain, + That wander'd from a blissful clime above! + +Immortal land! my soul is proud, to think + I yet can walk upon thy mother soil, +And, willing that her mouldering frame may sink, + Back to thy breast, after its lifetime toil. + + + + +WATOGA. + + +Oh, think not that the polished breast, + Only, can feel the fire of love, +Pure as the flames that brightly rest + In bosoms of the realms above. +Yes! often in the rudest form, + A heart may be, more clear and bright +Than ever lent the loveliest charm + To goddess of the Festal light. +Come, hear a story of the time, + When this wide land was one green bower, +The roving Red man's Eden-chine, + Where bloomed the wildest flower. +The great ships brought a wondrous race, + One evening o'er the ocean beach; +Strange was the pallor of their face, + Strange was the softness of their speech. +'Twas evening, and the sunset threw + A gorgeous brilliance o'er the scene, +Deep crimson stained the heaven's sweet blue, + But ocean rivalled all its sheen. +The painted red men came to view, + With marvel, what the winds had brought,-- +For, surely, those proud vessels flew, + As if their force from Heaven they caught. +But who is yonder slender youth, + With smoothest brow and smoother cheek, +And eyes so full of boyhood's truth, + And mouth, which closed, yet seems to speak? +"Ah, sure, that lovely youth's from Heaven!" + A dark-eyed maiden of the wood +Sighed out upon the breath of even, + As in the mellowed light she stood. +And, ever from that fatal hour, + This white youth's image, slight and pale, +Would haunt the maiden's leafy bower, + And wake her spirit's wail. +In that high heart that fiercely hates, + Love is as fierce and wild; +And so the love is wild, that waits + To mount its height in this poor child: +This poor, frail child who born beneath + A roof of leaves, is made to dream, +That she may wear a bridal wreath + For youth of snowy gleam. +Watoga! sure some demon lied, + To thee, when wrapt amid thy sleep, +To make thee his forlornest bride, + Beneath the moaning deep. +That youth who floats an Angel through, + Thy night, thy daily dream-- +He loves a maid whose eyes are blue, + And cheek like yon full moon's white beam. +The simple ornaments which thou + Hast taken thy form to deck, +The wild flower wreath that binds thy brow, + The shells that gem thy neck; +Each ornament shall deck a bride + To wed the Demon Death, +Beneath the ocean's sluggish tide, + A thousand feet beneath! +The fair youth who hath warped thy mind, + He loves a snow-white maid! +Then know'st it!--now not long confined, + Thou'lt fly the greenwood shade. +'Tis night on lone Atlantic's deep, + And summer o'er that placid sea, +The stars watch Earth's scarce-breathing sleep-- + Oh! she sleeps deeply--tenderly. +What figure o'er yon bluff that scowls, + Upon the smiling water? +Ah! whose that wild and freezing howl? + It is the forest's daughter. +One moment,--and the hollow moan + Of billows sings her funeral song;-- +In sooth, it was a dreadful tone, + And it will haunt us long. +This is the brief and mournful tale + Of one who loved in vain;-- +She slept not in the flowery vale, + But in the deep, deep main, +They tell she was a demon's bride, + But now a wondrous wail, +Each night swells o'er the peaceful tide, + And through the loudest gale. +Watoga was her Indian name, + The white men called her yellow-flower;-- +And evil fire, a poisonous flame, + Blasted her heart's sweet bower. +Failing to be the youth's dear bride, + Adorned in colors gay, +She went to a Demon's pride, + Under the Sea, they say. +And I have grieved to think of her, + And, if in these degenerate years, +There's feeling, her most mad despair, + Would melt a stone to tears. + + + + +NAPOLEON. + + +INTRODUCTION. + +If ye will walk amid the ancient wood, +Ye will perceive the lordly oak o'erspread +The slender shrubs, and shield them from the storm. +If ye will look upon a thrifty hive +Of honey-loving bees, ye will remark +A Sovereign rules this small but populous State; +And, if she live, they live, and fill with life +The sunny air around--but if she die, +They quickly die, and then their precious sweet, +Becomes a dainty dish for vilest worms. +If ye will scan the custom of those birds, +That seek the boreal lakes, when spring unfolds-- +Soaring far up amid the azure heaven, +Ye will note one who leads them in their flight, +As Chief his army to the embattled fight, +And, oft he shouts far back to them to cheer +Their fainting hearts, and flagging pinions on, +To trace the long, long course to far off lands. +If ye will note the noblest of a flock, +Ye will observe the weaker follow him. +And thus if ye will wisely look on men, +Ye will perceive the wisest lead them on +To every work; for this is nature's law, +And whoso breaks it, breaks it to his hurt. +Fair France once drooped beneath the feeble rule, +A blighting reign, of many a Bourbon fool, +Until Napoleon rose, her natural king, +And crushed the Bourbon, as an abscess thing. +Great Heaven decrees, that Greater still must reign, +Or else the weaker must exist in vain. +Fair France seemed conscious of this grand design, +And hailed Napoleon as a man divine-- +Bedecked his path for many a flowery mile, +And claimed her monarch with a beaming smile. +Thus came Napoleon--and, on every hand, +Fair Joys prepared to hover o'er the land. +Then, France! thy glorious age was nigh begun, +When rose upon thee such a glorious sun; +Soon had thy bliss and praises been complete, +And Earth had, falling, worshipped at thy feet. +Beneath this monarch's rule--who loved the best-- +Thy meanest subject had been very blest. +And thou had'st antidated our high claim +Of rescuing man from civil slavery's shame. +But, ever, Envy views, with murderous eye, +Those souls who strive to make their station high. +When France was weak, her sister realms were kind-- +When France grew strong, in hellish league combined, +They sought to crush her to the sordid earth-- +Lest she should grow--and they should pine in dearth. + + Go beat the spaniel, if he rouse thine ire, +His servile nature may no more aspire-- +But leave the lion in his lordly lair, +Or he thine entrails in his rage will tear. +Go, rob the linnet's unprotected nest, +And rend her offspring, from her little breast; +But leave the Eagle in his eyrie high, +Or thy torn flesh shall hush his eaglet's cry. +Fair France's lion was Napoleon! he +Roamed o'er the land, a monarch proud and free: +And when the Nations, in their pigmy might, +Provoked the Lion to engage in fight, +With gory jaw, he rent their legions strong, +And left them bleaching the wide earth along. +Fair France's Eagle was Napoleon! he +Soared thro' her sky, a monarch proud and free: +And when the boy-like kingdoms thought to bring +The glorious soarer down with bleeding wing, +With swift, fierce swoop, he darted from on high, +And the rent pigmies, shrieked with mighty cry. + + Vain were their wishes, all their envy vain, +They could not bring the soarer to the plain;-- +Till Fate's fell arrow--surer than the rest-- +Winged the far flight, and pierced his glorious breast. +Then fell Napoleon, Eagle of his clime, +By Fate's fell shaft, from yon proud heaven sublime: +And when he fell, France knew no keener woe, +Then the deep piercing of that mortal blow. +The sweet land drooped, and sickened in her grief-- +That hope so happy, had given truth so brief-- +That Fate's fell shaft her glorious Bird had slain, +No more o'er conquered earth to soar again. + + But not at once Napoleon breathes his last-- +More woes must come--if now the worst be past. +Napoleon's star, declining on his eye, +Tells France shall yield him not a place to die. +That he must hie him to an alien shore, +And see his France, and blue-eyed boy no more. +The noble Lion must be chained at length, +By Fate's strong force, though not by man's weak strength. +But, harmless now, that meaner things shall prey +On whom they fled from, in his Glory's day. +Oh! when the Chieftain turned to wave adieu +To lovely France, across the waters blue, +The iron man who never quailed in war, +Where Death's conspiring darts flew fast and far-- +If peering Envy marked no gushing tear-- +Wept, wept to leave the land that was so dear-- +And if that woe was mute--it was more deep, +As deepest floods, in silent caverns sleep. + + But who are they to whose exalted name, +He turns for friendship in his fall's deep shame? +What flattered enemy may gladly prove, +A fallen Hater yet may know her love? +Britannia! in this latest deep distress, +Napoleon's fate thou now mayest surely bless, +Attest thy greatness to a fallen foe, +And make thy fame sublime o'er all below. + + Lo! on yon dreary isle, yon desolate rock, +That quails beneath old ocean's ceaseless shock-- +Where flaming suns and sudden ruins combine, +Fo waste and wreck the human form divine-- +Where man cut off from all most dear to man, +Makes hopeless exile, happy if he can:-- +Then say; Britannia! that thy nobleness +Deigns thy asylum to thy foe's distress? +Say, this the Glory which thou lov'st to boast, +O'er meaner dwellers of each neighboring coast? + + Contracted nation! thy contracted home, +A sterile rock round which the billows foam! +How well consorts it with thy dwarfish soul, +That owns no noble feeling's high control. + + What glorious record holds the past of thee, +What single page from foul disgrace is free; +Bend, weeping Mary, Scotland's lovely Queen, +With noblest grace, and sad, yet royal mien, +Bend from yon dome of pure, celestial blue, +Say, when a fugitive from sorrow flew, +To Britain's bosom, did she live--or die-- +Unheard--uncared for, her last lingering sigh? + + On yon bleak isle, behold the Eagle razed, +Who lately soaring, down on Europe gazed. +See now a jackal move about his gate, +Gloat o'er his grief, and mock his fallen State-- +Howl round his nobler prisoner every hour, +How brave! to mock him now, deprived of power! + + Behold, on yon lone rock the Lion bound, +Who once o'er prostrate Europe looked around; +See now, a Spaniel, yelping at the gate +Of his strong dungeon, mock his altered State. + + Methinks, when dying on that lonely isle, +The sad abode of his most sad exile; +If, haply, he had touched the mournful lyre, +It breathed this "Farewell"--ere he did expire. + + "I die not on this hideous rock, + As common men would die; + The world will weep above my grave, + Despite a dismal lie. + + I well endure the fiercest pangs + That myriads give to one,-- + But oh! my lovely France! I grieve, + To leave thee so undone. + + My towering aim, to see thy fame + O'er all beneath the sky-- + So much--at last--is now achieved, + And, half content, I die. + + The woes my foes decree me here, + Ne'er wake my faintest sigh-- + But when I view my country's woes, + Not yet I wish to die. + + But lo! the Future opens now, + Before my glazing eyes, + And shapes of new and coming things, + Before my vision rise. + + I see the Bourbon hurled at last, + From France's tottering throne, + A proud Napoleon reigning there, + France, smiling, points her own!' + + Earth yet adores my mighty name-- + And, late, laments my doom, + Nor longer wrongs the gliding ghost + That loathes its island tomb. + + Long--long through age succeeding age, + Napoleon doth awake + A fearful throb in injured breasts, + To make vile despots quake-- + + And teach the world this truthful lore, + That Greater still must reign, + Or Weaker must exist on earth + And pass to dust in vain!" + + + + +STANZAS. + + +Hark! how the wintry tempest raves, + Along the frozen plain-- +Dark, dark the lowering clouds above, + And fast descends the rain. + +But, lady! now a deeper gloom + Surrounds thy lover's soul, +And wilder floods of grief and woe, + Around his spirit roll. + + + + +THE LOVER. + +SCENE I.--A WOODED MOUNTAIN IN BLOOM--TIME +SUNRISE--ENTER LOVER SOLUS. + +This is my fair resort, the Summer Sun +Is rising there, the ocean gleams like gold, +On which his rolling chariot burns like fire. +Ten thousand birds are up in branch and air, +To hail this coronation, every day +Repeated from the first to last of time. +It is a glorious sight, and worthy all +That has been said or sung of it in verse. +But yet 'tis dim to me, Odora's eyes +Have cast that glory in a dull eclipse, +Oh! sweet Odora! I am mad with love +Of thy sweet eyes. Would they might rain their rays +Upon me, as yon orb, rains rays on earth. +Oh, sweetest eyes of love! they set on fire +My tinder heart. Odora! come to me! +Upon this mountain's green and glittering brow, +Where now I stand and gaze down earth and main, +O'er which that God's all gladdening glory soars. +Come, sweet Odora! thine eyes outshine that God. +Thy speech's music so transcends these birds, +They'll pine for grief and die. Oh sweet, come, come. + +ENTER ODORA IN THE DRESS OF A WOODNYMPH. + +Transcendant vision! Even now I thought of thee, +My mind, o'erheated, called--and thou art here. +What blissful fate hath brought thee? Dost thou roam +The scented hills at morn, to gather flowers; +To gaze into the fountain's glassy mirror, +Or list the sweet birds sigh on every bough, +Thou art a woodnymph, speaks thy fair attire. +Sweet fancy of a sweeter maidenhood, +That thou dost walk at dawn a woodnymph wild. +Here will I seal upon thy foam-white brow +My flame again, which burns like yonder orb. +Odora! speak to me! thy voice is sweet, +As sounds of rescue to a ship-wrecked soul. + + +SCENE II.--LOVER IN A GORGEOUS SALOON IN A GREAT +CITY--EVENING--ENTER ODORA--LOVER SPEAKS. + +Again I meet my love. 'Tis wondrous bliss, +That such a Moon shines on my spirit's night. +Like yonder moon, at times, she disappears;-- +But still the virtue of her visit stays, +Till she returns, with moon-like certainty. +Come, my Odora come! sing, + +ODORA SINGS. + + When winds are cold, and winter strips, + The Oak and ghostly Pine; + And fastens every streamlet's lips, + And cold icicles shine: + Still fair amid the scene so bleak, + The daisy flower is seen; + So truest love will comfort speak, + And make life's winter green. + +That strain would charm an adder even to tears, +So sweet a song, from mouth so full of grace. +Before I saw thee, my Odora! ne'er +I thought this world could ever grow so fair +To me. Love throws a rosy, sparkling tissue +On mountain, hill, lake, tree, shrub, leaf and flower, +Love sweetens every note of nature seven fold. +But sing again. Thy voice is like a harp. + +ODORA SINGS. + + When winds are bleak, and snows are deep, + And waters frozen dumb; + And voiceless insects snugly sleep, + Where beam can never come: + The daisy blooms beneath some tree, + That screens her form from harm;-- + So, love! I nestle near to thee, + And live beneath thy arm. + +Oh! angel! thou dost sing a meaning lay, +And teachest wisdom, in sweet poetry. +But whence, my fair philosopher, thy lore, +Hath God bestowed such deep laid knowledge on +A light and playsome girl, whose pranks and wiles +Have quite bewitched my would-be firmer soul. +Methinks thou singest well to-night; adieu, +And may pure angels bring thee radiant dreams. + + +SCENE III. AN EVENING IN SUMMER. A GARDEN.--LOVER +ALONE, AND READING A BOOK. + +A tale of happy love! 'Tis like my fate. +Two youthful beings, yearning each for love, +Met by a haunted stream, with ivied banks, +Beneath the evening star--the star of love. +Their souls fled to each other suddenly: +So that they felt they were ordained of old, +To twain be one, one flesh, one bone, one soul. +They loved, and dwelt among the grassy hills, +By lakes that mirrored all their trees and flowers. +A happy life, and curly-headed boys +Were round their steps, their walks, their cottage door, +Filling the air with laughter, silvery sweet. +Gay spring, bright summer, autumn, winter passed, +And found and left them happy, So time flew, +Till both were old, their hearts yet light and gay. +Then, they slept sweetly, side by side, near by +A favorite stream they oft had gazed upon, +Meek christians said they hoped that love so rare +Had full fruition found, in brighter worlds. +It is a happy story, and my eyes, +Have poured their pearl upon these pages here, +That tell so dear a tale. Oh! God be praised, +If such a fate befall my love and me. +I will go seek Odora, and return +To talk with her amid this fragrant bower, +Of what a book has charmed my sighing soul. +I found it here. Perchance she read it first. +How that one thought which doth fill up the mind, +Will color outward objects, circumstance, +And accident, with tincture of itself. + + _He goes--then Odora and he re-enter the garden._ + +LOVER SPEAKS.--I here have found, Odora, love, this book, +Which tells a strange, sweet tale of happy love, +How two young beings found a heaven on earth, +Cans't tell me, whence it came, if fact or dream? + +ODORA SPEAKS.--It is a happy story. In my father's room +Of precious volumes late I fell on this; +And read it in this garden; sweet romance, +It brought the love-beats to my heart, drops to mine eyes. + + +SCENE IV.--ODORA AND LOVER IN A FIELD UNDER A +PERFECT RAINBOW. (LOVER SPEAKS.) + + Above this field that shines an Eden, lo! +That wondrous arch of many married hues: +A gorgeous belt, round Nature's lovely waist! +Sure, earth now seems no place of graves. A wide +Gay, blooming Paradise! With moistened face, +She smiles, like God, upon this joyous world. +A new, wild burst of various harmony, +Salutes that Bow of charm--that orb of Glory. +Thou art the sun and rainbow to my heart, +And, as they fade from sight--but do not die-- +But come to-morrow with their wonted charms, +Thou shalt not die--but gleam o'er me in heaven, +With none of all thy beauty, lost or less. +Can'st thou not sing a song, love, ere it fades? + +SHE SINGS. + + The Sun gave birth to yonder bow + That trembles in the sky + That life-bestowing sun art thou-- + That trembling bow am I. + When he withdraws his beaming face, + The rainbow disappears; + And, if those frown on me but once, + I melt away in tears. + + I thank thee for that song. Oh! thou art, sure, +The wealthiest empire ruled by mortal man. +Thy thoughts fall down on me, like drops of gold. + + +SCENE V. THE BANKS OF A ROMANTIC RIVER, FLOWING +AMONG MOUNTAINS, AND VIEWED BY MOONLIGHT. + + How wild this scene, among the mountains lit +By moonbeams. Ivied bluff and cedared bank, +And river rippling o'er its gravelly floor. +The cool and silence, and the holy night, +Remember me of fairies, those strange forms, +That ever revelled underneath green trees, +And danced upon the velvet, verdant sward. +Here will I sit upon this grassy knoll, +And hear the song of this sweet water's flow, +And gaze upon yon moon, who nears her noon. +How beautiful to me, are moonlight shores. +Here will I sing of loved Odora's charms, +What time she lies locked in sleep's rosy arm. +No bird was ever fairer in its nest. +No bud e'er sweeter in its unoped cup; +No jewel brighter in the chrystal sea; +No diamond richer in the caves of earth. + +LOVER SINGS. + + The God of love, made beauteous things, + To give His Man delight-- + He made the sun--the bird's gay wings-- + The constellated night. + He made the mountains of the earth, + The ocean, beautiful; + He gave all harmonies their birth, + Man's troubled soul to lull. + The charm of charms--the Joy of Joys, + That crowned the perfect whole; + Was, Woman's form, and Woman's voice, + And Woman's tender soul. + + + + +THE ANGELS OF EARTH. + + +Angels of Earth! they soothe and bless + The troubled soul of man, +Bestow the most of happiness, + They can. + +Angels of Earth--they are but few, + Sustained by Heavenly grace, +To raise again, and to renew, + Our race. + +Predestined thus they do retain + That image earliest given, +To Adam, yet unknowing pain, + From heaven. + +They move before our wondering eyes, + A vision passing strange, +And sure we feel from yonder skies, + They range. + +But oft, as brightest flowers and bows, + The earliest fade and die; +This glorious vision soonest goes + On high. + +Our verdant vale once knew a maid, + Who dwelt in such a light, +Her presence made the spirit's shade, + Look bright. + +Harmonia was her name. Her voice + Was tremulously low; +To hear it made the heart rejoice + And glow. + +Could I compare that voice divine, + To bird's most joyous lay, +When hailing from his lofty pine, + Young day? + +Or, to the thrush's full, rich song + That gushes from her breast, +And hushes all wild Passion's throng + To rest? + +Could I compare the sight of her, + To glorious angel spring-- +To whose sweet breath--all lands--seas--stir, + And sing. + +Oh fair Harmonia! God is love, + Who gave thee to our earth, +To renovate and lift above + Our birth. + +Harmonia dwelt within a vale + Of wildest loveliness, +Where sweetest odors fill'd the gale + To bless. + +And so they called it "vale of Spring," + This dear Harmonia's home; +Where Beauty shed, with spendthrift wing, + Her bloom. + +The pine-crowned mountains stood around, + To screen the lovely dale, +From tempest's stroke, and lightning's wound, + Fierce gale. + +Harmonia grew to woman's pride, + And blent her life with one; +Like rivers bright, now side by side, + They run. + +The tale of grief, the sinner's tear, + Come not to them in vain; +The sad, remorseful wretch they cheer, + Again. + +Oh ne'er thought we, a vale of earth, + With morn, and noon, and even, +Could seem to own the very worth + Of heaven. + +Such is the valley of the spring, + Our sweet Harmonia's home, +Where beauty sheds, with liberal wing, + Her bloom. + +Meek Eva is another soul, + Ordained to soothe and bless, +And charm to joy, with soft control, + Distress. + +Meek Eva hath great, gleaming eyes, + Full-orbed with radiant light, +Which bring the beauty of the skies, + To sight. + +No word of anger ever falls, + From her sweet mouth of grace; +No sinful passion ever palls + Her face. + +Sweet Eva lives to do but good, + In all her gentle life: +With her good fame, the neighborhood, + Is rife. + +Angels of good, they shed abroad + The spirit of the dove; +For He who gave them, is a God + Of love. + +Angels of light--they make a heaven + Of such a world as this-- +They make the rugged pathway even, + To Bliss. + +Angels of Earth--but we shall see + These angels yet again; +Where angels, robed in purity, + E'er reign. + + + + +AUSTRALIA; OR, THE NEW GOLDEN AGE. + + + In ancient days, in old, immortal Rome, +Where virtues, surnamed Roman, had their home; +When Virtue triumphed over Vice, and threw +Across their annals, a more lovely hue; +When every citizen was proud to be +The state's fast friend, and venal bribes would flee; +When manhood wrote upon each lofty brow +That glorious seal which makes the meaner bow; +When Industry, Art, Science, Learning cast +That light o'er Rome which gilds her to the last; +The Roman minstrel caught the sacred flame, +And made that age the chosen child of fame: +The Golden Age recalled the happy hour, +When man walked sinless in the first, sweet bower. +Such was the glorious golden Age of yore,-- +That golden Age of virtue is no more. +The modern, brighter, happier Age of Gold;-- +Oh! dost thou mean that Vice lies dead and cold +In her detested grave, where none will shed, +Not even her slaves, a tear above her, dead-- +That Virtue lives--the rainbow child of heaven, +And holds the balance in these centuries even? + + The Golden Age! the words are still the same,-- +The meaning once man's glory--now his shame. +Hail thou new Golden Age! O heavenly Age! +Mankind sustains thee with a noble rage: +All, all unite to gild thee with some rays +Of gathered light--themselves with shining praise. +See! how they rush, and leave sweet childhood's home, +The serf his hut, the lordly man his dome, +Forsakes, with callous heart, each hallow'd scene, +The oft frequented tree, the shady green; +Swift, swift they fly to see the realms of gold, +And think to reap the joy their raving fancies told. +Ye, isles of Britain! see them quickly leave +Your rocky coasts, and never deign to grieve. +Ye, sunny shores of France! behold them start +Nor shed one teardrop, as your ships depart. +Ye love-charmed bowers of Spain! your Houris' eyes +Are rayless now--for brighter lustre vies! +Ye, boundless plains, and giant hills, that rise +In craggy pride, and prop Columbia's skies, +Ye view your maddened sons, with guilty haste, +Roll from your shores and tempt the watery waste-- +Forgotten every claim that Virtue knows, +Despised the scenes, where early childhood rose, +Swift to the land of gold, they, joyful, flee, +Nor care the sacred joys of home again to see. +Lo! where they rush, and leave the drooping land-- +Unseen the parting tear, the loved one's waving hand. +Thus they depart--if those who walk the main, +But few shall view their native scenes again. + + Oh God! how vile thy creatures there become! +Thy pleadings powerless--all thy threatenings dumb: +On far Australia's plains, by California's streams, +Life's crimson flowing current often gleams: +For Cain has found in gold another power +To make him slay, as Envy at the hour, +When Thou dost set the ever-during mark +On him a Wanderer, where all earth was dark. +And how uncertain is the hold on life, +In those sad lands of gold and constant strife. +Fiends strike by day; by night they ever lurk, +By wood or cottage, swift to do Death's work; +Till even when none are near to deal the blow, +Imagination sees a hidden foe, +Behind each tree, and by the little cot, +Till gloomy Apprehension shades each spot. + + Lo! in yon bower of honeysuckle where +A thousand bees intone the summer air; +And humming birds, a fairy birth of springs, +Hover to suck the sweet on quivering wings; +There, at the morning's sweet and balmy prime, +A clasping couple blame the swift-wing'd Time. +Each morn, each eve, they seek this lonely bower, +And deeply bless its fair and fragrant flower, +Which shadows o'er so much of wildest bliss-- +The burning glance--the long and honied kiss-- +The broken sigh--the murmured, tender word, +Whose thrilling tone the inmost heart hath stirred-- +The matchless joy which makes us hold as nought, +All pangs that Fate may bring, or ever brought. +The lover hears that far amid the West, +Gold gleams within each river's crystal breast-- +That, wide and far, the gorgeous vision smiles, +And laps the spirit in delicious wiles. +He quits--he flies--he will behold the strand, +Where Wealth lies gasping for his tardy hand. +He will return--an edifice shall rise +In stately grandeur to the curving skies; +In their own land, his lovely bride and he, +Will move a lord and lady of degree. +She springs--she flings her fair, etherial form +Upon his breast, which once, with love, was warm-- +But now curst love of gold has surely chilled, +The heart that once her love so wildly thrilled. +Her long, fair locks, distracted, stream below, +Her gushing tears like wintry torrents, flow: +Her Herbert steels his heart against their power,-- +The ship that wafts him sails, ere morning's hour. + + At length he hails the longed for, distant shore; +The perils of the deep, at least, are o'er, +No fell disease has struck, with vengeful power, +His form to earth, to this protracted hour. +He sees the land--before his gaze unfold +The mighty, gorgeous realms of guilt and gold. +How swells his bursting heart with evil pride! +Cursed pride, for which so many souls have died. +Accursed pride of Lucre--loathsome Dame +Of every sin on earth that hath a name. +In fancy now he sees his palace soar +A fairy work! upon his childhood's shore; +In fancy sees his smiling, loving bride, +A queen amid her menial train preside; +And quite forgets that she his wiser wife, +Would love some cot, wherein to pass their life:-- +Till Fate, vindictive, lays her lover low +Far from the hand which might relieve his woe. +At last, he dies--his spirit's latest groan +By her unheard--his latest wish unknown. +Thus Heaven hath punished him whose love of gold +Hath made him slight what he should dearest hold. + + Beside yon haw-crowned hill, a widowed dame, +Dwelt with her son, by whom her living came. +Enticed by gorgeous dreams that haunt his sleep, +Her age's pillar wanders o'er the deep-- +Deserts his aged, widowed, trembling dame-- +Ah thus will gain destroy the sense of shame! +There on those barren hills and burning plains, +His insane fancy gloats on glittering gains. +Until, at last, avenging fever lays, +His form on earth, through dark, delirious days, +Without a mother's soothing care to ease +His dying throes, beyond those distant seas. +Yet, when, in that brief space which comes before, +The spirit flies, to visit earth no more, +A transient light breads on his wildest brain, +His bosom speaks in this lamenting strain! +"Ah! damning love of gold, which sees me here, +And made me leave an aged mother dear. +Now Heaven, how just! repays my guilty deed! +No mother soothes me in my sorest need. +Yet if kind Heaven will prize that mother's prayer, +Which, incense-like, now rises through the air; +I build my faith--that my last breath will ope +The gate of bliss to my believing hope." + + Far mid yon vastest woods, behold a swain. +If small his joy, small is his spirit's pain. +He tills the soil, for him the wild flowers bloom, +And lovely daisies shed their meek perfume. +His happy wife, relieves his every care, +And bliss is double when enjoyed with her. +His flocks supply his little household dear, +With decent garments, and salubrious fare. +Glad he beholds the smiling god of day, +Walk from the East upon his radiant way, +Gild all the fields--the lengthy plains--the peaks +Of giant mountains, with vermillion streaks-- +While all his farm spreads out beneath his eyes, +His heart's sweet home--his little paradise. +How better far this humble, noiseless life-- +Afar from guilty gold and bloody strife. +How glad he views his prosperous projects smile, +What guiltless joys his long, long life beguile. +With joy he sees his offspring rise around, +His body's scions, with sweet virtue crowned. +And, when, at last, his form succumbs to time, +He sees that offspring strangers yet to crime; +And, inly joys to think his drooping age +They will sustain, and all his pains assuage, +Till, like an apple mellowed, ripe, and sound, +He falls, and slumbers in his own good ground. + + + + +THE PROPHECY OF COLUMBIA. + + +The sun descends along the glowing west, +His bright rays quivering o'er Potomac's breast-- +And still he flashes, with his parting smile, +And gilds the top of yonder mighty pile[C]-- +Which Heroes children bade arise to heaven-- +In this new paradise (though later given.) +He sets! that glorious orb! and now is gone-- +And night's dark wings are slowly moving on;-- +But see! the moon, full-orbed, ascends the sky, +And walks that dark-blue path so calm on high-- +Pours her soft light--a sea of silvery beams, +On that proud pile--as on the sleeping streams; +As if indignant that the Night would hide, +With her black wing, a nation's central pride-- +That towering dome, beheld from o'er the sea, +To crown the clime of all who now are free. +As there I wandered, when the day was o'er-- +Near that proud pile--along the silent shore-- +And, fondly lingering o'er the magic scene, +Marked each blest spot, where Freedom's feet had been,-- +The Present fled--the Future rose to light-- +Columbia's Genius stood revealed to sight. +Her Phantom form uprose and touched the sky-- +Her mighty realm lay stretched beneath her eye. +An awful light--yet gentle--yet serene-- +Shone from those eyes, and from her god-like mien; +At first, cold fear ran through my shivering frame, +And dread forebodings o'er my spirit came. +But soon she spoke--though not in warlike tone, +But mild as zephyr when his breath hath blown. +A smile of kind, parental love confest +Her glowing son whom now she thus addrest. + +"O son! well-pleased, I mark thy patriot fire, +Nor wholly scorn thy yet unpracticed lyre. +Behold yon structure whose lone, silent height +Meek Luna gilds with her celestial light. +See how it soars! and leaves the darker plain-- +So high--that none will soar, as that again-- +Until the Monument that God will rear +On sin's dark grave--as Tyranny's is here. + Yes! view that Capitol;--its lofty dome +O'erlooks the clime thou lovest to call thy home. +Just, just the joy thou feelest--it o'er views, +The happiest land that quaffs the sun's bright hues. +But think thou not that, this, my chosen land +Has reached its borders--they shall yet expand-- +Until yon heap, on which the moonbeams play, +O'erlooks a hemisphere that owns my sway. +There boundless tracts of evershining snow, +There--flowery isles that in the tropics glow-- +There sea-like pampas, waving to the main, +There--thousand cities dotting o'er the plain-- +There--noble James--there Hudson's fairy tide-- +There--Susquehanna--e'er with Song allied-- +Here--broad Potomac, too,--shall here arise +The hum of wide industry to the skies. +There--mighty Oregon--amid the West-- +Rolls wealth uncounted o'er his watery breast. +There--mightier Amazon--the King of Floods, +Sweeps grandly down from nevertraversed woods, +There--Lakes--supplied by endless hills of snow-- +There--Mexico--the gulf of placid flow-- +There--wide Atlantic--blue as Beauty's eyes-- +There--far Pacific--vast as are the skies-- +Each whitened by quick-passing, shifting sails, +Conspire to make me rich--till Carthage fails +To show a record of more wealth and power, +Even where the farthest isles became her dower. + And yon dusk hill[D], amid the moon's pale light, +In nation's eyes, shall soar a prouder height-- +Till from each shore where man has learned to dwell-- +The eyes shall strain, and feel the mighty spell-- +For there repose the bones of Washington-- +Upon that hill--earth's noblest, earthly one. + + But this Columbia's fairest praise shall be, +Her Sons shall kneel beneath their chosen tree-- +At prayer--as fades the daylight into even-- +And, lift--unblamed--their hearts to smiling Heaven. + + Here Learning, too, shall rear unnumbered domes, +Here Shakspeares--Tassos--find more happy homes, +Here Homer's fire, and Virgil's polished grace, +A sacred charm shall give to many a place. +Each shady hill shall be a Muse's haunt-- +By each pure spring aerial nymphs shall chant-- +Chant the sweet song to heavenly Liberty-- +While thundering cataracts peal it to the sea!" +She spake no more;--or I too much opprest +By wondrous visions, needed welcome rest. +And when I waked, the day had now unfurled +His rosy banners o'er the laughing world, +And while the glorious prospect charmed my view, +I felt Columbia's prophecy was true. + + +[Footnote C: The National Capital at Washington.] + +[Footnote D: The Tomb of Washington, at Mount Vernon.] + + + + +LOVE. + + +Of woman was I born, and man I am. +I come to teach the greatest, yet the most meek +Of all true lessons which man e'er can learn-- +_God's man was made to love, and nought to hate, +Except the Ill which God and angels hate._ +Oh! this grand lore hath fallen on my heart +Like smiling sunlight on a gloomy ocean. +Oft have I heard and felt great throbs of love +Vibrating through the universe of worlds, +Through every grain of matter, through the hearts +That live and swarm beneath the eye of God. +Oft standing mid the holy calm of night, +The surf of love came rolling on my soul +From off the farthest verge of God's great realms, +As rolls the surf of ocean on a beach, +For ever and for ever, and for ever. +Love was the Cause of all things, and the End; +For God is Love and ever will be Love: +And those who feel most love are most like God-- +As seraphs, cherubs, saints and righteous men; +And those who feel least love, are least like God, +As Satan, Moloch, Belial, and bad men. + +Once man, and all that live and move on earth, +In sea, and sky, were bound by links of love +To God and angels, in one perfect chain-- +And God and angels came and talked with man +Full often, in the shade of Eden's trees, +While lions and all lambs lay down together, +All in the happy shade of Eden's trees. +Oft have I watched the myriad lovely flowers, +In spring and summer, in the woods and meads, +And thought they clasped their tiny hands in love, +Then all bowed low their painted heads in love, +To the great lord of light who smiled on them. +Oft have I watched the myriad forest leaves, +Trembling as if with some sweet thought of love, +Till love's sweet incense went up from all these, +To the bright orb who smiled bright love on them: +And then a thousand birds began to sing +One song of love to that bright God above. +Oft I have heard that larks, in England's realm, +Fly from the earth, at morning's golden blush, +And fill the whole bright arch with golden songs? +And I have reasoned they sung only love, +Which teaches them that strangest melody, +Which they soar nearest heaven to warble out. +Oft have I seen the beams that leave the sun, +Embrace within the clouds, with shining arms-- +And form a splendid arch in earth and heaven, +Which shines eternal covenant of Love-- +Toward which our hearts forever mount and sing, +As skylarks mount and sing to morning's flash. +Oft have I seen the sparkling water-drops, +Cohere in love, and make a crystal lake-- +A gulf--a sea--an ocean's mighty mirror. +Oft have I thought that all the system worlds, +A few of which we watch, at holy night, +Far up amid those deep, blue fields of night-- +Are hung by Love, and wheel forever round +The Central Point, in circles swift but true; +And in their orbits flying thus for ever, +Sing forth a choral song of burning love, +To that Creator who loves them again. +Oft have I thought, the law which Newton named +The Law of Gravitation, is the Law +Of Love, which God had called the Law of Love. +And if a world could ever hate the rest, +'Twould rush forever to the abysm of gloom, +And dreariest part of chaos. I infer +_God's man was made to love and nought to hate +Only the Ill which God and Angels hate._ + +Ah! happy spirits were they all in heaven, +And all loved God, and one another loved-- +And all moved round the Triune God enthroned-- +In blissful circles--nearing him for aye, +Yet not approaching ever--till that Foul +And Hateful One fell off from love and then +Fell down into his dark, eternal den, +Where love's sweet beam can never, never reach. + + + + +THE LOVERS. + + +Two lovers in the strength of life, + Had built a beauteous home, +Where tall, ancestral oaks uprose, + O'ershadowing their high dome. + +He was a tall and manly form, + With ringlets dark like night; +But she was like the lily's stem, + With eyes of moon-like light. + +Six happy years they chronicled + Within their nest of bliss; +To taste each day some sweetest joy, + They could not go amiss. + +Three little images of them, + Two boys and one a maid, +Beneath those high, ancestral oaks, + With silver laughter, played. + +The thunder-blast of war came o'er + The lover's startled soul; +The wife bowed low her head and heart, + To sorrow's strong control. + +The lady drooped--as droops a flower + Without the sun or rain; +And now at twilight's hectic flush, + She sang a wild, low strain: + +"He's gone, I cannot smile as when + I saw him at my side! +Ah me! the memory of that hour + When I was his new bride. + +"Our two young hearts were joined in love, + As two bright lamps of flame, +Cut off from him, life is to me + A mockery and a name. + +"God help my helpless little ones, + And keep them for his own. +My heart is breaking--husband! long + Thou shalt not be alone." + +When faded all the autumn flowers + The lady surely died-- +Broken the bands that bound her life + To him--his wife and bride. + +Love was the Cause of all things, and the End, +For God is Love, and ever will be Love. +God's grey-beard prophets sang a future time, +When all would be restored in love to God, +And the first Eden be rebuilt on earth; +That lions and all lambs should play together, +On the long grass of Eden's greenest lawns. +That man should yet behold that happy scene, +When one loud jubilate of worship--love-- +Should climb the heavens from each lone shore of earth. + + + + +SONG. + + +Oh! Love's the sweetest joy of earth, + Love's keenest pang is bliss, +And, like a wild, delirious bee, + We hang upon a kiss: + +With lip to lip and heart and heart, + We live in that sweet death, +And feel the breeze of paradise, + Upon a loved one's breath. + +We lean upon a beating breast, + As on a throne of gold; +And, like a monarch, thence, look out, + On love-hued sea and wold. + +We dwell upon a loved one's song, + As on a strain of heaven, +And think it charms the throbbing stars + That throng the halls of Even. + +Oh! Love is like a river-flood, + That rolls and pauses never-- +An ocean-tide that bears us on + Forever and forever. + +This is the lore I come to teach the world-- +That Love formed all of matter, all of spirit; +That Love keeps all things, lest they fall to chaos; +That Love's pulse vibrates throughout all God's works, +Whose beat is harmony like angels' songs-- +And man is most like God and least like Devil, +When he most loves all things which God hath made. + + + + +HOURS WITH NATURE. + + +When smiling spring, an angel fair! + Walks o'er the verdant plain, +And breathes a soft and balmy air, + From isles beyond the main: +When robins sing, and waters play, + And lambs skip o'er the mead, +And forest birds, with music gay, + Their callow offspring feed: +When May-flowers shine by every stream, + And fragrants showers come down, +While sun-rays o'er the mountains gleam, + And form a dazzling crown:-- +Oh! then 'tis sweet to be with thee, + Dear Nature ever fair, +To roam thy walks of song and glee, + Thy realms, sky, earth and air. +Bright angel spring, thou seem'st divine, + With ever smiling brow: +No sin-created gloom is thine, + Nought dims thy beauty now. +Wide earth, stream, river, lake and sea, + Shine forth an angel land, +Where spirits, robed in purity, + Roam, love-linked, hand in hand. +Now June, like full-blown womanhood, + Succeeds the maiden spring, +And broods upon the solitude, + With broad and bird-like wing. +The air re-echoes forth a song + Of full and perfect bliss, +Where happy lovers roam along, + And melt into a kiss. +But Summer bursts upon the world, + With views of waving grain, +Beneath the sweating sickle hurled, + Upon the fragrant plain. +The warm, long day calls forth at length, + The storm's electric fire, +That shatters the oak's imperial strength, + And bids the shrubs expire. +The cloud rolls off--and see! what pride! + A many colored bow, +Hangs on the cloud's retreating side, + And o'er the fields below. +Then, glorious summer flies away, + From upland, slope and plain; +And Autumn, crowned with shocks of hay, + Appears in joy again. +Old, jolly Autumn! happy man! + Wild tumbling on the meads; +We'll love thee, Autumn, as we can, + Thy glory is our needs. +Thou heapest our barns with plenty--thou + Art, sure our faithful friend; +And, in the aspect of thy brow, + Lovely and useful blend. +Thy golden hues recede at length, + And seem to sigh decay, +Till, thou, despoiled of life and strength, + Art borne, a corpse, away. +Wild, bleak, and blustering Winter wild, + Assumes the icy throne; +Deep snows upon the earth are piled, + And hushed is every tone. +The trees stand bare, bleak skeletons, + Of bodies once so fair, +And dirges, dirges, woeful ones, + Resound amid the air. +Bleak, winter wild! thy dreary scenes, + Have yet one modest flower; +The daisy finds some little greens, + Whereby she builds her bower. +The daisy is a preacher wise, + Whom heavenly robes array; +Each winter lives, and sweetly tries, + A loving word to say. +"Oh! man, amid thy darkest woe, + Some humble bliss remains;-- +Then, let thy murmurings cease to flow, + And hush thy doleful strains." +It is the dawn. Faint crimson streaks + The dewy, orient sky, +Like virtue's blush, on maiden cheeks, + Ah! sweet and peerless dye. +At last--the sun, an Eastern king, + Comes forth in rested pride; +And soars, with bright and burning wing, + Above the hill and tide. +Above yon Blue Ridge, towering piles, + Uptorn by Nature's throe-- +He speeds, he speeds, through myriad miles, + To his meridian glow. +The birds sink down, amid the copse, + And sing a feeble song; +At last, each sound, on sudden, stops, + And Silence holds the throng. +But Evening, comes, a sober maid, + With one bright, starry eye; +And throws her mantle--star-inlaid-- + Upon the silent sky. +It is night's noon. How dark, how vast, + Yon boundless vault appears; +A shadow o'er the earth is cast, + That wakes the spirit's fears +How death-like hushed! all life seems dead, + Does Nature live at all? +Ah, truest symbol! it has said, + "The hush--the gloom--the Pall!" +Day is the varying life of Man,-- + Some sunshine--clouds again-- +Night is his death--which erst began + When Sin began to reign. +Dark, spectral Night! I sing of thee; + For, thou art lovely, too-- +And Death will wake the melody + Of him whose life was true. +To walk upon the azure sea, + It is a thing of bliss; +When skies are bright, and sails are free + And smiling wavelets kiss. +How grandly leans the ship, a queen, + Above the sparkling tide-- +With joy she walks the watery scene, + A thing of fear and pride. +To scale the crown of vast Blue Ridge, + And eye the world below-- +Farm--river--ravine--wiry bridge-- + And soaring crane and crow-- +And misty woods--and fields afar-- + Neat villages and towns-- +Blest herds and flocks no beast can mar, + That nibble sunny downs. +Oh! that is, sure, a pleasant thing, + And bathes the soul in joy; +And many a grief-worn man 'twould bring, + To be once more a boy. +'Tis sweet to rove, at twilight dim, + Beside an aldered stream, +To list thy lady's evening hymn, + 'Neath starlight's trembling gleam. +'Tis sweet to sit within a bower, + Inwrought with flower and vine, +What time along yon mountain tower, + The shades of eve decline. +'Tis sweet to hear the nightingale, + O'erflow the forest shade, +With harmony which might avail, + To win a Dis-stole maid. +'Twere sweet to cleave the snowy foam, + With ship and spirit free, +Where tropic spices ever roam, + The Caribbean sea. +'Twere sweet to sail by Yemen's shore, + And touch that golden strand, +Where Indus' river wanders o'er, + Its glittering, golden sand. +Oh! Nature! thou art far above, + The painter's, Poet's pride-- +Thou art the glorious Child of Love-- + Adorned a heavenly bride. + + + + +YORKTOWN. + + +Here met three nations, panoplied for fight, + Moving before the vision gorgeously; +Then shamed with Battle's gloom the paling Night, + Upon the land and sea. + +Earth quailed beneath the cannon's burrowing roar, + Beneath three Armies' slow and ominous tread; +And Ocean who the portioned conflict bore, + Shuddered with pain and dread. + +But when the morning rolled the double shroud + Of Night and Battle from the land and sea, +The Sun looked forth through no obstructing cloud, + And saw a Nation FREE. + + + + +POET'S ENCHANTED LIFE. + + +THE ANGEL-CHILD. + +A fairy land of grass and flowers, + And of the greenest trees +A land of singing brooks and springs, + A land of singing breeze. +A land of bright but mellowed hues, + Beneath the western skies, +The lady bore a beauteous child, + In this sweet paradise. +An auburn head--an olive face-- + An eye of azure light-- +A perfect beauty seemed the child, + To my enchanted sight. +I loved him for his loveliness, + This budding, beauteous child, +The mother's heart within would leap + When e'er the infant smiled, +And when upon her warming breast, + She watched his closing eyes, +His lips would smile, as if he saw + The angels in the skies. +And truth to say, she ofttimes thought, + The angels were near by, +So strange a gleam was on his hair, + So bright his cherub eye. +He was so meek and gentle-souled, + So free from evil stain, +Ah! well I knew, 'twere toil to find + So lovely child again. +It was a antique, white-walled cot, + Beneath the western skies, +This lady dwelt with this sweet child, + In this sweet paradise. +The mother loved her beauteous child; + Oft gazing on his sleep, +The joy that smoothed her matron brow, + Was beautiful and deep. +The summer flower hath hasty growth-- + The sweet child grew apace, +And lo! a brighter loveliness, + Was born upon his face. +So fair--so fair--and oh! so dear! + Alas! a mother's love +May be too strong to please her God-- + The child went up above. +And now alone the mother was + In all this world so wide, +For ere the child had lisped his name + Her stricken husband died. +Alone in all this world so wide, + Alone the mother was; +If this were true--God wot 'twas false, + Our hearts should sigh alas. +The child--the child--transformed! come down, + On rainbow-colored wings, +Whose flashing, o'er the mother's path, + A mystic glory flings. +He set gay flowers of heavenly pride + Amid this cursed clime-- +Ah! brilliant flowers--ah! brighter flowers, + Than bloomed in Eden's prime. +He softly led her on the way, + And sang to her charm'd soul, +A sweet, low strain that men heard not, + And fiends could not control. +At last the mother went with him + To dwell on Heaven's wide plain, +Where father, mother, cherub now, + Sing forth a glorious strain. + + + + +SUNSET. + + +The Summer's sunset throws a tender spell, +Along the hills, o'er ocean's softened swell; +The God of day goes flaming down the sky, +And zephyr floats on perfumed pinions by. +Oh! who can gaze upon this gorgeous sight, +Nor feel his bosom chain'd by deep delight, +This hour when beauty wears her richest dye, +And love o'erflows charmed ocean, earth and sky; +Till fancy, dreaming in her lovely bower, +Hears far off strains of deep, o'erwhelming power, +And, lifting up her pensive orbs above, +Spies Angels winging through yon vault of love, +And says that "they are wafting souls forgiven +On their bright pinions, to yon nameless Heaven." +On such an eve, so peaceful and so bright, +Two loved ones flee beyond yon failing light, +No more to droop within this gloomy world, +Their angel pinions next God's throne were furled; +There now--for aye forgot this earthly night-- +They lave those bright wings in eternal light. + + + + +IMAGINATION. + + +Now fir'd imagination soars on high, and shows +Magnific scenes. The first--a summer's dawn-- +A sky of purest blue--a golden sea +Beneath--earth bright with lovely hues like Heaven. +Yon orb of fire suspended o'er that sea +Of molten gold, burns like a throne in Heaven. +His foaming, flashing radiance, floods earth--sky-- +And throbbing sea, till each lies bathed in glory, +Which seems the break of a celestial morn. +That scene has passed. Another charms +The gaze. The mighty orb of blazing flame, +Has run a curve of brightness o'er the sky, +And presently will cut the Western main, +With its bright rim. We stand upon an isle, +One of the Hesperian, in the unknown seas, +Toward the setting sun. The waves which gush, +And softly splash against the rocky shores, +Are dyed by richest, ever varying tints, +Like those, we fancy, tinge that sea that flows, +Around the throne of God, and, in whose billows, +The seraphs, as wing'd birds, embathe their breasts-- +Whilst heaven becomes another sea like that-- +And all is bright waves dashing o'er our hearts, +And making music sweeter than the songs +Of those we loved in youth, ere hatred grew. +That scene has pass'd. Imagination sleeps +To husband strength for more ambitious flight. +But, soon restored, with native, heavenly might, +She soars beyond the sun high thron'd at noon-- +And, with her hand that flows with gold and gems, +Flings wide Heaven's gates that flame with living beams. +And lo! the scene of Heaven! Oh! brighter far, +Than aught earth shows of beautiful or fair, +Is that bright heaven of our hopes and dreams. +Yet even imagination's piercing eye +Receives into its scope but humble part +Of all the glory that o'erflows that heaven. +A boundless sea of love--all hued like love, +Gleams round the throne of Triune God, which seems +To rise from out that placid depth, built of +Its water, crystallized to gold and pearl, +Wherein joy's beauteous light forever plays. +Over that sea rings set beyond vast rings +Of burning seraph, saint, and cherub, stand +With starry crowns; and, with unceasing songs, +Struck from their lyres that burn as morning suns, +And born in hearts that burn in joys of heaven-- +Louder than twelvefold thunder, yet more sweet +Than all the sweetest strains e'er heard on earth, +Fill Heaven with light and song ineffable, +Along the bright flow of eternity. +Then swift in flight as saint and seraph there, +She passes back through those vast gates of fire, +And slowly drops upon some flowery peak, +Or ocean isle, upon this mundane sphere; +Then sleeps soft in the folds of some fair flower, +Or, in the crystal bosom of a dewdrop. + + + + +MILLY. + + +A fairy thing was Milly when + She blest my wondering sight; +I ne'er shall meet her match again-- + A maid so gaily bright. + +Her ringlets flowed about her neck-- + A neck that mocked the snow! +A sunny robe her bosom decked, + That proudly heaved below. + +Sometimes she roamed the leas at morn, + And sang like a sweet bird-- +Until a melody was born + On each outgushing word. + +Sometimes amid her cottage home, + She touched the breathing lyre, +And then her quivering lips were dumb, + Her soaring soul on fire. + +She was a very fairy maid; + And then we sinned to crave +That she with us might be delayed, + And never reach the grave. + +One twilight when a star came forth, + She clapped her hands and smil'd, +And said that star within the North + Would take an earthly child. + +Did some near, viewless angel speak + That word unto the maid, +That thus with sweet, unblanched cheek, + That awful word she said? + +But thus it was; when autumn told + The yellow leaves to fall, +The maid no more could we behold, + No more she knew our call. + +And now I watch that cold, high star, + Amid the leaden North, +And think she looks on me afar, + Forlorn upon this earth. + + + + +THE WINTRY DAYS. + + +The wintry days have come once more, + The birds are still, the sweet flowers dead, +And faint winds sigh a wailing song + O'er leaves heaped high within their bed. + +The neighboring stream that lately leapt, + And laughed, and played adown the glen, +Is now as hushed and mute as though + It ne'er would leap and smile again. + +A mournful silence fills the sky, + And falls upon the gazer's soul, +And down the sympathizing cheek, + The watery teardrops silent roll. + +The beauty of the peaks and plains, + The loveliness of earth and sky, +Have passed away, and, passing, said, + "Ye mortals frail! ye too must die." + +So has the beauty of my hopes + Withered beneath woe's wintry touch,-- +My heart has yielded to despair, + Though lingering long and weeping much. + +But oh! bright Hope, mid bleak Despair, + Sprang, cheerly speaking to my heart, +Sweet, smiling spring shall yet return, + And joyless winter must depart. + +And Mercy throned beyond the sun, + Whose breath thy living soul hath given, +Will lead thee to a deathless spring + Within the glorious gates of heaven. + +Ah! deeply do I bless that word! + It drives my gloomy fears away;-- +I kneel upon the dreary snow, + And bid my God be praised for aye. + + + + +SPRING. + + +Now, Mary fair, the Spring has come, + Back to our fairyland, +And buds begin to breathe perfume, + The breeze blows sweet and bland; +The gay, green groves are ringing clear, + The crystal waters shine; +Now, Mary sweet, the scene is dear, + The moments are divine. + +And, Mary, hearken how the birds + Are courting in the grove, +Oh! listen how their music words + Speak tender things of love. +Let us be happy, Mary fair, + We waste these heavenly hours, +Let's rove where fragrance fills the air, + Among the opening flowers. + +Yes, Mary dear, let's quit the throng, + And from the tumult flee, +The birds these living bowers among, + Shall sweetly sing for thee; +And happy zephyr wave his wing, + And streams make melody, +And loveliest flowers gaily spring + Thy matchless face to see. + +Dear Mary, why, why should we stay, + While Nature calls us forth? +See! love and pleasure, smiling, stray, + O'er all the gladsome earth! +While all around is mirth and song, + Let us be joyful, too, +And, listening to the feathered throng, + Our vows of love renew. + + + + +AN INCIDENT. + + +The sighs of summer night, were sweet without, +As the breath of spirits, on the folded roses, +The sweet moon, like a young and timid bride, +Came softly trembling through the eastward oaks-- +Where I espied a Glorious Beauty standing, +Glowing and bright, in a portico vine-wreathed. +Shaken by wrestling Hope and Doubt within, +I quickly slid unto her side; and she +Wore no dark frown--but smiled--she smiled on me! +Her white brows shone amid her darkest hair, +Like that moon's beams amid the opening gloom: +And her slight, delicate shape would shame the limbs +Of fairies tripping on the moonlit green. +And she did smile on me--that Glorious Beauty! +And I stood there, and clasped her lily hands! +And I did peer into her lustrous eyes! +And they gave back my ardent gaze of love! +She spake--the tremulous accents of her voice +Was like a sweet stream breaking upon rocks; +And when the music of those thrilling words, +Rushed on my soul--I sank upon her bosom, +And felt that we could part no more on earth. + + + + +THE LETTER. + + +Amid a flower-strown cottage room, + The Lady sat at even, +Beneath the peerless evening star, + Just peeping out in heaven; +And, in her hands, as lilies, white, + She held a billet-doux, +Which, round upon the tranquil air, + A grateful fragrance threw. + +And now she bends her beauteous head, + To read the written lines-- +Her white hand starts--a crystal tear + Upon the paper shines; +Her startled bosom gently heaves, + Like billows capped with snow, +And quickly o'er her lovely face, + Her blushes come and go. + +Those glowing words have waked within + Her soul, the flame of love, +Which blends her woman nature with + The natures of above:-- +A fire whose rays will change to light + Her lover's darkest gloom, +Till he beholds it beam again, + On Heaven's undying bloom. + + + + +THE LOST PLEIAD. + + +No more with thy bright sisters of the sky, + Who warble ever, +Wilt thou send forth thy choral melody, + Sad maid! for ever. + +No more the bright, innumerable train, + Who move in Heaven, +Will know thy face upon the etherial plain, + At rosy even. + +The night will mourn thine absence ever more, + With dewy tears, +And, the bright day, will, dimmer now, deplore, + The darkened years. + +Our wandering eyes will search for thee in vain, + And we shall sigh +That thy high beauty could not conquer pain, + The doom to die. + +Earth scarce had mourned some lesser beauty--thou, + Celestial maid! +Mid all didst wear a so unearthly brow, + And thou--decayed! + +The beauteous thought of thee which, ray-like, slept, + In our pure love, +Became a memory which we have kept + To grieve above. + +Gone, like the withered pride of early Spring-- + Like sweet songs, o'er-- +Ah! thou hast turned from us thine angel wing, + To come no more. + +Struck from thy high and glittering sapphire throne, + In upper light, +Say, did thy loveliness go, hopeless, down, + To nether night? + +Or, throned beyond the gloomy fate to fall, + Bright maid divine! +Sublime amid the Eternal's flaming Hall, + Dost thou e'er shine? + + + + +THE SLEEPER. + + +The sleeper lies, with closed eyes, + And softly moving breath, +So soft, so still, her life's sweet thrill, + 'Tis only more than death. + +Her dark, dark hair, reposing there, + Upon her pillow's snow, +And sweeping down her cheek's faint brown, + And bosom's spotless glow. + +She wakes at last, her sleep has past, + Her eyes on me are thrown; +My sleeping love--my heavenly dove-- + Has been in realms unknown. + + + + +DWELLING IN HEAVEN. + + +They do not--nay, they cannot die; + They go to dwell in Heaven; +Where God a free and full supply + Of purest joys hath given. + +They do not--nay, they cannot die: + Because we see them not +Do objects cease--oh! brothers! why + This lesson now forgot? + +They die not--nay, they cannot die: + In joy's serene, calm air, +Their cheek yet wears its roseate dye + Their smiles are yet as fair. + +Their tones yet breathe as sweet a strain, + Their hearts are still as true, +And still their wonted love retain, + My friend, for me and you. + +Oh no! they do not, cannot die, + They live far up in Heaven, +Beyond where flame yon portals high, + At still and silent even. + +They dwell--they dwell eternally, + Where roll no winds--no storm, +And, if we seek them, we shall see, + Each bright and happy form. + + + + +THE FACE I SEE IN DREAMS. + + +Strangely sweet, and softly clear, + With pure and starry beams, +Reposing there, and moving here; + The face I see in dreams. + +Oh! lovely is that wild, sweet face, + Which thus and ever gleams, +And smiles, with a seraphic grace, + Upon my heart's deep streams. + +Oft at pale midnight's holy calm, + Beside imagined streams, +I recognize the soothing balm, + The face I see in dreams. + +And, even at noon's wideseeing glare, + When earth, with clamor teems, +That face appears, as strangely fair, + That face I see in dreams. + +The sum of universal charms, + The sun of beauty-beams, +Appear to deck that form of forms, + And face I see in dreams. + + + + +TO ELOQUENCE. + + +Ah Eloquence! thou God-like power; + That swayest the human heart, +We still must call thee, rarest dower, + In the high gift of Art; +And still thou shalt be styled a queen, +To brighten earth's grief-shaded green. + +When thou dost falter sorrow's tale, + With trembling accents low, +The plaintive breezes of the vale, + With mingled pathos, flow; +The melting eye is bathed in tears, +And grief, in every face, appears. + +When thou dost stand in mortal's view, + And breathe thy thoughts of flame, +The conscious soul, conceives them, too, + And breathes and burns the same;-- +And when, in fancy, thou dost soar, +'Tis like Niag'ra's thundering roar. + +When thou dost tell of living joys + Far up in heaven above, +The rapturous music of thy voice, + Is like the Voice of Love-- +The entranced spirit flits away +To bathe in seas of whitest day. + + + + +NEAR YONDER BANKS AT EVEN. + + +Near yonder banks at even, + We whispered words most dear, +Till love's sweet star in Heaven, + Was shining, bright and clear. + +We saw the river glancing + Beneath the planet's light, +Its ripples seemed, while dancing, + To mock the gloom of night. + +But soon the star in Heaven, + By rising mists was hid, +And, by us, dark and even, + The river's current slid. + +So shone our love's sweet river + Beneath Hope's radiant star; +But soon, in darkness, ever, + It swept, in silence, far. + + + + +AN HYMN. + + +To him whose soul is locked and bolted fast, + By lust and guilt against the entrance there, +Of heavenly light; whose soul is over-cast + By mists of sin and fogs of black despair; + +The meaning of these worlds, not understood, + Becomes a dark and cabalistic book; +He not perceives that He who made, is good, + And that, His love was writ in every nook. + +Dark, dark his every view of actual things, + The diamond shines with faint, unmeaning ray; +What use or beauty hath the bird's gay wings? + What glory, worlds that sweep through space away? + +His ear is barred against the glorious song, + Which Nature chants, ne'er wearying, to her God; +The planetary paeans, borne along + Through God's high vault, descend upon a clod. + +Oh fool of fools, and wretched man is he, + Who breathes his life in this untutored state; +And, in that world to come, how dread will be + His startled soul's at last awakened fate. + +But, unto him, whose scales have fallen away, + Whose deafness has been healed by Love Divine; +A flood of music gushes in foraye, + And all God's works, with deathless lustre, shine. + +The diamond hath a beam that, conquering, vies; + The bird's gay wings assume yet gayer hues; +Brighter become the rainbow's gorgeous dyes, + Purer the evening and the morning dews. + +Sweeter the choral song of groves and founts, + Grander the anthem of the starry spheres; +From God's vast universe, forever, mounts + A strain that charms his own and seraphs' ears. + +Undaunted, he surveys the ocean rage, + With placid face, he feels the earthquake's shock, +He knows his Lord the fury will assuage, + His soul is safe, though earth's foundations rock. + +The Omnipotent yet liveth! He will bear + The humble soul, on His parental breast; +And, when the last great throe the sky shall tear, + This soul upon His arm shall surely rest. + + + + +TO P.S. WHITE. + + +What is the gilded chaplet worth, + That decks a conqueror's brow? +There is no conqueror on earth + Of nobler kind, than thou, +For bloodless victories are thine, +Whose splendor never shall decline. + +The thanks of men redeemed from shame, + The smiles of womanhood, +The praise of great ones wed to fame, + And of the humble good, +A victor's monument, shall be, +Through coming ages, unto thee. + + + + +MONTPELIER, ORANGE COUNTY, VA. + + +Where'er the great have lived or died, + A charm pervades the very air; +And generous spirits, pausing, oft + Will pour the heart's deep homage there. + +Thus, thou, sequestered, simple spot! + Where dwelt a mighty one of yore, +Becomest a shrine, where pilgrims kneel, + From earth's remotest, every shore. + +Whose fame, where'er a patriot breathes + A thought of freedom, has been heard; +And fallen on tyrant's startled souls, + Like coming fate's prophetic word. + +Yet, shame upon this senseless age, + Which blindly worships guilty gold, +No votive marble shows the tomb, + Whose vault received his ashes cold. + +Alas! that this should be our shame! + For which even yet our eyes shall weep; +_Nought points the world's admiring eye, + To where its friend's sad relics sleep._ + + + + +THE HEAVENLY FLOWER. + + +Now the final stroke is over! + And the heart hath ceased its beat; +And that form so palely beauteous, + In a ghastly winding sheet. +She has pass'd the gloomy portal, + She has reached the realm of light;-- +And there is a heavy silence, + While we sit and muse to-night. + +She was a flower, fading quickly, + From before our wistful eyes, +Giving back her spirit fragrance, + Early to the eager skies. +But she parted all so lovely, + Growing brighter day by day, +That our souls could scarce regret her, + Passing, like a dream, away. + +Now that frail and beauteous flower, + Which scarce opened here below, +Scattering round a heavenly sweetness, + On the hearts which bled with woe; +By a death which maketh living, + Changed into a lovelier flower, +Gives a fragrance far more lovely, + Round about a deathless bower. + +Oh! weep not for this, fond parents! + Though your earthly eyes be dim-- +Yet--she blooms in fadeless beauty, + Where the Seraphs chant their hymn; +Where a heaven, serenely glorious, + Bends above a paradise, +Clad in tints of gayer splendor, + Than our dream-land's gorgeous dyes. + +Yes! she blooms in deathless beauty, + In that brighter world than ours; +Where the happy saints and angels, + Gleam her glorious sister flowers; +Where no frost, no killing tempest, + E'er shall fall, or fiercely blow, +But mild zephyrs, waked on roses, + Round her softly come and go. + +There she yet is pure and lovely + As she was with us below-- +And our hearts should cease to mourn her, + When her God hath bade us know-- +That, within that peaceful heaven, + She is happier than before, +And that we should strive to meet her, + When, like hers, our toil is o'er. + + + + +LILLY MAY. + + +The fairest of our village maids, + Was blue-eyed Lilly May; +Her brow was decked with golden curls, + Her laugh was wild and gay: +And spotless as a ray of heaven, + Young love within her lay. + +The rose which decked the fairy vale, + Near by our rural town, +Showed not a deeper tint of blood, + Than dyed her cheeks of down, +And innocence like that of heaven, + Her fair, young head did crown. + +Oh Lilly May! Oh! Lilly May! + My heart was all thine own, +Earth ne'er gave me a sweeter sound, + Than thy low, loving tone; +For we each other's first loves were, + And each heard each alone! + +Oh Lilly May! I curse the day + That tempted me to part! +And ever haunting, strange regret + To my sad soul thou art; +I fear that I have deeply sinned, + And broken thy true heart. + + + + +TO ELEANOR. + + +When Hesper shows his rosiate lamp of love, + High in yon lofty arch of dewy blue; +When gentle dews distilling from above, + Sparkle upon the spreading grass and groves of yew-- +When sinks to rest the faintly murmuring breeze, + And dim and indistinct the landscape view-- +Lonely I stray among the poplar trees + And muse, dear Eleanor, dear love, on you. + +When Luna looks upon yon mountains brown, + And gilds the winding stream with silvery hue, +And Silence, like a fall of whitest down, + Falls where the sylphs their elfin dance renew +In lonely glens and cliffs of ivy green; + And human forms lie bathed in sleep's soft dew-- +Silent I stray along the fairy scene, + And muse, dear Eleanor, dear love, on you. + +When golden streaks along the East appear, + Spreading and flashing o'er that sea of blue; +And springs at length with aspect bright and clear, + Great Sol upon the glittering world of dew-- +The wakened Hours commence their wonted race, + And Nature strikes her living harp anew-- +Smiling I scan Creation's glorious face, + And muse, dear Eleanor, dear love, on you. + + + + +THE VOW OF LOVE. + + +'Twas evening's hour of magic power, + The sun went brightly down, +And shadows fell as with a spell, + Along the mountains brown. + +On high the sky, with gorgeous dye, + Then glittered bright and wide, +And westward far, the evening star, + Came trembling like a bride. + +The birds did chime their drowsy rhyme, + As day was getting o'er, +The rippling wave, did sweetly lave + The winding, pebbly shore. + +There walked beside that crystal tide, + Fair Holston's lovely stream, +My lady bright, at soft twilight, + In beauty's matchless gleam. + +And I did walk and softly talk + Unto her beauty there, +And deemed that she more fair must be, + Than Goddess, wrought of air. + +Her hand in mine--"Oh! be thou mine, + Nor scorn my pleading sigh." +"Yes"--still I cried, "be thou my bride, + My own, until we die!" + +Now as that tide doth onward glide + To reach the glittering sea, +With sparkling glow, our souls will flow, + To bright eternity. + + + + +DISAPPOINTMENT. + + +Last eve ere sleep had closed mine eyes, + To me there came a dream, +That when the saffron morn should rise + O'er lovely hill and stream; +I should behold a vision move + By yonder crystal spring-- +A vision of an earthly dove, + With pure and blessed wing. + +I thought the days of old romance, + Would now return to earth; +And, in that soft and placid trance, + So sweet--yet not like mirth-- +I saw the Dryads gently gliding + Through shadowy groves of myrtle-- +And Nereides their glances hiding, + And Venus with her turtle. + +Alas! our brightest dreams deceive! + The morning rises, bright and sweet, +And every thing in nature waits + Thy fairy face and form to greet; +But they, alas! will wait in vain, + As I, with aching heart, +Whilst wrapt in other joy or pain, + In other scenes, thou art. + +Thus ever from our path below, + Some vision lovelier far, +Than Eden's bird, or glittering gem, + Or beam of Beauty's star-- +Glides swiftly by--and we are left + To mourn the fleeting bliss, +That mocks us, as we sadly thread, + So dark a scene as this. + + + + +THE DREAM OF LOVE. + + +I dreamed last night, my lady-love, + A dear, delicious dream; +'Twas not in bower or blooming grove, + Nor by the sylvan stream. + +'Twas in thy father's noble hall, + In dreams I saw thee, lady love! +Yet 'twas no gorgeous festival, + No flowers beneath--no lights above. + +It was a sacred, simple scene, + Thy smiling sisters gathered round, +With kindly air, and gentle mien, + And spoke--a magic, home-born sound! + +Then thou and I, sweet lady-love! + Roved out amid the garden green, +Whilst Day and Night together strove, + Along the soft, romantic scene. + +And then I praised the charming view-- + The lofty peaks and rosiate skies-- +The vallies, in their vernal hue-- + The sky's still brightening, crimson dyes. + +And oh! I saw thy angel smile, + It smiled its lovelight all on me! +My heart was heaving high the while, + And still my eyes saw nought but thee. + +I took thy trembling hand in mine, + Then clasped thee to my happy breast, +And then those honeylips of thine + My forehead with their kisses blest. + +Last night I dreamed, sweet lady-love! + This dear, delicious dream; +Oh! could I waking pleasures prove + So sweet as those that seem. + + + + +SABBATH. + + +The Sabbath morn! How beautiful, + How peaceful and how blest; +An Angel's whisper seems to lull + The weary world to rest. + +Hark! how the churchbell's music steals + From yonder sacred fane; +Then echoes, like a heavenly sound, + O'er neighboring hill and plain. + +And see! along each different way, + To yonder temple fair, +With soft, slow step, and solemn mien, + The village folk repair. + +And now, great Nature sends on high + Her orison of prayer, +And wears upon her sacred face + A smile divinely fair. + + + + +THE THUNDER STORM. + + +'Twas a cloudless night in August, and the earth all silent lay, +With hills, and glittering rivers and mountains far away, +And angels then seemed bending through the whiteness of the beams, +Whispering to weary mortals soft and sorrow-soothing dreams. +Oh! surely, eye of mortal never gazed on fairer scene, +Than there lay sweetly dreaming in that loveliness and sheen:-- +But what is darkening yonder? and hark! that distant sound, +That comes like ghostly mutters faintly o'er the echoing ground. +And now that lightning flashes, like sulphureous light of Hell, +And now the winds come rushing o'er the far off wood and fell. +That cloud grows quickly larger, and the lightning flashing more-- +Hark! Earth and Heaven are rocking in a consentaneous roar! +And heavily the deluge floods the hills, the vales, the streams, +And beasts howl out for terror and men start up from dreams. +Oh! 'tis a dreadful scene to-night, the dreadest e'er we saw, +The hardest heart that beateth now, in watery fear will thaw. +But lo! 'twas but a moment, like a wayward Beauty's wrath, +And the moon resumes in heaven, see! her all serener path-- +And the clouds receding slowly rest upon the horizon round, +And the katydids and waters make the only living sound. +'Tis yet a night of loveliness, and fondly we may deem, +That Heaven and Earth are resting in the beauty of a Dream. + + + + +THE LIFE-LAND. + + +Oh yes, there's a land, far away, out of sight, +Where the fairest of flowers forever bloom bright-- +Where the groves never wither--the buds never die-- +And bright rivers of crystal forever roll by. +'Tis the clime of the Christian--the home of the blest-- +Where the wretched are happy--the weary at rest. +'Neath its bowers in bloom, by its waters so still, +The righteous shall walk, free from anguish and ill;-- +And they never shall pass from its portals again, +For their pleasures forever and aye shall remain. + + + + +TO MISS ----. + + +The flowers you gave, dear girl, will fade, + Nor shun the common lot, to die; +The thoughts they spoke, still undecayed, + Shall bloom immortal as the sky. + +Beneath the sun's meridian ray, + They'll fade and leave no trace behind: +The love they woke shall ne'er decay, + But be immortal like the Mind. + + + + +THE WIFE TO THE ABSENT HUSBAND. + + +Come back to me, my absent friend! + Since thou wast far away, +The vernal flowers have lost some charms, + Less bright the vernal day. +The wild, sweet voices of the fields; + Of birds amid the sky; +Of streams that wander through the wood, + With dreamy melody; +Sound not so sweet--and shine less bright, + Unto my pensive soul, +Since thou wentest forth, O dearest friend, + To brook the world's control. + +Come back to me! come back to me! + Let not the dream of fame, +Too long allure thy lingering feet + To worship at a name. + +Yet, I would have thee nobly strive + To win that glorious meed, +But still, of Woman's saving love, + Hast thou not urgent need? + +Come back to me! come back to me! + Thou never yet hast known, +How lone and desolate I feel + When left, by thee, alone. + +The dove without her loving mate, + Repeats a song like mine-- +Thus seems, o'er sad, neglected love, + To murmur and repine. + +Come back to me--oh! quickly come! + The joy that I shall know +Will more than pay for all this depth + Of dark and bitter woe, + +Which thou hast doomed my heart to feel + Through many a weary day; +And I will then forgive thy fault, + In lingering thus away. + + + + +OH, BLUE-EYED MAID, I SIGH FOR THEE. + + +Oh! blue-eyed maid, I sigh for thee, + A gentle twilight's close, +When music dies upon the lea, + And dew drops wet the rose. +I look on tranquil nature round, + And list to music's fall, +And think but half their charms are found, + Since thou art far from all. + +Oh, blue-eyed maid! the gorgeous beams + That light a monarch's hall, +The glittering wealth of golden streams, + To me were darkness all; +Unless thy light of loveliness, + Adorned the regal scene, +And thou bedecked in royal dress, + Shouldst reign my loving Queen. + + + + +TO MARY. + + +Oh, Mary, when afar from thee, + And mountains rise between, +And I am wandering pensively + Through many a varied scene; + +It soothes to bid my fancy stray, + On freest wings, to thee, +And cherish all the memories + So very dear to me. + +I view again thy face, thy form, + Thy look, thy ready smile, +I hear again those magic words, + That all my soul beguile. + +I sit beside thy chair, and gaze, + Upon thy willing face, +And there behold the speaking glow + Of that mysterious grace, + +Which binds my constant soul to thee, + And makes, through all life's years, +All that can make thy heart rejoice, + Or bathe thy cheek with tears, + +Awake in me the thrill of joy, + Or bow my soul in grief; +And makes me strive to make thee blest, + Or yield thy pangs relief. + +Yes, Mary, I will love but thee, + Of all thy lovely race; +Our hearts shall find in life one home, + In death one resting place. + +And, if I linger now afar, + 'Tis fortune's hard decree-- +Oh! were the dove's swift pinions mine, + How would I fly to thee. + +Those charms, with memory's feeble light + On me would cease to beam; +Their rays, with present, perfect warmth, + Upon my heart would gleam. + +Thus, by thy side, so sweetly near, + How blest to pass my life; +To press thy gentle hand in mine, + And call thee my sweet wife. + +If Adam lost his happiness, + Bewailed with ceaseless sighs, +With thee, my Eve, I scarce could wish + Another Paradise. + + + + +THOUGH THOU WAST PASSING FAIR. + + +Though thou wast passing fair, + And wondrous beauty crown'd thee, +And Fancy's robe most rare, + Forever brightly bound thee: + +I could not teach my heart, + To bow in love before thee, +Nor bid the death depart, + Which now hangs darkly o'er thee. + +I know a hectic flush + On thy sweet cheek is burning, +That thou dost stilly hush + Thy wrung heart's deepest yearning. + +I know that in thy breast, + A serpent closely lurking, +Forbids thee e'er to rest, + Thy utter ruin working. + +When, in the chilly ground, + Thy lovely form lies sleeping, +Where vi'lets spring around, + And purest dews are weeping: + +Thy sinless soul ascending + Above this dreary sod, +Shall feel its being blending + In deathless love with God. + + + + +THE LADY'S SOLILOQUY. + + +Ah! now I am beloved by him, + And sweet it is, to think, +That life no more will be so dim, + To make my spirit sink. + +Ah! now I am beloved by him; + The secret I will keep; +In silence to the mantling brim, + I'll quaff this cup so deep. + +Beloved by him! beloved by him! + How dear the tender thought! +My eyes in happy tears do swim, + My heart with bliss is fraught. + +Beloved by him--that noble youth! + With proud yet gentle mien, +Who speaks the guileless words of truth, + And yet is not so "green." + +Beloved by him--ah! I shall own + A husband very soon; +And he shall kneel before my throne, + With many a costly boon, + +The plate, the gold, the proud array + Of horses, charioteers;-- +And when comes round the paying day, + I'll kiss him in arrears! + + + + +LOVE WITHOUT HOPE. + + +I cannot cease to love thee, + Coldest fair! +Though pleading cannot move thee, + And I despair. + +Thy beauty was diviner, + Than the summer moon, +And thou didst outshine her, + At her noon. + +Thy brow was like the silver + On the star-lit sea; +Thy bright eyes did bewilder + All, as me. + +Thy motions were the motions + Of a charmed bird, +As, poised o'er dream-world oceans, + His sweet voice is heard. + +Thou wast queenlier far + Than the queenliest flower, +More glorious than a star + In a fairy bower. + +But it can not move thee, + My mad prayer! +Though I must ever love thee, + Coldest fair! + + + + +TO MARY. + + +Dear Mary, if my heart has hushed awhile, +Its loving voice within my breast--yet there, +Thine image was enshrined the dearest thing, +Which now remains to me in this sad world. +Thou bad'st me sing a song of thee, and said'st, +That I should make thee to my dreamy thought, +Whoe'er I would, and I will make thee be, +A fair and gentle friend--a lovely one-- +Ah yes, the nearest, tenderest of all friends. +Sweet Mary, dost thou read my thought? +Who will be all in all to me on earth, +Sheathing my soul against the edge of pain, +Even till I seem to dwell in paradise, +With thee my Eve, and we may need no fall. +See, fairy spring hath walked upon the hills, +Where her foot-prints are green and flowers appear; +The turtle coos within our pleasant land. +Oh! now I throb to be by thy sweet side, +To sun me in the sweet spring of that smile +Which warms the beauties of my mind to birth. +Thus, Mary, when afar from thee, amid +The unloving and unloved I muse of thee, +And sing and love thee still, and cannot wish +The thought of thee a moment from my soul. +Thou art the friend whom I would ever have +Dwell by my soul in absence and when nigh. +Thou art the friend whom I would have be still, +The loved and guardian angel of my path, +Amid the mazes of a treacherous world. +Thou art the friend, with whom in smiling peace +I fain would walk, to the not dreadful tomb. +And now, adieu, sweet Mary! I must cease +My strain; but, as a wind-strain sleeps +Upon a bed of roses; so the echo +Of this my strain, will find its rest with thee. + + + + +WRITTEN IN AN ALBUM. + + +As stainless thought my hand should write, +Upon this page of spotless white; +Nor would I that thy falling tear +Should blot the wish recorded here. + +Oh, like the rose which opens here, +The earliest of the vernal year, +May Mary's bloom enchant the day, +And bless the Minstrel's votive lay. + +But when the envious, Boreal wind, +Shall leave his Northern cave behind, +And seek to sieze thy beauteous bloom +To deck his dark and dreary tomb: + +May some kind angel swiftly fly, +And leave the region of the sky, +Transplant thee to a clime where ne'er +Sad winter mars the blooming year. + + + + +THE DEAD EAGLE. + + +No more through the regions of glorious day, +Shall thy wings waft thee proudly--oh proudly away-- +No more shall thy scream thrill the spirit that heard, +And saw thee, high mounting, O proud, mighty bird: +For thy form lies with beasts on the filth of the plain, +And it never shall soar from its slumber again. + +How strong was thy wing, and how fierce was thine eye-- +Which vanquished the storm--and the sun throned on high-- +How far was thy flight mid thy path through the blue, +As thou sankest away from our wandering view;-- +But thy form rottens now with the beasts of the plain, +And it never shall soar from its slumber again. + +We will mourn, we will mourn for thee, proud bird of heaven, +Whose loftiest walks to thy footsteps were given; +For thy form rots with beasts on the reed-sighing plain, +And it never shall soar from that slumber again. + + + + +LAMENT. + + +My soul is sad--oh! dark to-night, + 'Tis wrapt in midnight's gloom; +Wild minstrel! seize thy harp and sing, + As o'er the victor tomb. + +For thoughts, more beautiful than dreams, + Within my soul have died, +As fade away the glorious tints + From heaven, at even-tide. + +Wild minstrel! seize thy harp, I pray, + And let a dirge arise +In frantic woe--then faintly die + Amid the nightwind's sighs. + +The saddest--deepest--wildest strain + Should wail such visions o'er; +Within the mournful Past entombed, + To be awaked no more. + + + + +OH, LOVE! THE DEW LIES ON THE FLOWER. + + +Oh, love! the dew lies on the flower, + And the stars gleam on the sea; +It is the charm'd, the silent hour, + When I should roam with thee. +The day dies out within the West, + The shadows gather near; +And now sweet fancies fill my breast, + And thou art strangely dear. + +Behold! as yonder heavenly moon, + Breaks through the dark-blue sky, +And through night's deepest, stillest noon, + That brightness will supply-- +Thy smile thus sheds its heavenly light + Athwart life's deepest gloom,-- +Thus brightly gilds the spirit's night + Its gentle beams illume. + + + + +RED ROSE. + + +Sweet rose! ere Ellen gathered thee + From off thy parent stem, +With hope to rival her sweet cheek, + Thou wast a floral gem. +But when I think her snow-white hands, + Did pluck thee, rose! for me, +The brightest gems of earth or sky, + Are naught compared with thee. +How fondly even for hours I gaze + Upon thy charms so rare, +Thy tint of richest, purest red, + Thy fragrant petals fair. +Sweet rose! my Ellen's pledge of love, + Thou fairest thing of earth, +Save darling Ellen's angel self,-- + Words cannot speak thy worth. +To token faintly to her soul, + How prized by me thou art, +My trembling hand has placed thee here + Beside my throbbing heart. + + + + +ELLEN. + + +Ellen, my heart is not yet thine, + And still I can but sigh, +Whene'er I view thy semblance shine + In Memory's mirror nigh. + +Thy brow so soft--thy cheek so fair-- + Thy looks so sweetly mild-- +Thy angel air--thy angel smile, + My spirit have beguiled. + +Ellen, my heart is not yet thine, + But oft my fancy dreams-- +When evening's peaceful shades decline + Along our mountain streams. + +Yes! oft my tranced fancy sees, + Mid evening's deepening shade, +Thy airy form--and, in the breeze, + Thy voice I hear, sweet maid! + +Oh! Ellen! may yon heavens smile, + On thee, their beauteous birth, +And with the loveliest joys beguile + Thy path amid the earth. + + + + +THE SABBATH WORSHIPPER. + + +'Twas Sabbath morn. A holy light + Hung o'er the hill and wood, +O'er wooded stream, and lofty height, + And mighty solitude. +All Nature lay in bright repose, +And from her silent lips arose, +In mystic accents through the air, +The voice of worship, praise, and prayer. + +I gazed into the bright, blue sky, + Then bent my eyes to view, +The earth which lay so sweetly by + In robes of summer hue; +I dreamed that blessed ones might deign, +To leave their radiant seats again, +Nor weep to yield their home in heaven, +For the bright ones that Earth had given. + +On morn, so holy, pure, and bright-- + I looked on one most fair, +Whose braided hair was dark as night, + And wrought with maiden care-- +Forth issue from her father's door, +Walking with sweet mien evermore, +As if blest spirits led her there, +And she beheld their forms in air. + +Hark! how it thrills the holy air-- + The choir's high song of praise, +Which many voices mingling there + In sweetest concert, raise, +And oh! how warmly, fervently +Those words of prayer ascend the sky, +And joined with that loud strain of praise +Blend with the song that Seraphs raise. + +And sits that lovely lady there, + Uniting in the strain? +And does she bend her form so fair, + When silence comes again? +Yes! she was there, and lovelier there, +Than she this hour could be elsewhere; +Though few beneath yon heavenly sky +Might with her erring beauty vie. + + + + +TO ----. + + +As some gay flow'ret brightly rears, + Its head beside the pilgrim's way, +And charms away his flowing tears, + And glads him, with its blessed ray-- +Sweet Mary--"Angel without wing," + Heaven gave thee man's rough path to cheer-- +To bid the mourner smile and sing, + "At last, Earth is not wholly drear." + + + + +WHERE IS OUR BROTHER? + + +Where is our brother? I have come + From wandering far and long, +And oh! I miss one well-known face, + Gone from our little throng. + +Where is our brother? Where is he, + Ye late saw smiling here, +I look in vain his face to see + To catch his tones so clear. + +Where is my brother? Can it be, + That we shall never more +Behold his form upon the earth, + As oft, so oft, before. + +Ah! till we meet before the bar + At Time's last, awful day, +We shall not see his face again, + Although we mourn alway. + +In youth cut down, he lies so still, + That all the strength of grief, +Cannot restore his form to us, + One moment though so brief. + +Through Life's long day, we'll think on him, + And mourn his early flight, +And Earth, to us, hath lost a star, + Gone down in endless night. + +To us, gone down in endless night,-- + Beyond the sun afar, +He beams beside his Savior-God, + A bright immortal star. + + + + +STAR OF REST. + + +Star of Rest! thy silvery lustre, + Brightly streams from heaven above, +Ere each sweet and glittering cluster + Ope on earth their eyes of love. + +Star of Rest! how gently closeth + Every bud beneath thy brow, +And the wearied frame reposeth + From its daily labor now. + +Star of Rest! thy streaming splendor, + Lends the proud and queenly moon, +Till a glorious host attend her + Through her deep and silent noon. + +Star of Rest! we bless thy beaming, + From that vault so calm and blue, +For thou bringest sweetest dreaming, + And thou fillest the heart with dew. + +Love of Heaven--oh! brightly shining, + Gleam above our dying bed, +When the Day of life declining, + Tells us that its toil has sped. + + + + +MELANCHOLY. + + +There comes a time for flowers to fade, and light to die in gloom, +There is a time for mortal bliss to know a certain doom. +Sometimes I feel that I have reached that hour, and I have felt, +When pondering o'er the dreary change, my spirit in me melt. +The joyful trust, the bounding hopes, that laughed at scorned defeat, +The feeling, like pure rock-born streams, as strong, as deep, and sweet; +The soul that thrilled with transport wild, at Beauty's magic name; +Ah! all have strangely altered now,--I am no more the same. +And now I feel alone and sad amid an ocean wide, +I care not much to what strange coast my single plank may ride, +I am alone--what matters it where my bowed frame may be, +Since now my heart is never more by land or rolling sea. +I feel that as yon Night now throws its mantle o'er the earth, +Till ghostly shapes and ghostly sounds, go dimly walking forth-- +That soon the night of Death may throw its mantle over me, +And unfamiliar things shall rise from dark eternity. +Yet, would I hope, when such shall come, to dwell not with pain, +But walk, with a triumphant song, o'er heaven's unshadowed plain-- +Where Youth and Hope, and Love and Joy, (the angels,) ever smile, +And evermore the aching heart from woe and grief beguile. + + + + +FOR MARY. + + +Oh! may the brightest smiles of heaven + That beam on men below, +Still shine upon sweet Mary's path, + Wherever she may go. + +May Angels, like herself! still guard + Her steps from every ill, +Until she walks in robes of white, + O'er God's high, happy hill. + +And, when, in that celestial clime, + She beams a spirit bright-- +How sweet to think she'll love me then + Where nought our love can blight. + + + + +LINES. + + +Oft have I heard thine accents steal, + Like music on the air, +Then quickly turned to see thy form, + Sweet Mary! standing there. + +But thou did'st ever glide away, + Nor heed my pleading prayer-- +But now, alas! thou'rt but a Thought, + A phantom like the air. + + + + +THE FLOWERS. + + +The flowers! the flowers! I love ye, flowers; + Ye have a mystic voice +To speak unto my inmost soul + And make my heart rejoice. + +Your charms illume the splendid halls + Where wealthy princes move, +And light the humble peasant's cot, + Like gleams of heavenly love. + +Oh flowers, bright flowers! I feel within + My inmost heart, your power; +And know I see the light of Heaven, + Within a blooming flower. + +Had I a lovely home amid + Some valley green and fair-- +The flowers--sweet flowers--should ever gleam, + In star-like beauty there. + + + + +THE ENCHANTED REALM OF JOY. + + +Oh! I am sick of the ennui that comes of the earth, +All tasteless its landscapes--and charmless its mirth. +Away, swift away, on a pinion, as sprite, +I will speed to a kingdom not day and not night: +Where a spell of enchantment as soft as a dream, +Moves over the mountain, the valley, and stream; +And the bird and the rill with a sleep-bringing rhyme, +Soothe the gliding away of the current of time. +Away, swift away to this dream-world of bliss-- +From a place all so tiresome and tasteless as this. +And would I might ever abandon its beams +That radiate but feebly, to dwell by the streams +That gleam from the mountains of green fairyland, +And, at last, in bright morn of Heaven expand. + + + + +TO MISS M.T.R. + + +Whate'er may be my unknown fate + Upon this dark, terrestrial sphere, +Wilt smile to hear that I am blest, + And o'er my anguish shed thy tear? + +Methinks it were a happy lot, + That thou would'st grieve or smile with me; +And though all others prove most false, + I ne'er should find untruth in thee. + +Yes! thou wouldst seem some heavenly one + If such thy friendship followed me, +Nor would I cease, through every change, + To crave of Heaven its love for thee. + + + + + +BENEATH THOSE STARS OF SUMMER. + +RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED TO MISS ----. + + +Beneath those stars of summer, + I told thee my wild love; +And I beheld thy blushes, + And saw thy bosom move. +It was a holy moment, + And bliss o'erflowed my heart; +For thou did'st say that never + I should from thee depart. +I thought how very happy + Our future life would be, +That life's worst pain and suffering + Were sweet, if shared with thee. +Thou said'st thy deepest pleasure, + Thy highest pride would be, +Through all of life to gladden, + To soothe and comfort me. +And now when years have glided, + As silver waves depart, +I feel that thou did'st utter + The truth from out thy heart: +For thou hast never pained me, + Through all these happy years, +But still hast fondly loved me, + And charmed me even to tears. +Thou hast been such a blessing, + Thy virtues so much worth; +'Twere not profane to call thee + An angel upon earth. +And if those souls most loving, + Upon this spot of care, +Shall feel most bliss in heaven, + Thou'lt be a bright one there. + + + + +TO FANNIE. + + +My Fannie dear! when absence rends + My faithful heart from thee, +What gloomy thoughts oppress my mind, + There is no joy for me. + +By day, woe wastes my sinking soul, + By night I wake and sigh; +And still the grief that kills me quite, + Is, Fannie is not nigh. + +Oh! may that God whose name is Love + Her form to me restore; +That I may never, never part + From darling Fannie more. + + + + +A STROLL DOWN QUALITY ROW. + + +The other day I took a stroll, + Just when the sun grew low, +A down the Row of Quality, + That gay and charming row. + +I had been dreaming all the day + Of bright, poetic forms +Moving through silent fairyland, + Bedecked with glorious charms. + +As down the row, I slowly walked, + First came proud Majesty; +Love shone in all her queenly looks, + Command was in her eye. + +Then gentle Grace came smiling next, + Without the aid of art, +And, with a soft and pleasing bliss, + She past into my heart. + +Then Beauty came supreme o'er all, + A Heaven-anointed queen; +But modest Goodness walked behind, + With mild yet winning mien. + +Then I returned to dream and sing + Through many a pleasant hour, +Of all that evening's loveliness, + And beauty's matchless power. + + + + +THERE IS A GOD. + + +The azure vault so far above, +Arrayed in smiles of peace and love, +Would sweetly seem the truth to prove-- + "There is a God." + +The blooming earth so glad below-- +The fragrant flowers--the streams that flow-- +The tuneful birds--would bid us know, + "There is a God." + +Yon soaring sun on wings of fire, +Proclaims his great, celestial Sire-- +'Tis chanted by the starry choir, + "There is a God." + +We know it, too, at nights' fair noon, +When lo! the pale and placid Moon, +Illumes the balmy night of June, + "There is a God." + +The smiling Spring, and Autumn brown, +Hoarse-raging Winter's angry frown, +And Summer fair, unceasing own, + "There is a God." + +The mountains high, and dark, and vast-- +The thunder's roar--the howling blast-- +The lightnings springing thick and fast, + Amid the gloom, + +That wraps the Earth, and Sea, and Sky-- +The Storm-fiend's wild, terrific cry-- +The Earth-quake's shock--proclaim on high, + "An awful God!" + +But oh! that awful God above, +Is yet a gracious God of love-- +A bleeding Lamb--a wounded Dove-- + The sinner's God. + +Poor sinner! love His holy name, +And when this world shall pass in flame +A heavenly mansion thou mayst claim, + To dwell with God. + + + + +TO THE BELOVED. + + +I dream of thee, beloved one, + When the moon comes o'er the sea, +And hangs her horns of silver, + In yonder forest tree! +I wake from out my slumber, + I think I hear thy voice, +It thrills my list'ning spirit, + It makes my soul rejoice. + +Oh love! thy fair, bright image, + Is hov'ring near to mine, +Oh love! I see thy passion, + In those deep eyes of thine: +Ah me! those bright eyes gleaming, + Have bound my senses quite, +Those eyes are o'er me beaming, + The only stars of night. + + + + +TO LORA GORDON BOON. + + +Sweet maiden of the feeling soul, + I saw thy little form, +Arrayed in gay and glittering garb, + And felt thy beauty's charm. + +And, Lora! when I saw thee show + The mighty poet's thought, +The poet's truth, with vivid force, + Before my mind was brought. + +And when I heard thee sweetly sing, + The bold gay "Cavalier," +I thought that was the sweetest tone + E'er fell on mortal ear. + +"Sweet Maid!" 'twas love's most plaintive voice, + That echoes from the soul, +And makes the listening spirit pause + In that divine control. + +And when thou sang'st the "Soldier Boy," + I heard the drum and fife, +The bugle's blast, the cannon's boom, + The keen, sharp shriek for life! + +And when thou sang'st with gentle voice, + The "Bonnie Breast Knots" too; +'Twas like the words of peace and love, + That follow war's wild crew. + +And when I saw thee lightly whirl + Through that ecstatic dance, +My happy spirit flew with thee, + As in a joyous trance. + +Sweet maiden, when thou pass'd'st away, + I felt a soft regret; +And oh! thy genius and thy charms, + I never shall forget. + +Sweet maiden, fare thee--fare thee well! + Thou sing'st and flitt'st away-- +A thing that charmed us, and shall be, + Remembered through life's day. + + + + +MONTICELLO. + + +On Monticello's classic brow, + I stood and gazed around on earth; +And feelings of no common glow, + Within my bosom had their birth. + +The glorious memory of the past, + When valor, single-handed, won, +The brightest boon for man at last, + Freedom for every sire and son. + +I thought how strangely, wildly rung + That dictum in the world's dull ear, +Breathed with a firm, unfaltering tongue, + "No tyrant's pride shall flourish here." + +But, look upon yon humble tomb, + Oh! does it hide some humble one? +Now, part the mountain's leafy bloom,-- + Is this the grave of JEFFERSON? + +Huge shame confound this long neglect, + That thus o'ershades his resting place, +Who, living, sought to raise, protect, + And fit, this home of Adam's race. + +Who guards that most illustrious tomb, + And welcomes there the pilgrim's love? +A stranger to his native soil, + Stands sentinel his grave above. + +Virginia! oh! retrieve thy name, + No longer scorn thy source of pride; +Pay double tribute to their fame, + Whose shades so long in vain have sighed. + +Rear monuments to tell the world, + The virtues of departed worth, +Till yonder sun in night be hurled, + The glorious heritage of earth. + +Then through the ages that succeed, + The hearts shall come from every shore, +To worship where their relics lie, + Whose glorious fame can die no more. + + + + +TO MARIAN. + + +Dear Marian, thou art far away, +And I'm disconsolate to-day, + In sorrow sighing; +My pleasant thoughts lie like the leaves, +O'er whose cold heads Æolus grieves, + Complaining, dying. +'Tis weary, dreary, dreary here, +The yellow leaves are falling sere, + With mournful rustling, +The little bird has hush'd his song, +And close the greener boughs among + He's coldly nestling. +How sad the high wind's sounding dirge, +As 'twere old ocean's moaning surge, + Around our dwelling; +I well may tell the reason why, +But oh! the teardrops in mine eye + Are swiftly swelling. +The world is sad, and I am so; +Does Marian hear my plaint? Oh, no; + She's far away. +Ye envious streams--ye hateful hills! +Ah me! what cruel anguish thrills + My heart to-day! +But soon may Fortune learn to smile +Upon her sad and helpless child, + And let us meet, +No more to part, no more to sigh, +But happy live, and happy die, + In union sweet! + + + + +THE SPIRIT OF POESY. + + +O! radiant spirit, bright Poesy, where +Is thy dwelling, thou seraph of beauty, so fair +In the rainbow thou laughest at sweet summer's even, +And thou ridest the tempest that rends earth and heaven; +On the lawn gemm'd with dew, 'mid the forest in green, +On the mountains' huge brows, in the valleys between, +In the blue rolling ocean, in sky, earth and air-- +Thy spiritual loveliness broods every where, +Thou quaffest morn's tears in a chalice of light, +And thy form in the splendor of Phoebus flames bright; +Thou kissest the rose-bud so fay-like and fair, +And the lightnings thou wreathest in thy dark-streaming hair! +Thy melody trills in the silver rill's flow, +And it roars in the earthquake that thunders below; +All heaven is fill'd with thy presence divine, +All earth in the smile of thy beauty doth shine: +From heaven to earth, and from earth swift to heaven, +Thy golden-wheel'd chariot is viewlessly driven: +And thou robest all things in the raiment of love, +By fingers of seraphim woven above-- +And the song which thou sing'st is the melody flowing, +Like droppings of nectar, from angel lips glowing-- +And God is the Fountain, O, Poesy bright, +Whose waters now flood me with mystic delight! + + + + +THE WATER. + + +The water, see it, leaps from the mountain's high brow, + Like a roll of smooth silver, and laughingly now +See, it skips, like a child, through the valley so green, + Throwing beauty and blithesomeness over the scene. + +See the dew-drops of morning that glitter so bright, + Drunk up by the leaves and the flowers with delight; +See the fair delicate fays, for their heavenly feast, + In colors more lovely their light limbs have drest. + +See the dark-rushing showers exultingly come + Down, down to the earth from their high, cloudy home! +How the countless drops twinkle, and dance, and rejoice, + Then creep to the ground with a tremulous voice! + +Oh the water, the water, it shineth so bright! + It falls like a beautiful raining of light, +And it gladdeneth the earth, and the sky, and the sea, + 'Till the world laugheth out in her fullness of glee! + +See it all smileth fairest--'tis beauty above, + In Heaven and Earth 'tis but beauty and love; +With harmony dancing--a scene like a dream, + When Heaven comes down on the spirit to beam! + +Oh the water! the water! man, quaff its bright flow; + It will gladden thy spirit, but give thee no woe: +As it fresh'neth the world, so its rills will impart + Health, gladness, and sweetness and joy to thy heart. + +But oh, the foul demons (horrific to tell) + Have mixed a fierce poison, the wild flame of hell; +And it killeth each fairest and loveliest thing + That the earth ever knew in her bridal of Spring. + +'Tis the wild stream of hell! oh it burneth the soul, + It scatheth, and blighteth, and killeth the whole; +Yet, a Vulture, it gnaweth the quivering liver, + Forever consuming, but satiate never. + +Ay, it fills the wide world with the wailing and woe, + That liken the shrieking of Devils below: +And the words of the eloquent never can tell, + The abyss of this anguish, this foretaste of Hell. + +Oh God of the curst! turn this fierce stream away, + In trembling, and misery, and anguish we pray; +Make the waters of Temperance flow wide o'er the Earth, + Till she shine as of yore in the smile of her birth! + + + + +BLANNERHASSETT'S ISLAND. + + +On beautiful Ohio when you sail, +And view its banks, forever green and fair, +And feel the falling sunlight, and the gale +That freshly stirs that wild and western air; +You may observe a lovely island there, +A greenery spot, enclosed by waters bright, +A spot of beauty, and a spot most rare; +There the fair summer moon sheds softest light, +And summer stars look down from heaven's cerulean height. + +Around that isle, a mournful story clings, +That ever wakes a soft and sad regret, +In those who feel the sorrow which it brings, +All swift and fresh upon the memory yet, +Of those who sail beyond it, brightly set, +An emerald within that crystal flood; +Its sad, strange name a feeling doth beget +That wakes a sigh in bosoms meek and good, +And leaves the thoughtful sprite in no ungrateful mood. + +Here Blannerhasset[E] dwelt; a blest recluse, +In this green Eden of the leafy West; +And felt sweet Peace her softest balm infuse, +Into his once too world-disturbed breast: +There did he find a deep and quiet rest: +The mockbird sang his vespers, while the star +Shone sweetly o'er the rippling river's crest; +There no rude sound the halcyon calm did mar, +And Grief was absent still, and Hate was banished far. + +So Blannerhasset with his partner, dwelt, +In kind connubial tenderness, in this +Most gay and blooming scene; here, here they felt +That feeling which if earth hath aught like bliss, +Is bliss! the tender look! the touch! the kiss! +And, often mid this sylvan scene was heard, +(Where no vile Envy gave its serpent hiss,) +The voice of love, the only, joyous, word +Which blended with the notes of wind, and rill, and bird. + +Sweet pair! with all that's best of life, possest, +Wealth, love, refinement, learning, genius, birth; +Bright, blooming offspring, virtuous, good and blest +Charming their hearts, with that young, pangless mirth; +And, when at evening mild, they saunter'd forth, +Beneath the rosy sky, they looked toward heaven, +And wondered why this was so bright an earth, +And why that God whose gifts to man are even, +This wondrous happiness to them alone had given. + +Then came a dark-soul'd man, with magic eye, +And glozing tongue, and Blannerhasset's mind, +Became his slave, he could not now deny +His devilish spell, a villian, smooth refin'd, +Whose mighty arts his thoughtless victim bind, +In fearful chains: Burr was this Satan's name, +Who crept into this Eden unconfin'd, +And drove this erring pair of later fame, +Like that of old, to roam and sigh o'er earth the same. + +"Come, go with me," said Burr, "and you shall find, +Strange honors, riches, and a deathless name," +And Blannerhasset thought the villian kind, +Who fed his soul, on novel dreams of fame, +While Burr aspir'd to breathe a sinful flame, +Through Blannerhasset's sweet and guiltless wife, +But she his artful cozening overcame, +And brav'd the demon with victorious strife, +And sacredly maintained the whiteness of her life. + +But they were ruin'd, this sequester'd pair, +Who shunn'd the world's alluring charms to crime, +Soon they were driven forth in dark despair, +Like the sad consorts of that earlier time. +A grief fell on that island's blooming prime. +They pass'd away, and never saw again, +Their island home amid that pleasant clime. +Awhile they roamed o'er earth's most desolate plain, +But soon securely slept from life's wild woe and pain. + +This is real history of that isle, +That ever draws the weary traveller's eye, +He sees its fairy greenness brightly smile, +Amid that river; as he passeth by, +Perchance his human eye's no longer dry, +While he recalls that mournful history; +And he may ask, with sudden sorrow, why, +The dream of rapture doth so early flee +And souls so meek and good, the prey of fiends should be. + +That isle is now as lovely as of yore, +Gay Nature smiles as sweetly, the wild air +Is resonant with music; the green shore +Exhales a constant fragrance, sweet and rare, +But those who made its borders still more fair, +Have slept the sleep of death, long years ago, +Yet is their memory fresh, and ever there +The pilgrim's heart will feel the thought of woe, +His eye will blend a tear with yon fair river's flow. + + +[Footnote E: Transcriber's note: Spelling is different in the title of +the poem; both have been kept as in the original.] + + + + + +TO BETTIE. + + +Give me thy heart, give me thy hand, +Thy love, thy dower, thy goods, thy land; +Give me o'er thee a free command, +Then shall I be a monarch grand. + +This brave great world is little worth, +Its largest wealth is but a dearth; +But fond and mutual love can make, +Another richer for its sake. + +Give me thy love, thy heart, thy soul, +O'er thee a sovereign control, +Then though huge seas of sorrow roll, +I will defy their wish'd control. + +Give me thy destiny, thy all +Which thou dost best and dearest call; +Then let the darts of envy fall, +Let ruffian malice ban and brawl. + +I will contemn their power; I will +Still strain with joy's ecstatic thrill, +Thee to this bosom, dearest! till +I rest in heaven from earthly ill. + +Give me thy heart, thy unstained hand, +And though I scorn it, give thy land, +Then, by a rainbow sweet and bland, +Shall life's cerulean arch be spann'd. + +Beneath that arch of beauty, flowers +Brilliant as bloom in heaven's own bowers, +And bathed in joy's ambrosial showers, +Shall strew the earth through charmed hours. + +Beneath that bow, rich melodies, +Like odors that in heaven arise, +Sweet as an angel's breathing sighs, +Shall rise and kiss the smiling skies. + +Give me thy heart, hand, bosom, all +Which thou dost nearest, dearest call, +Than let the darts of envy fall, +Let ruffian malice ban and brawl. + +Till life's long summer shall depart, +The tender thrill of joy shall start, +We'll laugh at Boreas' icy dart, +Beside the fire which warms the heart. + + + + +EPITAPH FOR AN INFANT. + + +Sweet bud of life, God knew this earth, + Was not a home for thee; +He took thee, even from thy birth, + To bless Eternity. + + + + +THE MILLENNIUM. + + +The promis'd years, the better times, + By God himself foretold, +Have dawn'd, and banish'd hateful crimes, + The latest age of gold. + +Not now a brother fears to tread + The way a brother goes, +Not now the wife's sad heart is fed, + On brutal cuffs and blows. + +Not now the human eye is fierce + With cruel thirst of gore; +Not now the angry spear doth pierce + The bosom. Such are o'er. + +This scene become a Paradise, + A scene of peace and love, +Wherein each living being tries + To work for God above. + +The Bible fills the mighty world, + The end is drawing nigh, +When, earth in burning fragments hurl'd, + The soul shall rise on high. + +The promis'd years, the better times, + By God himself foretold, +Have dawned with their triumphal chimes, + On the sweet air unroll'd. + + + + +TO A POET'S WIFE. + + +Thou art indeed a happy one, + And hast a charmed life, +A noble triumph thou hast won, + A bright-eyed Poet's wife. + +His fancy plucks all glittering gems + From mountain caves and sea, +To form that best of diadems, + He proudly gives to thee. + +That realm that doth thy power obey, + Is richer far than these, +More sweet its nights, more bright its day, + More bland its wandering breeze. + +And gentle creatures move and kiss + The sceptre in thy hand, +And gather garlands, wreaths of bliss, + Amid thy fairy land. + +The Angels' song comes down at times, + And flows into his song, +Like the triumphal, silver chimes, + That steal the heavens along. + + + + +LILLY LANE. + + +Come to my calling, + Lilly Lane, +Like music falling, + Come again. + +The earth is dreary, + Sorrow's reign, +My thoughts are weary, + Come again. + +The flowers upspringing, + Bring me pain, +My thoughts are winging + To thee again. + +Come to my sorrow, + Come again, +Give night a morrow, + Yet again. + +Oh! birds are singing + Many a strain, +The woodlands ringing, + Come again. + +Yet I am weeping, + E'er with pain, +Grief's vigil keeping, + Come again. + +The dawn gleams brightly + O'er the plain, +The airs come lightly + O'er the main. + +They ne'er shall wake thee, + Lilly Lane, +All things forsake thee, + Lilly Lane. + +I'll not bereave thee + Lilly Lane! +I'll never leave thee, + Lilly Lane. + +On thy grave I'll mutter + "Lilly Lane!" +With a frantic, dove-like flutter, + "Lilly Lane!" + +Around thy tomb I'll hover, + Near the main, +Like a bleeding dying plover, + "Lilly Lane!" + + + + +A SONG OF THE OLDEN TIME. + + +To-day my gay and happy heart, + Was lost in pleasant dreaming; +And I had won a loving part + In all the by-gone's seeming. + +I saw that most renowned maid, + Before her father falling, +Those savage hearts, within the shade + Of antique trees, appalling. + +I saw the deep and gushing love, + That fearful moment started, +That murmur'd like a turtle dove, + To cheating hope departed. + +I saw the kind and gentle deeds, + That gemm'd her after being +That little camp, from sorest needs, + And frequent slaughter, freeing. + +I thought that she was kindly sent, + In gracious God's foreknowing, +To save from fatal detriment, + This infant nation growing. + +I saw the savage maiden's form + With Culture's graces, glowing; +In virgin beauty, bright and warm, + Like vernal roses blowing. + +I saw her sweetly, deeply smile + On Rolfe beside her sitting, +As o'er the neighboring stream the while + The shades of eve were flitting. + +I saw her wed in love beneath + The forest's lofty awning; +While white and dusk maids bring a wreath, + Like night commixt with morning. + +I saw the strange and novel fame, + She left to song and story, +Which down the future's track of flame, + Beams forth with deathless glory. + + + + +FAREWELL TO ALBEMARLE. + + +Farewell, ye verdant hills and vales, + Farewell thou rolling river, +Whose waves flow onward to the sea, + Returning, never, never. + +From all thy scenes, I might have gone, + I might in joy have parted, +But since my love remaineth here, + I wander broken-hearted. + +I go from one with whom to part, + Is grief that can't be spoken, +From whom to rend my faithful heart, + That heart, even now, is broken. + + + + +SHE WOULD HAVE IT SO. + + +I loved her; and beneath the moon, +We met among the flowers of June; +I gave her my all, my love's rich boon, +I loved her, but we parted soon, + She would have it so. + +I loved her; through my span of life, +She might have been my cherished wife; +And I had striven, with ceaseless strife, +To make her days with pleasures rife; + She would not have it so. + +I loved her; for she bent on me +A smile and look of sorcery; +Until my heart could not be free; +Alas! that such deceit should be;-- + But she would have it so. + +I loved her; and my heart was broke, +Beneath the heavy, crushing stroke; +As 'neath the lightning dies the oak +When she in scorn and anger spoke; + She would have it so! + + + + +TO FANNIE. + + +Fair maid, in those beloved eyes, + The dream of pensive beauty lies, +The radiance when the day grows less, + The charm of twilight loveliness. + +Those eyes are mirror of thy soul; + As in the waves that deeply roll, +The sun and moon and stars are seen, + Reflected with undimmed sheen. + +Thus in the depths of those fair eyes, + I see the brightness of the skies, +I would my image there might shine + In orbs so blessed and divine. + + + + +ON HEARING THAT MY LOVE WAS ANGRY. + + +Sweet love! and wast thou angry then, + And did a lovely frown, +O'ershade that brow of whitest pearl, + That cheek of softest down? + +Nay, be not so; thou can'st not be, + Less lovely to my sight; +Though darkness shade the cliff and vale, + Yet starry is the night! + + + + +TO A POET. + + +O poet, would'st thou make a name + That ne'er will die, +But be coeval with the lights + In yonder sky? + +Strike not a single, trembling chord, + In the heart-lyre; +But wake the full and sweet accord + Of every wire. + +Of joy, of grief, of hopeless love + And pining care, +Of terror, pain, and deep remorse, + And wild despair. + +Of Hope, of Faith, of Piety: + Each fibre move; +But yet the sweetest note shall be + The note of Love. + +Strike! poet! strike each quiv'ring chord, + In that strange lyre, +Then, men thy golden songs will hoard, + Till time expire. + + + + +THE CHILD'S PRAYER. + + +O Lord, I kneel at mother's knee, +And lift my trembling heart to thee. +Send down thy grace, I meekly pray, +To drive my evil thoughts away: +Alas! even now I feel my heart, +From God is learning to depart. + +But Thou, even now, canst change my heart, +For very good, O God, thou art; +And thou can'st give me ample grace, +To run aright my earthly race; +Nor wander whither I must die, +Far from the comfort of Thine eye. + +Yes Lord! I beg thy Heavenly love, +To fit me for a home above; +That I may sing the anthems sweet +Where pardon'd children all shall meet; +And that on earth my walk may be, +O God, forever nigh to Thee. + + + + +CRITICUS. + + +The Southern Muse--so long with drooping wing,-- +The Southern Muse, alas! too sad to sing-- +Her fair head drooped and dim her mournful eye, +While pitying breezes sighed in sorrow by,-- +At last--at last--a wondrous friend has found, +Whose power shall make her through all time renowned: +Oh! now to her what magic shall belong, +To charm the nations with a peerless song! + +Hail Criticus! thou marvel of the age! +Oh! thou wilt fire her with a noble rage! +Oh! thou her song wilt kindly patronize, +And make her honored in the nation's eyes. + +Oh! glorious vision which transports my soul, +While thoughts of triumph through my bosom roll; +The Goddess comes, she brightly smiles once more, +Nor sadly sighs, as long she sighed of yore; +Her breath the fragrance of the Southern grove, +Her voice the voice of victory and of love;-- +Approaching proudly now, with sweetest strain, +Greets Criticus, her godsire--but in vain. + +How modest! Criticus! thou wilt not wear +A single honor--nobler is thy care-- +Thou wilt not, merely, reign the Muse's sire; +But thou wilt sometimes woo her willing lyre! + +Earth! hear that song! The strains that softly sweep +From mermaid's shell, across the moonlit deep-- +The tones of visions which have only dwelt +In that deep bosom which has wildly felt-- +Those notes like far off music from the plain, +Where grief nor hate can e'er be known again-- +That haunt the spirit 'midst this lower sphere, +And wake the dreamer's ever faithful tear-- +How die away in saddest silence all +Those strains, O Criticus! when thou dost--"squall!" + +Sagacious Criticus! no witling's wit, +Compares with thine, or durst compare with it. + +How could Parnassus rise in days of yore, +Ere thou had'st taught the clumsy rocks to soar? +How could the muses in their ambient bower, +In loftiest lays, anticipate thy power! +How could the sparkling Helicon flow free, +How durst it ripple, and not wait for thee? +No business had the Stagyrite to name +The rules of verse; old Homer was to blame, +For laying out too soon the Iliad's plan; +Homer was nothing but a "blind, old man!" +Light, light that Ajax prayed for, now has come, +And poetasters hence may read their doom! + +O Grant us, sweetly, Grant, thy gentle roar, +And pigs shall squeal, and asses bray no more![F] + +Great Criticus! illustrious lord of song! +To thee a double wreath shall e'er belong: +The Critics' cypress and the Poet's bay +Shall twine in love to deck thy brow for aye; +For far o'er Dunciad's heroes shall thou reign, +And ne'er shalt lose that honored seat again. + +And still, while future ages roll along, +Our Southern minstrels to thy court shall throng; +There lowly fall, and humbly beg thee grant +The sweet reward of their melodious chant; +A verdant laurel for each beaming brow, +To bloom through ages, as it bloometh now-- +Or, if thou frown, receive thy chastening rod, +Thou, Bard's Mæcenas, and thou Poet's god! + + +[Footnote F: 16 lines above were written by Prof. E. Longley.] + + + + +TO MARY. + + +Now lovely Vesper shows her lamp, + In yonder slowly darkening sky; +It is the hour, when musing here, + I heave for thee the bursting sigh. + +Thus, Mary, as yon mournful pall + Of darkness falls on all things round, +Ah! tell me shall the gloom of fate, + My cheerless pathway thus surround? + +But, as yon lamp--the lamp of love! + With brilliant smile, relieves the gloom, +Say, shall thy heavenly smile relieve + The darkness of my mortal doom? + +Alas! I do not know thy thoughts, + If thou wilt slay, or sweetly save; +Yet I shall love thee fondly still, + Until I rest within the grave. + + + + +SONG OF THE CONVERTED HEATHEN. + + +The sky to me did never speak, + The sea rolled ever dumb,-- +Of him beneath whose wondrous power, + Their mystic forms had come. + +The sacred light was curtained back + From my exploring eye, +And I seemed left to grope in night, + And there at last to die. + +When lo! upon a day there came + A Man, with placid brow, +Who rent the curtain--and the light + Is gushing on me now. + +The sky doth speak to me of God, + The deep and rolling sea +Is ever grandly singing, Lord, + To my bowed soul, of Thee. + +Oh! I can see around them now + A radiant light doth shine, +A light that mocks the pencil's pride, + A light that is divine. + + + + +SIN OF THE CHORAL SINGER. + + +Hark! the organ's solemn peal + Ascends the lofty fane, +To win the soul's repeal, + From everlasting pain: + +To waft the voice of praise + To Him who reigns above, +Which blends with burning lays + Of Seraph's holy love. + +Hark! the deep-toned, solemn peal! + Again it strikes the air! +My trembling accents steal + To join the anthem there. + +I strive to lift my mind + To God's most holy throne; +And, with my thought refined, + To think on Heaven alone. + +But earth-born love intrudes + And brings me back to earth; +To dreamy solitudes + My spirit wanders forth: + +To walk with one, a youth, + With bright and sunny hair, +Whose words are only truth, + Whose love is heavenly fair. + +God! forgive my grievous sin! + God! forgive my erring love! +Write not my sentence in + Thine awful scroll above! + +God! forgive thy creature's love, + Who only loves too well! +Let not that virtue prove + My doleful doom to hell. + +But make my passion less-- + Its burning purify; +And make it meet to bless + My spirit in the sky. + + + + +A PORTRAIT. + + + In those mild eyes, there is a light +Which dwells not with the evil; and +A calm repose upon thy features, which +Says thou art innocent. Around thee gleaming +There is a robe of more than loveliness, +Of form, and face, and hair: it is the charm +Of most majestic Goodness; which exalts +An earth-born frame into an angel's stature. +Oh! if this world had many like thyself, +It were a heaven for blessed ones to dwell in. + + + + +HALLOWED GROUND. + + +What bids the soul of man to gaze, + Upon a spot of earth, +As a sun of focal rays? + The spell of human worth! + +The spot where human virtue stood, + And struck for holy truth, +Still stirs the world's ecstatic blood, + A thing of mighty youth! + +When can the name of Marathon, + Fall powerless, on the soul; +Whilst thoughts of right, or injury, done, + Along its fibres, roll? + +Can Waterloo grow trite by time, + Or Yorktown fail to fire, +Man's breast, with hatred most sublime, + To wrong, till time expire? + +What hallows thus the hills of Greece, + And flings that light o'er Rome, +Which when her very fragments cease, + Still crowns her history's dome? + +'Tis truth's great warfare bravely fought, + That hallows in the core, +A mount--a plain--a barren spot-- + With fame which dies no more. + +And when can earth forget to glow, + Beside each glorious shrine? +Not till yon stars shall dart below, + And sun shall cease to shine. + + + + +TO SPRING. + + +Hail, beauteous maiden, gentle spring! + I see thee slowly move, +On lowering wings, on yon green hill + From yon blue fields above. + +Hail, beauteous Spring! my bosom swells + With joy to feel thee near, +Thy joyful advent now dispels + The winter, dark and drear. + +Hail, beauteous Spring, the meads are green, + The lordly elms rejoice; +Yon river flashes in the light, + The springs send up a voice. + +The blue-bird sings thy welcome sweet + From yonder blooming tree, +The redbreast pours his simple note, + A tribute glad, to thee. + +The cuckoo comes to join thy train, + With his melodious lay, +Until his song, a rapture! runs + O'er all thy pleasant way. + +Hail, heavenly Spring! a thousand throats, + Re-echo with thy praise; +Thou bring'st the time of flowers and light + Of bright and cloudless days. + +Hail, beauteous earth! thou art the type + Returning with each year, +To tell us of another land + Whose sky is always clear. + +All hail, bright spring, celestial maid! + Who fill'st my singing heart; +But never tongue or lyre shall speak + The Transport which thou art! + + + + +ON HEARING THAT MY LOVE WAS PROUD. + + +And art thou proud, my darling love? + Thus should it ever be; +For beauty hath, the clearest right, + Of sovereign majesty. + +Oh! art thou proud, my darling love! + Then not to do thee wrong, +Thou e'er shalt reign the sole, bright queen, + Within my heart and song. + + + + +TO LIZZIE. + + +Oh, Lizzie, when I read your card, + Which you had printed in the paper, +Wherein you said your case was hard, + My fancy cut a glorious caper. + +I said, that is a prudent fair + Who has the true idea of living, +And would not on the "desert air," + Her fragrance still be giving. + +So I at once resolved to try + So conquer all my vacillation, +And fix my wand'ring heart and eye + On only you, in all creation. + +I know that I had often sigh'd + To other ladies quite as pretty, +But then it could not be denied, + To let you pass, would be a pity. + +With real pain and much ado, + I cut the other chords that bound me, +And said the ties proposed by you, + Should now be tightly drawn around me. + +Farewell, I said, to blooming Nell, + Who is too long my passion trying, +For here is one, whose stanzas tell, + Like me, for marriage she is dying. + +I am a student small and neat, + Not twenty-five, and somewhat dashing, +With active limbs and beard complete, + And wear a vest that's slightly flashing. + +My brow is broad, my eye is black, + And quickly changes with my feeling, +And to your own, it flashes back, + The thought their glance was just revealing. + +Some gentle blood runs through my veins, + And I suppose you truly know it, +And then, to crown my boastful strains, + The world has sworn I am a poet. + +I'd like to wed and with you dwell, + Within some happy rural valley, +Where zephyrs round the lily's bell, + In summer sigh, and faint, and dally. + +Now Lizzie! I have written back, + In answer to your publication; +So let us promptly tread the track, + Before the first of next vacation. + +I'll get the license; get your dress, + And flowers to make a bride's adorning; +Then let us to the chapel press, + With bridal friends, at early morning. + +We shall be happy. So will, too, + Both clerk, and priest, and mantua-maker; +My tailor--ah! a fellow true, + Will say "I'm proud to see you take her." + +And then must come the honey moon, + Ah me! that sets me deeply sighing, +You leaning on my heart, whose tune, + To yours is still in love replying. + + + + +MONTICELLO. + + +'Tis true that when the god-like die, + Their glorious monument +Are earth's great mountains and the sky, + Their names with all things blent-- +But, then, some storied heap should show +The grave of worth entombed below. + +'Tis true, the pilgrim wandering slow, + O'er sad Achaia's plain, +Will feel his bosom warmly glow, + And memory fire his brain-- +Achilles' strength--and Homer's song +Across his breast will roll along. + +But, had the Grecian chisel wrought, + No pile above their graves, +Say, could ye point out, save in thought, + Their own, from tombs of slaves? +A crumbling column, only shows +Where Greece's mighty dead repose. + +But tombs of men, more wise, more free, + Amid a brighter day, +Are like the mounds ye scarcely see, + And note not by the way. +No Mausoleums climb the skies, +To tell where greater Glory lies. + + + + +YOU TOLD ME THAT YOU LOVED ME. + + +When summer's rosy twilight fell, +Upon yon river's gentle swell, +Leading the spirit by its song, +As through the land it sweeps along; + +We watched the stars, those worlds of love, +That swim yon azure seas above-- +We heard each other's heart-pulse beat, +In unison divinely sweet. + +Your virgin hand was laid in mine, +I gazed into your spirit's shrine: +We lost the sense of stars and earth, +And of the dancing waters' mirth: + +We only saw each other then; +We look'd as if no more again, +And our tumultuous hearts should die, +In that wild dream of ecstasy. + +I clasped you to my bosom there, +I played with your dishevell'd hair; +And then the thoughts which long had slept +Within us, waken'd; and we wept. + +We wept to think of what had past-- +The doubt--the trial--joy at last-- +We wept to think of mournful fears-- +We wept to hail the future years. + +I ceased to shed such happy tears, +I whisper'd comfort in your ears, +I press'd you closer to my heart, +Till mine no more could throb apart. + +But then we smiled, we laughed to feel +The heaven which deep love can reveal; +We laughed that Love had ever bound, +His golden bands our souls around! + +Do you not know the boundless bliss +Which follows true love's lightning kiss; +For, in that hour with heaven above, +Your cheeks, your mouth received my love. + +And when that deep, blest trance was o'er, +And we could clasp and kiss no more; +Love's dear confessions had been made, +And we no more could be afraid; + +When Angels' pens had writ the vow +Which nothing can dissever now; +Our hearts return'd to Nature's face, +To planets, and the waters' race. + +All, all was calm; all, all was bright; +The moon was climbing to yon height, +Of Heaven's blue cone, rough round with stars, +With Venus--but no angry Mars. + + + + +THE SONG OF THE SLAIN AT THE BATTLE OF TICONDEROGA. + + +Farewell to the land which we sought o'er the wave; +We made it our home; it will now be our grave: +Farewell, ye proud mountains, and valleys uneven, +And thou, bright shining Glory, now setting in heaven. + +Farewell to our hearthstones, our cherished ones there, +Our wives and our children, now reft of our care: +Farewell, everloved of our souls--nevermore, +Shall we look on your faces--our lifetime is o'er. + +We march to the field--'twill be red with our blood, +Which shall make of its soil there a horrible mud; +Where our bones by wild beasts on the desolate plain, +Shall be torn, and be whiten'd by tempest and rain. + +We march to the field--and our comrades in war, +Shall shout to the heavens their triumph afar-- +And Victory shall perch on our banners on high +And Tyrants fore'er from our country shall fly; + +Yet never shall we view that glorious sight-- +We sink, with yon sun, in the deathgloom of night; +Farewell to our homes and our country for aye, +We go to our graves, with the setting of day. + +Farewell, yes, farewell, Earth, Heavens and all +Which here in the last hour of life we recall: +Farewell! we are doomed to the night of the grave,-- +But our mem'ry shall live with the names of the brave. + + + + +TO MY COPY OF SHAKSPEARE WHICH HAD BEEN LOST. + + +Hast thou come back, my Shakspeare! bard, + Who didst dethrone and drive away those others, +From cold Parnassus, fate that seem'd too hard, + To be inflicted on thy gentle brothers. + +Thou didst spare one, left him enthroned fast, + The blind old man of Scio, hoary Homer, +So that of all the harpers first and last, + To call him king, is not a base misnomer. + +There on those far and ever whiten'd rocks, + You two sit monarchs of a rich dominion; +But I forgot dark Milton's sacred locks, + Serenely resting from his seraph pinion! + +Hast thou come back, great bard, to charm and bless + My heart with many a grand, illusive vision, +And show those gorgeous fields of happiness, + With vistas and with rivers all Elysian? + +Stay now with me; no more through all the years, + Wilt thou and I, O glorious friend! be parted; +Or, if e'er so, my overflowing tears, + Will prove that I am grieved, or broken-hearted. + +Yes stay, and I shall haste to thy converse, + With full delight, at rosiate morn, calm even, +And I shall dream of rich and golden verse + From angel lyres within the bowers of Heaven. + + + + +I LOVE THEE. + + +I love thee--oh! I love thee, + With fervor, deep and wild, +Thy beauty's charm most strangely, + My spirit hath beguiled. + +I love thee--oh! I love thee, + The Spring's first, freshest flower, +Comes not across my spirit, + With such a holy power. + +I love thee--oh! I love thee, + The fibres of my heart +Are closely twined about thee, + As if by magic art. + +I see thee--oh! I see thee, + In the sunbeam, in the bud, +In all that's fair in nature, + In all that's bright and good. + +I hear thee--oh! I hear thee, + In the melting music-words, +That swell, at joyous morning, + From the woodland choir of birds. + +I crave thee--oh! I crave thee, + Thou angel sent from God! +To beautify the pathway, + Which must by me be trod. + +I love thee--oh! I love thee! + And, dearest, I implore, +That bliss may still await thee, + On Heaven's far brighter shore. + + + + +ON ----. + + +A brainless beauty, a would-be coquette, +A brow of marble, but a heart of jet; +An eye that shows no vestige of the deep +And stained thoughts that in her bosom sleep: +By day a vestal, but by night a bawd; +Her ways a riddle, her whole life a fraud; +At church an angel, but at home a shrew, +Cheating her mother, to her sire untrue; +Vain without talent, without merit proud; +By all who see her, still a fool allow'd; +Without all love, with but the show of truth, +She stares and simpers at the scornful youth; +Or ambling loosely on the village street, +While strangers sneer upon the fool they meet: +She lives and moves the true epitome +And climax of all d----mn'd Hypocrisy. +Here I enshrine her, where all time shall see +Her name preserv'd in deathless infamy. + + + + +SERENADE. + + +Far o'er the landscape green, + The moonlight like a lake, +Lies; 'tis a lovely scene, + To bid my lady wake; + My lady, lady, wake, + Wake, oh! wake! + +The night is rich with smells, + Like thoughts from heart of love, +Wafted from flower bells, + On unseen wings above; + My lady, lady, wake, + Wake, oh! wake! + +The Nightingale, a wo! + Within the grove complains!-- +The stars are coming low + To hear her killing strains! + My lady, lady, wake, + Wake, oh! wake! + +O see! my lady, far + Beyond yon western steeps, +The moon, with one white star, + In paly parting, weeps: + My lady, lady, wake, + Wake, oh! wake! + +Before the envious day, + Shall gaze upon thy charms; +Come, lady, come away, + And rest lock'd in these arms! + My lady, lady, wake, + Wake, oh! wake! + +Oh lady, see! the moon + Her silver chariot stops, +(A list'ning to my tune,) + On yonder green oak-tops! + My lady, lady, wake, + Wake, oh! wake! + +My song can make her pause, + But wake and doff that frown, +Nor man's, nor God's great laws, + Forbid thee to look down: + My lady, lady, wake, + Wake, oh! wake. + + + + +THE OLD MILL WHEEL. + + +The old mill-wheel, it turns, it turns + Throughout the livelong day, +And flings the current of the stream, + Abroad in glist'ning spray: +That old, black wheel has turn'd for years, + Beside the mossy mill, +That stands, like some old, sacred thing, + Beneath the clay-red hill. + +The old mill-wheel, it turns, it turns + Like time's unresting one, +Which day and night, and night and day, + Hath never ceased to run: +The old mill-wheel, an emblem true, + Of Time that ne'er stands still, +I love to see it turning so, + Beside the mossy mill. + +The old mill-wheel, it turns, it turns, + As in my childhood's hour;-- +As when I bathed beneath its rim, + In its refreshing shower: +But they who were my comrades then, + Are sleeping on the hill, +And now, to them, forever now, + The old Mill-wheel stands still. + + + + +SERENADE. + + +How sombre is the gloom! + I see no beam of star, +Gleam o'er the garden's bloom, + Or silent wood afar; +So dark the thoughts which shroud + His soul who sings to thee; +Oh lady, cold and proud; + Who scorn'st to think on me; + Lady, lady, wake! + List oh! list. + +The firefly lights the night, + A moment and then dies; +The lilacs pine for light, + With sweet and odorous sighs: +So Hope's deceitful beam, + Illumines my despair, +While I still sigh and dream, + With many a sobbing prayer, + Lady, lady, list! + List and smile! + +Lo! now the clouds break off, + And heaven once more is free; +The mounts their garments doff, + The mists rise from the sea; +From yonder casement high + She looks, she looks, oh see! +She bends on me her eye + Of heavenly brilliancy: + Lady, lady, dear; + Lady dear! + + + + +VIRGINIA HOME OF HONOR. + + +Oh, home of honor, native land, + When roaming o'er the sea, +The eye still turns, the heart still yearns, + O dearest home, for thee. +When ranged around the social board, + We bid our sorrows flee, +We own a pride that we are sons, + O dearest home, of thee. + +If earth retains one single draught + Of pure and tranquil joy, +Within whose sweet and sparkling wave, + Is mixt no sad alloy; +'Tis here we taste it while we sit, + Beneath our natal tree, +'Tis here it glads our heart of hearts, + O dearest home, with thee. + +When we are cast on foreign shores, + Beyond the dark-blue sea, +Sad memory oft returns to weep, + O dearest home, with thee, +And when the knell of death shall come, + And set our spirits free, +Our hearts shall find their sweetest rest, + O dearest home, with thee. + + + + +HYMN TO THE FATHER. + + +Heavenly father, God of mercy, + Look upon a sinful soul; +For, the waves of sad contrition, + Now above me darkly roll. +Ah! my crimes are dark and grievous, + The huge burthen hard to bear; +All the day and night I'm sighing + Whelm'd in grief and dark despair. + +Ah! how deeply I have fallen + From my high and happy state, +Where, enrob'd in thy dear image, + Once, in tranquil peace, I sate. +Black with sores, a loathsome leper, + Lo! I wait before Thy throne; +Cans't thou, Maker, wilt thou heal me, + Make me whole and all thine own? + +Oh! Thy grace is freely gushing, + Boundless is Thy wondrous Love; +And for all Thy erring children, + Lord, Thy tender bowels move. +Hail! Supreme, Exhaustless Mercy, + Christ hath freed my soul from sin; +And a holy calm comes o'er me, + And a heavenly peace within. + + + + +O BIRDIE! SPEAK TO ME. + + +O Birdie! speak to me, + Speak from thy silent grave; +It doth not roll o'er thee, + Death's dark and Stygian wave! +Sweet! speak, I'm sick, to hear + The heaven of thy voice, +Which wont, while life was dear, + To thrill me and rejoice. + +Speak, Birdie! speak to me! + Speak from the flowers which bloom, +Beneath the cedar tree + That hides thy dearest tomb! +Speak, angel! speak to me; + I know thou art not dead, +That the dear soul in thee + But, bird-like, upward sped! + +Yes! Birdie! speak to me, + Maid most bright, most dear; +Ask, if I'm true to thee, + Ask if my grief's sincere? +Ask if the warm tears roll + From my devoted heart? +O Birdie! then my soul + In peace shall hence depart. + + + + +TO ONE. + + +I love thee, and my trembling lyre + Will learn no other strain; +I marvel if thy gentle heart + Will ever cease disdain; +I marvel if our future lives, + Will mingle into one, +And glitter like a happy stream, + In an unclouded sun. + +I see that mid a wooing throng, + Thou art a central star, +And vying youths, with noble pride, + Have brought their gifts from far: +I only think the smiles thou giv'st, + So freely unto them, +If given to me, would bless me more, + Than thrones or diadem. + +I love thee, and this throbbing heart, + From thrall no longer free, +Must heave in joy, or ache with wo, + Till Death's dark hour, for thee. +I feel that I must know thy love, + Or all of life will be +One long, deep wail, one throb of pain, + One speechless agony. + + + + +THE WANDERER. + + +With none to share my ship with me, +A wand'rer o'er life's stormy sea, +One brilliant star, like lamp of love, +Smiles calmly from its throne above. +Oh! brightly o'er the surging wave, +That lustre shines to bless and save; +And on through billows thund'ring roll, +Conducts me to my heavenly goal. + +That star by gracious Love was placed, +To look, in beauty uneffaced, +Over the wildest wrath of storms, +And scatter round its glittering charms: +It is Religion, and its ray +Is fed by angel hands alway: +It beams with beauty so divine, +The wand'rer smiles to see it shine. + +Hail, one bright star on all life's main; +Though surf roll high, and cordage strain; +And cowards, ship! may quake for thee; +Thou walk'st victorious o'er the sea. +Oh! proudly, as an ocean-queen, +Thy frame, majestic still is seen-- +Until thou rest in heaven at last, +Thy sailing done, thy anchor cast. + + + + +TO BETTIE. + + +Why, beauteous Bettie, longer shed + Pearly showers of causeless grief, +Why bend down that lovely head, + Like the autumn's rain-wash'd leaf? + +Though in weeping, sad distress, + Thy dear charms have lovelier grown, +As drench'd Nature o'er her dress, + Wears the rainbow's splendid zone. + +Yet why shed those beaded pearls + From those eyes of softest blue, +And why loose those auburn curls + O'er that sweet neck's damask hue? + +Every liquid, falling gem, + Flashing like the diamond's ray, +In an eastern diadem, + Let me kiss them all away. + +Then, from out this stormy gloom, + Thy dear smile shall brightly steal; +O'er my heart's enliven'd bloom, + O'er the joy thy thoughts reveal. + +Why, beauteous Bettie! longer shed, + Showers of pearls so bright to see? +Bid dark doubt be quickly sped, + I am faithful still to thee. + + + + +BABY SONG. + + +Rock'd on Mamma's heaving breast, + Heaving like the pearly deep, +Hugg'd to that sweet, honey rest, + Sleep, little baby, sleep, + Baby sleep. + +White like the new moon's falling beams, + O'er the wooded, westward steeps, +Falls the white throng of her dreams, + While my baby sleeps, + Oh, she sleeps. + +Closed her soft and sparkling eyes, + Oped her mouth like a tulip's cup, +In a starry trance she lies, + Like a bud at night shut up; + Baby sleeps. + +Around her scarcely parted lips, + Now a smile--a laughter!--creeps, +Losing all their sad eclipse-- + Angels near! while baby sleeps + Deeply sleeps. + +Rock'd upon dear Mamma's breast, + Heaving like the wild sea deeps, +Joy hath brought Mamma sweet rest, + While our baby sleeps, + Softly sleeps. + + + + +MY OLD VIRGINIA HOME. + + +Around my old Virginia home, + My heart forever clings; +Whene'er I hear its name pronounced, + I think a thousand things. +I think how once a little band, + Came to these forest lands; +And struggling long, built this fair home, + And left it to our hands. + +I think how our forefathers fought, + To keep it free from chains, +How they rejoic'd at vict'ry won, + With loud, triumphal strains. +My cherish'd old Virginia home, + Tears, tears come to my eyes, +When thinking on thee, loveliest land, + Beneath the boundless skies! + + + + +TAKE THOSE PLEDGES BACK. + + +Take back those pledges, dearest maid, + Which once I warmly gave, +For then I dreamed I would be free, + And nevermore thy slave. +Yes! take them back once more, for love + Hath made me only thine; +And I should give these gems away, + Whose heart's no longer mine. + +'Tis said the heart can often love, + But that can never be; +Though I have bow'd at other shrines, + I never loved but thee. +I feel that thou art dearer far + Than aught this world can give, +And come what may, come grief or joy, + For only thee I live. + +Yes! take those pledges back, dear maid, + And let them fondly speak, +The deathless flame that will not fail, + In spring, or winter bleak: +For they have told an honest tale, + That I shall change no more, +Till I shall clasp thy form again + On Heaven's eternal shore. + + + + +SONG.--UNDYING AFFECTION. + + +I loved thee in my happy youth, + When I was free from guile, +And I have kept that early truth, + And wear as fond a smile: +I've look'd to thee, through every storm + That lower'd upon my way, +Thou say'st my fair and fairy form + Hath made thy rainbow's ray. + +I loved thee in that early time, + Life's best and brightest years; +I gave thee in thy manhood's prime, + My changing smiles and tears: +And now when evening shades come o'er + The length'ning path of life, +And we must think of love no more, + I am thy faithful wife. + + + + +FREEDOM'S HOME. + + +O freedom's home! thy banner streams, + A meteor on the gale; +And I behold the haughty flags + Of Europe fade and pale. +And, crowding on the surging sea, + They cleave the billows bright; +They come to rest beneath its folds, + Attracted by its light. + +O freedom's home! forevermore + We'll join our hearts and hands, +To make thee bright with peaceful wealth, + The gem of richest strands: +But, if a tyrant e'er should threat, + This Eden of the free, +Dear home of freedom, we will bleed, + And yield our life for thee. + + + + +NATIVE MOUNTAINS. + + +Native Mountains! on your summits, + Stream the gleaming floods of day, +While a thousand silver cascades, + Leap within the early ray; +There amid your flowery valleys, + Stands the cot of her I love; +Clamb'ring o'er your rocky summits, + I behold it from above. + +Native Mountains! how my bosom + Swells with happiness and pride, +When I gaze upon ye soaring + O'er your vales so green and wide. +All my wishes, all my pleasures, + Still are closely, sweetly bound, +To ye, lofty native Mountains, + With your valleys blooming round. + + + + +THE TRAIN IS COMING. + + +The train is coming, coming, + It whistles, don't you hear? +I saw the smoking engine, + And soon they will be here. +The train is coming, coming, + It is already here, +I think that handsome Willie, + I'm sure, he'll soon appear. + +I've waited long to see him, + And thought the train was slow; +But now I see it stopping, + And Willie's come, I know. +I got, on Sunday morning, + The sweetest billet-doux, +It had a white envelope, + And his initials, too. + +I read it, then I started, + To hear the sermon through, +But I could not hear the sermon, + For all that I could do. +For it said that he was coming, + Without mistake to-day, +That he was growing weary + Of things and folks away. + +But list! the bell is ringing, + And here is Willie's card; +I'll meet him in the parlor, + For I am quite prepar'd, +To answer any questions + That Willie now may ask, +And then to serve and love him, + Will be my daily task. + + + + +LINES. + + +Far hath lovely Fanny flown, + O'er the mountains, o'er the sea; +All our peace with her hath gone, + We are wed to misery. + +As the rainbow fades away, + As the short-lived spring departs, +Shone she brightly o'er our way, + Fled from our repining hearts. + +Yet the rainbow will return, + And the Spring will come once more; +But the fair whose flight we mourn, + Walks on Death's Elysian shore. + + + + +LOVE SONG. + + +My heart is newly gushing, + With love for thee, with love for thee, +With thoughts as wild and wasteful, + As yonder sea, as yonder sea. + +Oh yes! my soul is wretched + With longing pain, with longing pain, +It gives a ceaseless moaning, + Like yonder main, like yonder main. + +Thy strange and matchless beauty, + Is like the sea, is like the sea; +Thy face in love or anger, + Is sweet to me, is sweet to me. + +Thy maiden soul is precious + As yonder deep, as yonder deep, +Within its glassy clearness, + Bright jewels sleep, bright jewels sleep. + +Thy sinless mind resembles + Yon deep, blue sea, yon deep, blue sea; +The glorious things of heaven + Are seen in thee, are seen in thee. + +Oh main! as some poor sailor + Is lost in thee, is lost in thee, +My soul is lost in sighing, + No hope for me, no hope for me. + + + + +PARTING SONG. + + +We meet with smiles, we part in tears; + This is our earthly lot, +We cannot find a place on earth, + Where friends have parted not. +And oh! it is the saddest thought, + That we no more may meet, +That we may see their face no more, + Whose friendship was so sweet. + +We meet with smiles, we part in tears, + But Mem'ry long will bring, +Their image in our waking thoughts, + A blest and sacred thing: +And we shall pause amid the crowds, + Where we are strangers now; +And deeply think of what has been, + Till grief will shade our brow. + +Till grief will shade our aching brow, + And tears will freely flow, +Till we shall weep, as we have wept, + O'er friends now sleeping low; +For, who may tell, if e'er again, + Those friends shall meet our gaze; +Who've wander'd forth from all our love, + Where Death's dark angel strays? + + + + +THE SONG OF MAY. + + +To mountains hoar and russet plain, +A joyous sprite, I come again; +With many a sweet and joyous strain, +And break grim winter's icy chain. + +From yon blue chambers far above, +On brilliant wings, I lightly move; +I come, and lead the cooing dove, +And all the choir that fill the grove. + +To leafy wild, and city's hum, +The queen of joy, I come, I come; +The little rills no more are dumb; +But hail me, as I come, I come. + +With breath that glads both land and main, +I come again, I come again! +On hillside, bank, and level plain, +The flowers appear, in beauteous train. + +To blooming land and azure main, +Each year I duly come again; +A stranger from yon heavenly plain +Of light and bliss; as poets feign. + + + + +TO MY LYRE. + + +O harp, with whom my childhood played, + Within that verdant dell, +O'erbower'd by boughs of grateful shade, + I go--Farewell! farewell! + +If I have durst to raise thy tone + To sing a theme too high, +Thou, thou must bear the sin alone, + O harp, not I, not I. + +For, thou had'st witch'd me with a love + Where reason had no part; +I felt that thou would'st e'en approve, + And fondly heard my heart. + +The song hath ended. Silence falls + Round the enchanted dell; +Awhile I heed no more thy calls, + Sweet harp! farewell! farewell! + + + + +YOU ASK WHY I AM LONELY NOW. + + +You ask why I am lonely now, + In all this brilliant scene, +And why I look on beauty's charms, + With cold, unalter'd mien. + +You say that, many a loving heart, + Would joy to be my own, +That none of all the human race, + Should ever live alone. + +I'll tell you why I'm lonely now, + If grief will let me speak, +And why I glance on woman's charms + With cold, unalter'd cheek. + +'Twas in my boyhood's happy days, + I loved a blue-eyed maid; +The light of heaven o'er that young cheek, + In changeful feeling stray'd! + +I loved her with a love as true, + As ever dwelt on earth; +Oh sure my worship was too deep, + Even at that shrine of worth. + +She loved me not, that knowledge fell, + Upon me like a blight; +Ah me! I am too fondly weak? + Is this a teardrop bright? + +You asked why I am lonely now, + And I the tale have told: +And I shall yet be lonely, till + The grave my heart shall hold. + + + + +OLD HOMESTEAD. + + +Old homestead! old homestead! what feelings arise! +As now the old homestead greets kindly our eyes; +Old homestead, where oft we were merry or sad; +Each day as it fled, still some witchery had. + +The homestead! how dear is its old, friendly look, +Its dun rolling hills, and its slow running brook; +Its time-worn, old gables, and cornice so plain, +Its roof that grew mossy from shadow and rain. + +Old homestead! some dwelt with us, loved with us here; +Some smiled at our smile, and they wept at our tear: +Of those some have gone to a far distant land; +And some--where yon cedars like pale mourners stand. + +Oh! memories most thrilling, most holy, most dear, +Still cluster around thee, old homestead, fore'er; +Thou hast a deep magic that never can die, +'Till 'neath the green valley, we endlessly lie. + + + + +LOVE SONG. + + +I love thee, oh! I love thee, + As the sweet bee loves the flower, +As the swallow loves the summer, + As the humming bird the bower; +As the petrel loves the ocean, + As the nightingale the night; +I love, I love thee, dearest! + Thou being good and bright. + +I love thee, oh! I love thee, + There's nothing on this earth, +Can feel a deeper fondness, + A flame of purer worth; +The eagle loves its offspring, + Most faithful is the dove; +But thou! thy smallest ringlet, + Has more from me than love. + + + + +SUSIE. + + +A gentle maid, a dove-like soul, + An eye that knows no ill; +I met her from her rural walk, + Upon yon grassy hill. + +Her apron filled with early flowers, + And some were lightly bound +Into a wreath that sweetly lay + Her snowy temples round. + +And as I met her on that hill, + At twilight's magic hour, +My spirit felt her loveliness + And own'd her magic power. + +And since our meeting on that hill, + I still have fondly thought, +Of what a store of pleasant dreams, + That eve to me hath brought. + + + + +LINES ON PARTING WITH ----. + + +Since Fate's tyrannical decree, +Sweet friend, dissevers you and me, +Now memory shall vanquish fate, +And yield the bliss we knew so late. + +Yes, she a mournful devotee, +From scenes of busy strife shall flee; +To kneel beneath that cherish'd shrine, +Whose every offering is thine. + +Oh! sometimes in the lonely hour, +My heart shall own a deeper power, +And tears shall tell, upon my cheek, +The grief that words could never speak. + + + + +BLUE-EYED ELLA. + + +Oh blue-eyed Ella's face is fair, +And beautiful her braided hair, +As fair the feelings that do speak +Upon her pure and placid cheek. + +Oh! blue-eyed Ella's heart is kind +With warm desires by Heav'n refin'd; +Amid this world of crime and ill, +She walks serene and sinless still. + +Oh! blue-eyed Ella! keep for me, +A thought from scorn and coldness free; +I fain would ask, I fain would find +A memory in so blest a mind. + + + + +ACROSTIC. + + +Far hath beauteous Fanny flown, + And sad Nature's drooping eye, +Now declares her pleasure gone, + Newly weeping from the sky. +Yet, when she shall seek again, + Mildest maid! these haunts she loved, +In that hour, will Nature's pain, + (Caus'd by her) be all remov'd. +Here sad Nature shall regain + Increase of the joy she proved, +Ere you fled the flowery plain. + + + + +TO THE MUSE. L'ENVOI. + + +Dear maid, with whom I, happy, wander'd back, + To roam o'er that now sacred, hallow'd ground, +Where Smith who trod old ocean's stormy track, + The noble state of chivalry did found. + +Delightful hours thou mad'st them all, when I + Went musing there with thee, my spirit guide, +I saw the chieftain with his eagle eye, + And all his val'rous comrades, by his side. + +I saw the doubtful scene; the hard assay, + The daring crown'd with victory at last; +I saw the ancient forest fall away, + I saw the little empire spreading fast. + +And, on through other realms in charmed life, + I follow'd, by thy silver accents led, +So sweet, the summer air with bliss seem'd rife, + And harping angels hover'd o'er my head. + +But yet--farewell! with sadden'd, sinking heart, + I turn from all the joys I late have known, +Where from the rushing crowd I oft shall start, + To find myself dejected and alone. + +Yet, sometimes thou return, and with those eyes + Bright as an angel's, look on me again, +So I shall feel the wonted raptures rise, + And I shall lose the deaden'd sense of pain! + + + + + + +J.W. RANDOLPH, + +121 MAIN STREET, RICHMOND, VA. + + +In addition to the largest and best assortment of LAW, MEDICAL, +THEOLOGICAL, CLASSICAL, SCHOOL and MISCELLANEOUS BOOKS, in +Virginia, offers for sale the following works on Masonry: + +ALLYN'S RITUAL OF FREEMASONRY, with 30 plates; to which is added a key +to the Phi Beta Kappa, the Orange and Odd Fellows Societies, with notes +and remarks; by A. Allyn. 12mo. muslin, $5 00 + +THE MYSTIC CIRCLE, AND AMERICAN HAND-BOOK OF MASONRY, with plates; by +G.H. Gray, sen., of Mississippi. 12mo. sheep, $1 50 + +THE FREEMASON'S MANUAL, a companion for the initiated through all the +Degrees of Freemasonry, 100 plates; by Rev. K.J. Stewart, K.T. 12mo. +muslin, $1 00 + +THE VIRGINIA TEXT-BOOK OF ROYAL ARCH MASONRY, with plates; by J. 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Oliver, D.D., plates. 2 vols. 8vo. + +THE MASONIC TEXT-BOOK, containing a History of Masonry, Laws, &c., of +the Grand Lodge of Virginia, and other valuable Masonic information; +edited by J. Dove, M.D., plates. 12mo. muslin, $1 25 + +THE KNIGHT TEMPLARS' MANUAL, with plates; by Jeremy L. Cross. 12mo. +muslin, $1 25 + +THE ANALOGY OF ANCIENT CRAFT MASONRY TO NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION; +by C. Scott, A.M. 8vo. muslin. + +THE TRUE MASONIC GUIDE, with plates, &c.; by R. Macoy. 12mo. muslin. + +THE MASTER WORKMAN; or, True Masonic Guide, with plates; by H.C. Atwood. +12mo. sp. + +All other Masonic Works can be had by ordering of + +J.W. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Lays of Ancient Virginia, and Other Poems + +Author: James Avis Bartley + +Release Date: September 23, 2005 [EBook #16735] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LAYS OF ANCIENT VIRGINIA *** + + + + +Produced by Mark C. Orton, Pilar Somoza and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<div class="note"> +Transcriber's Note: The Table of Contents has been added to this +version. The sections in the ToC were named following the page headers +division. +</div> + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> + +<h1>LAYS</h1> +<h4 class="gap">OF</h4> +<h2 class="gap">ANCIENT VIRGINIA,</h2> +<h4 class="gap">AND OTHER</h4> +<h1 class="gap">POEMS:</h1> + +<h4 class="gap">BY</h4> + + +<h2 class="gap">JAMES AVIS BARTLEY,</h2> +<h4>OF ORANGE COUNTY, VIRGINIA.</h4> + +<h3 class="biggap">RICHMOND:<br/> +J.W. RANDOLPH, PUBLISHER</h3> +<h3>1855</h3> + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p class="center">Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1855,<br/> +BY J.A. BARTLEY,<br/> +In the Clerk's Office of the Eastern District Court of the United States +for the Eastern District of Virginia.</p> +</div> + +<h5 class="biggap">G.S. ALLEN & CO., PRINTERS, CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA.</h5> + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> + +<!-- Page 3 --> + +<div class="blocknarrow"> +<p class="center">TO MY FATHER,<br/> +THIS VOLUME IS INSCRIBED<br/> +BY HIS SON,</p> +<p class="right">THE AUTHOR.</p> +</div> + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> + +<!-- Page 4 --> +<!-- Page 5 --> + +<h2>PREFATORY LETTER TO THE PUBLIC.</h2> + + +<p><span class="smcap">Dear Public:</span></p> + +<p class="ind">These Poems were written with pleasure; if they be read with pleasure, I +shall be requited amply. How often the Guardian Angel of the Father of +Virginia in surpassing loveliness rose before my imagining eyes! Like +the spirit of a dream, she glided through the foliage, verdant and +shadowy. Enchanted myself, the desire to enchant others seized me. The +"Poet's Enchanted Life" is a gallery of poetic pictures of nature. Most +of the minor and miscellaneous pieces, breathe the spirit of virtuous +affection. If critics censure me unjustly or intemperately, I will fight +them—but I hope to find them, as well as you, dear Public, very kind +friends of a loving Author.</p> + + +<p class="right">J.A. BARTLEY.</p> + +<hr/> + +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> +<ul><li><a href="#POCAHONTAS">POCAHONTAS</a></li> +<li><a href="#A_SONG">A SONG.</a></li> +<li><a href="#ELFINDALE">ELFINDALE.</a></li> +<li><a href="#OF_A_SKYLARK">OF A SKYLARK.</a></li> +<li><a href="#THE_PRINCESS_OF_PERU">THE PRINCESS OF PERU.</a></li> +<li><a href="#THE_HOLY_LADY">THE HOLY LADY.</a></li> +<li><a href="#TIME_AND_ETERNITY">TIME AND ETERNITY.</a></li> +<li><a href="#YEMEN">YEMEN.</a></li> +<li><a href="#LILLY_A_POEM">LILLY: A POEM.</a></li> +<li><a href="#ADIEU_TO_EMORY">ADIEU TO EMORY.</a></li> +<li><a href="#VIRGINIA">VIRGINIA.</a></li> +<li><a href="#WATOGA">WATOGA.</a></li> +<li><a href="#NAPOLEON">NAPOLEON.</a></li> +<li><a href="#STANZAS">STANZAS.</a></li> +<li><a href="#THE_LOVER">THE LOVER.</a></li> +<li><a href="#THE_ANGELS_OF_EARTH">THE ANGELS OF EARTH.</a></li> +<li><a href="#AUSTRALIA_OR_THE_NEW_GOLDEN_AGE">AUSTRALIA; OR, THE NEW GOLDEN AGE.</a></li> +<li><a href="#THE_PROPHECY_OF_COLUMBIA">THE PROPHECY OF COLUMBIA.</a></li> +<li><a href="#LOVE">LOVE.</a></li> +<li><a href="#THE_LOVERS">THE LOVERS.</a></li> +<li><a href="#SONG">SONG.</a></li> +<li><a href="#HOURS_WITH_NATURE">HOURS WITH NATURE.</a></li> +<li><a href="#YORKTOWN">YORKTOWN.</a></li> +<li><a href="#POETS_ENCHANTED_LIFE">POET'S ENCHANTED LIFE.</a></li> +<li><a href="#VIRGINIA_MELODIES">VIRGINIA MELODIES</a></li></ul> + +<!-- Page 6 --> +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">{7}</a></div> + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> + +<h2><a name="POCAHONTAS" id="POCAHONTAS"></a>POCAHONTAS.</h2> + + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Where yonder moss-grown ruin<a name="FNanchor_A_1" id="FNanchor_A_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_1" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> lonely stands,</div> +<div class="verse">Which from the James, the Pilgrim may survey,</div> +<div class="verse">Stretch alway forth its old, forsaken hands</div> +<div class="verse">As if to beg some friend its fall to stay,</div> +<div class="verse">And now the wild vine flaunts in greenness gay;</div> +<div class="verse">Erst rose a Castle, known to deathless fame,</div> +<div class="verse">Though now the mournful rampart falls away,</div> +<div class="verse">Hither Virginia's hero-father came,</div> +<div class="verse">To found a glorious state, and give these regions name.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">For, then, both far and near the forest wide,</div> +<div class="verse">Stretched from the main unto the setting sun,</div> +<div class="verse">And Bears and Panthers walked in fiercest pride,</div> +<div class="verse">And slept at ease when their red feast was done,</div> +<div class="verse">But here of white men there had ne'er walked one,</div> +<div class="verse">But a fierce race of wild and savage hue,</div> +<div class="verse">Their simple life from chase and angling won,</div> +<div class="verse">And oft, when wrath arose, each other slew,</div> +<div class="verse">In bloody wars which dyed their soil with crimson dew.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">I ween it was a novel sight to see</div> +<div class="verse">The white man landing in the vasty wild,</div> +<div class="verse">Which each familiar creature seemed to flee,</div> +<div class="verse">Where not a christian dwelling ever smiled,</div> +<div class="verse">Nor e'er a well-known sound the ear beguiled,</div> +<div class="verse">But all was wild and hideous—and the heart,</div> +<div class="verse">Mayhap, of stout man, trembled as a child,</div> +<div class="verse">—And oft the exile's tear would, gushing, start,</div> +<div class="verse">That ever he was lured from Albion's coast to part.</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">{8}</a></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">But there was one, the chieftan, of that band,</div> +<div class="verse">Whose soul no dread, however great, could chill,</div> +<div class="verse">His was the towering mind, the mighty hand,</div> +<div class="verse">On which, his feeble followers resting, still</div> +<div class="verse">Would fear no peril from approaching ill.</div> +<div class="verse">With him the strangers built their rugged home,</div> +<div class="verse">And turned the soil, and eat, and drank their fill;</div> +<div class="verse">Glad that to this fair Eden they had come,</div> +<div class="verse">And reconciled became to their adopted home.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Thus pass'd away in peaceful happiness,</div> +<div class="verse">A little space by yonder river's side,</div> +<div class="verse">But now arose the wail of keen distress,</div> +<div class="verse"><ins class="correction" title="text reads 'Guant'">Gaunt</ins> Famine, with his murderous eye, they spied,</div> +<div class="verse">Stalk round the walls of those who wept and sighed,</div> +<div class="verse">And when their venturous chieftain wandered forth,</div> +<div class="verse">Ill hap betrayed him to the savage pride,</div> +<div class="verse">The death-club rose, his head upon the earth,</div> +<div class="verse">To perish there and thus, that man of kingly worth.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Not yet! before that last sad deed be done,</div> +<div class="verse">An Indian maiden springs beneath the blow,</div> +<div class="verse">And says her virgin blood shall freely run,</div> +<div class="verse">For him, extended on the ground below,</div> +<div class="verse">See! how, her face upturned, her tears do flow,</div> +<div class="verse">See Love and anguish painted in her eyes,</div> +<div class="verse">That, like a Seraph's, in their pity, glow,</div> +<div class="verse">And surely Angels, looking from the skies</div> +<div class="verse">Claimed this poor savage girl a sister in disguise.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Those eyes, those tears prevent the falling stroke,</div> +<div class="verse">For Powhatan could not withstand her tears,</div> +<div class="verse">His favorite child, who, charmed, beneath the oak,</div> +<div class="verse">His savage spirit from her dawning years,</div> +<div class="verse">The wondering white man now he kindly rears,</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">{9}</a></span> +<div class="verse">And bids his menials haste the Indian's fare</div> +<div class="verse">For him whom now his daughter's love endears,</div> +<div class="verse">And lo! within the Lion's horrid lair,</div> +<div class="verse">The Dove has brought her mate, and sees him unhurt there.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Oh Love! how powerful o'er all thou art,</div> +<div class="verse">In dusky breasts or breasts of whiter hue,</div> +<div class="verse">To thy delicious touch the human heart</div> +<div class="verse">Throbs with respondent transport ever true.</div> +<div class="verse">On Love's swift wings, this Indian virgin flew,</div> +<div class="verse">To snatch from hateful death the lovely chief,</div> +<div class="verse">Love drew her tears, like showers of pearly dew,</div> +<div class="verse">Love filled her passionate breast with tender grief</div> +<div class="verse">And love still drinks her soul, and naught can give relief.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">She decks her long, black hair with gayest flowers</div> +<div class="verse">And tries each girlish art to warm his breast,</div> +<div class="verse">And, straying oft, among the leafy bowers,</div> +<div class="verse">Whilst Luna's silvery smiles upon them rest,</div> +<div class="verse">And Earth sleeps deeply, in that beauty drest,</div> +<div class="verse">The lonely Muckawiss<a name="FNanchor_B_2" id="FNanchor_B_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_B_2" class="fnanchor">[B]</a>, with doleful strain,</div> +<div class="verse">Pities her fate—alas, she is not blest,</div> +<div class="verse">But hopes and doubts, and dares to hope again,</div> +<div class="verse">That Smith may love, and ne'er is free from love's soft pain.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">And fair was she, the dim wood's lustrous child,</div> +<div class="verse">Though born amid a race of uncouth men,</div> +<div class="verse">And gentle as the fawn, which, through the wild,</div> +<div class="verse">Trembled with timorous haste, and fled, and when</div> +<div class="verse">She stood within the rude and silent glen,</div> +<div class="verse">Of deepest forests, she appear'd more bright,</div> +<div class="verse">Than other nymphs who roamed these regions then,</div> +<div class="verse">And now—for o'er her form and sylph-like waist,</div> +<div class="verse">A native modesty entranced the most fastidious taste.</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">{10}</a></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">He whom she loved to all these charms was cold,</div> +<div class="verse">Though well he saw her bosom's gentle fire,</div> +<div class="verse">Stern is the soul that worships fame or gold,</div> +<div class="verse">To all that softer ecstacies inspire.</div> +<div class="verse">A stony heart these tyrants e'er require,</div> +<div class="verse">Brave Smith ne'er thought of Pocahontas' love,</div> +<div class="verse">But only that his name would glitter higher</div> +<div class="verse">In coming centuries, others' names above,</div> +<div class="verse">Whose soon contented souls an humbler distance rove.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">To cheat her pining soul of this dear dream,</div> +<div class="verse">They told a dreary tale that he had died,</div> +<div class="verse">While to her father's hut, like some fair gleam</div> +<div class="verse">Of sunlight, with some heavenly thought, she hied,</div> +<div class="verse">And now both day and night, how sorely sighed,</div> +<div class="verse">And inly groaned the poor bereaved maid,</div> +<div class="verse">Nor could restrain strong nature's gushing tide,</div> +<div class="verse">That in the dark, cold grave, her love was laid;—</div> +<div class="verse">Disconsolate, she moved along the leafy glade.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Pausing beside her Smith's imagined tomb,</div> +<div class="verse">Weeping, by moonlight pale, she strewed fair flowers,</div> +<div class="verse">To wither o'er him, emblems of his bloom</div> +<div class="verse">So soon departed from these lovely bowers.</div> +<div class="verse">Once plucked, these buds will never bless the showers,</div> +<div class="verse">Sweet charities, by wearing wonted charms,</div> +<div class="verse">But lose for aye their balm for summer hours;</div> +<div class="verse">So all her showery grief him no more charms,</div> +<div class="verse">To spring and rest a joy in her exulting arms.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">She deems he sleeps within the envious ground,</div> +<div class="verse">Which stole him early from her young, warm breast,</div> +<div class="verse">No more her brow with wild flower wreaths is bound,</div> +<div class="verse">And all her ornaments, neglected, rest;</div> +<div class="verse">Since fled is now the dreamy hope which blest</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">{11}</a></span> +<div class="verse">Her artless soul, she loathes her glance to fling</div> +<div class="verse">On corals, braids, and flowers, and royal vest,</div> +<div class="verse">And slowly wanders like some moon-struck thing,</div> +<div class="verse">Through gloomy cypress groves, and by yon haunted spring.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">But time must soothe the most exquisite smart</div> +<div class="verse">Of love, when wounded by the dart of death;</div> +<div class="verse">For life would flee, should not such woe depart,</div> +<div class="verse">Too deeply weighing on the heart beneath.</div> +<div class="verse">Fair Pocahontas breathes the wonted breath</div> +<div class="verse">Of tranquil life, a creature darkly bright,</div> +<div class="verse">Decking her hair again with many a wreath,</div> +<div class="verse">Walking amid the high wood's gentle night,</div> +<div class="verse">Charming her wild, old Father's heart with strange delight.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Yet nought could make her cease to view with love,</div> +<div class="verse">The tender memory of the mournful past;</div> +<div class="verse">And once when warring clouds grew black above,</div> +<div class="verse">The shrieking Earth with awful night o'ercast,</div> +<div class="verse">And long foiled Hatred hoped to glut his fast</div> +<div class="verse">With English gore, with irksome steps she stole,</div> +<div class="verse">O'er deep morass, through tangled brake, and cast</div> +<div class="verse">The boon of life to each devoted soul,</div> +<div class="verse">Who slept within that Castle's frail and weak control.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Oh! we might marvel that her savage heart,</div> +<div class="verse">Would show such love to her loved father's foes;</div> +<div class="verse">But love like this, will act no selfish part;</div> +<div class="verse">Over drear earth, diffusing joy, it goes,</div> +<div class="verse">Its breath the fragrance of the earliest rose,</div> +<div class="verse">Its voice the sound of an unearthly thing,</div> +<div class="verse">Its form an Angel's, and as pure as those,</div> +<div class="verse">Who come to gladdened man on shining wing,</div> +<div class="verse">Which scatters round the sweets of an immortal spring.</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">{12}</a></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Now when the dogwood gemmed with blossoms white,</div> +<div class="verse">The gorgeous grove where oak and stately pine,</div> +<div class="verse">Upthrew their gnarled arms of massy might,</div> +<div class="verse">And thus a leafy canopy did twine,</div> +<div class="verse">This dusky Dryad would with grace recline,</div> +<div class="verse">Along the mossy bank of crystal stream,</div> +<div class="verse">In whose smooth glass her angel beauties shine,</div> +<div class="verse">Beside brave Rolfe, a man of pallid gleam,</div> +<div class="verse">Who sighed his soul to her, and taught her love's true dream.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Beneath the silver moon, resplendent queen,</div> +<div class="verse">With simple rites, these mingling souls were wed;</div> +<div class="verse">The happy stars looked down, with brighter sheen,</div> +<div class="verse">To view love's wretched fears for ever fled;</div> +<div class="verse">The wild flowers trembled in their dewy bed,</div> +<div class="verse">And up a most enchanting fragrance sent;</div> +<div class="verse">The blissful Hours, unnoticed, onward sped;</div> +<div class="verse">And, with their gentle music sweetly blent,</div> +<div class="verse">The breathing winds and waters murmured their content.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Ah me! what deep, celestial transports thrill'd</div> +<div class="verse">These beating bosoms, in so sweet a scene:</div> +<div class="verse">What tears of tender joy their visions filled,</div> +<div class="verse">Scanning each other's soul-absorbing <ins class="correction" title="text reads 'mein'">mien</ins></div> +<div class="verse">And, in that bower of paradisal green,</div> +<div class="verse">Happy, they sighed, in accents fond and warm,</div> +<div class="verse">That thus enclosed Earth's primal pair had been,</div> +<div class="verse">Where oft they spied bright Seraph's glorious form,</div> +<div class="verse">And rose on high afar the grove's eternal charm.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">There oft the mocking bird, a songster gay,</div> +<div class="verse">Would soothe their souls, with multifarious song,</div> +<div class="verse">Singing his farewell-hymns to dying Day,</div> +<div class="verse">As fade his smiles the darkening glades along;</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">{13}</a></span> +<div class="verse">And when the frowns of night more thickly throng,</div> +<div class="verse">The amorous firefly led them at that hour,</div> +<div class="verse">O'er wooded hills, and marshes deep and long,</div> +<div class="verse">To their sweet rest, which sank, with grateful power,</div> +<div class="verse">Along their wearied nerves, in their wild, oaken bower.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">As flows the stream, with calm, unruffled wave,</div> +<div class="verse">O'er shining sands, to kiss the glassy main,</div> +<div class="verse">So flowed the life their gracious Maker gave,</div> +<div class="verse">Nor felt the obstructive power of obvious pain;</div> +<div class="verse">So deep o'er them was Passion's rapturous reign,</div> +<div class="verse">That mid their bower's delicious solitude,</div> +<div class="verse">They dreamed their hearts might never sigh again;</div> +<div class="verse">By love their gentle spirits were subdued,</div> +<div class="verse">To the deep rapture of a heavenly seeming mood.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Alas! the race of Pocahontas flow,</div> +<div class="verse">As waves, away, which can return no more;</div> +<div class="verse">No more o'er plain and peak they bear the bow,</div> +<div class="verse">Or shove the skiff from yonder curving shore;</div> +<div class="verse">Their reign, their histories, their names are o'er;</div> +<div class="verse">The plow insults their sires' indignant bones;</div> +<div class="verse">The very land disowns its look of yore;</div> +<div class="verse">Vast cities rise, and hark! I hear the tones</div> +<div class="verse">Of many mingling Tongues; and boundless labour groans.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">And paler nymphs are sweetly wooed and won,</div> +<div class="verse">Upon this soil, and they are happy too,</div> +<div class="verse">But of these fairer English damsels, none</div> +<div class="verse">Have shown devotion more divinely true,</div> +<div class="verse">Than thou, untutor'd maid of dusky hue;</div> +<div class="verse">Nor shall thy tribes from memory vanish quite,</div> +<div class="verse">While beauteous deeds as angels ofttimes do,</div> +<div class="verse">Still sway the generous mind with heavenly might,</div> +<div class="verse">For thine would snatch even worse from Time's oblivious night.</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">{14}</a></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">The tallest fir, that decks the blooming grove,</div> +<div class="verse">Decays the first, the most abounding rose,</div> +<div class="verse">By worms is first consumed; the pearl we love</div> +<div class="verse">Is stolen first, the star that brightest glows</div> +<div class="verse">To gild the gloom, is first that sets, and those</div> +<div class="verse">Whose lovely lives on earth we prized the most,</div> +<div class="verse">And most assuaged the pangs of thronging woes,</div> +<div class="verse">Which—oh how oft! our fated paths have cross'd,</div> +<div class="verse">By all are ever mourned, "the loved and early lost."</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">So Rolfe's dear spouse was early snatched away,—</div> +<div class="verse">But left one pledge of her undying love—</div> +<div class="verse">(Perchance her happy spirit oft would stray</div> +<div class="verse">Round their dear footsteps wheresoe'er they rove)</div> +<div class="verse">And Europe's turf grow green her heart above.</div> +<div class="verse">No more could grief or joy disturb her breast.</div> +<div class="verse">Soft by her tomb let musing Fancy move!</div> +<div class="verse">Let not a sound of thoughtlessness molest</div> +<div class="verse">The melancholy spot of her eternal rest!</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Her fair form sank low in the gloomy earth—</div> +<div class="verse">Her spirit soared and found a brighter home,</div> +<div class="verse">Where now with sun-bright smiles, she wanders forth,</div> +<div class="verse">Beneath the glories of a heavenly dome;</div> +<div class="verse">Where Seraphs o'er bright fields forever roam,</div> +<div class="verse">And flowers aloft Life's never dying tree,</div> +<div class="verse">Whither no evil thing can ever come;</div> +<div class="verse">Where now she blends her heart and harp to sing</div> +<div class="verse">A ceaseless song of praise to her Eternal King.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">But oft the eye which scans yon ruin old,</div> +<div class="verse">Where Jamestown erst in simple grandeur rose,</div> +<div class="verse">Shall fill with tears—as there it doth behold—</div> +<div class="verse">For it will speak to him of heroes' woes,</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">{15}</a></span> +<div class="verse">Felt erewhile whence this river gently flows,—</div> +<div class="verse">And sprang this famous, Hero-bearing State;—</div> +<div class="verse">And while with pride his patriot bosom glows,</div> +<div class="verse">His heart her gentle history will relate,</div> +<div class="verse">And warmly laud her deeds, and mourn her early fate.</div> +</div></div> + + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_1" id="Footnote_A_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_A_1"><span class="label">[A]</span></a> Jamestown.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_B_2" id="Footnote_B_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_B_2"><span class="label">[B]</span></a> Whip-poor-will.</p></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> + +<h2><a name="A_SONG" id="A_SONG"></a>A SONG.</h2> + +<div class="poemnarrow"> +<div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Amid the tempest, wild and dark,</div> +<div class="verseind">Upon Life's troubled sea;</div> +<div class="verse">One only star illumes the scene,</div> +<div class="verseind">With heavenly brilliancy.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Oh! sweetly o'er the howling deeps,</div> +<div class="verseind">Its venturing beam shines out;</div> +<div class="verse">And bright, relieves my weeping eye,</div> +<div class="verseind">And calms my soul from doubt.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">That star is pure Religion's light.</div> +<div class="verseind">A pole star, calm but blest,</div> +<div class="verse">It guides my lost and trembling bark,</div> +<div class="verseind">To Heaven's sweet port of rest.</div> +</div> +</div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">{16}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> + +<h2><a name="ELFINDALE" id="ELFINDALE"></a>ELFINDALE.</h2> + + +<h3>PART FIRST.</h3> + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Sweet Frankie lives in Elfindale;</div> +<div class="verse">Where all the flowers are fair, and frail</div> +<div class="verse">(Like her fair self,) a slender fairy,</div> +<div class="verse">And like a zephyr, playsome, airy,</div> +<div class="verse">But lovelier far, than buxom Mary.</div> +<div class="verse">Now, since I saw her full, bright eyes,</div> +<div class="verse">And heard her tongue's rich melodies,</div> +<div class="i4">Solace the evening air,</div> +<div class="verse">Sweet Elfindale, e'er loved of yore,</div> +<div class="verse">Has grown more fair, beloved more,</div> +<div class="verse">A part of some fay-walked shore,</div> +<div class="i4">A haunt of beauties rare.</div> +<div class="verse">The gay dawn smells more fragrant there,</div> +<div class="verse">(When youthful May, new, fresh and fair,</div> +<div class="verse">Comes, bird-like through the laughing air,)</div> +<div class="i4">Than it was even of old;</div> +<div class="verse">And Evening throws a richer dress,</div> +<div class="verse">(O'er Elfindale's mild loveliness,)</div> +<div class="i4">Of fading pink and gold.</div> +<div class="verse">The moonlight nights are lovelier now,</div> +<div class="i4">On silent Elfindale;</div> +<div class="verse">More pure the beams, more soft the glow,</div> +<div class="i4">That sleeps upon the vale:</div> +<div class="verse">So much of beauty God hath given</div> +<div class="verse">To sweetest Frankie—gracious Heaven!</div> +<div class="verse">She spares so much to beautify,</div> +<div class="verse">Fair Elfindale to my charm'd eye,—</div> +<div class="verse">And yet she loses none at all</div> +<div class="verse">Of that which holds my soul in thrall.</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">{17}</a></span> +<div class="verse">Now, if my harp shall echo well,</div> +<div class="verse">The story of her life, and tell,</div> +<div class="verse">In worthy feet, her beauty's power</div> +<div class="verse">That flourished as a springtime flower,</div> +<div class="verse">I shall be richer, happier far</div> +<div class="verse">Than one should own a round, bright star.</div> +<div class="verse">And what if the fair maid should smile,</div> +<div class="i4">To hear my warbled strain?</div> +<div class="verse">Ah! that would all my grief beguile,</div> +<div class="i4">Undo the life of Pain.</div> +<div class="verse">I one time saw a laughing mirth</div> +<div class="verse">Leap in the maiden's eyes,</div> +<div class="verse">And thought the too aspiring earth</div> +<div class="verse">Had robbed the jewelled skies,</div> +<div class="verse">Of one bright angel, even her:</div> +<div class="verse">She made my very being stir.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">I ne'er saw sweet Frankie's mother,</div> +<div class="i4">What I had glowed to see,</div> +<div class="verse">Yet think no mortal earth's another,</div> +<div class="i4">Bore child so fair as she.</div> +<div class="verse">I ween that mother was a queen</div> +<div class="i4">In royal qualities,</div> +<div class="verse">And in her lofty eyes and mien,</div> +<div class="i4">Lurked lovely majesties.</div> +<div class="verse">I ne'er saw sweet Frankie's mother,</div> +<div class="i4">What I had glowed to see;</div> +<div class="verse">But cannot, long-lost mother! smother</div> +<div class="i4">The love that swells for thee.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">When Frankie came into this world,</div> +<div class="i4">In lovely Elfindale,</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">{18}</a></span> +<div class="verse">The winds were lulled, and waves lay curled,</div> +<div class="i4">Beneath the moonlight pale:</div> +<div class="verse">The cold stars twinkled far above,</div> +<div class="verse">And danced, with their bright eyes of love;</div> +<div class="verse">The gleaming waters did rejoice,</div> +<div class="verse">And breathed a soft, enamored voice;</div> +<div class="verse">The sleeping zephyr on his flowers,</div> +<div class="verse">Awaked to bless the gliding hours</div> +<div class="verse">Which gave this tiny being, birth,</div> +<div class="verse">A bliss, a Blessing to the earth.</div> +<div class="verse">She was, in truth, a beauteous child:</div> +<div class="verse">At three years old her eyes were wild</div> +<div class="verse">With something of a playfulness;</div> +<div class="verse">And then she had the softest tress</div> +<div class="verse">Of auburn tint, that fell and flew</div> +<div class="verse">About her neck of damask hue.</div> +<div class="verse">To watch throughout the Summer day,</div> +<div class="verse">The butterfly's capricious play,</div> +<div class="verse">Or humming bird's bright, rainbow wings,</div> +<div class="verse">And all gay, joyous, natural things.</div> +<div class="verse">To hear the poets of the grove,</div> +<div class="verse">Sing forth their little lays of love;</div> +<div class="verse">Or to survey the stars come forth,</div> +<div class="verse">Or dancing rainbows hug the earth:</div> +<div class="verse">These were the pastime and the play,</div> +<div class="verse">That whiled her infant hours away.</div> +<div class="verse">And blest was sylvan Elfindale,</div> +<div class="verse">With child so fair within its pale.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">That was a bland and holy morn,</div> +<div class="verse">Like one, on very purpose, born,</div> +<div class="i4">A gray godmother stood,</div> +<div class="verse">Before the chancel's sacred place,</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">{19}</a></span> +<div class="verse">With Frankie's sweet and artless grace,</div> +<div class="i4">And heard the preacher good.</div> +<div class="verse">And as the bright baptism fell,</div> +<div class="verse">Upon her fallen tresses well,</div> +<div class="verse">And o'er her bosom's chastened swell,</div> +<div class="i4">The beauteous maiden smiled:</div> +<div class="verse">She looked a wingless cherub then—</div> +<div class="verse">My inmost spirit fluttered, when</div> +<div class="i4">I said, O wondrous child!</div> +<div class="verse">I thought a troop of angels stood</div> +<div class="verse">Amid that lofty fane,</div> +<div class="verse">And (I in that ecstatic mood)</div> +<div class="verse">They sped to bliss again.</div> +<div class="verse">That, whole bright day, I wandered wide,</div> +<div class="i4">O'er sunny hill and vale,</div> +<div class="verse">And thought no day of brighter pride</div> +<div class="i4">E'er lay on Elfindale;</div> +<div class="verse">I thought, that day dear Frankie love,</div> +<div class="verse">Had been new-linked with those above;</div> +<div class="verse">And henceforth angels would attend</div> +<div class="verse">The maiden, to her journey's end.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Fair Frankie grew in attributes</div> +<div class="verse">That harmonized like golden flutes,</div> +<div class="i4">Or harps of silver strain:</div> +<div class="verse">She loved the Lovely—growing so,</div> +<div class="verse">With every year's advancing flow;—</div> +<div class="i4">She was the Death of Pain!</div> +<div class="verse">The dwellers in green Elfindale,</div> +<div class="i4">Were happier all for her,</div> +<div class="verse">The very flowers she loved to trail,</div> +<div class="i4">With pleasure's thrill, would stir.</div> +<div class="verse">She loved both man and brute that dwelt</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">{20}</a></span> +<div class="i4">Within that vale of Good;</div> +<div class="verse">And they, as bettered beings, felt</div> +<div class="i4">New virtue—as they should.</div> +<div class="verse">And thus a shining, golden chain,</div> +<div class="i4">Of many links of love,</div> +<div class="verse">Knit Frankie to the peopled plain,</div> +<div class="i4">And to the good above.</div> +<div class="verse">Affection's wreathed rings of beauty,</div> +<div class="i4">Bound round a globe of gold;</div> +<div class="verse">It is my verse's pleasing duty,</div> +<div class="i4">To say to all, behold,</div> +<div class="verse">Sweet Frank that central globe of worth;</div> +<div class="verse">That gems, with pride, this spot of earth,</div> +<div class="verse">This flower-engirdled, blissful vale,</div> +<div class="verse">This heart-delighting Elfindale.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">And now when lovely Frankie stood,</div> +<div class="verse">In the dear pride of womanhood,</div> +<div class="i4">The queen of Elfindale;</div> +<div class="verse">One sought her for her loveliness—</div> +<div class="verse">A joy—a heaven of happiness—</div> +<div class="verse">An earth-born angel meant to bless</div> +<div class="verse">My throbbing soul with rich excess</div> +<div class="i4">Of joys that never fail.</div> +<div class="verse">She sat hid in a garden bower,</div> +<div class="i4">Watching the first, sweet star,</div> +<div class="verse">That crowns the lovely twilight hour,</div> +<div class="i4">And glows to earth from far.</div> +<div class="verse">A sad sweet dream oppressed her thought,</div> +<div class="i4">And tinged her calm, white face;</div> +<div class="verse">Her eyes fixed fast, their radiance fraught,</div> +<div class="i4">With melancholy grace.</div> +<div class="verse">I stole unto her close retreat,</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">{21}</a></span> +<div class="i4">As winds creep on a vale;</div> +<div class="verse">And, standing, gazed upon the sweet,</div> +<div class="i4">Sweet queen of Elfindale.</div> +<div class="verse">She turned her head, she faintly smiled,</div> +<div class="i4">She bent her gaze on me;</div> +<div class="verse">It made my very spirit wild,</div> +<div class="i4">With thrilling ecstacy.</div> +<div class="verse">I caught and clasped, her to my heart,</div> +<div class="i4">Yet never spoke a word;—</div> +<div class="verse">But the twin-vow that could not part,</div> +<div class="i4">By Love in Heaven was heard.</div> +</div></div> + + +<h3 class="gap">PART SECOND.</h3> + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Again unto the lofty fane,</div> +<div class="verseind">Sweet Frankie lightly went;</div> +<div class="verse">With smiling joy and same of pair</div> +<div class="verseind">Upon her features blent.</div> +<div class="verse">Again, as on that sunny morn,</div> +<div class="verseind">When white-winged angels stood,</div> +<div class="verse">To see her, of bright water, born,</div> +<div class="verseind">Before the preacher good.</div> +<div class="verse">Again within the chancel's gloom,</div> +<div class="verseind">She sweetly, gently stands;</div> +<div class="verse">With marriage hymn, with rich perfume,</div> +<div class="verseind">With Hymen's happy bands;</div> +<div class="verse">With wild-rose wreaths, with gayest bloom,</div> +<div class="verseind">And wreathed maiden's hands.</div> +<div class="verse">But, now she stands with me even there,</div> +<div class="verseind">With sweetly downcast eyes,</div> +<div class="verse">So purely white, so passing fair,</div> +<div class="verseind">Like one of Paradise.</div> +<div class="verse">The preacher speaks the solemn words,</div> +<div class="verseind">Yet fraught with deepest bliss;</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">{22}</a></span> +<div class="verse">We twain in one are bound by chords,</div> +<div class="verseind">With sob—with clasp—with kiss.</div> +<div class="verse">Returning from that sacred place,</div> +<div class="verseind">All earth and sky rejoiced,</div> +<div class="verse">And all the winds and waters' race</div> +<div class="verseind">Their compliments then voiced.</div> +<div class="verse">The birds sang sweetly on the spray,</div> +<div class="verseind">As they ne'er sang before;</div> +<div class="verse">And love lay o'er the world away,</div> +<div class="verseind">A robe of golden ore.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">And now, we live in Elfindale,</div> +<div class="verseind">Dear Frank and I together;</div> +<div class="verse">And there is light on this sweet dale,</div> +<div class="verseind">In calm, or stormy weather.</div> +<div class="verse">A fairy daughter leaps between</div> +<div class="verseind">Our nightly moving paces;</div> +<div class="verse">Upon whose soft and marble brow,</div> +<div class="verseind">Gleam many artless graces.</div> +<div class="verse">We dwell, we dwell, in Elfindale—</div> +<div class="verseind">I—child—and happy mother;</div> +<div class="verse">And, if earth holds a sweeter vale,</div> +<div class="verseind">We cannot wish another.</div> +<div class="verse">Life has been arched with bluer skies,</div> +<div class="verseind">By curved rainbows brighter;</div> +<div class="verse">And nature—ah! what wondrous dyes,</div> +<div class="verseind">Now lavishly bedight her.</div> +<div class="verse">Love has become a glorious robe,</div> +<div class="verseind">With thickest gold o'erladen;</div> +<div class="verse">And now we dwell upon a globe</div> +<div class="verseind">Which is, indeed, an Aidenn.</div> +<div class="verse">I dwell with fixed eyes upon</div> +<div class="verseind">My wife and cherub maiden,</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">{23}</a></span> +<div class="verse">I feel the light of that fire-sun,</div> +<div class="verseind">That broadly shines on Aidenn,—</div> +<div class="verse">And all our days that brightly run,</div> +<div class="verseind">Are heavily joy-laden—</div> +<div class="verse">And now we know our grief is done,</div> +<div class="verseind">And that we dwell in Aidenn.</div> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> + +<h2><a name="OF_A_SKYLARK" id="OF_A_SKYLARK"></a>OF A SKYLARK.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">At dawn I rose from silent sleep,</div> +<div class="verseind">And heard a sky-lark singing,</div> +<div class="verse">Amid the azure far and deep,</div> +<div class="verseind">Till all the arch was ringing.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">And now, as deeper, deeper still</div> +<div class="verseind">His form sank into heaven,</div> +<div class="verse">Me-seemed his heart's concentered thrill,</div> +<div class="verseind">To his loved Lord was given.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">If I possessed such wondrous wings,</div> +<div class="verseind">I would soar and sing to heaven,</div> +<div class="verse">Till my freed soul from sordid things,</div> +<div class="verseind">Should thus be widely riven.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">{24}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> + +<h2><a name="THE_PRINCESS_OF_PERU" id="THE_PRINCESS_OF_PERU"></a>THE PRINCESS OF PERU.</h2> + +<h3>RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED TO MISS MARY T. ROBERTSON OF ABINGDON, VA.</h3> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Far to the wilds of rich Peru,</div> +<div class="verse">Gonzalo came—of pallid hue,</div> +<div class="verse">Strange in these Western lands of night,</div> +<div class="verse">Where nought, save woman's eyes, are bright.</div> +<div class="verse">But these have all that outward beam,</div> +<div class="verse">Reflected from their glances' gleam</div> +<div class="verse">Of light and fire, that kindle bliss;</div> +<div class="verse">Or sink to gloom in Death's abyss.</div> +<div class="verse">Gonzalo came, a son of Spain,</div> +<div class="verse">That land which gleams beyond the main,</div> +<div class="verse">And sent its children to these lands,</div> +<div class="verse">To gather gold with reckless hands.</div> +<div class="verse">And, he, Gonzalo, stood a tower,</div> +<div class="verse">In sturdy grace, and manly power;</div> +<div class="verse">No Indian's weapon was to him,</div> +<div class="verse">More than a sea-reed, slight and slim;</div> +<div class="verse">And yet to brown Iola's eye,</div> +<div class="verse">He seemed the lord of lady's sigh.</div> +<div class="verse">Gonzalo seen, her thought, her dream,</div> +<div class="verse">With fancy's love-fraught visions teem.</div> +<div class="verse">She deemed that orb of glorious fire,</div> +<div class="verse">To which her country's souls aspire,</div> +<div class="verse">That crimson god whose glowing face</div> +<div class="verse">Illumines all the mortal race:</div> +<div class="verse">She deemed his glory, only, vied</div> +<div class="verse">With brave Gonzalo's matchless pride.</div> +<div class="verse">And down along the green, fresh earth,</div> +<div class="verse">Where sin not yet had known its birth;</div> +<div class="verse">She knelt, and cast her hands and eyes,</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">{25}</a></span> +<div class="verse">To the bright God of those bright skies;</div> +<div class="verse">And worshipped him whose blessed beams,</div> +<div class="verse">Had given Gonzalo to her dreams.</div> +<div class="verse">Iola, princess of Peru,</div> +<div class="verse">Most fair (though of a dusky hue,)</div> +<div class="verse">Like this new, unpolluted clime,</div> +<div class="verse">Unknown to hate, unknown to crime,</div> +<div class="verse">Where all that dwell know but to love,</div> +<div class="verse">(The gentleness which marks the dove.)</div> +<div class="verse">And like that rich, unguarded shore,</div> +<div class="verse">She knew to be, and seem no more;</div> +<div class="verse">And like that land so rich in bloom,</div> +<div class="verse">Its branches wrought at noon a gloom;</div> +<div class="verse">Her form was bright with beauty's hues,</div> +<div class="verse">Which each propitious year renews;</div> +<div class="verse">And, as within its bosom lay,</div> +<div class="verse">Treasures which mocked the sun's bright ray;</div> +<div class="verse">In her rich soul shone wealth to shame,</div> +<div class="verse">That tropic sun's meridian flame.</div> +<div class="verse">She stood a lovely being fraught,</div> +<div class="verse">With that most dear to human thought,</div> +<div class="verse">The power to love, to force the bliss</div> +<div class="verse">Of heaven, to such a world as this.</div> +<div class="verseind">Iola, dearest maiden, threw</div> +<div class="verse">A wondrous charm o'er all who knew</div> +<div class="verse">Her loveliness; her menial train</div> +<div class="verse">Adored her even to anxious pain.</div> +<div class="verse">And to her father's rapturous eyes,</div> +<div class="verse">She shone a rainbow—whose bright dyes</div> +<div class="verse">Illumed his aged spirit's night;</div> +<div class="verse">A thing of loveliness and light.</div> +<div class="verse">And in and out the Inca's hall</div> +<div class="verse">She went, returned to his known call.</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">{26}</a></span> +<div class="verse">She seemed a sunbeam sent from heaven,</div> +<div class="verse">To make his troubled spirit even;</div> +<div class="verse">For, if his soul, oppressed with grief,</div> +<div class="verse">In aught of earthly, sought relief;</div> +<div class="verse">Iola's image quickly seen,</div> +<div class="verse">His soul grew peaceful and serene.</div> +<div class="verse">In his tried spirits' darkest mood,</div> +<div class="verse">She was an omen still of good.</div> +<div class="verseind">Such was the maid with hue of night,</div> +<div class="verse">But soul and eyes like midday light,</div> +<div class="verse">Whose beauty shed a sparkling spell,</div> +<div class="verse">O'er Peru's plain and shadowy dell;—</div> +<div class="verse">Who mid the rugged Andes stood,</div> +<div class="verse">The charm of polished womanhood,</div> +<div class="verse">And many a stranger wondered where,</div> +<div class="verse">She caught that grace and beauty's air.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">"Iola!" said Gonzalo, "far</div> +<div class="verse">Where shines yon lovely evening star,</div> +<div class="verse">Sings many a gay and loving maid,</div> +<div class="verse">Beneath the cooling olive shade.</div> +<div class="verse">Their brows are whiter, too, than thine,</div> +<div class="verse">But yet none to me are so divine,</div> +<div class="verse">As thine, fair maid of dark Peru,</div> +<div class="verse">With heart like its Volcanoes too.</div> +<div class="verse">E'er since I landed on those shores,</div> +<div class="verse">Of endless spring, and brightest ores,</div> +<div class="verse">I have not thought of ought but thee,</div> +<div class="verse">Ne'er can my bosom now be free.</div> +<div class="verse">List! sweet Iola! am I vain?</div> +<div class="verse">I deem thou lovest we well again;</div> +<div class="verse">For, when I sought thy downcast eyes,</div> +<div class="verse">They met mine with a glad surprise;</div> +<div class="verse">And when I spake to thee full low,</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">{27}</a></span> +<div class="verse">Thy voice was like a fountain's flow,</div> +<div class="verse">So softly sweet, so lulling, too,</div> +<div class="verse">It bathed my soul in rapture's dew.</div> +<div class="verse">Iola! sure I love thee well,</div> +<div class="verse">And if thou wilt thy father tell,</div> +<div class="verse">I deem he will not eye me ill,</div> +<div class="verse">Whose love is with his daughter still."</div> +<div class="verseind">Iola raised her glance to heaven,</div> +<div class="verse">Then to Gonzalo, darting, even</div> +<div class="verse">Her soul, into his own, and said;</div> +<div class="verse">"This soil with blood was never red;</div> +<div class="verse">And, sure, my father would not slay,</div> +<div class="verse">Those men for whom his child will pray.</div> +<div class="verse">But why thinkest thou of blood? the thought,</div> +<div class="verse">With wretched fear is ever fraught.</div> +<div class="verse">Think, think of love, and gentle peace,</div> +<div class="verse">Gonzalo! let these bodings cease.</div> +<div class="verse">Think, think of love—here on my heart,</div> +<div class="verse">Repose, and even Death's stern dart,</div> +<div class="verse">By Love conjured, will turn away,</div> +<div class="verse">Some unloved thing of earth to slay."</div> +<div class="verse">"Angel of good!" Gonzalo cried,</div> +<div class="verse">"A thousand joys are at thy side,</div> +<div class="verse">Thou comest to light my dangerous way,</div> +<div class="verse">With calm, and pure, and heavenly ray.</div> +<div class="verse">I feel thou art a spirit sent,</div> +<div class="verse">From heaven's snow-white battlement,</div> +<div class="verse">To lead me through these stranger wilds,</div> +<div class="verse">With voice and actions like a child's,</div> +<div class="verse">So guiltless in thy love—so dear,</div> +<div class="verse">I bless thy goodness with a tear.</div> +<div class="verse">Oh! like thy climate's deathless spring,</div> +<div class="verse">Succeeding days and years shall bring,</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">{28}</a></span> +<div class="verse">Living affection to my heart,</div> +<div class="verse">Till we no more on earth can part."</div> +<div class="verse">"Then, dear Gonzalo! let us meet,</div> +<div class="verse">As oft as evening airs are sweet,</div> +<div class="verse">In yonder bower—my own—my dove,</div> +<div class="verse">And I will be thy gentle love.</div> +<div class="verse">That bower my Inca-father reared,</div> +<div class="verse">For good such thing to him appeared,</div> +<div class="verse">Where his Iola might be lone,</div> +<div class="verse">To dream of fancies all her own.</div> +<div class="verse">Yes! oft as evening shades came down,</div> +<div class="verse">On giant Andes' glittering crown</div> +<div class="verse">Of endless snow, that shines afar</div> +<div class="verse">Next to the radiant zenith star;</div> +<div class="verse">Then throw their dark and sombre lines,</div> +<div class="verse">Upon the mountain's lower pines:</div> +<div class="verse">Come, then, to me, and we will speak,</div> +<div class="verse">Sweet thrilling words, and on my cheek,</div> +<div class="verse">Thy lip shall feed till we expire,</div> +<div class="verse">In glowing love's consuming fire."</div> +<div class="verse">"Yes, I will come, maid of Peru!</div> +<div class="verse">Though Fate, yon soaring Andes threw,</div> +<div class="verse">Between my wish and thee my love,</div> +<div class="verse">That lofty barrier I'd remove;</div> +<div class="verse">And press to thee with Condor's flight,</div> +<div class="verse">To thee, to love, to life's delight.</div> +<div class="verse">N'er since these eyes beheld the day,</div> +<div class="verse">Have they seen aught, whose potent sway,</div> +<div class="verse">Could bend my will, as thou, dear maid!</div> +<div class="verse">Sweet star, amid my spirit's shade.</div> +<div class="verse">Not all the wealth that gleams around</div> +<div class="verse">Within thy country's magic bound,</div> +<div class="verse">And fills my world with loudest fame,</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">{29}</a></span> +<div class="verse">Of this new world's most wondrous name,</div> +<div class="verse">Sways more with me than idle dream,</div> +<div class="verse">Or transient bubbles on a stream,</div> +<div class="verse">Compared, Iola! with thy power;—</div> +<div class="verse">And I will come to thy sweet bower.</div> +</div> +</div> +<hr style='width: 10%;' /> + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">"Iola! art thou in thy bower,</div> +<div class="verse">At this most dear, appointed hour?</div> +<div class="verse">On fleetest pinions I have come,</div> +<div class="verse">To meet thee mid this richest bloom,</div> +<div class="verse">Thy Inca father's garden flowers,</div> +<div class="verse">Whose odors fall like balmy showers;</div> +<div class="verse">But, of them all, thou art the flower</div> +<div class="verse">Who hast the most delightful power,</div> +<div class="verse">And of the wondrous birds that sing</div> +<div class="verse">Amid this garden's blooming spring;</div> +<div class="verse">Thou art the loveliest; and thy voice</div> +<div class="verse">Most meet to bid my soul rejoice."</div> +<div class="verse">Iola spoke not in reply;</div> +<div class="verse">But gazed on him with vacant eye:</div> +<div class="verse">Still was she silent as the grave,</div> +<div class="verse">O'er those we love but could not save;</div> +<div class="verse">And she seemed calm as tropic sea,</div> +<div class="verse">When its hushed waves from winds are free.</div> +<div class="verse">Gonzalo wondered; why no word,</div> +<div class="verse">Came from that lip that mocked the bird</div> +<div class="verse">Of her own land, in melody,</div> +<div class="verse">When warbling from his cocoa tree.</div> +<div class="verse">But why, O gem of rich Peru,</div> +<div class="verse">Thy silence strange, thy aspect new?</div> +<div class="verse">What envious power has bound thy voice,</div> +<div class="verse">Which erst could bid my soul rejoice.</div> +<div class="verse">Oh! surely some malignant sprite</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">{30}</a></span> +<div class="verse">From realms of most infernal night,</div> +<div class="verse">Has taken thy angel voice away;—</div> +<div class="verse">But speak, Iola, speak, I pray!</div> +<div class="verse">Her tears gushed forth like tropic rain,</div> +<div class="verse">That widely floods the blooming plain;</div> +<div class="verse">And thus began, "Gonzalo! thou</div> +<div class="verse">Deceived'st me—but I know thee now.</div> +<div class="verse">Ask me not how I know it sooth;</div> +<div class="verse">Enough, I know the bitter truth.</div> +<div class="verse">I felt forebodings of this hour;</div> +<div class="verse">It did my happiest thoughts o'er power,</div> +<div class="verse">With a dark weight; but then I thought,</div> +<div class="verse">'Twas by my foolish fancy wrought.</div> +<div class="verse">'Twas like the omen which precedes</div> +<div class="verse">The earthquake when the summer reeds</div> +<div class="verse">Are strangely still, until the shock</div> +<div class="verse">The central earth shall wildly rock.</div> +<div class="verse">Thou dost not love me, child of Spain!</div> +<div class="verse">Thy heart can love no thing but gain;</div> +<div class="verse">The paltry dust I tread above,</div> +<div class="verse">To thee, is more than woman's love.</div> +<div class="verse">My love is vain, and life is less</div> +<div class="verse">Since lost my hope of happiness</div> +<div class="verse">Look from this garden;—far below</div> +<div class="verse">Yon Andes' sides with verdure glow,</div> +<div class="verse">But far on high, the icy chill</div> +<div class="verse">Of winter glitters, glitters still:</div> +<div class="verse">I am that lonely verdure—thou</div> +<div class="verse">That mountain's cold, unchanging brow.</div> +<div class="verse">I'll ne'er upbraid thee—no—oh no!</div> +<div class="verse">For love is kind, in deepest woe,</div> +<div class="verse">I love thee still, and will till Death,</div> +<div class="verse">Shall win my love with living breath.</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">{31}</a></span> +<div class="verse">This even, farewell—yes, yes, adieu!</div> +<div class="verse">No years our meeting can renew.</div> +<div class="verse">Would that when round these royal bowers,</div> +<div class="verse">I played in childhood's happy hours,</div> +<div class="verse">The Condor bird had borne me high,</div> +<div class="verse">On his huge pinions through the sky,</div> +<div class="verse">Upon yon mountain's snowy crest,</div> +<div class="verse">To hush his high and hungry nest.</div> +<div class="verse">Farewell, Gonzalo! fly with speed,</div> +<div class="verse">Leave shade and silence to my need."</div> +</div></div> + +<hr style='width: 10%;' /> + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">There was a cry of terror in the hall</div> +<div class="verse">Of Peru's monarch, and a startling call;</div> +<div class="verse">But no reply—Iola sure was gone;</div> +<div class="verse">Yet none knew why or whither she had flown.</div> +<div class="verse">Her Inca-father put his crown aside,</div> +<div class="verse">And filled the temple with loud prayer—a tide</div> +<div class="verse">Of lamentation rolled along the fair</div> +<div class="verse">And blooming realm; heaven wore a dim despair.</div> +<div class="verse">She ne'er was found; but how or when she died</div> +<div class="verse">None knew; by her own hand; or if she cried,</div> +<div class="verse">Vainly, in wild beasts' clutch;—but ne'er before</div> +<div class="verse">Din wail so wild resound along the shore</div> +<div class="verse">Of fair Peru; her father lived not long,</div> +<div class="verse">After this chord was snapped in his life's song.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">{32}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> + +<h2><a name="THE_HOLY_LADY" id="THE_HOLY_LADY"></a>THE HOLY LADY.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Oh, Heaven hath given to earth some souls,</div> +<div class="i2">Of rarest loveliness,</div> +<div class="verse">Whose being's constant current rolls,</div> +<div class="i2">The wretched still to bless.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Well wishing Heaven hath given to earth,</div> +<div class="i2">Some hearts of purest fire,</div> +<div class="verse">To renovate our sinful birth,</div> +<div class="i2">And raise our low desire.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">The Holy Lady did not go</div> +<div class="i2">Afar, by sea or land,</div> +<div class="verse">But ministered to sighing wo,</div> +<div class="i2">And suffering near at hand.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">'Twas sweet to see the Lady fair,</div> +<div class="i2">Each blessed sabbath morn,</div> +<div class="verse">Wear such a sweetly solemn air,</div> +<div class="i2">Of bright devotion, born.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">'Twas sweet to see her bow at eve,</div> +<div class="i2">On lowly bended knee,</div> +<div class="verse">To pray, and sadly, sweetly grieve,</div> +<div class="i2">For man's perversity.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">But sure were we that city fine,</div> +<div class="i2">Wherein this Lady dwelt,</div> +<div class="verse">Was bettered by a power divine,</div> +<div class="i2">And heavenly prompting felt.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">When she was old, her heart not cold,</div> +<div class="i2">A youthful beauty lay,</div> +<div class="verse">A light most wondrous to behold!</div> +<div class="i2">Upon her tresses gray.</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">{33}</a></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">The charm of goodness does not fade,</div> +<div class="i2">Like natural beauty's flower,</div> +<div class="verse">But blooms in glory undecayed,</div> +<div class="i2">And death-defying power.</div> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2><a name="TIME_AND_ETERNITY" id="TIME_AND_ETERNITY"></a>TIME AND ETERNITY.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">The darkness falls on wood and field,</div> +<div class="i2">On lofty peak, on silent sea,</div> +<div class="verse">The infant Moon and Planets yield</div> +<div class="i2">A faint and feeble brilliancy.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Cans't thou behold the look and shape</div> +<div class="i2">Of mount and main, of wold and wood?</div> +<div class="verse">The morrow's sun, o'er sea and cape,</div> +<div class="i2">Will show them out, both plain and good.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Time darkens all to mortal eyes</div> +<div class="i2">Save what faint reason's stars illume:</div> +<div class="verse">But when Eternity shall rise,</div> +<div class="i2">All shall their shapes and hues assume.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">{34}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2><a name="YEMEN" id="YEMEN"></a>YEMEN.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">My soul has been wandering in Yemen,</div> +<div class="verseind">The land of the aloe and myrrh;</div> +<div class="verse">Where the breezes that blow from the ocean,</div> +<div class="verseind">Brought feelings of heaven to her.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">In the joy-giving vallies of Yemen,</div> +<div class="verseind">On its mountains that blush with their bloom;</div> +<div class="verse">My soul has been wandering but lately,</div> +<div class="verseind">To hide from the weight of her gloom.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">My Soul, like the fleet horse of Yemen,</div> +<div class="verseind">Flew chainless o'er mountain and plain,</div> +<div class="verse">Till she paused by the flower-scented ocean,</div> +<div class="verseind">Then returned on her pinions, again.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">In that beautiful world, in that Yemen,</div> +<div class="verseind">My Soul lately wandered in bliss;</div> +<div class="verse">Till she found there a glorious maiden,</div> +<div class="verseind">She vainly had sighed for, in this.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Then my Soul walked far with this maiden—</div> +<div class="verseind">In this beautiful region of gold,</div> +<div class="verse">And died on the love-burdened accents,</div> +<div class="verseind">From the fount of her bosom that rolled.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Oh Yemen! whose name is the Happy,</div> +<div class="verseind">Whose mountains are fragrant with bloom—</div> +<div class="verse">My Soul met her Consort there lately—</div> +<div class="verseind">And now she says nothing of gloom.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">{35}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2><a name="LILLY_A_POEM" id="LILLY_A_POEM"></a>LILLY: A POEM.</h2> + + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">The May sun sheds an amber beam,</div> +<div class="i2">Upon the river's liquid plain,</div> +<div class="verse">But never to that glorious gleam,</div> +<div class="i2">Her eyes will ope again:</div> +<div class="verse">Sweet Lilly, come again,</div> +<div class="verse">Sweet Lilly, come again.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">We look across the landscape wide,</div> +<div class="i2">Where spring bemocks the thought of pain,</div> +<div class="verse">And scatters charms with lavish pride;—</div> +<div class="i2">The vernal joy is all in vain:</div> +<div class="verse">Sweet Lilly, come again,</div> +<div class="verse">Sweet Lilly, come again.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">The summer breezes lightly lift</div> +<div class="i2">The clustered flowers oppressed with rain,</div> +<div class="verse">Which fleecy cloud-sieves downward sift,—</div> +<div class="i2">It falls on Lilly's form in vain:</div> +<div class="verse">Sweet Lilly, come again,</div> +<div class="verse">Sweet Lilly, come again.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Oh! can the glory of the year,</div> +<div class="i2">The Spring that decks the widening plain,</div> +<div class="verse">Thus strive to make the maid appear,</div> +<div class="i2">But yield the hopeless task in vain:</div> +<div class="verse">Sweet Lilly, come again;</div> +<div class="verse">Sweet Lilly, come again.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Silence!—where brighter May suns beam,</div> +<div class="i2">On greener hills and vales,</div> +<div class="verse">Bright Lilly walks, as in a dream,</div> +<div class="i2">Fann'd by celestial gales:—</div> +<div class="verse">Now, Lill! come not again!</div> +<div class="verse">Now, Lill! come not again.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">{36}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2><a name="ADIEU_TO_EMORY" id="ADIEU_TO_EMORY"></a>ADIEU TO EMORY.</h2> + + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Adieu to thee, Emory! adieu to thee now!</div> +<div class="verse">There is grief in my spirit, there's gloom on my brow,</div> +<div class="verse">I have left the sweet scenes where I knelt at thy shrine,</div> +<div class="verse">O Learning! thy wreath with my name to entwine.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Adieu to the scenes where, when study was o'er,</div> +<div class="verse">And the toil of the mind was remembered no more;</div> +<div class="verse">I roamed o'er the mountains, forgetful, afar,</div> +<div class="verse">'Neath the light of the beautiful Evening Star.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Like the light of that star—like a splendor on high—</div> +<div class="verse">Like a Heavenly Dream that was born in the sky—</div> +<div class="verse">Bright Poesy burst on my pathway even there,</div> +<div class="verse">And a rainbow of Beauty encircled the air.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Ah! she shone with a brilliance more dazzling and strong,</div> +<div class="verse">Than e'er to a child of the earth could belong;</div> +<div class="verse">And her pinions that waved through the rose-scented air,</div> +<div class="verse">Had a tint that was brighter than thought can declare.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Yet adieu to thee, Emory,—thy scenes I regret;</div> +<div class="verse">In a far distant scene, I may think of them yet;</div> +<div class="verse">Fond Fancy may roam o'er thy mountains again,</div> +<div class="verse">And love them as freshly and warmly as then.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Yet, the tears gush unbidden, when breathing adieu,—</div> +<div class="verse">With the change of our years, our hearts are changed too!</div> +<div class="verse">And, haply, the world, with its coldness, will chill</div> +<div class="verse">My feelings at length, as bleak winter the rill.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Adieu to thy scenes, adieu to thee now!</div> +<div class="verse">There is grief in my spirit—there is gloom on my brow—</div> +<div class="verse">Though Fancy may paint all thy beauty once more,</div> +<div class="verse">The days that have flitted, she cannot restore.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">{37}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2><a name="VIRGINIA" id="VIRGINIA"></a>VIRGINIA.</h2> + + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Thy soil, Virginia! is all hallowed ground,</div> +<div class="verseind">Made such by steps of patriots; thy high fame,</div> +<div class="verse">Alway unto our ears, a glorious sound,</div> +<div class="verseind">Kindles, in all high hearts, heroic flame.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">I walk beneath thy forests, high and lone,</div> +<div class="verseind">I hear a voice that sinks into my heart,</div> +<div class="verse">The voice of fetterless Liberty; the tone</div> +<div class="verseind">Which bids the flame of patriotism start.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Greece was the land of heroes, and her soil</div> +<div class="verseind">Is sacred with the deathless memory</div> +<div class="verse">Of martyred virtue, which on Death could smile,</div> +<div class="verseind">At Marathon and proud Thermopylæ:</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Gray Rome shall never lose the magic charm,</div> +<div class="verseind">That valor's fire can pour along a land;</div> +<div class="verse">That charm shall bid the hearts of mankind warm,</div> +<div class="verseind">Long after her last stone hath ceased to stand:</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Yet, thou, Virginia! art a prouder land,</div> +<div class="verseind">For when thy hills become red shrines to Right;</div> +<div class="verse">Thy plains become the spots, where, smiling, stand,</div> +<div class="verseind">The angels, gentle Peace and true Delight.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">And now, how fair thy homes! on every hand,</div> +<div class="verseind">Thy cities and thy country domes arise,</div> +<div class="verse">From mountains vast, to ocean's shelly strand,</div> +<div class="verseind">And bring a pride into our gazing eyes!</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">How brave thy polished sons! their hearts how free!</div> +<div class="verseind">How far above the plotting of the mean!</div> +<div class="verse">How they contemn all base chicanery,</div> +<div class="verseind">And proudly move, as men, through every scene!</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">{38}</a></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">And when thy daughters, an angelic train,</div> +<div class="verseind">Roam mid thy flowery walks, how sweet their love!</div> +<div class="verse">And when they speak—the sound seems like a strain,</div> +<div class="verseind">That wander'd from a blissful clime above!</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Immortal land! my soul is proud, to think</div> +<div class="verseind">I yet can walk upon thy mother soil,</div> +<div class="verse">And, willing that her mouldering frame may sink,</div> +<div class="verseind">Back to thy breast, after its lifetime toil.</div> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2><a name="WATOGA" id="WATOGA"></a>WATOGA.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Oh, think not that the polished breast,</div> +<div class="verseind">Only, can feel the fire of love,</div> +<div class="verse">Pure as the flames that brightly rest</div> +<div class="verseind">In bosoms of the realms above.</div> +<div class="verse">Yes! often in the rudest form,</div> +<div class="verseind">A heart may be, more clear and bright</div> +<div class="verse">Than ever lent the loveliest charm</div> +<div class="verseind">To goddess of the Festal light.</div> +<div class="verse">Come, hear a story of the time,</div> +<div class="verseind">When this wide land was one green bower,</div> +<div class="verse">The roving Red man's Eden-chine,</div> +<div class="verseind">Where bloomed the wildest flower.</div> +<div class="verse">The great ships brought a wondrous race,</div> +<div class="verseind">One evening o'er the ocean beach;</div> +<div class="verse">Strange was the pallor of their face,</div> +<div class="verseind">Strange was the softness of their speech.</div> +<div class="verse">'Twas evening, and the sunset threw</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">{39}</a></span> +<div class="verseind">A gorgeous brilliance o'er the scene,</div> +<div class="verse">Deep crimson stained the heaven's sweet blue,</div> +<div class="verseind">But ocean rivalled all its sheen.</div> +<div class="verse">The painted red men came to view,</div> +<div class="verseind">With marvel, what the winds had brought,—</div> +<div class="verse">For, surely, those proud vessels flew,</div> +<div class="verseind">As if their force from Heaven they caught.</div> +<div class="verse">But who is yonder slender youth,</div> +<div class="verseind">With smoothest brow and smoother cheek,</div> +<div class="verse">And eyes so full of boyhood's truth,</div> +<div class="verseind">And mouth, which closed, yet seems to speak?</div> +<div class="verse">"Ah, sure, that lovely youth's from Heaven!</div> +<div class="verseind">A dark-eyed maiden of the wood</div> +<div class="verse">Sighed out upon the breath of even,</div> +<div class="verseind">As in the mellowed light she stood.</div> +<div class="verse">And, ever from that fatal hour,</div> +<div class="verseind">This white youth's image, slight and pale,</div> +<div class="verse">Would haunt the maiden's leafy bower,</div> +<div class="verseind">And wake her spirit's wail.</div> +<div class="verse">In that high heart that fiercely hates,</div> +<div class="verseind">Love is as fierce and wild;</div> +<div class="verse">And so the love is wild, that waits</div> +<div class="verseind">To mount its height in this poor child:</div> +<div class="verse">This poor, frail child who born beneath</div> +<div class="verseind">A roof of leaves, is made to dream,</div> +<div class="verse">That she may wear a bridal wreath</div> +<div class="verseind">For youth of snowy gleam.</div> +<div class="verse">Watoga! sure some demon lied,</div> +<div class="verseind">To thee, when wrapt amid thy sleep,</div> +<div class="verse">To make thee his forlornest bride,</div> +<div class="verseind">Beneath the moaning deep.</div> +<div class="verse">That youth who floats an Angel through,</div> +<div class="verseind">Thy night, thy daily dream—</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">{40}</a></span> +<div class="verse">He loves a maid whose eyes are blue,</div> +<div class="verseind">And cheek like yon full moon's white beam.</div> +<div class="verse">The simple ornaments which thou</div> +<div class="verseind">Hast taken thy form to deck,</div> +<div class="verse">The wild flower wreath that binds thy brow,</div> +<div class="verseind">The shells that gem thy neck;</div> +<div class="verse">Each ornament shall deck a bride</div> +<div class="verseind">To wed the Demon Death,</div> +<div class="verse">Beneath the ocean's sluggish tide,</div> +<div class="verseind">A thousand feet beneath!</div> +<div class="verse">The fair youth who hath warped thy mind,</div> +<div class="verseind">He loves a snow-white maid!</div> +<div class="verse">Then know'st it!—now not long confined,</div> +<div class="verseind">Thou'lt fly the greenwood shade.</div> +<div class="verse">'Tis night on lone Atlantic's deep,</div> +<div class="verseind">And summer o'er that placid sea,</div> +<div class="verse">The stars watch Earth's scarce-breathing sleep—</div> +<div class="verseind">Oh! she sleeps deeply—tenderly.</div> +<div class="verse">What figure o'er yon bluff that scowls,</div> +<div class="verseind">Upon the smiling water?</div> +<div class="verse">Ah! whose that wild and freezing howl?</div> +<div class="verseind">It is the forest's daughter.</div> +<div class="verse">One moment,—and the hollow moan</div> +<div class="verseind">Of billows sings her funeral song;—</div> +<div class="verse">In sooth, it was a dreadful tone,</div> +<div class="verseind">And it will haunt us long.</div> +<div class="verse">This is the brief and mournful tale</div> +<div class="verseind">Of one who loved in vain;—</div> +<div class="verse">She slept not in the flowery vale,</div> +<div class="verseind">But in the deep, deep main,</div> +<div class="verse">They tell she was a demon's bride,</div> +<div class="verseind">But now a wondrous wail,</div> +<div class="verse">Each night swells o'er the peaceful tide,</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">{41}</a></span> +<div class="verseind">And through the loudest gale.</div> +<div class="verse">Watoga was her Indian name,</div> +<div class="verseind">The white men called her yellow-flower;—</div> +<div class="verse">And evil fire, a poisonous flame,</div> +<div class="verseind">Blasted her heart's sweet bower.</div> +<div class="verse">Failing to be the youth's dear bride,</div> +<div class="verseind">Adorned in colors gay,</div> +<div class="verse">She went to a Demon's pride,</div> +<div class="verseind">Under the Sea, they say.</div> +<div class="verse">And I have grieved to think of her,</div> +<div class="verseind">And, if in these degenerate years,</div> +<div class="verse">There's feeling, her most mad despair,</div> +<div class="verseind">Would melt a stone to tears.</div> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2><a name="NAPOLEON" id="NAPOLEON"></a>NAPOLEON.</h2> + + +<h3>INTRODUCTION.</h3> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">If ye will walk amid the ancient wood,</div> +<div class="verse">Ye will perceive the lordly oak o'erspread</div> +<div class="verse">The slender shrubs, and shield them from the storm.</div> +<div class="verse">If ye will look upon a thrifty hive</div> +<div class="verse">Of honey-loving bees, ye will remark</div> +<div class="verse">A Sovereign rules this small but populous State;</div> +<div class="verse">And, if she live, they live, and fill with life</div> +<div class="verse">The sunny air around—but if she die,</div> +<div class="verse">They quickly die, and then their precious sweet,</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">{42}</a></span> +<div class="verse">Becomes a dainty dish for vilest worms.</div> +<div class="verse">If ye will scan the custom of those birds,</div> +<div class="verse">That seek the boreal lakes, when spring unfolds—</div> +<div class="verse">Soaring far up amid the azure heaven,</div> +<div class="verse">Ye will note one who leads them in their flight,</div> +<div class="verse">As Chief his army to the embattled fight,</div> +<div class="verse">And, oft he shouts far back to them to cheer</div> +<div class="verse">Their fainting hearts, and flagging pinions on,</div> +<div class="verse">To trace the long, long course to far off lands.</div> +<div class="verse">If ye will note the noblest of a flock,</div> +<div class="verse">Ye will observe the weaker follow him.</div> +<div class="verse">And thus if ye will wisely look on men,</div> +<div class="verse">Ye will perceive the wisest lead them on</div> +<div class="verse">To every work; for this is nature's law,</div> +<div class="verse">And whoso breaks it, breaks it to his hurt.</div> +<div class="verse">Fair France once drooped beneath the feeble rule,</div> +<div class="verse">A blighting reign, of many a Bourbon fool,</div> +<div class="verse">Until Napoleon rose, her natural king,</div> +<div class="verse">And crushed the Bourbon, as an abscess thing.</div> +<div class="verse">Great Heaven decrees, that Greater still must reign,</div> +<div class="verse">Or else the weaker must exist in vain.</div> +<div class="verse">Fair France seemed conscious of this grand design,</div> +<div class="verse">And hailed Napoleon as a man divine—</div> +<div class="verse">Bedecked his path for many a flowery mile,</div> +<div class="verse">And claimed her monarch with a beaming smile.</div> +<div class="verse">Thus came Napoleon—and, on every hand,</div> +<div class="verse">Fair Joys prepared to hover o'er the land.</div> +<div class="verse">Then, France! thy glorious age was nigh begun,</div> +<div class="verse">When rose upon thee such a glorious sun;</div> +<div class="verse">Soon had thy bliss and praises been complete,</div> +<div class="verse">And Earth had, falling, worshipped at thy feet.</div> +<div class="verse">Beneath this monarch's rule—who loved the best—</div> +<div class="verse">Thy meanest subject had been very blest.</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">{43}</a></span> +<div class="verse">And thou had'st antidated our high claim</div> +<div class="verse">Of rescuing man from civil slavery's shame.</div> +<div class="verse">But, ever, Envy views, with murderous eye,</div> +<div class="verse">Those souls who strive to make their station high.</div> +<div class="verse">When France was weak, her sister realms were kind—</div> +<div class="verse">When France grew strong, in hellish league combined,</div> +<div class="verse">They sought to crush her to the sordid earth—</div> +<div class="verse">Lest she should grow—and they should pine in dearth.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="i2">Go beat the spaniel, if he rouse thine ire,</div> +<div class="verse">His servile nature may no more aspire—</div> +<div class="verse">But leave the lion in his lordly lair,</div> +<div class="verse">Or he thine entrails in his rage will tear.</div> +<div class="verse">Go, rob the linnet's unprotected nest,</div> +<div class="verse">And rend her offspring, from her little breast;</div> +<div class="verse">But leave the Eagle in his eyrie high,</div> +<div class="verse">Or thy torn flesh shall hush his eaglet's cry.</div> +<div class="verse">Fair France's lion was Napoleon! he</div> +<div class="verse">Roamed o'er the land, a monarch proud and free:</div> +<div class="verse">And when the Nations, in their pigmy might,</div> +<div class="verse">Provoked the Lion to engage in fight,</div> +<div class="verse">With gory jaw, he rent their legions strong,</div> +<div class="verse">And left them bleaching the wide earth along.</div> +<div class="verse">Fair France's Eagle was Napoleon! he</div> +<div class="verse">Soared thro' her sky, a monarch proud and free:</div> +<div class="verse">And when the boy-like kingdoms thought to bring</div> +<div class="verse">The glorious soarer down with bleeding wing,</div> +<div class="verse">With swift, fierce swoop, he darted from on high,</div> +<div class="verse">And the rent pigmies, shrieked with mighty cry.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="i2">Vain were their wishes, all their envy vain,</div> +<div class="verse">They could not bring the soarer to the plain;—</div> +<div class="verse">Till Fate's fell arrow—surer than the rest—</div> +<div class="verse">Winged the far flight, and pierced his glorious breast.</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">{44}</a></span> +<div class="verse">Then fell Napoleon, Eagle of his clime,</div> +<div class="verse">By Fate's fell shaft, from yon proud heaven sublime:</div> +<div class="verse">And when he fell, France knew no keener woe,</div> +<div class="verse">Then the deep piercing of that mortal blow.</div> +<div class="verse">The sweet land drooped, and sickened in her grief—</div> +<div class="verse">That hope so happy, had given truth so brief—</div> +<div class="verse">That Fate's fell shaft her glorious Bird had slain,</div> +<div class="verse">No more o'er conquered earth to soar again.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="i2">But not at once Napoleon breathes his last—</div> +<div class="verse">More woes must come—if now the worst be past.</div> +<div class="verse">Napoleon's star, declining on his eye,</div> +<div class="verse">Tells France shall yield him not a place to die.</div> +<div class="verse">That he must hie him to an alien shore,</div> +<div class="verse">And see his France, and blue-eyed boy no more.</div> +<div class="verse">The noble Lion must be chained at length,</div> +<div class="verse">By Fate's strong force, though not by man's weak strength.</div> +<div class="verse">But, harmless now, that meaner things shall prey</div> +<div class="verse">On whom they fled from, in his Glory's day.</div> +<div class="verse">Oh! when the Chieftain turned to wave adieu</div> +<div class="verse">To lovely France, across the waters blue,</div> +<div class="verse">The iron man who never quailed in war,</div> +<div class="verse">Where Death's conspiring darts flew fast and far—</div> +<div class="verse">If peering Envy marked no gushing tear—</div> +<div class="verse">Wept, wept to leave the land that was so dear—</div> +<div class="verse">And if that woe was mute—it was more deep,</div> +<div class="verse">As deepest floods, in silent caverns sleep.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="i2">But who are they to whose exalted name,</div> +<div class="verse">He turns for friendship in his fall's deep shame?</div> +<div class="verse">What flattered enemy may gladly prove,</div> +<div class="verse">A fallen Hater yet may know her love?</div> +<div class="verse">Britannia! in this latest deep distress,</div> +<div class="verse">Napoleon's fate thou now mayest surely bless,</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">{45}</a></span> +<div class="verse">Attest thy greatness to a fallen foe,</div> +<div class="verse">And make thy fame sublime o'er all below.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="i2">Lo! on yon dreary isle, yon desolate rock,</div> +<div class="verse">That quails beneath old ocean's ceaseless shock—</div> +<div class="verse">Where flaming suns and sudden ruins combine,</div> +<div class="verse">Fo waste and wreck the human form divine—</div> +<div class="verse">Where man cut off from all most dear to man,</div> +<div class="verse">Makes hopeless exile, happy if he can:—</div> +<div class="verse">Then say; Britannia! that thy nobleness</div> +<div class="verse">Deigns thy asylum to thy foe's distress?</div> +<div class="verse">Say, this the Glory which thou lov'st to boast,</div> +<div class="verse">O'er meaner dwellers of each neighboring coast?</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="i2">Contracted nation! thy contracted home,</div> +<div class="verse">A sterile rock round which the billows foam!</div> +<div class="verse">How well consorts it with thy dwarfish soul,</div> +<div class="verse">That owns no noble feeling's high control.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="i2">What glorious record holds the past of thee,</div> +<div class="verse">What single page from foul disgrace is free;</div> +<div class="verse">Bend, weeping Mary, Scotland's lovely Queen,</div> +<div class="verse">With noblest grace, and sad, yet royal mien,</div> +<div class="verse">Bend from yon dome of pure, celestial blue,</div> +<div class="verse">Say, when a fugitive from sorrow flew,</div> +<div class="verse">To Britain's bosom, did she live—or die—</div> +<div class="verse">Unheard—uncared for, her last lingering sigh?</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="i2">On yon bleak isle, behold the Eagle razed,</div> +<div class="verse">Who lately soaring, down on Europe gazed.</div> +<div class="verse">See now a jackal move about his gate,</div> +<div class="verse">Gloat o'er his grief, and mock his fallen State—</div> +<div class="verse">Howl round his nobler prisoner every hour,</div> +<div class="verse">How brave! to mock him now, deprived of power!</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="i2">Behold, on yon lone rock the Lion bound,</div> +<div class="verse">Who once o'er prostrate Europe looked around;</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">{46}</a></span> +<div class="verse">See now, a Spaniel, yelping at the gate</div> +<div class="verse">Of his strong dungeon, mock his altered State.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="i2">Methinks, when dying on that lonely isle,</div> +<div class="verse">The sad abode of his most sad exile;</div> +<div class="verse">If, haply, he had touched the mournful lyre,</div> +<div class="verse">It breathed this "Farewell"—ere he did expire.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="poemnarrow"> +<div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">"I die not on this hideous rock,</div> +<div class="verseind">As common men would die;</div> +<div class="verse">The world will weep above my grave,</div> +<div class="verseind">Despite a dismal lie.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">I well endure the fiercest pangs</div> +<div class="verseind">That myriads give to one,—</div> +<div class="verse">But oh! my lovely France! I grieve,</div> +<div class="verseind">To leave thee so undone.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">My towering aim, to see thy fame</div> +<div class="verseind">O'er all beneath the sky—</div> +<div class="verse">So much—at last—is now achieved,</div> +<div class="verseind">And, half content, I die.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">The woes my foes decree me here,</div> +<div class="verseind">Ne'er wake my faintest sigh—</div> +<div class="verse">But when I view my country's woes,</div> +<div class="verseind">Not yet I wish to die.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">But lo! the Future opens now,</div> +<div class="verseind">Before my glazing eyes,</div> +<div class="verse">And shapes of new and coming things,</div> +<div class="verseind">Before my vision rise.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">I see the Bourbon hurled at last,</div> +<div class="verseind">From France's tottering throne,</div> +<div class="verse">A proud Napoleon reigning there,</div> +<div class="verseind">France, smiling, points her own!'</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">{47}</a></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Earth yet adores my mighty name—</div> +<div class="verseind">And, late, laments my doom,</div> +<div class="verse">Nor longer wrongs the gliding ghost</div> +<div class="verseind">That loathes its island tomb.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Long—long through age succeeding age,</div> +<div class="verseind">Napoleon doth awake</div> +<div class="verse">A fearful throb in injured breasts,</div> +<div class="verseind">To make vile despots quake—</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">And teach the world this truthful lore,</div> +<div class="verseind">That Greater still must reign,</div> +<div class="verse">Or Weaker must exist on earth</div> +<div class="verseind">And pass to dust in vain!"</div> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2><a name="STANZAS" id="STANZAS"></a>STANZAS.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Hark! how the wintry tempest raves,</div> +<div class="i2">Along the frozen plain—</div> +<div class="verse">Dark, dark the lowering clouds above,</div> +<div class="i2">And fast descends the rain.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">But, lady! now a deeper gloom</div> +<div class="i2">Surrounds thy lover's soul,</div> +<div class="verse">And wilder floods of grief and woe,</div> +<div class="i2">Around his spirit roll.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">{48}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2><a name="THE_LOVER" id="THE_LOVER"></a>THE LOVER.</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p class="center smcap">Scene I.—A Wooded Mountain in bloom—Time +sunrise—Enter Lover Solus.</p> +</div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">This is my fair resort, the Summer Sun</div> +<div class="verse">Is rising there, the ocean gleams like gold,</div> +<div class="verse">On which his rolling chariot burns like fire.</div> +<div class="verse">Ten thousand birds are up in branch and air,</div> +<div class="verse">To hail this <ins class="correction" title="text reads 'caronation'">coronation</ins>, every day</div> +<div class="verse">Repeated from the first to last of time.</div> +<div class="verse">It is a glorious sight, and worthy all</div> +<div class="verse">That has been said or sung of it in verse.</div> +<div class="verse">But yet 'tis dim to me, Odora's eyes</div> +<div class="verse">Have cast that glory in a dull eclipse,</div> +<div class="verse">Oh! sweet Odora! I am mad with love</div> +<div class="verse">Of thy sweet eyes. Would they might rain their rays</div> +<div class="verse">Upon me, as yon orb, rains rays on earth.</div> +<div class="verse">Oh, sweetest eyes of love! they set on fire</div> +<div class="verse">My tinder heart. Odora! come to me!</div> +<div class="verse">Upon this mountain's green and glittering brow,</div> +<div class="verse">Where now I stand and gaze down earth and main,</div> +<div class="verse">O'er which that God's all gladdening glory soars.</div> +<div class="verse">Come, sweet Odora! thine eyes outshine that God.</div> +<div class="verse">Thy speech's music so transcends these birds,</div> +<div class="verse">They'll pine for grief and die. Oh sweet, come, come.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p class="center smcap">Enter Odora in the Dress of a Woodnymph.</p> +</div> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Transcendant vision! Even now I thought of thee,</div> +<div class="verse">My mind, o'erheated, called—and thou art here.</div> +<div class="verse">What blissful fate hath brought thee? Dost thou roam</div> +<div class="verse">The scented hills at morn, to gather flowers;</div> +<div class="verse">To gaze into the fountain's glassy mirror,</div> +<div class="verse">Or list the sweet birds sigh on every bough,</div> +<div class="verse">Thou art a woodnymph, speaks thy fair attire.</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">{49}</a></span> +<div class="verse">Sweet fancy of a sweeter maidenhood,</div> +<div class="verse">That thou dost walk at dawn a woodnymph wild.</div> +<div class="verse">Here will I seal upon thy foam-white brow</div> +<div class="verse">My flame again, which burns like yonder orb.</div> +<div class="verse">Odora! speak to me! thy voice is sweet,</div> +<div class="verse">As sounds of rescue to a ship-wrecked soul.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p class="center smcap">Scene II.—Lover in a gorgeous Saloon in a great +City—Evening—Enter Odora—Lover speaks.</p> +</div> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Again I meet my love. 'Tis wondrous bliss,</div> +<div class="verse">That such a Moon shines on my spirit's night.</div> +<div class="verse">Like yonder moon, at times, she disappears;—</div> +<div class="verse">But still the virtue of her visit stays,</div> +<div class="verse">Till she returns, with moon-like certainty.</div> +<div class="verse">Come, my Odora come! sing,</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p class="center smcap">Odora Sings.</p> +</div> + +<div class="poemnarrow"> +<div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">When winds are cold, and winter strips,</div> +<div class="i2">The Oak and ghostly Pine;</div> +<div class="verse">And fastens every streamlet's lips,</div> +<div class="i2">And cold icicles shine:</div> +<div class="verse">Still fair amid the scene so bleak,</div> +<div class="i2">The daisy flower is seen;</div> +<div class="verse">So truest love will comfort speak,</div> +<div class="i2">And make life's winter green.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">That strain would charm an adder even to tears,</div> +<div class="verse">So sweet a song, from mouth so full of grace.</div> +<div class="verse">Before I saw thee, my Odora! ne'er</div> +<div class="verse">I thought this world could ever grow so fair</div> +<div class="verse">To me. Love throws a rosy, sparkling tissue</div> +<div class="verse">On mountain, hill, lake, tree, shrub, leaf and flower,</div> +<div class="verse">Love sweetens every note of nature seven fold.</div> +<div class="verse">But sing again. Thy voice is like a harp.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p class="center smcap">Odora Sings.</p> +</div> + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">When winds are bleak, and snows are deep,</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">{50}</a></span> +<div class="i2">And waters frozen dumb;</div> +<div class="verse">And voiceless insects snugly sleep,</div> +<div class="i2">Where beam can never come:</div> +<div class="verse">The daisy blooms beneath some tree,</div> +<div class="i2">That screens her form from harm;—</div> +<div class="verse">So, love! I nestle near to thee,</div> +<div class="i2">And live beneath thy arm.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Oh! angel! thou dost sing a meaning lay,</div> +<div class="verse">And teachest <ins class="correction" title="text reads 'windom'">wisdom</ins>, in sweet poetry.</div> +<div class="verse">But whence, my fair philosopher, thy lore,</div> +<div class="verse">Hath God bestowed such deep laid knowledge on</div> +<div class="verse">A light and playsome girl, whose pranks and wiles</div> +<div class="verse">Have quite bewitched my would-be firmer soul.</div> +<div class="verse">Methinks thou singest well to-night; adieu,</div> +<div class="verse">And may pure angels bring thee radiant dreams.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p class="center smcap">Scene III. An Evening in Summer. A Garden.—Lover +alone, and reading a book.</p> +</div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">A tale of happy love! 'Tis like my fate.</div> +<div class="verse">Two youthful beings, yearning each for love,</div> +<div class="verse">Met by a haunted stream, with ivied banks,</div> +<div class="verse">Beneath the evening star—the star of love.</div> +<div class="verse">Their souls fled to each other suddenly:</div> +<div class="verse">So that they felt they were ordained of old,</div> +<div class="verse">To twain be one, one flesh, one bone, one soul.</div> +<div class="verse">They loved, and dwelt among the grassy hills,</div> +<div class="verse">By lakes that mirrored all their trees and flowers.</div> +<div class="verse">A happy life, and curly-headed boys</div> +<div class="verse">Were round their steps, their walks, their cottage door,</div> +<div class="verse">Filling the air with laughter, silvery sweet.</div> +<div class="verse">Gay spring, bright summer, autumn, winter passed,</div> +<div class="verse">And found and left them happy, So time flew,</div> +<div class="verse">Till both were old, their hearts yet light and gay.</div> +<div class="verse">Then, they slept sweetly, side by side, near by</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">{51}</a></span> +<div class="verse">A favorite stream they oft had gazed upon,</div> +<div class="verse">Meek christians said they hoped that love so rare</div> +<div class="verse">Had full fruition found, in brighter worlds.</div> +<div class="verse">It is a happy story, and my eyes,</div> +<div class="verse">Have poured their pearl upon these pages here,</div> +<div class="verse">That tell so dear a tale. Oh! God be praised,</div> +<div class="verse">If such a fate befall my love and me.</div> +<div class="verse">I will go seek Odora, and return</div> +<div class="verse">To talk with her amid this fragrant bower,</div> +<div class="verse">Of what a book has charmed my sighing soul.</div> +<div class="verse">I found it here. Perchance she read it first.</div> +<div class="verse">How that one thought which doth fill up the mind,</div> +<div class="verse">Will color outward objects, circumstance,</div> +<div class="verse">And accident, with tincture of itself.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p class="center"><i>He goes—then Odora and he re-enter the garden.</i></p> +</div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse"><span class="smcap">Lover speaks.</span>—I here have found, Odora, love, this book,</div> +<div class="verse">Which tells a strange, sweet tale of happy love,</div> +<div class="verse">How two young beings found a heaven on earth,</div> +<div class="verse">Cans't tell me, whence it came, if fact or dream?</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse"><span class="smcap">Odora speaks.</span>—It is a happy story. In my father's room</div> +<div class="verse">Of precious volumes late I fell on this;</div> +<div class="verse">And read it in this garden; sweet romance,</div> +<div class="verse">It brought the love-beats to my heart, drops to mine eyes.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p class="center smcap">Scene IV.—Odora and Lover in a field under a +perfect Rainbow. (Lover Speaks.)</p> +</div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verseind">Above this field that shines an Eden, lo!</div> +<div class="verse">That wondrous arch of many married hues:</div> +<div class="verse">A gorgeous belt, round Nature's lovely waist!</div> +<div class="verse">Sure, earth now seems no place of graves. A wide</div> +<div class="verse">Gay, blooming Paradise! With moistened face,</div> +<div class="verse">She smiles, like God, upon this joyous world.</div> +<div class="verse">A new, wild burst of various harmony,</div> +<div class="verse">Salutes that Bow of charm—that orb of Glory.</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">{52}</a></span> +<div class="verse">Thou art the sun and rainbow to my heart,</div> +<div class="verse">And, as they fade from sight—but do not die—</div> +<div class="verse">But come to-morrow with their wonted charms,</div> +<div class="verse">Thou shalt not die—but gleam o'er me in heaven,</div> +<div class="verse">With none of all thy beauty, lost or less.</div> +<div class="verse">Can'st thou not sing a song, love, ere it fades?</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p class="center smcap">She Sings.</p> +</div> + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">The Sun gave birth to yonder bow</div> +<div class="i2">That trembles in the sky</div> +<div class="verse">That life-bestowing sun art thou—</div> +<div class="i2">That trembling bow am I.</div> +<div class="verse">When he withdraws his beaming face,</div> +<div class="i2">The rainbow disappears;</div> +<div class="verse">And, if those frown on me but once,</div> +<div class="i2">I melt away in tears.</div> +</div></div> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verseind">I thank thee for that song. Oh! thou art, sure,</div> +<div class="verse">The wealthiest empire ruled by mortal man.</div> +<div class="verse">Thy thoughts fall down on me, like drops of gold.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p class="center smcap">Scene V. The Banks of a romantic river, flowing +among mountains, and viewed by moonlight.</p> +</div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verseind">How wild this scene, among the mountains lit</div> +<div class="verse">By moonbeams. Ivied bluff and cedared bank,</div> +<div class="verse">And river rippling o'er its gravelly floor.</div> +<div class="verse">The cool and silence, and the holy night,</div> +<div class="verse">Remember me of fairies, those strange forms,</div> +<div class="verse">That ever revelled underneath green trees,</div> +<div class="verse">And danced upon the velvet, verdant sward.</div> +<div class="verse">Here will I sit upon this grassy knoll,</div> +<div class="verse">And hear the song of this sweet water's flow,</div> +<div class="verse">And gaze upon yon moon, who nears her noon.</div> +<div class="verse">How beautiful to me, are moonlight shores.</div> +<div class="verse">Here will I sing of loved Odora's charms,</div> +<div class="verse">What time she lies locked in sleep's rosy arm.</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">{53}</a></span> +<div class="verse">No bird was ever fairer in its nest.</div> +<div class="verse">No bud e'er sweeter in its unoped cup;</div> +<div class="verse">No jewel brighter in the chrystal sea;</div> +<div class="verse">No diamond richer in the caves of earth.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p class="center smcap">Lover Sings.</p> +</div> + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">The God of love, made beauteous things,</div> +<div class="i2">To give His Man delight—</div> +<div class="verse">He made the sun—the bird's gay wings—</div> +<div class="i2">The constellated night.</div> +<div class="verse">He made the mountains of the earth,</div> +<div class="i2">The ocean, beautiful;</div> +<div class="verse">He gave all harmonies their birth,</div> +<div class="i2">Man's troubled soul to lull.</div> +<div class="verse">The charm of charms—the Joy of Joys,</div> +<div class="i2">That crowned the perfect whole;</div> +<div class="verse">Was, Woman's form, and Woman's voice,</div> +<div class="i2">And Woman's tender soul.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">{54}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2><a name="THE_ANGELS_OF_EARTH" id="THE_ANGELS_OF_EARTH"></a>THE ANGELS OF EARTH.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Angels of Earth! they soothe and bless</div> +<div class="verseind">The troubled soul of man,</div> +<div class="verse">Bestow the most of happiness,</div> +<div class="i8">They can.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Angels of Earth—they are but few,</div> +<div class="verseind">Sustained by Heavenly grace,</div> +<div class="verse">To raise again, and to renew,</div> +<div class="i8">Our race.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Predestined thus they do retain</div> +<div class="verseind">That image earliest given,</div> +<div class="verse">To Adam, yet unknowing pain,</div> +<div class="i8">From heaven.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">They move before our wondering eyes,</div> +<div class="verseind">A vision passing strange,</div> +<div class="verse">And sure we feel from yonder skies,</div> +<div class="i8">They range.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">But oft, as brightest flowers and bows,</div> +<div class="verseind">The earliest fade and die;</div> +<div class="verse">This glorious vision soonest goes</div> +<div class="i8">On high.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Our verdant vale once knew a maid,</div> +<div class="verseind">Who dwelt in such a light,</div> +<div class="verse">Her presence made the spirit's shade,</div> +<div class="i8">Look bright.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Harmonia was her name. Her voice</div> +<div class="verseind">Was tremulously low;</div> +<div class="verse">To hear it made the heart rejoice</div> +<div class="i8">And glow.</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">{55}</a></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Could I compare that voice divine,</div> +<div class="verseind">To bird's most joyous lay,</div> +<div class="verse">When hailing from his lofty pine,</div> +<div class="i8">Young day?</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Or, to the thrush's full, rich song</div> +<div class="verseind">That gushes from her breast,</div> +<div class="verse">And hushes all wild Passion's throng</div> +<div class="i8">To rest?</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Could I compare the sight of her,</div> +<div class="verseind">To glorious angel spring—</div> +<div class="verse">To whose sweet breath—all lands—seas—stir,</div> +<div class="i8">And sing.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Oh fair Harmonia! God is love,</div> +<div class="verseind">Who gave thee to our earth,</div> +<div class="verse">To renovate and lift above</div> +<div class="i8">Our birth.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Harmonia dwelt within a vale</div> +<div class="verseind">Of wildest loveliness,</div> +<div class="verse">Where sweetest odors fill'd the gale</div> +<div class="i8">To bless.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">And so they called it "vale of Spring,"</div> +<div class="verseind">This dear Harmonia's home;</div> +<div class="verse">Where Beauty shed, with spendthrift wing,</div> +<div class="i8">Her bloom.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">The pine-crowned mountains stood around,</div> +<div class="verseind">To screen the lovely dale,</div> +<div class="verse">From tempest's stroke, and lightning's wound,</div> +<div class="i8">Fierce gale.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Harmonia grew to woman's pride,</div> +<div class="verseind">And blent her life with one;</div> +<div class="verse">Like rivers bright, now side by side,</div> +<div class="i8">They run.</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">{56}</a></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">The tale of grief, the sinner's tear,</div> +<div class="verseind">Come not to them in vain;</div> +<div class="verse">The sad, remorseful wretch they cheer,</div> +<div class="i8">Again.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Oh ne'er thought we, a vale of earth,</div> +<div class="verseind">With morn, and noon, and even,</div> +<div class="verse">Could seem to own the very worth</div> +<div class="i8">Of heaven.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Such is the valley of the spring,</div> +<div class="verseind">Our sweet Harmonia's home,</div> +<div class="verse">Where beauty sheds, with liberal wing,</div> +<div class="i8">Her bloom.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Meek Eva is another soul,</div> +<div class="verseind">Ordained to soothe and bless,</div> +<div class="verse">And charm to joy, with soft control,</div> +<div class="i8">Distress.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Meek Eva hath great, gleaming eyes,</div> +<div class="verseind">Full-orbed with radiant light,</div> +<div class="verse">Which bring the beauty of the skies,</div> +<div class="i8">To sight.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">No word of anger ever falls,</div> +<div class="verseind">From her sweet mouth of grace;</div> +<div class="verse">No sinful passion ever palls</div> +<div class="i8">Her face.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Sweet Eva lives to do but good,</div> +<div class="verseind">In all her gentle life:</div> +<div class="verse">With her good fame, the neighborhood,</div> +<div class="i8">Is rife.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Angels of good, they shed abroad</div> +<div class="verseind">The spirit of the dove;</div> +<div class="verse">For He who gave them, is a God</div> +<div class="i8">Of love.</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">{57}</a></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Angels of light—they make a heaven</div> +<div class="verseind">Of such a world as this—</div> +<div class="verse">They make the rugged pathway even,</div> +<div class="i8">To Bliss.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Angels of Earth—but we shall see</div> +<div class="verseind">These angels yet again;</div> +<div class="verse">Where angels, robed in purity,</div> +<div class="i8">E'er reign.</div> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2><a name="AUSTRALIA_OR_THE_NEW_GOLDEN_AGE" id="AUSTRALIA_OR_THE_NEW_GOLDEN_AGE"></a>AUSTRALIA; OR, THE NEW GOLDEN AGE.</h2> + + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verseind">In ancient days, in old, immortal Rome,</div> +<div class="verse">Where virtues, surnamed Roman, had their home;</div> +<div class="verse">When Virtue triumphed over Vice, and threw</div> +<div class="verse">Across their annals, a more lovely hue;</div> +<div class="verse">When every citizen was proud to be</div> +<div class="verse">The state's fast friend, and venal bribes would flee;</div> +<div class="verse">When manhood wrote upon each lofty brow</div> +<div class="verse">That glorious seal which makes the meaner bow;</div> +<div class="verse">When Industry, Art, Science, Learning cast</div> +<div class="verse">That light o'er Rome which gilds her to the last;</div> +<div class="verse">The Roman minstrel caught the sacred flame,</div> +<div class="verse">And made that age the chosen child of fame:</div> +<div class="verse">The Golden Age recalled the happy hour,</div> +<div class="verse">When man walked sinless in the first, sweet bower.</div> +<div class="verse">Such was the glorious golden Age of yore,—</div> +<div class="verse">That golden Age of virtue is no more.</div> +<div class="verse">The modern, brighter, happier Age of Gold;—</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">{58}</a></span> +<div class="verse">Oh! dost thou mean that Vice lies dead and cold</div> +<div class="verse">In her detested grave, where none will shed,</div> +<div class="verse">Not even her slaves, a tear above her, dead—</div> +<div class="verse">That Virtue lives—the rainbow child of heaven,</div> +<div class="verse">And holds the balance in these centuries even?</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verseind">The Golden Age! the words are still the same,—</div> +<div class="verse">The meaning once man's glory—now his shame.</div> +<div class="verse">Hail thou new Golden Age! O heavenly Age!</div> +<div class="verse">Mankind sustains thee with a noble rage:</div> +<div class="verse">All, all unite to gild thee with some rays</div> +<div class="verse">Of gathered light—themselves with shining praise.</div> +<div class="verse">See! how they rush, and leave sweet childhood's home,</div> +<div class="verse">The serf his hut, the lordly man his dome,</div> +<div class="verse">Forsakes, with callous heart, each hallow'd scene,</div> +<div class="verse">The oft frequented tree, the shady green;</div> +<div class="verse">Swift, swift they fly to see the realms of gold,</div> +<div class="verse">And think to reap the joy their raving fancies told.</div> +<div class="verse">Ye, isles of Britain! see them quickly leave</div> +<div class="verse">Your rocky coasts, and never deign to grieve.</div> +<div class="verse">Ye, sunny shores of France! behold them start</div> +<div class="verse">Nor shed one teardrop, as your ships depart.</div> +<div class="verse">Ye love-charmed bowers of Spain! your Houris' eyes</div> +<div class="verse">Are rayless now—for brighter lustre vies!</div> +<div class="verse">Ye, boundless plains, and giant hills, that rise</div> +<div class="verse">In craggy pride, and prop Columbia's skies,</div> +<div class="verse">Ye view your maddened sons, with guilty haste,</div> +<div class="verse">Roll from your shores and tempt the watery waste—</div> +<div class="verse">Forgotten every claim that Virtue knows,</div> +<div class="verse">Despised the scenes, where early childhood rose,</div> +<div class="verse">Swift to the land of gold, they, joyful, flee,</div> +<div class="verse">Nor care the sacred joys of home again to see.</div> +<div class="verse">Lo! where they rush, and leave the drooping land—</div> +<div class="verse">Unseen the parting tear, the loved one's waving hand.</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">{59}</a></span> +<div class="verse">Thus they depart—if those who walk the main,</div> +<div class="verse">But few shall view their native scenes again.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verseind">Oh God! how vile thy creatures there become!</div> +<div class="verse">Thy pleadings powerless—all thy threatenings dumb:</div> +<div class="verse">On far Australia's plains, by California's streams,</div> +<div class="verse">Life's crimson flowing current often gleams:</div> +<div class="verse">For Cain has found in gold another power</div> +<div class="verse">To make him slay, as Envy at the hour,</div> +<div class="verse">When Thou dost set the ever-during mark</div> +<div class="verse">On him a Wanderer, where all earth was dark.</div> +<div class="verse">And how uncertain is the hold on life,</div> +<div class="verse">In those sad lands of gold and constant strife.</div> +<div class="verse">Fiends strike by day; by night they ever lurk,</div> +<div class="verse">By wood or cottage, swift to do Death's work;</div> +<div class="verse">Till even when none are near to deal the blow,</div> +<div class="verse">Imagination sees a hidden foe,</div> +<div class="verse">Behind each tree, and by the little cot,</div> +<div class="verse">Till gloomy Apprehension shades each spot.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verseind">Lo! in yon bower of honeysuckle where</div> +<div class="verse">A thousand bees intone the summer air;</div> +<div class="verse">And humming birds, a fairy birth of springs,</div> +<div class="verse">Hover to suck the sweet on quivering wings;</div> +<div class="verse">There, at the morning's sweet and balmy prime,</div> +<div class="verse">A clasping couple blame the swift-wing'd Time.</div> +<div class="verse">Each morn, each eve, they seek this lonely bower,</div> +<div class="verse">And deeply bless its fair and fragrant flower,</div> +<div class="verse">Which shadows o'er so much of wildest bliss—</div> +<div class="verse">The burning glance—the long and honied kiss—</div> +<div class="verse">The broken sigh—the murmured, tender word,</div> +<div class="verse">Whose thrilling tone the inmost heart hath stirred—</div> +<div class="verse">The matchless joy which makes us hold as nought,</div> +<div class="verse">All pangs that Fate may bring, or ever brought.</div> +<div class="verse">The lover hears that far amid the West,</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">{60}</a></span> +<div class="verse">Gold gleams within each river's crystal breast—</div> +<div class="verse">That, wide and far, the gorgeous vision smiles,</div> +<div class="verse">And laps the spirit in delicious wiles.</div> +<div class="verse">He quits—he flies—he will behold the strand,</div> +<div class="verse">Where Wealth lies gasping for his tardy hand.</div> +<div class="verse">He will return—an edifice shall rise</div> +<div class="verse">In stately grandeur to the curving skies;</div> +<div class="verse">In their own land, his lovely bride and he,</div> +<div class="verse">Will move a lord and lady of degree.</div> +<div class="verse">She springs—she flings her fair, etherial form</div> +<div class="verse">Upon his breast, which once, with love, was warm—</div> +<div class="verse">But now curst love of gold has surely chilled,</div> +<div class="verse">The heart that once her love so wildly thrilled.</div> +<div class="verse">Her long, fair locks, distracted, stream below,</div> +<div class="verse">Her gushing tears like wintry torrents, flow:</div> +<div class="verse">Her Herbert steels his heart against their power,—</div> +<div class="verse">The ship that wafts him sails, ere morning's hour.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verseind">At length he hails the longed for, distant shore;</div> +<div class="verse">The perils of the deep, at least, are o'er,</div> +<div class="verse">No fell disease has struck, with vengeful power,</div> +<div class="verse">His form to earth, to this protracted hour.</div> +<div class="verse">He sees the land—before his gaze unfold</div> +<div class="verse">The mighty, gorgeous realms of guilt and gold.</div> +<div class="verse">How swells his bursting heart with evil pride!</div> +<div class="verse">Cursed pride, for which so many souls have died.</div> +<div class="verse">Accursed pride of Lucre—loathsome Dame</div> +<div class="verse">Of every sin on earth that hath a name.</div> +<div class="verse">In fancy now he sees his palace soar</div> +<div class="verse">A fairy work! upon his childhood's shore;</div> +<div class="verse">In fancy sees his smiling, loving bride,</div> +<div class="verse">A queen amid her menial train preside;</div> +<div class="verse">And quite forgets that she his wiser wife,</div> +<div class="verse">Would love some cot, wherein to pass their life:—</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">{61}</a></span> +<div class="verse">Till Fate, vindictive, lays her lover low</div> +<div class="verse">Far from the hand which might relieve his woe.</div> +<div class="verse">At last, he dies—his spirit's latest groan</div> +<div class="verse">By her unheard—his latest wish unknown.</div> +<div class="verse">Thus Heaven hath punished him whose love of gold</div> +<div class="verse">Hath made him slight what he should dearest hold.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verseind">Beside yon haw-crowned hill, a widowed dame,</div> +<div class="verse">Dwelt with her son, by whom her living came.</div> +<div class="verse">Enticed by gorgeous dreams that haunt his sleep,</div> +<div class="verse">Her age's pillar wanders o'er the deep—</div> +<div class="verse">Deserts his aged, widowed, trembling dame—</div> +<div class="verse">Ah thus will gain destroy the sense of shame!</div> +<div class="verse">There on those barren hills and burning plains,</div> +<div class="verse">His insane fancy gloats on glittering gains.</div> +<div class="verse">Until, at last, avenging fever lays,</div> +<div class="verse">His form on earth, through dark, delirious days,</div> +<div class="verse">Without a mother's soothing care to ease</div> +<div class="verse">His dying throes, beyond those distant seas.</div> +<div class="verse">Yet, when, in that brief space which comes before,</div> +<div class="verse">The spirit flies, to visit earth no more,</div> +<div class="verse">A transient light breads on his wildest brain,</div> +<div class="verse">His bosom speaks in this lamenting strain!</div> +<div class="verse">"Ah! damning love of gold, which sees me here,</div> +<div class="verse">And made me leave an aged mother dear.</div> +<div class="verse">Now Heaven, how just! repays my guilty deed!</div> +<div class="verse">No mother soothes me in my sorest need.</div> +<div class="verse">Yet if kind Heaven will prize that mother's prayer,</div> +<div class="verse">Which, incense-like, now rises through the air;</div> +<div class="verse">I build my faith—that my last breath will ope</div> +<div class="verse">The gate of bliss to my believing hope."</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verseind">Far mid yon vastest woods, behold a swain.</div> +<div class="verse">If small his joy, small is his spirit's pain.</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">{62}</a></span> +<div class="verse">He tills the soil, for him the wild flowers bloom,</div> +<div class="verse">And lovely daisies shed their meek perfume.</div> +<div class="verse">His happy wife, relieves his every care,</div> +<div class="verse">And bliss is double when enjoyed with her.</div> +<div class="verse">His flocks supply his little household dear,</div> +<div class="verse">With decent garments, and salubrious fare.</div> +<div class="verse">Glad he beholds the smiling god of day,</div> +<div class="verse">Walk from the East upon his radiant way,</div> +<div class="verse">Gild all the fields—the lengthy plains—the peaks</div> +<div class="verse">Of giant mountains, with vermillion streaks—</div> +<div class="verse">While all his farm spreads out beneath his eyes,</div> +<div class="verse">His heart's sweet home—his little paradise.</div> +<div class="verse">How better far this humble, noiseless life—</div> +<div class="verse">Afar from guilty gold and bloody strife.</div> +<div class="verse">How glad he views his prosperous projects smile,</div> +<div class="verse">What guiltless joys his long, long life beguile.</div> +<div class="verse">With joy he sees his offspring rise around,</div> +<div class="verse">His body's scions, with sweet virtue crowned.</div> +<div class="verse">And, when, at last, his form succumbs to time,</div> +<div class="verse">He sees that offspring strangers yet to crime;</div> +<div class="verse">And, inly joys to think his drooping age</div> +<div class="verse">They will sustain, and all his pains assuage,</div> +<div class="verse">Till, like an apple mellowed, ripe, and sound,</div> +<div class="verse">He falls, and slumbers in his own good ground.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">{63}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2><a name="THE_PROPHECY_OF_COLUMBIA" id="THE_PROPHECY_OF_COLUMBIA"></a>THE PROPHECY OF COLUMBIA.</h2> + + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">The sun descends along the glowing west,</div> +<div class="verse">His bright rays quivering o'er Potomac's breast—</div> +<div class="verse">And still he flashes, with his parting smile,</div> +<div class="verse">And gilds the top of yonder mighty pile<a name="FNanchor_C_3" id="FNanchor_C_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_C_3" class="fnanchor">[C]</a>—</div> +<div class="verse">Which Heroes children bade arise to heaven—</div> +<div class="verse">In this new paradise (though later given.)</div> +<div class="verse">He sets! that glorious orb! and now is gone—</div> +<div class="verse">And night's dark wings are slowly moving on;—</div> +<div class="verse">But see! the moon, full-orbed, ascends the sky,</div> +<div class="verse">And walks that dark-blue path so calm on high—</div> +<div class="verse">Pours her soft light—a sea of silvery beams,</div> +<div class="verse">On that proud pile—as on the sleeping streams;</div> +<div class="verse">As if indignant that the Night would hide,</div> +<div class="verse">With her black wing, a nation's central pride—</div> +<div class="verse">That towering dome, beheld from o'er the sea,</div> +<div class="verse">To crown the clime of all who now are free.</div> +<div class="verse">As there I wandered, when the day was o'er—</div> +<div class="verse">Near that proud pile—along the silent shore—</div> +<div class="verse">And, fondly lingering o'er the magic scene,</div> +<div class="verse">Marked each blest spot, where Freedom's feet had been,—</div> +<div class="verse">The Present fled—the Future rose to light—</div> +<div class="verse">Columbia's Genius stood revealed to sight.</div> +<div class="verse">Her Phantom form uprose and touched the sky—</div> +<div class="verse">Her mighty realm lay stretched beneath her eye.</div> +<div class="verse">An awful light—yet gentle—yet serene—</div> +<div class="verse">Shone from those eyes, and from her god-like mien;</div> +<div class="verse">At first, cold fear ran through my shivering frame,</div> +<div class="verse">And dread forebodings o'er my spirit came.</div> +<div class="verse">But soon she spoke—though not in warlike tone,</div> +<div class="verse">But mild as zephyr when his breath hath blown.</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">{64}</a></span> +<div class="verse">A smile of kind, parental love confest</div> +<div class="verse">Her glowing son whom now she thus addrest.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">"O son! well-pleased, I mark thy patriot fire,</div> +<div class="verse">Nor wholly scorn thy yet unpracticed lyre.</div> +<div class="verse">Behold yon structure whose lone, silent height</div> +<div class="verse">Meek Luna gilds with her celestial light.</div> +<div class="verse">See how it soars! and leaves the darker plain—</div> +<div class="verse">So high—that none will soar, as that again—</div> +<div class="verse">Until the Monument that God will rear</div> +<div class="verse">On sin's dark grave—as Tyranny's is here.</div> +<div class="verseind">Yes! view that Capitol;—its lofty dome</div> +<div class="verse">O'erlooks the clime thou lovest to call thy home.</div> +<div class="verse">Just, just the joy thou feelest—it o'er views,</div> +<div class="verse">The happiest land that quaffs the sun's bright hues.</div> +<div class="verse">But think thou not that, this, my chosen land</div> +<div class="verse">Has reached its borders—they shall yet expand—</div> +<div class="verse">Until yon heap, on which the moonbeams play,</div> +<div class="verse">O'erlooks a hemisphere that owns my sway.</div> +<div class="verse">There boundless tracts of evershining snow,</div> +<div class="verse">There—flowery isles that in the tropics glow—</div> +<div class="verse">There sea-like pampas, waving to the main,</div> +<div class="verse">There—thousand cities dotting o'er the plain—</div> +<div class="verse">There—noble James—there Hudson's fairy tide—</div> +<div class="verse">There—Susquehanna—e'er with Song allied—</div> +<div class="verse">Here—broad Potomac, too,—shall here arise</div> +<div class="verse">The hum of wide industry to the skies.</div> +<div class="verse">There—mighty Oregon—amid the West—</div> +<div class="verse">Rolls wealth uncounted o'er his watery breast.</div> +<div class="verse">There—mightier Amazon—the King of Floods,</div> +<div class="verse">Sweeps grandly down from nevertraversed woods,</div> +<div class="verse">There—Lakes—supplied by endless hills of snow—</div> +<div class="verse">There—Mexico—the gulf of placid flow—</div> +<div class="verse">There—wide Atlantic—blue as Beauty's eyes—</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">{65}</a></span> +<div class="verse">There—far Pacific—vast as are the skies—</div> +<div class="verse">Each whitened by quick-passing, shifting sails,</div> +<div class="verse">Conspire to make me rich—till Carthage fails</div> +<div class="verse">To show a record of more wealth and power,</div> +<div class="verse">Even where the farthest isles became her dower.</div> +<div class="verseind">And yon dusk hill<a name="FNanchor_D_4" id="FNanchor_D_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_D_4" class="fnanchor">[D]</a>, amid the moon's pale light,</div> +<div class="verse">In nation's eyes, shall soar a prouder height—</div> +<div class="verse">Till from each shore where man has learned to dwell—</div> +<div class="verse">The eyes shall strain, and feel the mighty spell—</div> +<div class="verse">For there repose the bones of Washington—</div> +<div class="verse">Upon that hill—earth's noblest, earthly one.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verseind">But this Columbia's fairest praise shall be,</div> +<div class="verse">Her Sons shall kneel beneath their chosen tree—</div> +<div class="verse">At prayer—as fades the daylight into even—</div> +<div class="verse">And, lift—unblamed—their hearts to smiling Heaven.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verseind">Here Learning, too, shall rear unnumbered domes,</div> +<div class="verse">Here Shakspeares—Tassos—find more happy homes,</div> +<div class="verse">Here Homer's fire, and Virgil's polished grace,</div> +<div class="verse">A sacred charm shall give to many a place.</div> +<div class="verse">Each shady hill shall be a Muse's haunt—</div> +<div class="verse">By each pure spring aerial nymphs shall chant—</div> +<div class="verse">Chant the sweet song to heavenly Liberty—</div> +<div class="verse">While thundering cataracts peal it to the sea!"</div> +<div class="verse">She spake no more;—or I too much opprest</div> +<div class="verse">By wondrous visions, needed welcome rest.</div> +<div class="verse">And when I waked, the day had now unfurled</div> +<div class="verse">His rosy banners o'er the laughing world,</div> +<div class="verse">And while the glorious prospect charmed my view,</div> +<div class="verse">I felt Columbia's prophecy was true.</div> +</div></div> + + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_C_3" id="Footnote_C_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_C_3"><span class="label">[C]</span></a> The National Capital at Washington.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_D_4" id="Footnote_D_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_D_4"><span class="label">[D]</span></a> The Tomb of Washington, at Mount Vernon.</p></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">{66}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2><a name="LOVE" id="LOVE"></a>LOVE.</h2> + + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Of woman was I born, and man I am.</div> +<div class="verse">I come to teach the greatest, yet the most meek</div> +<div class="verse">Of all true lessons which man e'er can learn—</div> +<div class="verse"><i>God's man was made to love, and nought to hate,</i></div> +<div class="verse"><i>Except the Ill which God and angels hate.</i></div> +<div class="verse">Oh! this grand lore hath fallen on my heart</div> +<div class="verse">Like smiling sunlight on a gloomy ocean.</div> +<div class="verse">Oft have I heard and felt great throbs of love</div> +<div class="verse">Vibrating through the universe of worlds,</div> +<div class="verse">Through every grain of matter, through the hearts</div> +<div class="verse">That live and swarm beneath the eye of God.</div> +<div class="verse">Oft standing mid the holy calm of night,</div> +<div class="verse">The surf of love came rolling on my soul</div> +<div class="verse">From off the farthest verge of God's great realms,</div> +<div class="verse">As rolls the surf of ocean on a beach,</div> +<div class="verse">For ever and for ever, and for ever.</div> +<div class="verse">Love was the Cause of all things, and the End;</div> +<div class="verse">For God is Love and ever will be Love:</div> +<div class="verse">And those who feel most love are most like God—</div> +<div class="verse">As seraphs, cherubs, saints and righteous men;</div> +<div class="verse">And those who feel least love, are least like God,</div> +<div class="verse">As Satan, Moloch, Belial, and bad men.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Once man, and all that live and move on earth,</div> +<div class="verse">In sea, and sky, were bound by links of love</div> +<div class="verse">To God and angels, in one perfect chain—</div> +<div class="verse">And God and angels came and talked with man</div> +<div class="verse">Full often, in the shade of Eden's trees,</div> +<div class="verse">While lions and all lambs lay down together,</div> +<div class="verse">All in the happy shade of Eden's trees.</div> +<div class="verse">Oft have I watched the myriad lovely flowers,</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">{67}</a></span> +<div class="verse">In spring and summer, in the woods and meads,</div> +<div class="verse">And thought they clasped their tiny hands in love,</div> +<div class="verse">Then all bowed low their painted heads in love,</div> +<div class="verse">To the great lord of light who smiled on them.</div> +<div class="verse">Oft have I watched the myriad forest leaves,</div> +<div class="verse">Trembling as if with some sweet thought of love,</div> +<div class="verse">Till love's sweet incense went up from all these,</div> +<div class="verse">To the bright orb who smiled bright love on them:</div> +<div class="verse">And then a thousand birds began to sing</div> +<div class="verse">One song of love to that bright God above.</div> +<div class="verse">Oft I have heard that larks, in England's realm,</div> +<div class="verse">Fly from the earth, at morning's golden blush,</div> +<div class="verse">And fill the whole bright arch with golden songs?</div> +<div class="verse">And I have reasoned they sung only love,</div> +<div class="verse">Which teaches them that strangest melody,</div> +<div class="verse">Which they soar nearest heaven to warble out.</div> +<div class="verse">Oft have I seen the beams that leave the sun,</div> +<div class="verse">Embrace within the clouds, with shining arms—</div> +<div class="verse">And form a splendid arch in earth and heaven,</div> +<div class="verse">Which shines eternal covenant of Love—</div> +<div class="verse">Toward which our hearts forever mount and sing,</div> +<div class="verse">As skylarks mount and sing to morning's flash.</div> +<div class="verse">Oft have I seen the sparkling water-drops,</div> +<div class="verse">Cohere in love, and make a crystal lake—</div> +<div class="verse">A gulf—a sea—an ocean's mighty mirror.</div> +<div class="verse">Oft have I thought that all the system worlds,</div> +<div class="verse">A few of which we watch, at holy night,</div> +<div class="verse">Far up amid those deep, blue fields of night—</div> +<div class="verse">Are hung by Love, and wheel forever round</div> +<div class="verse">The Central Point, in circles swift but true;</div> +<div class="verse">And in their orbits flying thus for ever,</div> +<div class="verse">Sing forth a choral song of burning love,</div> +<div class="verse">To that Creator who loves them again.</div> +<div class="verse">Oft have I thought, the law which Newton named</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">{68}</a></span> +<div class="verse">The Law of Gravitation, is the Law</div> +<div class="verse">Of Love, which God had called the Law of Love.</div> +<div class="verse">And if a world could ever hate the rest,</div> +<div class="verse">'Twould rush forever to the abysm of gloom,</div> +<div class="verse">And dreariest part of chaos. I infer</div> +<div class="verse"><i>God's man was made to love and nought to hate</i></div> +<div class="verse"><i>Only the Ill which God and Angels hate.</i></div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Ah! happy spirits were they all in heaven,</div> +<div class="verse">And all loved God, and one another loved—</div> +<div class="verse">And all moved round the Triune God enthroned—</div> +<div class="verse">In blissful circles—nearing him for aye,</div> +<div class="verse">Yet not approaching ever—till that Foul</div> +<div class="verse">And Hateful One fell off from love and then</div> +<div class="verse">Fell down into his dark, eternal den,</div> +<div class="verse">Where love's sweet beam can never, never reach.</div> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2><a name="THE_LOVERS" id="THE_LOVERS"></a>THE LOVERS.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Two lovers in the strength of life,</div> +<div class="verseind">Had built a beauteous home,</div> +<div class="verse">Where tall, ancestral oaks uprose,</div> +<div class="verseind">O'ershadowing their high dome.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">He was a tall and manly form,</div> +<div class="verseind">With ringlets dark like night;</div> +<div class="verse">But she was like the lily's stem,</div> +<div class="verseind">With eyes of moon-like light.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Six happy years they chronicled</div> +<div class="verseind">Within their nest of bliss;</div> +<div class="verse">To taste each day some sweetest joy,</div> +<div class="verseind">They could not go amiss.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Three little images of them,</div> +<div class="verseind">Two boys and one a maid,</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">{69}</a></span> +<div class="verse">Beneath those high, ancestral oaks,</div> +<div class="verseind">With silver laughter, played.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">The thunder-blast of war came o'er</div> +<div class="verseind">The lover's startled soul;</div> +<div class="verse">The wife bowed low her head and heart,</div> +<div class="verseind">To sorrow's strong control.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">The lady drooped—as droops a flower</div> +<div class="verseind">Without the sun or rain;</div> +<div class="verse">And now at twilight's hectic flush,</div> +<div class="verseind">She sang a wild, low strain:</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">"He's gone, I cannot smile as when</div> +<div class="verseind">I saw him at my side!</div> +<div class="verse">Ah me! the memory of that hour</div> +<div class="verseind">When I was his new bride.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">"Our two young hearts were joined in love,</div> +<div class="verseind">As two bright lamps of flame,</div> +<div class="verse">Cut off from him, life is to me</div> +<div class="verseind">A mockery and a name.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">"God help my helpless little ones,</div> +<div class="verseind">And keep them for his own.</div> +<div class="verse">My heart is breaking—husband! long</div> +<div class="verseind">Thou shalt not be alone."</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">When faded all the autumn flowers</div> +<div class="verseind">The lady surely died—</div> +<div class="verse">Broken the bands that bound her life</div> +<div class="verseind">To him—his wife and bride.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Love was the Cause of all things, and the End,</div> +<div class="verse">For God is Love, and ever will be Love.</div> +<div class="verse">God's grey-beard prophets sang a future time,</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">{70}</a></span> +<div class="verse">When all would be restored in love to God,</div> +<div class="verse">And the first Eden be rebuilt on earth;</div> +<div class="verse">That lions and all lambs should play together,</div> +<div class="verse">On the long grass of Eden's greenest lawns.</div> +<div class="verse">That man should yet behold that happy scene,</div> +<div class="verse">When one loud jubilate of worship—love—</div> +<div class="verse">Should climb the heavens from each lone shore of earth.</div> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> + +<h2><a name="SONG" id="SONG"></a>SONG.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Oh! Love's the sweetest joy of earth,</div> +<div class="verseind">Love's keenest pang is bliss,</div> +<div class="verse">And, like a wild, delirious bee,</div> +<div class="verseind">We hang upon a kiss:</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">With lip to lip and heart and heart,</div> +<div class="verseind">We live in that sweet death,</div> +<div class="verse">And feel the breeze of paradise,</div> +<div class="verseind">Upon a loved one's breath.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">We lean upon a beating breast,</div> +<div class="verseind">As on a throne of gold;</div> +<div class="verse">And, like a monarch, thence, look out,</div> +<div class="verseind">On love-hued sea and wold.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">We dwell upon a loved one's song,</div> +<div class="verseind">As on a strain of heaven,</div> +<div class="verse">And think it charms the throbbing stars</div> +<div class="verseind">That throng the halls of Even.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Oh! Love is like a river-flood,</div> +<div class="verseind">That rolls and pauses never—</div> +<div class="verse">An ocean-tide that bears us on</div> +<div class="verseind">Forever and forever.</div> +</div></div> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">This is the lore I come to teach the world—</div> +<div class="verse">That Love formed all of matter, all of spirit;</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">{71}</a></span> +<div class="verse">That Love keeps all things, lest they fall to chaos;</div> +<div class="verse">That Love's pulse vibrates throughout all God's works,</div> +<div class="verse">Whose beat is harmony like angels' songs—</div> +<div class="verse">And man is most like God and least like Devil,</div> +<div class="verse">When he most loves all things which God hath made.</div> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> + +<h2><a name="HOURS_WITH_NATURE" id="HOURS_WITH_NATURE"></a>HOURS WITH NATURE.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">When smiling spring, an angel fair!</div> +<div class="verseind">Walks o'er the verdant plain,</div> +<div class="verse">And breathes a soft and balmy air,</div> +<div class="verseind">From isles beyond the main:</div> +<div class="verse">When robins sing, and waters play,</div> +<div class="verseind">And lambs skip o'er the mead,</div> +<div class="verse">And forest birds, with music gay,</div> +<div class="verseind">Their callow offspring feed:</div> +<div class="verse">When May-flowers shine by every stream,</div> +<div class="verseind">And fragrants showers come down,</div> +<div class="verse">While sun-rays o'er the mountains gleam,</div> +<div class="verseind">And form a dazzling crown:—</div> +<div class="verse">Oh! then 'tis sweet to be with thee,</div> +<div class="verseind">Dear Nature ever fair,</div> +<div class="verse">To roam thy walks of song and glee,</div> +<div class="verseind">Thy realms, sky, earth and air.</div> +<div class="verse">Bright angel spring, thou seem'st divine,</div> +<div class="verseind">With ever smiling brow:</div> +<div class="verse">No sin-created gloom is thine,</div> +<div class="verseind">Nought dims thy beauty now.</div> +<div class="verse">Wide earth, stream, river, lake and sea,</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">{72}</a></span> +<div class="verseind">Shine forth an angel land,</div> +<div class="verse">Where spirits, robed in purity,</div> +<div class="verseind">Roam, love-linked, hand in hand.</div> +<div class="verse">Now June, like full-blown womanhood,</div> +<div class="verseind">Succeeds the maiden spring,</div> +<div class="verse">And broods upon the solitude,</div> +<div class="verseind">With broad and bird-like wing.</div> +<div class="verse">The air re-echoes forth a song</div> +<div class="verseind">Of full and perfect bliss,</div> +<div class="verse">Where happy lovers roam along,</div> +<div class="verseind">And melt into a kiss.</div> +<div class="verse">But Summer bursts upon the world,</div> +<div class="verseind">With views of waving grain,</div> +<div class="verse">Beneath the sweating sickle hurled,</div> +<div class="verseind">Upon the fragrant plain.</div> +<div class="verse">The warm, long day calls forth at length,</div> +<div class="verseind">The storm's electric fire,</div> +<div class="verse">That shatters the oak's imperial strength,</div> +<div class="verseind">And bids the shrubs expire.</div> +<div class="verse">The cloud rolls off—and see! what pride!</div> +<div class="verseind">A many colored bow,</div> +<div class="verse">Hangs on the cloud's retreating side,</div> +<div class="verseind">And o'er the fields below.</div> +<div class="verse">Then, glorious summer flies away,</div> +<div class="verseind">From upland, slope and plain;</div> +<div class="verse">And Autumn, crowned with shocks of hay,</div> +<div class="verseind">Appears in joy again.</div> +<div class="verse">Old, jolly Autumn! happy man!</div> +<div class="verseind">Wild tumbling on the meads;</div> +<div class="verse">We'll love thee, Autumn, as we can,</div> +<div class="verseind">Thy glory is our needs.</div> +<div class="verse">Thou heapest our barns with plenty—thou</div> +<div class="verseind">Art, sure our faithful friend;</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">{73}</a></span> +<div class="verse">And, in the aspect of thy brow,</div> +<div class="verseind">Lovely and useful blend.</div> +<div class="verse">Thy golden hues recede at length,</div> +<div class="verseind">And seem to sigh decay,</div> +<div class="verse">Till, thou, despoiled of life and strength,</div> +<div class="verseind">Art borne, a corpse, away.</div> +<div class="verse">Wild, bleak, and blustering Winter wild,</div> +<div class="verseind">Assumes the icy throne;</div> +<div class="verse">Deep snows upon the earth are piled,</div> +<div class="verseind">And hushed is every tone.</div> +<div class="verse">The trees stand bare, bleak skeletons,</div> +<div class="verseind">Of bodies once so fair,</div> +<div class="verse">And dirges, dirges, woeful ones,</div> +<div class="verseind">Resound amid the air.</div> +<div class="verse">Bleak, winter wild! thy dreary scenes,</div> +<div class="verseind">Have yet one modest flower;</div> +<div class="verse">The daisy finds some little greens,</div> +<div class="verseind">Whereby she builds her bower.</div> +<div class="verse">The daisy is a preacher wise,</div> +<div class="verseind">Whom heavenly robes array;</div> +<div class="verse">Each winter lives, and sweetly tries,</div> +<div class="verseind">A loving word to say.</div> +<div class="verse">"Oh! man, amid thy darkest woe,</div> +<div class="verseind">Some humble bliss remains;—</div> +<div class="verse">Then, let thy murmurings cease to flow,</div> +<div class="verseind">And hush thy doleful strains."</div> +<div class="verse">It is the dawn. Faint crimson streaks</div> +<div class="verseind">The dewy, orient sky,</div> +<div class="verse">Like virtue's blush, on maiden cheeks,</div> +<div class="verseind">Ah! sweet and peerless dye.</div> +<div class="verse">At last—the sun, an Eastern king,</div> +<div class="verseind">Comes forth in rested pride;</div> +<div class="verse">And soars, with bright and burning wing,</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">{74}</a></span> +<div class="verseind">Above the hill and tide.</div> +<div class="verse">Above yon Blue Ridge, towering piles,</div> +<div class="verseind">Uptorn by Nature's throe—</div> +<div class="verse">He speeds, he speeds, through myriad miles,</div> +<div class="verseind">To his meridian glow.</div> +<div class="verse">The birds sink down, amid the copse,</div> +<div class="verseind">And sing a feeble song;</div> +<div class="verse">At last, each sound, on sudden, stops,</div> +<div class="verseind">And Silence holds the throng.</div> +<div class="verse">But Evening, comes, a sober maid,</div> +<div class="verseind">With one bright, starry eye;</div> +<div class="verse">And throws her mantle—star-inlaid—</div> +<div class="verseind">Upon the silent sky.</div> +<div class="verse">It is night's noon. How dark, how vast,</div> +<div class="verseind">Yon boundless vault appears;</div> +<div class="verse">A shadow o'er the earth is cast,</div> +<div class="verseind">That wakes the spirit's fears</div> +<div class="verse">How death-like hushed! all life seems dead,</div> +<div class="verseind">Does Nature live at all?</div> +<div class="verse">Ah, truest symbol! it has said,</div> +<div class="verseind">"The hush—the gloom—the Pall!"</div> +<div class="verse">Day is the varying life of Man,—</div> +<div class="verseind">Some sunshine—clouds again—</div> +<div class="verse">Night is his death—which erst began</div> +<div class="verseind">When Sin began to reign.</div> +<div class="verse">Dark, spectral Night! I sing of thee;</div> +<div class="verseind">For, thou art lovely, too—</div> +<div class="verse">And Death will wake the melody</div> +<div class="verseind">Of him whose life was true.</div> +<div class="verse">To walk upon the azure sea,</div> +<div class="verseind">It is a thing of bliss;</div> +<div class="verse">When skies are bright, and sails are free</div> +<div class="verseind">And smiling wavelets kiss.</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">{75}</a></span> +<div class="verse">How grandly leans the ship, a queen,</div> +<div class="verseind">Above the sparkling tide—</div> +<div class="verse">With joy she walks the watery scene,</div> +<div class="verseind">A thing of fear and pride.</div> +<div class="verse">To scale the crown of vast Blue Ridge,</div> +<div class="verseind">And eye the world below—</div> +<div class="verse">Farm—river—ravine—wiry bridge—</div> +<div class="verseind">And soaring crane and crow—</div> +<div class="verse">And misty woods—and fields afar—</div> +<div class="verseind">Neat villages and towns—</div> +<div class="verse">Blest herds and flocks no beast can mar,</div> +<div class="verseind">That nibble sunny downs.</div> +<div class="verse">Oh! that is, sure, a pleasant thing,</div> +<div class="verseind">And bathes the soul in joy;</div> +<div class="verse">And many a grief-worn man 'twould bring,</div> +<div class="verseind">To be once more a boy.</div> +<div class="verse">'Tis sweet to rove, at twilight dim,</div> +<div class="verseind">Beside an aldered stream,</div> +<div class="verse">To list thy lady's evening hymn,</div> +<div class="verseind">'Neath starlight's trembling gleam.</div> +<div class="verse">'Tis sweet to sit within a bower,</div> +<div class="verseind">Inwrought with flower and vine,</div> +<div class="verse">What time along yon mountain tower,</div> +<div class="verseind">The shades of eve decline.</div> +<div class="verse">'Tis sweet to hear the nightingale,</div> +<div class="verseind">O'erflow the forest shade,</div> +<div class="verse">With harmony which might avail,</div> +<div class="verseind">To win a Dis-stole maid.</div> +<div class="verse">'Twere sweet to cleave the snowy foam,</div> +<div class="verseind">With ship and spirit free,</div> +<div class="verse">Where tropic spices ever roam,</div> +<div class="verseind">The Caribbean sea.</div> +<div class="verse">'Twere sweet to sail by Yemen's shore,</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">{76}</a></span> +<div class="verseind">And touch that golden strand,</div> +<div class="verse">Where Indus' river wanders o'er,</div> +<div class="verseind">Its glittering, golden sand.</div> +<div class="verse">Oh! Nature! thou art far above,</div> +<div class="verseind">The painter's, Poet's pride—</div> +<div class="verse">Thou art the glorious Child of Love—</div> +<div class="verseind">Adorned a heavenly bride.</div> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2><a name="YORKTOWN" id="YORKTOWN"></a>YORKTOWN.</h2> + + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Here met three nations, panoplied for fight,</div> +<div class="verseind">Moving before the vision gorgeously;</div> +<div class="verse">Then shamed with Battle's gloom the paling Night,</div> +<div class="verseind">Upon the land and sea.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Earth quailed beneath the cannon's burrowing roar,</div> +<div class="verseind">Beneath three Armies' slow and ominous tread;</div> +<div class="verse">And Ocean who the portioned conflict bore,</div> +<div class="verseind">Shuddered with pain and dread.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">But when the morning rolled the double shroud</div> +<div class="verseind">Of Night and Battle from the land and sea,</div> +<div class="verse">The Sun looked forth through no obstructing cloud,</div> +<div class="verseind">And saw a Nation <span class="smcap">free</span>.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">{77}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> + +<h2><a name="POETS_ENCHANTED_LIFE" id="POETS_ENCHANTED_LIFE"></a>POET'S ENCHANTED LIFE.</h2> + + +<h3 class="smcap">The Angel-Child.</h3> + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">A fairy land of grass and flowers,</div> +<div class="verseind">And of the greenest trees</div> +<div class="verse">A land of singing brooks and springs,</div> +<div class="verseind">A land of singing breeze.</div> +<div class="verse">A land of bright but mellowed hues,</div> +<div class="verseind">Beneath the western skies,</div> +<div class="verse">The lady bore a beauteous child,</div> +<div class="verseind">In this sweet paradise.</div> +<div class="verse">An auburn head—an olive face—</div> +<div class="verseind">An eye of azure light—</div> +<div class="verse">A perfect beauty seemed the child,</div> +<div class="verseind">To my enchanted sight.</div> +<div class="verse">I loved him for his loveliness,</div> +<div class="verseind">This budding, beauteous child,</div> +<div class="verse">The mother's heart within would leap</div> +<div class="verseind">When e'er the infant smiled,</div> +<div class="verse">And when upon her warming breast,</div> +<div class="verseind">She watched his closing eyes,</div> +<div class="verse">His lips would smile, as if he saw</div> +<div class="verseind">The angels in the skies.</div> +<div class="verse">And truth to say, she ofttimes thought,</div> +<div class="verseind">The angels were near by,</div> +<div class="verse">So strange a gleam was on his hair,</div> +<div class="verseind">So bright his cherub eye.</div> +<div class="verse">He was so meek and gentle-souled,</div> +<div class="verseind">So free from evil stain,</div> +<div class="verse">Ah! well I knew, 'twere toil to find</div> +<div class="verseind">So lovely child again.</div> +<div class="verse">It was a antique, white-walled cot,</div> +<div class="verseind">Beneath the western skies,</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">{78}</a></span> +<div class="verse">This lady dwelt with this sweet child,</div> +<div class="verseind">In this sweet paradise.</div> +<div class="verse">The mother loved her beauteous child;</div> +<div class="verseind">Oft gazing on his sleep,</div> +<div class="verse">The joy that smoothed her matron brow,</div> +<div class="verseind">Was beautiful and deep.</div> +<div class="verse">The summer flower hath hasty growth—</div> +<div class="verseind">The sweet child grew apace,</div> +<div class="verse">And lo! a brighter loveliness,</div> +<div class="verseind">Was born upon his face.</div> +<div class="verse">So fair—so fair—and oh! so dear!</div> +<div class="verseind">Alas! a mother's love</div> +<div class="verse">May be too strong to please her God—</div> +<div class="verseind">The child went up above.</div> +<div class="verse">And now alone the mother was</div> +<div class="verseind">In all this world so wide,</div> +<div class="verse">For ere the child had lisped his name</div> +<div class="verseind">Her stricken husband died.</div> +<div class="verse">Alone in all this world so wide,</div> +<div class="verseind">Alone the mother was;</div> +<div class="verse">If this were true—God wot 'twas false,</div> +<div class="verseind">Our hearts should sigh alas.</div> +<div class="verse">The child—the child—transformed! come down,</div> +<div class="verseind">On rainbow-colored wings,</div> +<div class="verse">Whose flashing, o'er the mother's path,</div> +<div class="verseind">A mystic glory flings.</div> +<div class="verse">He set gay flowers of heavenly pride</div> +<div class="verseind">Amid this cursed clime—</div> +<div class="verse">Ah! brilliant flowers—ah! brighter flowers,</div> +<div class="verseind">Than bloomed in Eden's prime.</div> +<div class="verse">He softly led her on the way,</div> +<div class="verseind">And sang to her charm'd soul,</div> +<div class="verse">A sweet, low strain that men heard not,</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">{79}</a></span> +<div class="verseind">And fiends could not control.</div> +<div class="verse">At last the mother went with him</div> +<div class="verseind">To dwell on Heaven's wide plain,</div> +<div class="verse">Where father, mother, cherub now,</div> +<div class="verseind">Sing forth a glorious strain.</div> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>SUNSET.</h2> + + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">The Summer's sunset throws a tender spell,</div> +<div class="verse">Along the hills, o'er ocean's softened swell;</div> +<div class="verse">The God of day goes flaming down the sky,</div> +<div class="verse">And zephyr floats on perfumed pinions by.</div> +<div class="verse">Oh! who can gaze upon this gorgeous sight,</div> +<div class="verse">Nor feel his bosom chain'd by deep delight,</div> +<div class="verse">This hour when beauty wears her richest dye,</div> +<div class="verse">And love o'erflows charmed ocean, earth and sky;</div> +<div class="verse">Till fancy, dreaming in her lovely bower,</div> +<div class="verse">Hears far off strains of deep, o'erwhelming power,</div> +<div class="verse">And, lifting up her pensive orbs above,</div> +<div class="verse">Spies Angels winging through yon vault of love,</div> +<div class="verse">And says that "they are wafting souls forgiven</div> +<div class="verse">On their bright pinions, to yon nameless Heaven."</div> +<div class="verse">On such an eve, so peaceful and so bright,</div> +<div class="verse">Two loved ones <ins class="correction" title="text reads 'flen'">flee</ins> beyond yon failing light,</div> +<div class="verse">No more to droop within this gloomy world,</div> +<div class="verse">Their angel pinions next God's throne were furled;</div> +<div class="verse">There now—for aye forgot this earthly night—</div> +<div class="verse">They lave those bright wings in eternal light.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">{80}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>IMAGINATION.</h2> + + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Now fir'd imagination soars on high, and shows</div> +<div class="verse">Magnific scenes. The first—a summer's dawn—</div> +<div class="verse">A sky of purest blue—a golden sea</div> +<div class="verse">Beneath—earth bright with lovely hues like Heaven.</div> +<div class="verse">Yon orb of fire suspended o'er that sea</div> +<div class="verse">Of molten gold, burns like a throne in Heaven.</div> +<div class="verse">His foaming, flashing radiance, floods earth—sky—</div> +<div class="verse">And throbbing sea, till each lies bathed in glory,</div> +<div class="verse">Which seems the break of a celestial morn.</div> +<div class="verse">That scene has passed. Another charms</div> +<div class="verse">The gaze. The mighty orb of blazing flame,</div> +<div class="verse">Has run a curve of brightness o'er the sky,</div> +<div class="verse">And presently will cut the Western main,</div> +<div class="verse">With its bright rim. We stand upon an isle,</div> +<div class="verse">One of the Hesperian, in the unknown seas,</div> +<div class="verse">Toward the setting sun. The waves which gush,</div> +<div class="verse">And softly splash against the rocky shores,</div> +<div class="verse">Are dyed by richest, ever varying tints,</div> +<div class="verse">Like those, we fancy, tinge that sea that flows,</div> +<div class="verse">Around the throne of God, and, in whose billows,</div> +<div class="verse">The seraphs, as wing'd birds, embathe their breasts—</div> +<div class="verse">Whilst heaven becomes another sea like that—</div> +<div class="verse">And all is bright waves dashing o'er our hearts,</div> +<div class="verse">And making music sweeter than the songs</div> +<div class="verse">Of those we loved in youth, ere hatred grew.</div> +<div class="verse">That scene has pass'd. Imagination sleeps</div> +<div class="verse">To husband strength for more ambitious flight.</div> +<div class="verse">But, soon restored, with native, heavenly might,</div> +<div class="verse">She soars beyond the sun high thron'd at noon—</div> +<div class="verse">And, with her hand that flows with gold and gems,</div> +<div class="verse">Flings wide Heaven's gates that flame with living beams.</div> +<div class="verse">And lo! the scene of Heaven! Oh! brighter far,</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">{81}</a></span> +<div class="verse">Than aught earth shows of beautiful or fair,</div> +<div class="verse">Is that bright heaven of our hopes and dreams.</div> +<div class="verse">Yet even imagination's piercing eye</div> +<div class="verse">Receives into its scope but humble part</div> +<div class="verse">Of all the glory that o'erflows that heaven.</div> +<div class="verse">A boundless sea of love—all hued like love,</div> +<div class="verse">Gleams round the throne of Triune God, which seems</div> +<div class="verse">To rise from out that placid depth, built of</div> +<div class="verse">Its water, crystallized to gold and pearl,</div> +<div class="verse">Wherein joy's beauteous light forever plays.</div> +<div class="verse">Over that sea rings set beyond vast rings</div> +<div class="verse">Of burning seraph, saint, and cherub, stand</div> +<div class="verse">With starry crowns; and, with unceasing songs,</div> +<div class="verse">Struck from their lyres that burn as morning suns,</div> +<div class="verse">And born in hearts that burn in joys of heaven—</div> +<div class="verse">Louder than twelvefold thunder, yet more sweet</div> +<div class="verse">Than all the sweetest strains e'er heard on earth,</div> +<div class="verse">Fill Heaven with light and song ineffable,</div> +<div class="verse">Along the bright flow of eternity.</div> +<div class="verse">Then swift in flight as saint and seraph there,</div> +<div class="verse">She passes back through those vast gates of fire,</div> +<div class="verse">And slowly drops upon some flowery peak,</div> +<div class="verse">Or ocean isle, upon this mundane sphere;</div> +<div class="verse">Then sleeps soft in the folds of some fair flower,</div> +<div class="verse">Or, in the crystal bosom of a dewdrop.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">{82}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>MILLY.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">A fairy thing was Milly when</div> +<div class="verseind">She blest my wondering sight;</div> +<div class="verse">I ne'er shall meet her match again—</div> +<div class="verseind">A maid so gaily bright.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Her ringlets flowed about her neck—</div> +<div class="verseind">A neck that mocked the snow!</div> +<div class="verse">A sunny robe her bosom decked,</div> +<div class="verseind">That proudly heaved below.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Sometimes she roamed the leas at morn,</div> +<div class="verseind">And sang like a sweet bird—</div> +<div class="verse">Until a melody was born</div> +<div class="verseind">On each outgushing word.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Sometimes amid her cottage home,</div> +<div class="verseind">She touched the breathing lyre,</div> +<div class="verse">And then her quivering lips were dumb,</div> +<div class="verseind">Her soaring soul on fire.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">She was a very fairy maid;</div> +<div class="verseind">And then we sinned to crave</div> +<div class="verse">That she with us might be delayed,</div> +<div class="verseind">And never reach the grave.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">One twilight when a star came forth,</div> +<div class="verseind">She clapped her hands and smil'd,</div> +<div class="verse">And said that star within the North</div> +<div class="verseind">Would take an earthly child.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Did some near, viewless angel speak</div> +<div class="verseind">That word unto the maid,</div> +<div class="verse">That thus with sweet, unblanched cheek,</div> +<div class="verseind">That awful word she said?</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">{83}</a></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">But thus it was; when autumn told</div> +<div class="verseind">The yellow leaves to fall,</div> +<div class="verse">The maid no more could we behold,</div> +<div class="verseind">No more she knew our call.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">And now I watch that cold, high star,</div> +<div class="verseind">Amid the leaden North,</div> +<div class="verse">And think she looks on me afar,</div> +<div class="verseind">Forlorn upon this earth.</div> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>THE WINTRY DAYS.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">The wintry days have come once more,</div> +<div class="verseind">The birds are still, the sweet flowers dead,</div> +<div class="verse">And faint winds sigh a wailing song</div> +<div class="verseind">O'er leaves heaped high within their bed.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">The neighboring stream that lately leapt,</div> +<div class="verseind">And laughed, and played adown the glen,</div> +<div class="verse">Is now as hushed and mute as though</div> +<div class="verseind">It ne'er would leap and smile again.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">A <ins class="correction" title="text reads 'mourful'">mournful</ins> silence fills the sky,</div> +<div class="verseind">And falls upon the gazer's soul,</div> +<div class="verse">And down the sympathizing cheek,</div> +<div class="verseind">The watery teardrops silent roll.</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">{84}</a></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">The beauty of the peaks and plains,</div> +<div class="verseind">The loveliness of earth and sky,</div> +<div class="verse">Have passed away, and, passing, said,</div> +<div class="verseind">"Ye mortals frail! ye too must die."</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">So has the beauty of my hopes</div> +<div class="verseind">Withered beneath woe's wintry touch,—</div> +<div class="verse">My heart has yielded to despair,</div> +<div class="verseind">Though lingering long and weeping much.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">But oh! bright Hope, mid bleak Despair,</div> +<div class="verseind">Sprang, cheerly speaking to my heart,</div> +<div class="verse">Sweet, smiling spring shall yet return,</div> +<div class="verseind">And joyless winter must depart.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">And Mercy throned beyond the sun,</div> +<div class="verseind">Whose breath thy living soul hath given,</div> +<div class="verse">Will lead thee to a deathless spring</div> +<div class="verseind">Within the glorious gates of heaven.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Ah! deeply do I bless that word!</div> +<div class="verseind">It drives my gloomy fears away;—</div> +<div class="verse">I kneel upon the dreary snow,</div> +<div class="verseind">And bid my God be praised for aye.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">{85}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>SPRING.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Now, Mary fair, the Spring has come,</div> +<div class="verseind">Back to our fairyland,</div> +<div class="verse">And buds begin to breathe perfume,</div> +<div class="verseind">The breeze blows sweet and bland;</div> +<div class="verse">The gay, green groves are ringing clear,</div> +<div class="verseind">The crystal waters shine;</div> +<div class="verse">Now, Mary sweet, the scene is dear,</div> +<div class="verseind">The moments are divine.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">And, Mary, hearken how the birds</div> +<div class="verseind">Are courting in the grove,</div> +<div class="verse">Oh! listen how their music words</div> +<div class="verseind">Speak tender things of love.</div> +<div class="verse">Let us be happy, Mary fair,</div> +<div class="verseind">We waste these heavenly hours,</div> +<div class="verse">Let's rove where fragrance fills the air,</div> +<div class="verseind">Among the opening flowers.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Yes, Mary dear, let's quit the throng,</div> +<div class="verseind">And from the tumult flee,</div> +<div class="verse">The birds these living bowers among,</div> +<div class="verseind">Shall sweetly sing for thee;</div> +<div class="verse">And happy zephyr wave his wing,</div> +<div class="verseind">And streams make melody,</div> +<div class="verse">And loveliest flowers gaily spring</div> +<div class="verseind">Thy matchless face to see.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Dear Mary, why, why should we stay,</div> +<div class="verseind">While Nature calls us forth?</div> +<div class="verse">See! love and pleasure, smiling, stray,</div> +<div class="verseind">O'er all the gladsome earth!</div> +<div class="verse">While all around is mirth and song,</div> +<div class="verseind">Let us be joyful, too,</div> +<div class="verse">And, listening to the feathered throng,</div> +<div class="verseind">Our vows of love renew.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">{86}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>AN INCIDENT.</h2> + + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">The sighs of summer night, were sweet without,</div> +<div class="verse">As the breath of spirits, on the folded roses,</div> +<div class="verse">The sweet moon, like a young and timid bride,</div> +<div class="verse">Came softly trembling through the eastward oaks—</div> +<div class="verse">Where I espied a Glorious Beauty standing,</div> +<div class="verse">Glowing and bright, in a portico vine-wreathed.</div> +<div class="verse">Shaken by wrestling Hope and Doubt within,</div> +<div class="verse">I quickly slid unto her side; and she</div> +<div class="verse">Wore no dark frown—but smiled—she smiled on me!</div> +<div class="verse">Her white brows shone amid her darkest hair,</div> +<div class="verse">Like that moon's beams amid the opening gloom:</div> +<div class="verse">And her slight, delicate shape would shame the limbs</div> +<div class="verse">Of fairies tripping on the moonlit green.</div> +<div class="verse">And she did smile on me—that Glorious Beauty!</div> +<div class="verse">And I stood there, and clasped her lily hands!</div> +<div class="verse">And I did peer into her lustrous eyes!</div> +<div class="verse">And they gave back my ardent gaze of love!</div> +<div class="verse">She spake—the tremulous accents of her voice</div> +<div class="verse">Was like a sweet stream breaking upon rocks;</div> +<div class="verse">And when the music of those thrilling words,</div> +<div class="verse">Rushed on my soul—I sank upon her bosom,</div> +<div class="verse">And felt that we could part no more on earth.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">{87}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>THE LETTER.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Amid a flower-strown cottage room,</div> +<div class="verseind">The Lady sat at even,</div> +<div class="verse">Beneath the peerless evening star,</div> +<div class="verseind">Just peeping out in heaven;</div> +<div class="verse">And, in her hands, as lilies, white,</div> +<div class="verseind">She held a billet-doux,</div> +<div class="verse">Which, round upon the tranquil air,</div> +<div class="verseind">A grateful fragrance threw.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">And now she bends her beauteous head,</div> +<div class="verseind">To read the written lines—</div> +<div class="verse">Her white hand starts—a crystal tear</div> +<div class="verseind">Upon the paper shines;</div> +<div class="verse">Her startled bosom gently heaves,</div> +<div class="verseind">Like billows capped with snow,</div> +<div class="verse">And quickly o'er her lovely face,</div> +<div class="verseind">Her blushes come and go.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Those glowing words have waked within</div> +<div class="verseind">Her soul, the flame of love,</div> +<div class="verse">Which blends her woman nature with</div> +<div class="verseind">The natures of above:—</div> +<div class="verse">A fire whose rays will change to light</div> +<div class="verseind">Her lover's darkest gloom,</div> +<div class="verse">Till he beholds it beam again,</div> +<div class="verseind">On Heaven's undying bloom.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">{88}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>THE LOST PLEIAD.</h2> + + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">No more with thy bright sisters of the sky,</div> +<div class="verseind">Who warble ever,</div> +<div class="verse">Wilt thou send forth thy choral melody,</div> +<div class="verseind">Sad maid! for ever.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">No more the bright, innumerable train,</div> +<div class="verseind">Who move in Heaven,</div> +<div class="verse">Will know thy face upon the etherial plain,</div> +<div class="verseind">At rosy even.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">The night will mourn thine absence ever more,</div> +<div class="verseind">With dewy tears,</div> +<div class="verse">And, the bright day, will, dimmer now, deplore,</div> +<div class="verseind">The darkened years.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Our wandering eyes will search for thee in vain,</div> +<div class="verseind">And we shall sigh</div> +<div class="verse">That thy high beauty could not conquer pain,</div> +<div class="verseind">The doom to die.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Earth scarce had mourned some lesser beauty—thou,</div> +<div class="verseind">Celestial maid!</div> +<div class="verse">Mid all didst wear a so unearthly brow,</div> +<div class="verseind">And thou—decayed!</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">The beauteous thought of thee which, ray-like, slept,</div> +<div class="verseind">In our pure love,</div> +<div class="verse">Became a memory which we have kept</div> +<div class="verseind">To grieve above.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Gone, like the withered pride of early Spring—</div> +<div class="verseind">Like sweet songs, o'er—</div> +<div class="verse">Ah! thou hast turned from us thine angel wing,</div> +<div class="verseind">To come no more.</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">{89}</a></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Struck from thy high and glittering sapphire throne,</div> +<div class="verseind">In upper light,</div> +<div class="verse">Say, did thy loveliness go, hopeless, down,</div> +<div class="verseind">To nether night?</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Or, throned beyond the gloomy fate to fall,</div> +<div class="verseind">Bright maid divine!</div> +<div class="verse">Sublime amid the Eternal's flaming Hall,</div> +<div class="verseind">Dost thou e'er shine?</div> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> + +<h2>THE SLEEPER.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">The sleeper lies, with closed eyes,</div> +<div class="verseind">And softly moving breath,</div> +<div class="verse">So soft, so still, her life's sweet thrill,</div> +<div class="verseind">'Tis only more than death.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Her dark, dark hair, reposing there,</div> +<div class="verseind">Upon her pillow's snow,</div> +<div class="verse">And sweeping down her cheek's faint brown,</div> +<div class="verseind">And bosom's spotless glow.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">She wakes at last, her sleep has past,</div> +<div class="verseind">Her eyes on me are thrown;</div> +<div class="verse">My sleeping love—my heavenly dove—</div> +<div class="verseind">Has been in realms unknown.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">{90}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> + +<h2>DWELLING IN HEAVEN.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">They do not—nay, they cannot die;</div> +<div class="verseind">They go to dwell in Heaven;</div> +<div class="verse">Where God a free and full supply</div> +<div class="verseind">Of purest joys hath given.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">They do not—nay, they cannot die:</div> +<div class="verseind">Because we see them not</div> +<div class="verse">Do objects cease—oh! brothers! why</div> +<div class="verseind">This lesson now forgot?</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">They die not—nay, they cannot die:</div> +<div class="verseind">In joy's serene, calm air,</div> +<div class="verse">Their cheek yet wears its roseate dye</div> +<div class="verseind">Their smiles are yet as fair.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Their tones yet breathe as sweet a strain,</div> +<div class="verseind">Their hearts are still as true,</div> +<div class="verse">And still their wonted love retain,</div> +<div class="verseind">My friend, for me and you.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Oh no! they do not, cannot die,</div> +<div class="verseind">They live far up in Heaven,</div> +<div class="verse">Beyond where flame yon portals high,</div> +<div class="verseind">At still and silent even.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">They dwell—they dwell eternally,</div> +<div class="verseind">Where roll no winds—no storm,</div> +<div class="verse">And, if we seek them, we shall see,</div> +<div class="verseind">Each bright and happy form.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">{91}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> + +<h2>THE FACE I SEE IN DREAMS.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Strangely sweet, and softly clear,</div> +<div class="verseind">With pure and starry beams,</div> +<div class="verse">Reposing there, and moving here;</div> +<div class="verseind">The face I see in dreams.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Oh! lovely is that wild, sweet face,</div> +<div class="verseind">Which thus and ever gleams,</div> +<div class="verse">And smiles, with a seraphic grace,</div> +<div class="verseind">Upon my heart's deep streams.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Oft at pale midnight's holy calm,</div> +<div class="verseind">Beside imagined streams,</div> +<div class="verse">I recognize the soothing balm,</div> +<div class="verseind">The face I see in dreams.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">And, even at noon's wideseeing glare,</div> +<div class="verseind">When earth, with clamor teems,</div> +<div class="verse">That face appears, as strangely fair,</div> +<div class="verseind">That face I see in dreams.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">The sum of universal charms,</div> +<div class="verseind">The sun of beauty-beams,</div> +<div class="verse">Appear to deck that form of forms,</div> +<div class="verseind">And face I see in dreams.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">{92}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>TO ELOQUENCE.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Ah Eloquence! thou God-like power;</div> +<div class="verseind">That swayest the human heart,</div> +<div class="verse">We still must call thee, rarest dower,</div> +<div class="verseind">In the high gift of Art;</div> +<div class="verse">And still thou shalt be styled a queen,</div> +<div class="verse">To brighten earth's grief-shaded green.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">When thou dost falter sorrow's tale,</div> +<div class="verseind">With trembling accents low,</div> +<div class="verse">The plaintive breezes of the vale,</div> +<div class="verseind">With mingled pathos, flow;</div> +<div class="verse">The melting eye is bathed in tears,</div> +<div class="verse">And grief, in every face, appears.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">When thou dost stand in mortal's view,</div> +<div class="verseind">And breathe thy thoughts of flame,</div> +<div class="verse">The conscious soul, conceives them, too,</div> +<div class="verseind">And breathes and burns the same;—</div> +<div class="verse">And when, in fancy, thou dost soar,</div> +<div class="verse">'Tis like Niag'ra's thundering roar.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">When thou dost tell of living joys</div> +<div class="verseind">Far up in heaven above,</div> +<div class="verse">The rapturous music of thy voice,</div> +<div class="verseind">Is like the Voice of Love—</div> +<div class="verse">The entranced spirit flits away</div> +<div class="verse">To bathe in seas of whitest day.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">{93}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>NEAR YONDER BANKS AT EVEN.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Near yonder banks at even,</div> +<div class="verseind">We whispered words most dear,</div> +<div class="verse">Till love's sweet star in Heaven,</div> +<div class="verseind">Was shining, bright and clear.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">We saw the river glancing</div> +<div class="verseind">Beneath the planet's light,</div> +<div class="verse">Its ripples seemed, while dancing,</div> +<div class="verseind">To mock the gloom of night.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">But soon the star in Heaven,</div> +<div class="verseind">By rising mists was hid,</div> +<div class="verse">And, by us, dark and even,</div> +<div class="verseind">The river's current slid.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">So shone our love's sweet river</div> +<div class="verseind">Beneath Hope's radiant star;</div> +<div class="verse">But soon, in darkness, ever,</div> +<div class="verseind">It swept, in silence, far.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">{94}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>AN HYMN.</h2> + + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">To him whose soul is locked and bolted fast,</div> +<div class="verseind">By lust and guilt against the entrance there,</div> +<div class="verse">Of heavenly light; whose soul is over-cast</div> +<div class="verseind">By mists of sin and fogs of black despair;</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">The meaning of these worlds, not understood,</div> +<div class="verseind">Becomes a dark and cabalistic book;</div> +<div class="verse">He not perceives that He who made, is good,</div> +<div class="verseind">And that, His love was writ in every nook.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Dark, dark his every view of actual things,</div> +<div class="verseind">The diamond shines with faint, unmeaning ray;</div> +<div class="verse">What use or beauty hath the bird's gay wings?</div> +<div class="verseind">What glory, worlds that sweep through space away?</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">His ear is barred against the glorious song,</div> +<div class="verseind">Which Nature chants, ne'er wearying, to her God;</div> +<div class="verse">The planetary <ins class="correction" title="text reads 'peans'">paeans</ins>, borne along</div> +<div class="verseind">Through God's high vault, descend upon a clod.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Oh fool of fools, and wretched man is he,</div> +<div class="verseind">Who breathes his life in this untutored state;</div> +<div class="verse">And, in that world to come, how dread will be</div> +<div class="verseind">His startled soul's at last awakened fate.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">But, unto him, whose scales have fallen away,</div> +<div class="verseind">Whose deafness has been healed by Love Divine;</div> +<div class="verse">A flood of music gushes in foraye,</div> +<div class="verseind">And all God's works, with deathless lustre, shine.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">The diamond hath a beam that, conquering, vies;</div> +<div class="verseind">The bird's gay wings assume yet gayer hues;</div> +<div class="verse">Brighter become the rainbow's gorgeous dyes,</div> +<div class="verseind">Purer the evening and the morning dews.</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">{95}</a></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Sweeter the choral song of groves and founts,</div> +<div class="verseind">Grander the anthem of the starry spheres;</div> +<div class="verse">From God's vast universe, forever, mounts</div> +<div class="verseind">A strain that charms his own and seraphs' ears.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Undaunted, he surveys the ocean rage,</div> +<div class="verseind">With placid face, he feels the earthquake's shock,</div> +<div class="verse">He knows his Lord the fury will assuage,</div> +<div class="verseind">His soul is safe, though earth's foundations rock.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">The Omnipotent yet liveth! He will bear</div> +<div class="verseind">The humble soul, on His parental breast;</div> +<div class="verse">And, when the last great throe the sky shall tear,</div> +<div class="verseind">This soul upon His arm shall surely rest.</div> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>TO P.S. WHITE.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">What is the gilded chaplet worth,</div> +<div class="verseind">That decks a conqueror's brow?</div> +<div class="verse">There is no conqueror on earth</div> +<div class="verseind">Of nobler kind, than thou,</div> +<div class="verse">For bloodless victories are thine,</div> +<div class="verse">Whose splendor never shall decline.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">The thanks of men redeemed from shame,</div> +<div class="verseind">The smiles of womanhood,</div> +<div class="verse">The praise of great ones wed to fame,</div> +<div class="verseind">And of the humble good,</div> +<div class="verse">A victor's monument, shall be,</div> +<div class="verse">Through coming ages, unto thee.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">{96}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>MONTPELIER, ORANGE COUNTY, VA.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Where'er the great have lived or died,</div> +<div class="verseind">A charm pervades the very air;</div> +<div class="verse">And generous spirits, pausing, oft</div> +<div class="verseind">Will pour the heart's deep homage there.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Thus, thou, sequestered, simple spot!</div> +<div class="verseind">Where dwelt a mighty one of yore,</div> +<div class="verse">Becomest a shrine, where pilgrims kneel,</div> +<div class="verseind">From earth's remotest, every shore.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Whose fame, where'er a patriot breathes</div> +<div class="verseind">A thought of freedom, has been heard;</div> +<div class="verse">And fallen on tyrant's startled souls,</div> +<div class="verseind">Like coming fate's prophetic word.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Yet, shame upon this senseless age,</div> +<div class="verseind">Which blindly worships guilty gold,</div> +<div class="verse">No votive marble shows the tomb,</div> +<div class="verseind">Whose vault received his ashes cold.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Alas! that this should be our shame!</div> +<div class="verseind">For which even yet our eyes shall weep;</div> +<div class="verse"><i>Nought points the world's admiring eye,</i></div> +<div class="verseind"><i>To where its friend's sad relics sleep.</i></div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">{97}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>THE HEAVENLY FLOWER.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Now the final stroke is over!</div> +<div class="verseind">And the heart hath ceased its beat;</div> +<div class="verse">And that form so palely beauteous,</div> +<div class="verseind">In a ghastly winding sheet.</div> +<div class="verse">She has pass'd the gloomy portal,</div> +<div class="verseind">She has reached the realm of light;—</div> +<div class="verse">And there is a heavy silence,</div> +<div class="verseind">While we sit and muse to-night.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">She was a flower, fading quickly,</div> +<div class="verseind">From before our wistful eyes,</div> +<div class="verse">Giving back her spirit fragrance,</div> +<div class="verseind">Early to the eager skies.</div> +<div class="verse">But she parted all so lovely,</div> +<div class="verseind">Growing brighter day by day,</div> +<div class="verse">That our souls could scarce regret her,</div> +<div class="verseind">Passing, like a dream, away.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Now that frail and beauteous flower,</div> +<div class="verseind">Which scarce opened here below,</div> +<div class="verse">Scattering round a heavenly sweetness,</div> +<div class="verseind">On the hearts which bled with woe;</div> +<div class="verse">By a death which maketh living,</div> +<div class="verseind">Changed into a lovelier flower,</div> +<div class="verse">Gives a fragrance far more lovely,</div> +<div class="verseind">Round about a deathless bower.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Oh! weep not for this, fond parents!</div> +<div class="verseind">Though your earthly eyes be dim—</div> +<div class="verse">Yet—she blooms in fadeless beauty,</div> +<div class="verseind">Where the Seraphs chant their hymn;</div> +<div class="verse">Where a heaven, serenely glorious,</div> +<div class="verseind">Bends above a paradise,</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">{98}</a></span> +<div class="verse">Clad in tints of gayer splendor,</div> +<div class="verseind">Than our dream-land's gorgeous dyes.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Yes! she blooms in deathless beauty,</div> +<div class="verseind">In that brighter world than ours;</div> +<div class="verse">Where the happy saints and angels,</div> +<div class="verseind">Gleam her glorious sister flowers;</div> +<div class="verse">Where no frost, no killing tempest,</div> +<div class="verseind">E'er shall fall, or fiercely blow,</div> +<div class="verse">But mild zephyrs, waked on roses,</div> +<div class="verseind">Round her softly come and go.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">There she yet is pure and lovely</div> +<div class="verseind">As she was with us below—</div> +<div class="verse">And our hearts should cease to mourn her,</div> +<div class="verseind">When her God hath bade us know—</div> +<div class="verse">That, within that peaceful heaven,</div> +<div class="verseind">She is happier than before,</div> +<div class="verse">And that we should strive to meet her,</div> +<div class="verseind">When, like hers, our toil is o'er.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">{99}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>LILLY MAY.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">The fairest of our village maids,</div> +<div class="verseind">Was blue-eyed Lilly May;</div> +<div class="verse">Her brow was decked with golden curls,</div> +<div class="verseind">Her laugh was wild and gay:</div> +<div class="verse">And spotless as a ray of heaven,</div> +<div class="verseind">Young love within her lay.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">The rose which decked the fairy vale,</div> +<div class="verseind">Near by our rural town,</div> +<div class="verse">Showed not a deeper tint of blood,</div> +<div class="verseind">Than dyed her cheeks of down,</div> +<div class="verse">And innocence like that of heaven,</div> +<div class="verseind">Her fair, young head did crown.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Oh Lilly May! Oh! Lilly May!</div> +<div class="verseind">My heart was all thine own,</div> +<div class="verse">Earth ne'er gave me a sweeter sound,</div> +<div class="verseind">Than thy low, loving tone;</div> +<div class="verse">For we each other's first loves were,</div> +<div class="verseind">And each heard each alone!</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Oh Lilly May! I curse the day</div> +<div class="verseind">That tempted me to part!</div> +<div class="verse">And ever haunting, strange regret</div> +<div class="verseind">To my sad soul thou art;</div> +<div class="verse">I fear that I have deeply sinned,</div> +<div class="verseind">And broken thy true heart.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">{100}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>TO ELEANOR.</h2> + + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">When Hesper shows his rosiate lamp of love,</div> +<div class="verseind">High in yon lofty arch of dewy blue;</div> +<div class="verse">When gentle dews distilling from above,</div> +<div class="verseind">Sparkle upon the spreading grass and groves of yew—</div> +<div class="verse">When sinks to rest the faintly murmuring breeze,</div> +<div class="verseind">And dim and indistinct the landscape view—</div> +<div class="verse">Lonely I stray among the poplar trees</div> +<div class="verseind">And muse, dear Eleanor, dear love, on you.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">When Luna looks upon yon mountains brown,</div> +<div class="verseind">And gilds the winding stream with silvery hue,</div> +<div class="verse">And Silence, like a fall of whitest down,</div> +<div class="verseind">Falls where the sylphs their elfin dance renew</div> +<div class="verse">In lonely glens and cliffs of ivy green;</div> +<div class="verseind">And human forms lie bathed in sleep's soft dew—</div> +<div class="verse">Silent I stray along the fairy scene,</div> +<div class="verseind">And muse, dear Eleanor, dear love, on you.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">When golden streaks along the East appear,</div> +<div class="verseind">Spreading and flashing o'er that sea of blue;</div> +<div class="verse">And springs at length with aspect bright and clear,</div> +<div class="verseind">Great Sol upon the glittering world of dew—</div> +<div class="verse">The wakened Hours commence their wonted race,</div> +<div class="verseind">And Nature strikes her living harp anew—</div> +<div class="verse">Smiling I scan Creation's glorious face,</div> +<div class="verseind">And muse, dear Eleanor, dear love, on you.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">{101}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>THE VOW OF LOVE.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">'Twas evening's hour of magic power,</div> +<div class="verseind">The sun went brightly down,</div> +<div class="verse">And shadows fell as with a spell,</div> +<div class="verseind">Along the mountains brown.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">On high the sky, with gorgeous dye,</div> +<div class="verseind">Then glittered bright and wide,</div> +<div class="verse">And westward far, the evening star,</div> +<div class="verseind">Came trembling like a bride.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">The birds did chime their drowsy rhyme,</div> +<div class="verseind">As day was getting o'er,</div> +<div class="verse">The rippling wave, did sweetly lave</div> +<div class="verseind">The winding, pebbly shore.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">There walked beside that crystal tide,</div> +<div class="verseind">Fair Holston's lovely stream,</div> +<div class="verse">My lady bright, at soft twilight,</div> +<div class="verseind">In beauty's matchless gleam.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">And I did walk and softly talk</div> +<div class="verseind">Unto her beauty there,</div> +<div class="verse">And deemed that she more fair must be,</div> +<div class="verseind">Than Goddess, wrought of air.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Her hand in mine—"Oh! be thou mine,</div> +<div class="verseind">Nor scorn my pleading sigh,</div> +<div class="verse">"Yes"—still I cried, "be thou my bride,</div> +<div class="verseind">My own, until we die!"</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Now as that tide doth onward glide</div> +<div class="verseind">To reach the glittering sea,</div> +<div class="verse">With sparkling glow, our souls will flow,</div> +<div class="verseind">To bright eternity.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">{102}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>DISAPPOINTMENT.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Last eve ere sleep had closed mine eyes,</div> +<div class="verseind">To me there came a dream,</div> +<div class="verse">That when the saffron morn should rise</div> +<div class="verseind">O'er lovely hill and stream;</div> +<div class="verse">I should behold a vision move</div> +<div class="verseind">By yonder crystal spring—</div> +<div class="verse">A vision of an earthly dove,</div> +<div class="verseind">With pure and blessed wing.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">I thought the days of old romance,</div> +<div class="verseind">Would now return to earth;</div> +<div class="verse">And, in that soft and placid trance,</div> +<div class="verseind">So sweet—yet not like mirth—</div> +<div class="verse">I saw the Dryads gently gliding</div> +<div class="verseind">Through shadowy groves of myrtle—</div> +<div class="verse">And <ins class="correction" title="text reads 'Neriedes'">Nereides</ins> their glances hiding,</div> +<div class="verseind">And Venus with her turtle.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Alas! our brightest dreams deceive!</div> +<div class="verseind">The morning rises, bright and sweet,</div> +<div class="verse">And every thing in nature waits</div> +<div class="verseind">Thy fairy face and form to greet;</div> +<div class="verse">But they, alas! will wait in vain,</div> +<div class="verseind">As I, with aching heart,</div> +<div class="verse">Whilst wrapt in other joy or pain,</div> +<div class="verseind">In other scenes, thou art.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Thus ever from our path below,</div> +<div class="verseind">Some vision lovelier far,</div> +<div class="verse">Than Eden's bird, or glittering gem,</div> +<div class="verseind">Or beam of Beauty's star—</div> +<div class="verse">Glides swiftly by—and we are left</div> +<div class="verseind">To mourn the fleeting bliss,</div> +<div class="verse">That mocks us, as we sadly thread,</div> +<div class="verseind">So dark a scene as this.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">{103}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>THE DREAM OF LOVE.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">I dreamed last night, my lady-love,</div> +<div class="verseind">A dear, delicious dream;</div> +<div class="verse">'Twas not in bower or blooming grove,</div> +<div class="verseind">Nor by the sylvan stream.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">'Twas in thy father's noble hall,</div> +<div class="verseind">In dreams I saw thee, lady love!</div> +<div class="verse">Yet 'twas no gorgeous festival,</div> +<div class="verseind">No flowers beneath—no lights above.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">It was a sacred, simple scene,</div> +<div class="verseind">Thy smiling sisters gathered round,</div> +<div class="verse">With kindly air, and gentle mien,</div> +<div class="verseind">And spoke—a magic, home-born sound!</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Then thou and I, sweet lady-love!</div> +<div class="verseind">Roved out amid the garden green,</div> +<div class="verse">Whilst Day and Night together strove,</div> +<div class="verseind">Along the soft, romantic scene.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">And then I praised the charming view—</div> +<div class="verseind">The lofty peaks and rosiate skies—</div> +<div class="verse">The vallies, in their vernal hue—</div> +<div class="verseind">The sky's still brightening, crimson dyes.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">And oh! I saw thy angel smile,</div> +<div class="verseind">It smiled its lovelight all on me!</div> +<div class="verse">My heart was heaving high the while,</div> +<div class="verseind">And still my eyes saw nought but thee.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">I took thy trembling hand in mine,</div> +<div class="verseind">Then clasped thee to my happy breast,</div> +<div class="verse">And then those honeylips of thine</div> +<div class="verseind">My forehead with their kisses blest.</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">{104}</a></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Last night I dreamed, sweet lady-love!</div> +<div class="verseind">This dear, delicious dream;</div> +<div class="verse">Oh! could I waking pleasures prove</div> +<div class="verseind">So sweet as those that seem.</div> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>SABBATH.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">The Sabbath morn! How beautiful,</div> +<div class="verseind">How peaceful and how blest;</div> +<div class="verse">An Angel's whisper seems to lull</div> +<div class="verseind">The weary world to rest.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Hark! how the churchbell's music steals</div> +<div class="verseind">From yonder sacred fane;</div> +<div class="verse">Then echoes, like a heavenly sound,</div> +<div class="verseind">O'er neighboring hill and plain.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">And see! along each different way,</div> +<div class="verseind">To yonder temple fair,</div> +<div class="verse">With soft, slow step, and solemn mien,</div> +<div class="verseind">The village folk repair.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">And now, great Nature sends on high</div> +<div class="verseind">Her orison of prayer,</div> +<div class="verse">And wears upon her sacred face</div> +<div class="verseind">A smile divinely fair.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">{105}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>THE THUNDER STORM.</h2> + + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">'Twas a cloudless night in August, and the earth all silent lay,</div> +<div class="verse">With hills, and glittering rivers and mountains far away,</div> +<div class="verse">And angels then seemed bending through the whiteness of the beams,</div> +<div class="verse">Whispering to weary mortals soft and sorrow-soothing dreams.</div> +<div class="verse">Oh! surely, eye of mortal never gazed on fairer scene,</div> +<div class="verse">Than there lay sweetly dreaming in that loveliness and sheen:—</div> +<div class="verse">But what is darkening yonder? and hark! that distant sound,</div> +<div class="verse">That comes like ghostly mutters faintly o'er the echoing ground.</div> +<div class="verse">And now that lightning flashes, like sulphureous light of Hell,</div> +<div class="verse">And now the winds come rushing o'er the far off wood and fell.</div> +<div class="verse">That cloud grows quickly larger, and the lightning flashing more—</div> +<div class="verse">Hark! Earth and Heaven are rocking in a consentaneous roar!</div> +<div class="verse">And heavily the deluge floods the hills, the vales, the streams,</div> +<div class="verse">And beasts howl out for terror and men start up from dreams.</div> +<div class="verse">Oh! 'tis a dreadful scene to-night, the dreadest e'er we saw,</div> +<div class="verse">The hardest heart that beateth now, in watery fear will thaw.</div> +<div class="verse">But lo! 'twas but a moment, like a wayward Beauty's wrath,</div> +<div class="verse">And the moon resumes in heaven, see! her all serener path—</div> +<div class="verse">And the clouds receding slowly rest upon the horizon round,</div> +<div class="verse">And the katydids and waters make the only living sound.</div> +<div class="verse">'Tis yet a night of loveliness, and fondly we may deem,</div> +<div class="verse">That Heaven and Earth are resting in the beauty of a Dream.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">{106}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>THE LIFE-LAND.</h2> + + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Oh yes, there's a land, far away, out of sight,</div> +<div class="verse">Where the fairest of flowers forever bloom bright—</div> +<div class="verse">Where the groves never wither—the buds never die—</div> +<div class="verse">And bright rivers of crystal forever roll by.</div> +<div class="verse">'Tis the clime of the Christian—the home of the blest—</div> +<div class="verse">Where the wretched are happy—the weary at rest.</div> +<div class="verse">'Neath its bowers in bloom, by its waters so still,</div> +<div class="verse">The righteous shall walk, free from anguish and ill;—</div> +<div class="verse">And they never shall pass from its portals again,</div> +<div class="verse">For their pleasures forever and aye shall remain.</div> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>TO MISS ——.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">The flowers you gave, dear girl, will fade,</div> +<div class="verseind">Nor shun the common lot, to die;</div> +<div class="verse">The thoughts they spoke, still undecayed,</div> +<div class="verseind">Shall bloom immortal as the sky.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Beneath the sun's meridian ray,</div> +<div class="verseind">They'll fade and leave no trace behind:</div> +<div class="verse">The love they woke shall ne'er decay,</div> +<div class="verseind">But be immortal like the Mind.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">{107}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>THE WIFE TO THE ABSENT HUSBAND.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Come back to me, my absent friend!</div> +<div class="verseind">Since thou wast far away,</div> +<div class="verse">The vernal flowers have lost some charms,</div> +<div class="verseind">Less bright the vernal day.</div> +<div class="verse">The wild, sweet voices of the fields;</div> +<div class="verseind">Of birds amid the sky;</div> +<div class="verse">Of streams that wander through the wood,</div> +<div class="verseind">With dreamy melody;</div> +<div class="verse">Sound not so sweet—and shine less bright,</div> +<div class="verseind">Unto my pensive soul,</div> +<div class="verse">Since thou wentest forth, O dearest friend,</div> +<div class="verseind">To brook the world's control.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Come back to me! come back to me!</div> +<div class="verseind">Let not the dream of fame,</div> +<div class="verse">Too long allure thy lingering feet</div> +<div class="verseind">To worship at a name.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Yet, I would have thee nobly strive</div> +<div class="verseind">To win that glorious meed,</div> +<div class="verse">But still, of Woman's saving love,</div> +<div class="verseind">Hast thou not urgent need?</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Come back to me! come back to me!</div> +<div class="verseind">Thou never yet hast known,</div> +<div class="verse">How lone and desolate I feel</div> +<div class="verseind">When left, by thee, alone.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">The dove without her loving mate,</div> +<div class="verseind">Repeats a song like mine—</div> +<div class="verse">Thus seems, o'er sad, neglected love,</div> +<div class="verseind">To murmur and repine.</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">{108}</a></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Come back to me—oh! quickly come!</div> +<div class="verseind">The joy that I shall know</div> +<div class="verse">Will more than pay for all this depth</div> +<div class="verseind">Of dark and bitter woe,</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Which thou hast doomed my heart to feel</div> +<div class="verseind">Through many a weary day;</div> +<div class="verse">And I will then forgive thy fault,</div> +<div class="verseind">In lingering thus away.</div> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>OH, BLUE-EYED MAID, I SIGH FOR THEE.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Oh! blue-eyed maid, I sigh for thee,</div> +<div class="verseind">A gentle twilight's close,</div> +<div class="verse">When music dies upon the lea,</div> +<div class="verseind">And dew drops wet the rose.</div> +<div class="verse">I look on tranquil nature round,</div> +<div class="verseind">And list to music's fall,</div> +<div class="verse">And think but half their charms are found,</div> +<div class="verseind">Since thou art far from all.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Oh, blue-eyed maid! the gorgeous beams</div> +<div class="verseind">That light a monarch's hall,</div> +<div class="verse">The glittering wealth of golden streams,</div> +<div class="verseind">To me were darkness all;</div> +<div class="verse">Unless thy light of loveliness,</div> +<div class="verseind">Adorned the regal scene,</div> +<div class="verse">And thou bedecked in royal dress,</div> +<div class="verseind">Shouldst reign my loving Queen.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">{109}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>TO MARY.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Oh, Mary, when afar from thee,</div> +<div class="verseind">And mountains rise between,</div> +<div class="verse">And I am wandering pensively</div> +<div class="verseind">Through many a varied scene;</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">It soothes to bid my fancy stray,</div> +<div class="verseind">On freest wings, to thee,</div> +<div class="verse">And cherish all the memories</div> +<div class="verseind">So very dear to me.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">I view again thy face, thy form,</div> +<div class="verseind">Thy look, thy ready smile,</div> +<div class="verse">I hear again those magic words,</div> +<div class="verseind">That all my soul beguile.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">I sit beside thy chair, and gaze,</div> +<div class="verseind">Upon thy willing face,</div> +<div class="verse">And there behold the speaking glow</div> +<div class="verseind">Of that mysterious grace,</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Which binds my constant soul to thee,</div> +<div class="verseind">And makes, through all life's years,</div> +<div class="verse">All that can make thy heart rejoice,</div> +<div class="verseind">Or bathe thy cheek with tears,</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Awake in me the thrill of joy,</div> +<div class="verseind">Or bow my soul in grief;</div> +<div class="verse">And makes me strive to make thee blest,</div> +<div class="verseind">Or yield thy pangs relief.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Yes, Mary, I will love but thee,</div> +<div class="verseind">Of all thy lovely race;</div> +<div class="verse">Our hearts shall find in life one home,</div> +<div class="verseind">In death one resting place.</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">{110}</a></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">And, if I linger now afar,</div> +<div class="verseind">'Tis fortune's hard decree—</div> +<div class="verse">Oh! were the dove's swift pinions mine,</div> +<div class="verseind">How would I fly to thee.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Those charms, with memory's feeble light</div> +<div class="verseind">On me would cease to beam;</div> +<div class="verse">Their rays, with present, perfect warmth,</div> +<div class="verseind">Upon my heart would gleam.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Thus, by thy side, so sweetly near,</div> +<div class="verseind">How blest to pass my life;</div> +<div class="verse">To press thy gentle hand in mine,</div> +<div class="verseind">And call thee my sweet wife.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">If Adam lost his happiness,</div> +<div class="verseind">Bewailed with ceaseless sighs,</div> +<div class="verse">With thee, my Eve, I scarce could wish</div> +<div class="verseind">Another Paradise.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">{111}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>THOUGH THOU WAST PASSING FAIR.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Though thou wast passing fair,</div> +<div class="verseind">And wondrous beauty crown'd thee,</div> +<div class="verse">And Fancy's robe most rare,</div> +<div class="verseind">Forever brightly bound thee:</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">I could not teach my heart,</div> +<div class="verseind">To bow in love before thee,</div> +<div class="verse">Nor bid the death depart,</div> +<div class="verseind">Which now hangs darkly o'er thee.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">I know a hectic flush</div> +<div class="verseind">On thy sweet cheek is burning,</div> +<div class="verse">That thou dost stilly hush</div> +<div class="verseind">Thy wrung heart's deepest yearning.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">I know that in thy breast,</div> +<div class="verseind">A serpent closely lurking,</div> +<div class="verse">Forbids thee e'er to rest,</div> +<div class="verseind">Thy utter ruin working.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">When, in the chilly ground,</div> +<div class="verseind">Thy lovely form lies sleeping,</div> +<div class="verse">Where vi'lets spring around,</div> +<div class="verseind">And purest dews are weeping:</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Thy sinless soul ascending</div> +<div class="verseind">Above this dreary sod,</div> +<div class="verse">Shall feel its being blending</div> +<div class="verseind">In deathless love with God.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">{112}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>THE LADY'S SOLILOQUY.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Ah! now I am beloved by him,</div> +<div class="verseind">And sweet it is, to think,</div> +<div class="verse">That life no more will be so dim,</div> +<div class="verseind">To make my spirit sink.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Ah! now I am beloved by him;</div> +<div class="verseind">The secret I will keep;</div> +<div class="verse">In silence to the mantling brim,</div> +<div class="verseind">I'll quaff this cup so deep.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Beloved by him! beloved by him!</div> +<div class="verseind">How dear the tender thought!</div> +<div class="verse">My eyes in happy tears do swim,</div> +<div class="verseind">My heart with bliss is fraught.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Beloved by him—that noble youth!</div> +<div class="verseind">With proud yet gentle mien,</div> +<div class="verse">Who speaks the guileless words of truth,</div> +<div class="verseind">And yet is not so "green."</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Beloved by him—ah! I shall own</div> +<div class="verseind">A husband very soon;</div> +<div class="verse">And he shall kneel before my throne,</div> +<div class="verseind">With many a costly boon,</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">The plate, the gold, the proud array</div> +<div class="verseind">Of horses, charioteers;—</div> +<div class="verse">And when comes round the paying day,</div> +<div class="verseind">I'll kiss him in arrears!</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">{113}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>LOVE WITHOUT HOPE.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">I cannot cease to love thee,</div> +<div class="verseind">Coldest fair!</div> +<div class="verse">Though pleading cannot move thee,</div> +<div class="verseind">And I despair.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Thy beauty was diviner,</div> +<div class="verseind">Than the summer moon,</div> +<div class="verse">And thou didst outshine her,</div> +<div class="verseind">At her noon.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Thy brow was like the silver</div> +<div class="verseind">On the star-lit sea;</div> +<div class="verse">Thy bright eyes did bewilder</div> +<div class="verseind">All, as me.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Thy motions were the motions</div> +<div class="verseind">Of a charmed bird,</div> +<div class="verse">As, poised o'er dream-world oceans,</div> +<div class="verseind">His sweet voice is heard.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Thou wast queenlier far</div> +<div class="verseind">Than the queenliest flower,</div> +<div class="verse">More glorious than a star</div> +<div class="verseind">In a fairy bower.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">But it can not move thee,</div> +<div class="verseind">My mad prayer!</div> +<div class="verse">Though I must ever love thee,</div> +<div class="verseind">Coldest fair!</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">{114}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>TO MARY.</h2> + + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Dear Mary, if my heart has hushed awhile,</div> +<div class="verse">Its loving voice within my breast—yet there,</div> +<div class="verse">Thine image was enshrined the dearest thing,</div> +<div class="verse">Which now remains to me in this sad world.</div> +<div class="verse">Thou bad'st me sing a song of thee, and said'st,</div> +<div class="verse">That I should make thee to my dreamy thought,</div> +<div class="verse">Whoe'er I would, and I will make thee be,</div> +<div class="verse">A fair and gentle friend—a lovely one—</div> +<div class="verse">Ah yes, the nearest, tenderest of all friends.</div> +<div class="verse">Sweet Mary, dost thou read my thought?</div> +<div class="verse">Who will be all in all to me on earth,</div> +<div class="verse">Sheathing my soul against the edge of pain,</div> +<div class="verse">Even till I seem to dwell in paradise,</div> +<div class="verse">With thee my Eve, and we may need no fall.</div> +<div class="verse">See, fairy spring hath walked upon the hills,</div> +<div class="verse">Where her foot-prints are green and flowers appear;</div> +<div class="verse">The turtle coos within our pleasant land.</div> +<div class="verse">Oh! now I throb to be by thy sweet side,</div> +<div class="verse">To sun me in the sweet spring of that smile</div> +<div class="verse">Which warms the beauties of my mind to birth.</div> +<div class="verse">Thus, Mary, when afar from thee, amid</div> +<div class="verse">The unloving and unloved I muse of thee,</div> +<div class="verse">And sing and love thee still, and cannot wish</div> +<div class="verse">The thought of thee a moment from my soul.</div> +<div class="verse">Thou art the friend whom I would ever have</div> +<div class="verse">Dwell by my soul in absence and when nigh.</div> +<div class="verse">Thou art the friend whom I would have be still,</div> +<div class="verse">The loved and guardian angel of my path,</div> +<div class="verse">Amid the mazes of a treacherous world.</div> +<div class="verse">Thou art the friend, with whom in smiling peace</div> +<div class="verse">I fain would walk, to the not dreadful tomb.</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">{115}</a></span> +<div class="verse">And now, adieu, sweet Mary! I must cease</div> +<div class="verse">My strain; but, as a wind-strain sleeps</div> +<div class="verse">Upon a bed of roses; so the echo</div> +<div class="verse">Of this my strain, will find its rest with thee.</div> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>WRITTEN IN AN ALBUM.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">As stainless thought my hand should write,</div> +<div class="verse">Upon this page of spotless white;</div> +<div class="verse">Nor would I that thy falling tear</div> +<div class="verse">Should blot the wish recorded here.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Oh, like the rose which opens here,</div> +<div class="verse">The earliest of the vernal year,</div> +<div class="verse">May Mary's bloom enchant the day,</div> +<div class="verse">And bless the Minstrel's votive lay.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">But when the envious, Boreal wind,</div> +<div class="verse">Shall leave his Northern cave behind,</div> +<div class="verse">And seek to sieze thy beauteous bloom</div> +<div class="verse">To deck his dark and dreary tomb:</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">May some kind angel swiftly fly,</div> +<div class="verse">And leave the region of the sky,</div> +<div class="verse">Transplant thee to a clime where ne'er</div> +<div class="verse">Sad winter mars the blooming year.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">{116}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>THE DEAD EAGLE.</h2> + + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">No more through the regions of glorious day,</div> +<div class="verse">Shall thy wings waft thee proudly—oh proudly away—</div> +<div class="verse">No more shall thy scream thrill the spirit that heard,</div> +<div class="verse">And saw thee, high mounting, O proud, mighty bird:</div> +<div class="verse">For thy form lies with beasts on the filth of the plain,</div> +<div class="verse">And it never shall soar from its slumber again.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">How strong was thy wing, and how fierce was thine eye—</div> +<div class="verse">Which vanquished the storm—and the sun throned on high—</div> +<div class="verse">How far was thy flight mid thy path through the blue,</div> +<div class="verse">As thou sankest away from our wandering view;—</div> +<div class="verse">But thy form rottens now with the beasts of the plain,</div> +<div class="verse">And it never shall soar from its slumber again.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">We will mourn, we will mourn for thee, proud bird of heaven,</div> +<div class="verse">Whose loftiest walks to thy footsteps were given;</div> +<div class="verse">For thy form rots with beasts on the reed-sighing plain,</div> +<div class="verse">And it never shall soar from that slumber again.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">{117}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>LAMENT.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">My soul is sad—oh! dark to-night,</div> +<div class="verseind">'Tis wrapt in midnight's gloom;</div> +<div class="verse">Wild minstrel! seize thy harp and sing,</div> +<div class="verseind">As o'er the victor tomb.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">For thoughts, more beautiful than dreams,</div> +<div class="verseind">Within my soul have died,</div> +<div class="verse">As fade away the glorious tints</div> +<div class="verseind">From heaven, at even-tide.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Wild minstrel! seize thy harp, I pray,</div> +<div class="verseind">And let a dirge arise</div> +<div class="verse">In frantic woe—then faintly die</div> +<div class="verseind">Amid the nightwind's sighs.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">The saddest—deepest—wildest strain</div> +<div class="verseind">Should wail such visions o'er;</div> +<div class="verse">Within the mournful Past entombed,</div> +<div class="verseind">To be awaked no more.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">{118}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>OH, LOVE! THE DEW LIES ON THE FLOWER.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Oh, love! the dew lies on the flower,</div> +<div class="verseind">And the stars gleam on the sea;</div> +<div class="verse">It is the charm'd, the silent hour,</div> +<div class="verseind">When I should roam with thee.</div> +<div class="verse">The day dies out within the West,</div> +<div class="verseind">The shadows gather near;</div> +<div class="verse">And now sweet fancies fill my breast,</div> +<div class="verseind">And thou art strangely dear.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Behold! as yonder heavenly moon,</div> +<div class="verseind">Breaks through the dark-blue sky,</div> +<div class="verse">And through night's deepest, stillest noon,</div> +<div class="verseind">That brightness will supply—</div> +<div class="verse">Thy smile thus sheds its heavenly light</div> +<div class="verseind">Athwart life's deepest gloom,—</div> +<div class="verse">Thus brightly gilds the spirit's night</div> +<div class="verseind">Its gentle beams illume.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">{119}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>RED ROSE.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Sweet rose! ere Ellen gathered thee</div> +<div class="verseind">From off thy parent stem,</div> +<div class="verse">With hope to rival her sweet cheek,</div> +<div class="verseind">Thou wast a floral gem.</div> +<div class="verse">But when I think her snow-white hands,</div> +<div class="verseind">Did pluck thee, rose! for me,</div> +<div class="verse">The brightest gems of earth or sky,</div> +<div class="verseind">Are naught compared with thee.</div> +<div class="verse">How fondly even for hours I gaze</div> +<div class="verseind">Upon thy charms so rare,</div> +<div class="verse">Thy tint of richest, purest red,</div> +<div class="verseind">Thy fragrant petals fair.</div> +<div class="verse">Sweet rose! my Ellen's pledge of love,</div> +<div class="verseind">Thou fairest thing of earth,</div> +<div class="verse">Save darling Ellen's angel self,—</div> +<div class="verseind">Words cannot speak thy worth.</div> +<div class="verse">To token faintly to her soul,</div> +<div class="verseind">How prized by me thou art,</div> +<div class="verse">My trembling hand has placed thee here</div> +<div class="verseind">Beside my throbbing heart.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">{120}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>ELLEN.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Ellen, my heart is not yet thine,</div> +<div class="verseind">And still I can but sigh,</div> +<div class="verse">Whene'er I view thy semblance shine</div> +<div class="verseind">In Memory's mirror nigh.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Thy brow so soft—thy cheek so fair—</div> +<div class="verseind">Thy looks so sweetly mild—</div> +<div class="verse">Thy angel air—thy angel smile,</div> +<div class="verseind">My spirit have beguiled.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Ellen, my heart is not yet thine,</div> +<div class="verseind">But oft my fancy dreams—</div> +<div class="verse">When evening's peaceful shades decline</div> +<div class="verseind">Along our mountain streams.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Yes! oft my tranced fancy sees,</div> +<div class="verseind">Mid evening's deepening shade,</div> +<div class="verse">Thy airy form—and, in the breeze,</div> +<div class="verseind">Thy voice I hear, sweet maid!</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Oh! Ellen! may yon heavens smile,</div> +<div class="verseind">On thee, their beauteous birth,</div> +<div class="verse">And with the loveliest joys beguile</div> +<div class="verseind">Thy path amid the earth.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">{121}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>THE SABBATH WORSHIPPER.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">'Twas Sabbath morn. A holy light</div> +<div class="verseind">Hung o'er the hill and wood,</div> +<div class="verse">O'er wooded stream, and lofty height,</div> +<div class="verseind">And mighty solitude.</div> +<div class="verse">All Nature lay in bright repose,</div> +<div class="verse">And from her silent lips arose,</div> +<div class="verse">In mystic accents through the air,</div> +<div class="verse">The voice of worship, praise, and prayer.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">I gazed into the bright, blue sky,</div> +<div class="verseind">Then bent my eyes to view,</div> +<div class="verse">The earth which lay so sweetly by</div> +<div class="verseind">In robes of summer hue;</div> +<div class="verse">I dreamed that blessed ones might deign,</div> +<div class="verse">To leave their radiant seats again,</div> +<div class="verse">Nor weep to yield their home in heaven,</div> +<div class="verse">For the bright ones that Earth had given.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">On morn, so holy, pure, and bright—</div> +<div class="verseind">I looked on one most fair,</div> +<div class="verse">Whose braided hair was dark as night,</div> +<div class="verseind">And wrought with maiden care—</div> +<div class="verse">Forth issue from her father's door,</div> +<div class="verse">Walking with sweet mien evermore,</div> +<div class="verse">As if blest spirits led her there,</div> +<div class="verse">And she beheld their forms in air.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Hark! how it thrills the holy air—</div> +<div class="verseind">The choir's high song of praise,</div> +<div class="verse">Which many voices mingling there</div> +<div class="verseind">In sweetest concert, raise,</div> +<div class="verse">And oh! how warmly, fervently</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">{122}</a></span> +<div class="verse">Those words of prayer ascend the sky,</div> +<div class="verse">And joined with that loud strain of praise</div> +<div class="verse">Blend with the song that Seraphs raise.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">And sits that lovely lady there,</div> +<div class="verseind">Uniting in the strain?</div> +<div class="verse">And does she bend her form so fair,</div> +<div class="verseind">When silence comes again?</div> +<div class="verse">Yes! she was there, and lovelier there,</div> +<div class="verse">Than she this hour could be elsewhere;</div> +<div class="verse">Though few beneath yon heavenly sky</div> +<div class="verse">Might with her erring beauty vie.</div> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>TO ——.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">As some gay flow'ret brightly rears,</div> +<div class="verseind">Its head beside the pilgrim's way,</div> +<div class="verse">And charms away his flowing tears,</div> +<div class="verseind">And glads him, with its blessed ray—</div> +<div class="verse">Sweet Mary—"Angel without wing,"</div> +<div class="verseind">Heaven gave thee man's rough path to cheer—</div> +<div class="verse">To bid the mourner smile and sing,</div> +<div class="verseind">"At last, Earth is not wholly drear."</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">{123}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>WHERE IS OUR BROTHER?</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Where is our brother? I have come</div> +<div class="verseind">From wandering far and long,</div> +<div class="verse">And oh! I miss one well-known face,</div> +<div class="verseind">Gone from our little throng.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Where is our brother? Where is he,</div> +<div class="verseind">Ye late saw smiling here,</div> +<div class="verse">I look in vain his face to see</div> +<div class="verseind">To catch his tones so clear.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Where is my brother? Can it be,</div> +<div class="verseind">That we shall never more</div> +<div class="verse">Behold his form upon the earth,</div> +<div class="verseind">As oft, so oft, before.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Ah! till we meet before the bar</div> +<div class="verseind">At Time's last, awful day,</div> +<div class="verse">We shall not see his face again,</div> +<div class="verseind">Although we mourn alway.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">In youth cut down, he lies so still,</div> +<div class="verseind">That all the strength of grief,</div> +<div class="verse">Cannot restore his form to us,</div> +<div class="verseind">One moment though so brief.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Through Life's long day, we'll think on him,</div> +<div class="verseind">And mourn his early flight,</div> +<div class="verse">And Earth, to us, hath lost a star,</div> +<div class="verseind">Gone down in endless night.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">To us, gone down in endless night,—</div> +<div class="verseind">Beyond the sun afar,</div> +<div class="verse">He beams beside his Savior-God,</div> +<div class="verseind">A bright immortal star.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">{124}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>STAR OF REST.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Star of Rest! thy silvery lustre,</div> +<div class="verseind">Brightly streams from heaven above,</div> +<div class="verse">Ere each sweet and glittering cluster</div> +<div class="verseind">Ope on earth their eyes of love.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Star of Rest! how gently closeth</div> +<div class="verseind">Every bud beneath thy brow,</div> +<div class="verse">And the wearied frame reposeth</div> +<div class="verseind">From its daily labor now.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Star of Rest! thy streaming splendor,</div> +<div class="verseind">Lends the proud and queenly moon,</div> +<div class="verse">Till a glorious host attend her</div> +<div class="verseind">Through her deep and silent noon.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Star of Rest! we bless thy beaming,</div> +<div class="verseind">From that vault so calm and blue,</div> +<div class="verse">For thou bringest sweetest dreaming,</div> +<div class="verseind">And thou fillest the heart with dew.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Love of Heaven—oh! brightly shining,</div> +<div class="verseind">Gleam above our dying bed,</div> +<div class="verse">When the Day of life declining,</div> +<div class="verseind">Tells us that its toil has sped.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">{125}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>MELANCHOLY.</h2> + + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">There comes a time for flowers to fade, and light to die in gloom,</div> +<div class="verse">There is a time for mortal bliss to know a certain doom.</div> +<div class="verse">Sometimes I feel that I have reached that hour, and I have felt,</div> +<div class="verse">When pondering o'er the dreary change, my spirit in me melt.</div> +<div class="verse">The joyful trust, the bounding hopes, that laughed at scorned defeat,</div> +<div class="verse">The feeling, like pure rock-born streams, as strong, as deep, and sweet;</div> +<div class="verse">The soul that thrilled with transport wild, at Beauty's magic name;</div> +<div class="verse">Ah! all have strangely altered now,—I am no more the same.</div> +<div class="verse">And now I feel alone and sad amid an ocean wide,</div> +<div class="verse">I care not much to what strange coast my single plank may ride,</div> +<div class="verse">I am alone—what matters it where my bowed frame may be,</div> +<div class="verse">Since now my heart is never more by land or rolling sea.</div> +<div class="verse">I feel that as yon Night now throws its mantle o'er the earth,</div> +<div class="verse">Till ghostly shapes and ghostly sounds, go dimly walking forth—</div> +<div class="verse">That soon the night of Death may throw its mantle over me,</div> +<div class="verse">And unfamiliar things shall rise from dark eternity.</div> +<div class="verse">Yet, would I hope, when such shall come, to dwell not with pain,</div> +<div class="verse">But walk, with a triumphant song, o'er heaven's unshadowed plain—</div> +<div class="verse">Where Youth and Hope, and Love and Joy, (the angels,) ever smile,</div> +<div class="verse">And evermore the aching heart from woe and grief beguile.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">{126}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>FOR MARY.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Oh! may the brightest smiles of heaven</div> +<div class="verseind">That beam on men below,</div> +<div class="verse">Still shine upon sweet Mary's path,</div> +<div class="verseind">Wherever she may go.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">May Angels, like herself! still guard</div> +<div class="verseind">Her steps from every ill,</div> +<div class="verse">Until she walks in robes of white,</div> +<div class="verseind">O'er God's high, happy hill.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">And, when, in that celestial clime,</div> +<div class="verseind">She beams a spirit bright—</div> +<div class="verse">How sweet to think she'll love me then</div> +<div class="verseind">Where nought our love can blight.</div> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>LINES.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Oft have I heard thine accents steal,</div> +<div class="verseind">Like music on the air,</div> +<div class="verse">Then quickly turned to see thy form,</div> +<div class="verseind">Sweet Mary! standing there.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">But thou did'st ever glide away,</div> +<div class="verseind">Nor heed my pleading prayer—</div> +<div class="verse">But now, alas! thou'rt but a Thought,</div> +<div class="verseind">A phantom like the air.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">{127}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>THE FLOWERS.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">The flowers! the flowers! I love ye, flowers;</div> +<div class="verseind">Ye have a mystic voice</div> +<div class="verse">To speak unto my inmost soul</div> +<div class="verseind">And make my heart rejoice.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Your charms illume the splendid halls</div> +<div class="verseind">Where wealthy princes move,</div> +<div class="verse">And light the humble peasant's cot,</div> +<div class="verseind">Like gleams of heavenly love.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Oh flowers, bright flowers! I feel within</div> +<div class="verseind">My inmost heart, your power;</div> +<div class="verse">And know I see the light of Heaven,</div> +<div class="verseind">Within a blooming flower.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Had I a lovely home amid</div> +<div class="verseind">Some valley green and fair—</div> +<div class="verse">The flowers—sweet flowers—should ever gleam,</div> +<div class="verseind">In star-like beauty there.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">{128}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>THE ENCHANTED REALM OF JOY.</h2> + + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Oh! I am sick of the ennui that comes of the earth,</div> +<div class="verse">All tasteless its landscapes—and charmless its mirth.</div> +<div class="verse">Away, swift away, on a pinion, as sprite,</div> +<div class="verse">I will speed to a kingdom not day and not night:</div> +<div class="verse">Where a spell of enchantment as soft as a dream,</div> +<div class="verse">Moves over the mountain, the valley, and stream;</div> +<div class="verse">And the bird and the rill with a sleep-bringing rhyme,</div> +<div class="verse">Soothe the gliding away of the current of time.</div> +<div class="verse">Away, swift away to this dream-world of bliss—</div> +<div class="verse">From a place all so tiresome and tasteless as this.</div> +<div class="verse">And would I might ever abandon its beams</div> +<div class="verse">That radiate but feebly, to dwell by the streams</div> +<div class="verse">That gleam from the mountains of green fairyland,</div> +<div class="verse">And, at last, in bright morn of Heaven expand.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">{129}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>TO MISS M.T.R.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Whate'er may be my unknown fate</div> +<div class="verseind">Upon this dark, terrestrial sphere,</div> +<div class="verse">Wilt smile to hear that I am blest,</div> +<div class="verseind">And o'er my anguish shed thy tear?</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Methinks it were a happy lot,</div> +<div class="verseind">That thou would'st grieve or smile with me;</div> +<div class="verse">And though all others prove most false,</div> +<div class="verseind">I ne'er should find untruth in thee.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Yes! thou wouldst seem some heavenly one</div> +<div class="verseind">If such thy friendship followed me,</div> +<div class="verse">Nor would I cease, through every change,</div> +<div class="verseind">To crave of Heaven its love for thee.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">{130}</a></div> + + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>BENEATH THOSE STARS OF SUMMER.</h2> + +<h3>RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED TO MISS ——.</h3> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Beneath those stars of summer,</div> +<div class="verseind">I told thee my wild love;</div> +<div class="verse">And I beheld thy blushes,</div> +<div class="verseind">And saw thy bosom move.</div> +<div class="verse">It was a holy moment,</div> +<div class="verseind">And bliss o'erflowed my heart;</div> +<div class="verse">For thou did'st say that never</div> +<div class="verseind">I should from thee depart.</div> +<div class="verse">I thought how very happy</div> +<div class="verseind">Our future life would be,</div> +<div class="verse">That life's worst pain and suffering</div> +<div class="verseind">Were sweet, if shared with thee.</div> +<div class="verse">Thou said'st thy deepest pleasure,</div> +<div class="verseind">Thy highest pride would be,</div> +<div class="verse">Through all of life to gladden,</div> +<div class="verseind">To soothe and comfort me.</div> +<div class="verse">And now when years have glided,</div> +<div class="verseind">As silver waves depart,</div> +<div class="verse">I feel that thou did'st utter</div> +<div class="verseind">The truth from out thy heart:</div> +<div class="verse">For thou hast never pained me,</div> +<div class="verseind">Through all these happy years,</div> +<div class="verse">But still hast fondly loved me,</div> +<div class="verseind">And charmed me even to tears.</div> +<div class="verse">Thou hast been such a blessing,</div> +<div class="verseind">Thy virtues so much worth;</div> +<div class="verse">'Twere not profane to call thee</div> +<div class="verseind">An angel upon earth.</div> +<div class="verse">And if those souls most loving,</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">{131}</a></span> +<div class="verseind">Upon this spot of care,</div> +<div class="verse">Shall feel most bliss in heaven,</div> +<div class="verseind">Thou'lt be a bright one there.</div> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>TO FANNIE.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">My Fannie dear! when absence rends</div> +<div class="verseind">My faithful heart from thee,</div> +<div class="verse">What gloomy thoughts oppress my mind,</div> +<div class="verseind">There is no joy for me.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">By day, woe wastes my sinking soul,</div> +<div class="verseind">By night I wake and sigh;</div> +<div class="verse">And still the grief that kills me quite,</div> +<div class="verseind">Is, Fannie is not nigh.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Oh! may that God whose name is Love</div> +<div class="verseind">Her form to me restore;</div> +<div class="verse">That I may never, never part</div> +<div class="verseind">From darling Fannie more.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">{132}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>A STROLL DOWN QUALITY ROW.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">The other day I took a stroll,</div> +<div class="verseind">Just when the sun grew low,</div> +<div class="verse">A down the Row of Quality,</div> +<div class="verseind">That gay and charming row.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">I had been dreaming all the day</div> +<div class="verseind">Of bright, poetic forms</div> +<div class="verse">Moving through silent fairyland,</div> +<div class="verseind">Bedecked with glorious charms.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">As down the row, I slowly walked,</div> +<div class="verseind">First came proud Majesty;</div> +<div class="verse">Love shone in all her queenly looks,</div> +<div class="verseind">Command was in her eye.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Then gentle Grace came smiling next,</div> +<div class="verseind">Without the aid of art,</div> +<div class="verse">And, with a soft and pleasing bliss,</div> +<div class="verseind">She past into my heart.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Then Beauty came supreme o'er all,</div> +<div class="verseind">A Heaven-anointed queen;</div> +<div class="verse">But modest Goodness walked behind,</div> +<div class="verseind">With mild yet winning mien.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Then I returned to dream and sing</div> +<div class="verseind">Through many a pleasant hour,</div> +<div class="verse">Of all that evening's loveliness,</div> +<div class="verseind">And beauty's matchless power.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">{133}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>THERE IS A GOD.</h2> + + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">The azure vault so far above,</div> +<div class="verse">Arrayed in smiles of peace and love,</div> +<div class="verse">Would sweetly seem the truth to prove—</div> +<div class="i8">"There is a God."</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">The blooming earth so glad below—</div> +<div class="verse">The fragrant flowers—the streams that flow—</div> +<div class="verse">The tuneful birds—would bid us know,</div> +<div class="i8">"There is a God."</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Yon soaring sun on wings of fire,</div> +<div class="verse">Proclaims his great, celestial Sire—</div> +<div class="verse">'Tis chanted by the starry choir,</div> +<div class="i8">"There is a God."</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">We know it, too, at nights' fair noon,</div> +<div class="verse">When lo! the pale and placid Moon,</div> +<div class="verse">Illumes the balmy night of June,</div> +<div class="i8">"There is a God."</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">The smiling Spring, and Autumn brown,</div> +<div class="verse">Hoarse-raging Winter's angry frown,</div> +<div class="verse">And Summer fair, unceasing own,</div> +<div class="i8">"There is a God."</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">The mountains high, and dark, and vast—</div> +<div class="verse">The thunder's roar—the howling blast—</div> +<div class="verse">The lightnings springing thick and fast,</div> +<div class="i8">Amid the gloom,</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">That wraps the Earth, and Sea, and Sky—</div> +<div class="verse">The Storm-fiend's wild, terrific cry—</div> +<div class="verse">The Earth-quake's shock—proclaim on high,</div> +<div class="i8">"An awful God!"</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">{134}</a></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">But oh! that awful God above,</div> +<div class="verse">Is yet a gracious God of love—</div> +<div class="verse">A bleeding Lamb—a wounded Dove—</div> +<div class="i8">The sinner's God.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Poor sinner! love His holy name,</div> +<div class="verse">And when this world shall pass in flame</div> +<div class="verse">A heavenly mansion thou mayst claim,</div> +<div class="i8">To dwell with God.</div> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>TO THE BELOVED.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">I dream of thee, beloved one,</div> +<div class="verseind">When the moon comes o'er the sea,</div> +<div class="verse">And hangs her horns of silver,</div> +<div class="verseind">In yonder forest tree!</div> +<div class="verse">I wake from out my slumber,</div> +<div class="verseind">I think I hear thy voice,</div> +<div class="verse">It thrills my list'ning spirit,</div> +<div class="verseind">It makes my soul rejoice.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Oh love! thy fair, bright image,</div> +<div class="verseind">Is hov'ring near to mine,</div> +<div class="verse">Oh love! I see thy passion,</div> +<div class="verseind">In those deep eyes of thine:</div> +<div class="verse">Ah me! those bright eyes gleaming,</div> +<div class="verseind">Have bound my senses quite,</div> +<div class="verse">Those eyes are o'er me beaming,</div> +<div class="verseind">The only stars of night.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">{135}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>TO LORA GORDON BOON.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Sweet maiden of the feeling soul,</div> +<div class="verseind">I saw thy little form,</div> +<div class="verse">Arrayed in gay and glittering garb,</div> +<div class="verseind">And felt thy beauty's charm.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">And, Lora! when I saw thee show</div> +<div class="verseind">The mighty poet's thought,</div> +<div class="verse">The poet's truth, with vivid force,</div> +<div class="verseind">Before my mind was brought.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">And when I heard thee sweetly sing,</div> +<div class="verseind">The bold gay "Cavalier,"</div> +<div class="verse">I thought that was the sweetest tone</div> +<div class="verseind">E'er fell on mortal ear.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">"Sweet Maid!" 'twas love's most plaintive voice,</div> +<div class="verseind">That echoes from the soul,</div> +<div class="verse">And makes the listening spirit pause</div> +<div class="verseind">In that divine control.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">And when thou sang'st the "Soldier Boy,"</div> +<div class="verseind">I heard the drum and fife,</div> +<div class="verse">The bugle's blast, the cannon's boom,</div> +<div class="verseind">The keen, sharp shriek for life!</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">And when thou sang'st with gentle voice,</div> +<div class="verseind">The "Bonnie Breast Knots" too;</div> +<div class="verse">'Twas like the words of peace and love,</div> +<div class="verseind">That follow war's wild crew.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">And when I saw thee lightly whirl</div> +<div class="verseind">Through that ecstatic dance,</div> +<div class="verse">My happy spirit flew with thee,</div> +<div class="verseind">As in a joyous trance.</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">{136}</a></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Sweet maiden, when thou pass'd'st away,</div> +<div class="verseind">I felt a soft regret;</div> +<div class="verse">And oh! thy genius and thy charms,</div> +<div class="verseind">I never shall forget.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Sweet maiden, fare thee—fare thee well!</div> +<div class="verseind">Thou sing'st and flitt'st away—</div> +<div class="verse">A thing that charmed us, and shall be,</div> +<div class="verseind">Remembered through life's day.</div> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>MONTICELLO.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">On Monticello's classic brow,</div> +<div class="verseind">I stood and gazed around on earth;</div> +<div class="verse">And feelings of no common glow,</div> +<div class="verseind">Within my bosom had their birth.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">The glorious memory of the past,</div> +<div class="verseind">When valor, single-handed, won,</div> +<div class="verse">The brightest boon for man at last,</div> +<div class="verseind">Freedom for every sire and son.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">I thought how strangely, wildly rung</div> +<div class="verseind">That dictum in the world's dull ear,</div> +<div class="verse">Breathed with a firm, unfaltering tongue,</div> +<div class="verseind">"No tyrant's pride shall flourish here."</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">{137}</a></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">But, look upon yon humble tomb,</div> +<div class="verseind">Oh! does it hide some humble one?</div> +<div class="verse">Now, part the mountain's leafy bloom,—</div> +<div class="verseind">Is this the grave of <span class="smcap">Jefferson</span>?</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Huge shame confound this long neglect,</div> +<div class="verseind">That thus o'ershades his resting place,</div> +<div class="verse">Who, living, sought to raise, protect,</div> +<div class="verseind">And fit, this home of Adam's race.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Who guards that most illustrious tomb,</div> +<div class="verseind">And welcomes there the pilgrim's love?</div> +<div class="verse">A stranger to his native soil,</div> +<div class="verseind">Stands sentinel his grave above.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Virginia! oh! retrieve thy name,</div> +<div class="verseind">No longer scorn thy source of pride;</div> +<div class="verse">Pay double tribute to their fame,</div> +<div class="verseind">Whose shades so long in vain have sighed.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Rear monuments to tell the world,</div> +<div class="verseind">The virtues of departed worth,</div> +<div class="verse">Till yonder sun in night be hurled,</div> +<div class="verseind">The glorious heritage of earth.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Then through the ages that succeed,</div> +<div class="verseind">The hearts shall come from every shore,</div> +<div class="verse">To worship where their relics lie,</div> +<div class="verseind">Whose glorious fame can die no more.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">{138}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>TO MARIAN.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Dear Marian, thou art far away,</div> +<div class="verse">And I'm disconsolate to-day,</div> +<div class="i8">In sorrow sighing;</div> +<div class="verse">My pleasant thoughts lie like the leaves,</div> +<div class="verse">O'er whose cold heads Æolus grieves,</div> +<div class="i8">Complaining, dying.</div> +<div class="verse">'Tis weary, dreary, dreary here,</div> +<div class="verse">The yellow leaves are falling sere,</div> +<div class="i8">With mournful rustling,</div> +<div class="verse">The little bird has hush'd his song,</div> +<div class="verse">And close the greener boughs among</div> +<div class="i8">He's coldly nestling.</div> +<div class="verse">How sad the high wind's sounding dirge,</div> +<div class="verse">As 'twere old ocean's moaning surge,</div> +<div class="i8">Around our dwelling;</div> +<div class="verse">I well may tell the reason why,</div> +<div class="verse">But oh! the teardrops in mine eye</div> +<div class="i8">Are swiftly swelling.</div> +<div class="verse">The world is sad, and I am so;</div> +<div class="verse">Does Marian hear my plaint? Oh, no;</div> +<div class="i8">She's far away.</div> +<div class="verse">Ye envious streams—ye hateful hills!</div> +<div class="verse">Ah me! what cruel anguish thrills</div> +<div class="i8">My heart to-day!</div> +<div class="verse">But soon may Fortune learn to smile</div> +<div class="verse">Upon her sad and helpless child,</div> +<div class="i8">And let us meet,</div> +<div class="verse">No more to part, no more to sigh,</div> +<div class="verse">But happy live, and happy die,</div> +<div class="i8">In union sweet!</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">{139}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>THE SPIRIT OF POESY.</h2> + + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">O! radiant spirit, bright Poesy, where</div> +<div class="verse">Is thy dwelling, thou seraph of beauty, so fair</div> +<div class="verse">In the rainbow thou laughest at sweet summer's even,</div> +<div class="verse">And thou ridest the tempest that rends earth and heaven;</div> +<div class="verse">On the lawn gemm'd with dew, 'mid the forest in green,</div> +<div class="verse">On the mountains' huge brows, in the valleys between,</div> +<div class="verse">In the blue rolling ocean, in sky, earth and air—</div> +<div class="verse">Thy spiritual loveliness broods every where,</div> +<div class="verse">Thou quaffest morn's tears in a chalice of light,</div> +<div class="verse">And thy form in the splendor of Phoebus flames bright;</div> +<div class="verse">Thou kissest the rose-bud so fay-like and fair,</div> +<div class="verse">And the lightnings thou wreathest in thy dark-streaming hair!</div> +<div class="verse">Thy melody trills in the silver rill's flow,</div> +<div class="verse">And it roars in the earthquake that thunders below;</div> +<div class="verse">All heaven is fill'd with thy presence divine,</div> +<div class="verse">All earth in the smile of thy beauty doth shine:</div> +<div class="verse">From heaven to earth, and from earth swift to heaven,</div> +<div class="verse">Thy golden-wheel'd chariot is viewlessly driven:</div> +<div class="verse">And thou robest all things in the raiment of love,</div> +<div class="verse">By fingers of seraphim woven above—</div> +<div class="verse">And the song which thou sing'st is the melody flowing,</div> +<div class="verse">Like droppings of nectar, from angel lips glowing—</div> +<div class="verse">And God is the Fountain, O, Poesy bright,</div> +<div class="verse">Whose waters now flood me with mystic delight!</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">{140}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>THE WATER.</h2> + + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">The water, see it, leaps from the mountain's high brow,</div> +<div class="verseind">Like a roll of smooth silver, and laughingly now</div> +<div class="verse">See, it skips, like a child, through the valley so green,</div> +<div class="verseind">Throwing beauty and blithesomeness over the scene.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">See the dew-drops of morning that glitter so bright,</div> +<div class="verseind">Drunk up by the leaves and the flowers with delight;</div> +<div class="verse">See the fair delicate fays, for their heavenly feast,</div> +<div class="verseind">In colors more lovely their light limbs have drest.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">See the dark-rushing showers exultingly come</div> +<div class="verseind">Down, down to the earth from their high, cloudy home!</div> +<div class="verse">How the countless drops twinkle, and dance, and rejoice,</div> +<div class="verseind">Then creep to the ground with a tremulous voice!</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Oh the water, the water, it shineth so bright!</div> +<div class="verseind">It falls like a beautiful raining of light,</div> +<div class="verse">And it gladdeneth the earth, and the sky, and the sea,</div> +<div class="verseind">'Till the world laugheth out in her fullness of glee!</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">See it all smileth fairest—'tis beauty above,</div> +<div class="verseind">In Heaven and Earth 'tis but beauty and love;</div> +<div class="verse">With harmony dancing—a scene like a dream,</div> +<div class="verseind">When Heaven comes down on the spirit to beam!</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Oh the water! the water! man, quaff its bright flow;</div> +<div class="verseind">It will gladden thy spirit, but give thee no woe:</div> +<div class="verse">As it fresh'neth the world, so its rills will impart</div> +<div class="verseind">Health, gladness, and sweetness and joy to thy heart.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">But oh, the foul demons (horrific to tell)</div> +<div class="verseind">Have mixed a fierce poison, the wild flame of hell;</div> +<div class="verse">And it killeth each fairest and loveliest thing</div> +<div class="verseind">That the earth ever knew in her bridal of Spring.</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">{141}</a></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">'Tis the wild stream of hell! oh it burneth the soul,</div> +<div class="verseind">It scatheth, and blighteth, and killeth the whole;</div> +<div class="verse">Yet, a Vulture, it gnaweth the quivering liver,</div> +<div class="verseind">Forever consuming, but satiate never.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Ay, it fills the wide world with the wailing and woe,</div> +<div class="verseind">That liken the shrieking of Devils below:</div> +<div class="verse">And the words of the eloquent never can tell,</div> +<div class="verseind">The abyss of this anguish, this foretaste of Hell.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Oh God of the curst! turn this fierce stream away,</div> +<div class="verseind">In trembling, and misery, and anguish we pray;</div> +<div class="verse">Make the waters of <ins class="correction" title="text reads 'Temperence'">Temperance</ins> flow wide o'er the Earth,</div> +<div class="verseind">Till she shine as of yore in the smile of her birth!</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">{142}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>BLANNERHASSETT'S ISLAND.</h2> + + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">On beautiful Ohio when you sail,</div> +<div class="verse">And view its banks, forever green and fair,</div> +<div class="verse">And feel the falling sunlight, and the gale</div> +<div class="verse">That freshly stirs that wild and western air;</div> +<div class="verse">You may observe a lovely island there,</div> +<div class="verse">A greenery spot, enclosed by waters bright,</div> +<div class="verse">A spot of beauty, and a spot most rare;</div> +<div class="verse">There the fair summer moon sheds softest light,</div> +<div class="verse">And summer stars look down from heaven's cerulean height.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Around that isle, a mournful story clings,</div> +<div class="verse">That ever wakes a soft and sad regret,</div> +<div class="verse">In those who feel the sorrow which it brings,</div> +<div class="verse">All swift and fresh upon the memory yet,</div> +<div class="verse">Of those who sail beyond it, brightly set,</div> +<div class="verse">An emerald within that crystal flood;</div> +<div class="verse">Its sad, strange name a feeling doth beget</div> +<div class="verse">That wakes a sigh in bosoms meek and good,</div> +<div class="verse">And leaves the thoughtful sprite in no ungrateful mood.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Here Blannerhasset<a name="FNanchor_E_5" id="FNanchor_E_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_E_5" class="fnanchor">[E]</a> dwelt; a blest recluse,</div> +<div class="verse">In this green Eden of the leafy West;</div> +<div class="verse">And felt sweet Peace her softest balm infuse,</div> +<div class="verse">Into his once too world-disturbed breast:</div> +<div class="verse">There did he find a deep and quiet rest:</div> +<div class="verse">The mockbird sang his vespers, while the star</div> +<div class="verse">Shone sweetly o'er the rippling river's crest;</div> +<div class="verse">There no rude sound the halcyon calm did mar,</div> +<div class="verse">And Grief was absent still, and Hate was banished far.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">So Blannerhasset with his partner, dwelt,</div> +<div class="verse">In kind connubial tenderness, in this</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">{143}</a></span> +<div class="verse">Most gay and blooming scene; here, here they felt</div> +<div class="verse">That feeling which if earth hath aught like bliss,</div> +<div class="verse">Is bliss! the tender look! the touch! the kiss!</div> +<div class="verse">And, often mid this sylvan scene was heard,</div> +<div class="verse">(Where no vile Envy gave its serpent hiss,)</div> +<div class="verse">The voice of love, the only, joyous, word</div> +<div class="verse">Which blended with the notes of wind, and rill, and bird.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Sweet pair! with all that's best of life, possest,</div> +<div class="verse">Wealth, love, refinement, learning, genius, birth;</div> +<div class="verse">Bright, blooming offspring, virtuous, good and blest</div> +<div class="verse">Charming their hearts, with that young, pangless mirth;</div> +<div class="verse">And, when at evening mild, they saunter'd forth,</div> +<div class="verse">Beneath the rosy sky, they looked toward heaven,</div> +<div class="verse">And wondered why this was so bright an earth,</div> +<div class="verse">And why that God whose gifts to man are even,</div> +<div class="verse">This wondrous happiness to them alone had given.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Then came a dark-soul'd man, with magic eye,</div> +<div class="verse">And glozing tongue, and Blannerhasset's mind,</div> +<div class="verse">Became his slave, he could not now deny</div> +<div class="verse">His devilish spell, a villian, smooth refin'd,</div> +<div class="verse">Whose mighty arts his thoughtless victim bind,</div> +<div class="verse">In fearful chains: Burr was this Satan's name,</div> +<div class="verse">Who crept into this Eden unconfin'd,</div> +<div class="verse">And drove this erring pair of later fame,</div> +<div class="verse">Like that of old, to roam and sigh o'er earth the same.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">"Come, go with me," said Burr, "and you shall find,</div> +<div class="verse">Strange honors, riches, and a deathless name,"</div> +<div class="verse">And Blannerhasset thought the villian kind,</div> +<div class="verse">Who fed his soul, on novel dreams of fame,</div> +<div class="verse">While Burr aspir'd to breathe a sinful flame,</div> +<div class="verse">Through Blannerhasset's sweet and guiltless wife,</div> +<div class="verse">But she his artful cozening overcame,</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">{144}</a></span> +<div class="verse">And brav'd the demon with victorious strife,</div> +<div class="verse">And sacredly maintained the whiteness of her life.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">But they were ruin'd, this sequester'd pair,</div> +<div class="verse">Who shunn'd the world's alluring charms to crime,</div> +<div class="verse">Soon they were driven forth in dark despair,</div> +<div class="verse">Like the sad <ins class="correction" title="text reads 'consrrts'">consorts</ins> of that earlier time.</div> +<div class="verse">A grief fell on that island's blooming prime.</div> +<div class="verse">They pass'd away, and never saw again,</div> +<div class="verse">Their island home amid that pleasant clime.</div> +<div class="verse">Awhile they roamed o'er earth's most desolate plain,</div> +<div class="verse">But soon securely slept from life's wild woe and pain.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">This is real history of that isle,</div> +<div class="verse">That ever draws the weary traveller's eye,</div> +<div class="verse">He sees its fairy greenness brightly smile,</div> +<div class="verse">Amid that river; as he passeth by,</div> +<div class="verse">Perchance his human eye's no longer dry,</div> +<div class="verse">While he recalls that mournful history;</div> +<div class="verse">And he may ask, with sudden sorrow, why,</div> +<div class="verse">The dream of rapture doth so early flee</div> +<div class="verse">And souls so meek and good, the prey of fiends should be.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">That isle is now as lovely as of yore,</div> +<div class="verse">Gay Nature smiles as sweetly, the wild air</div> +<div class="verse">Is resonant with music; the green shore</div> +<div class="verse">Exhales a constant fragrance, sweet and rare,</div> +<div class="verse">But those who made its borders still more fair,</div> +<div class="verse">Have slept the sleep of death, long years ago,</div> +<div class="verse">Yet is their memory fresh, and ever there</div> +<div class="verse">The pilgrim's heart will feel the thought of woe,</div> +<div class="verse">His eye will blend a tear with yon fair river's flow.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_E_5" id="Footnote_E_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_E_5"><span class="label">[E]</span></a> Transcriber's note: +Spelling is different in the title of the poem; both have been kept as in the original.</p></div> + + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">{145}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>TO BETTIE.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Give me thy heart, give me thy hand,</div> +<div class="verse">Thy love, thy dower, thy goods, thy land;</div> +<div class="verse">Give me o'er thee a free command,</div> +<div class="verse">Then shall I be a monarch grand.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">This brave great world is little worth,</div> +<div class="verse">Its largest wealth is but a dearth;</div> +<div class="verse">But fond and mutual love can make,</div> +<div class="verse">Another richer for its sake.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Give me thy love, thy heart, thy soul,</div> +<div class="verse">O'er thee a sovereign control,</div> +<div class="verse">Then though huge seas of sorrow roll,</div> +<div class="verse">I will defy their wish'd control.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Give me thy destiny, thy all</div> +<div class="verse">Which thou dost best and dearest call;</div> +<div class="verse">Then let the darts of envy fall,</div> +<div class="verse">Let ruffian malice ban and brawl.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">I will contemn their power; I will</div> +<div class="verse">Still strain with joy's ecstatic thrill,</div> +<div class="verse">Thee to this bosom, dearest! till</div> +<div class="verse">I rest in heaven from earthly ill.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Give me thy heart, thy unstained hand,</div> +<div class="verse">And though I scorn it, give thy land,</div> +<div class="verse">Then, by a rainbow sweet and bland,</div> +<div class="verse">Shall life's cerulean arch be spann'd.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Beneath that arch of beauty, flowers</div> +<div class="verse">Brilliant as bloom in heaven's own bowers,</div> +<div class="verse">And bathed in joy's ambrosial showers,</div> +<div class="verse">Shall strew the earth through charmed hours.</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">{146}</a></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Beneath that bow, rich melodies,</div> +<div class="verse">Like odors that in heaven arise,</div> +<div class="verse">Sweet as an angel's breathing sighs,</div> +<div class="verse">Shall rise and kiss the smiling skies.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Give me thy heart, hand, bosom, all</div> +<div class="verse">Which thou dost nearest, dearest call,</div> +<div class="verse">Than let the darts of envy fall,</div> +<div class="verse">Let ruffian malice ban and brawl.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Till life's long summer shall depart,</div> +<div class="verse">The tender thrill of joy shall start,</div> +<div class="verse">We'll laugh at Boreas' icy dart,</div> +<div class="verse">Beside the fire which warms the heart.</div> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>EPITAPH FOR AN INFANT.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Sweet bud of life, God knew this earth,</div> +<div class="verseind">Was not a home for thee;</div> +<div class="verse">He took thee, even from thy birth,</div> +<div class="verseind">To bless Eternity.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">{147}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>THE MILLENNIUM.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">The promis'd years, the better times,</div> +<div class="verseind">By God himself foretold,</div> +<div class="verse">Have dawn'd, and banish'd hateful crimes,</div> +<div class="verseind">The latest age of gold.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Not now a brother fears to tread</div> +<div class="verseind">The way a brother goes,</div> +<div class="verse">Not now the wife's sad heart is fed,</div> +<div class="verseind">On brutal cuffs and blows.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Not now the human eye is fierce</div> +<div class="verseind">With cruel thirst of gore;</div> +<div class="verse">Not now the angry spear doth pierce</div> +<div class="verseind">The bosom. Such are o'er.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">This scene become a Paradise,</div> +<div class="verseind">A scene of peace and love,</div> +<div class="verse">Wherein each living being tries</div> +<div class="verseind">To work for God above.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">The Bible fills the mighty world,</div> +<div class="verseind">The end is drawing nigh,</div> +<div class="verse">When, earth in burning fragments hurl'd,</div> +<div class="verseind">The soul shall rise on high.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">The promis'd years, the better times,</div> +<div class="verseind">By God himself foretold,</div> +<div class="verse">Have dawned with their triumphal chimes,</div> +<div class="verseind">On the sweet air unroll'd.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">{148}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>TO A POET'S WIFE.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Thou art indeed a happy one,</div> +<div class="verseind">And hast a charmed life,</div> +<div class="verse">A noble triumph thou hast won,</div> +<div class="verseind">A bright-eyed Poet's wife.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">His fancy plucks all glittering gems</div> +<div class="verseind">From mountain caves and sea,</div> +<div class="verse">To form that best of diadems,</div> +<div class="verseind">He proudly gives to thee.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">That realm that doth thy power obey,</div> +<div class="verseind">Is richer far than these,</div> +<div class="verse">More sweet its nights, more bright its day,</div> +<div class="verseind">More bland its wandering breeze.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">And gentle creatures move and kiss</div> +<div class="verseind">The sceptre in thy hand,</div> +<div class="verse">And gather garlands, wreaths of bliss,</div> +<div class="verseind">Amid thy fairy land.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">The Angels' song comes down at times,</div> +<div class="verseind">And flows into his song,</div> +<div class="verse">Like the triumphal, silver chimes,</div> +<div class="verseind">That steal the heavens along.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">{149}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>LILLY LANE.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Come to my calling,</div> +<div class="verseind">Lilly Lane,</div> +<div class="verse">Like music falling,</div> +<div class="verseind">Come again.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">The earth is dreary,</div> +<div class="verseind">Sorrow's reign,</div> +<div class="verse">My thoughts are weary,</div> +<div class="verseind">Come again.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">The flowers upspringing,</div> +<div class="verseind">Bring me pain,</div> +<div class="verse">My thoughts are winging</div> +<div class="verseind">To thee again.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Come to my sorrow,</div> +<div class="verseind">Come again,</div> +<div class="verse">Give night a morrow,</div> +<div class="verseind">Yet again.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Oh! birds are singing</div> +<div class="verseind">Many a strain,</div> +<div class="verse">The woodlands ringing,</div> +<div class="verseind">Come again.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Yet I am weeping,</div> +<div class="verseind">E'er with pain,</div> +<div class="verse">Grief's vigil keeping,</div> +<div class="verseind">Come again.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">The dawn gleams brightly</div> +<div class="verseind">O'er the plain,</div> +<div class="verse">The airs come lightly</div> +<div class="verseind">O'er the main.</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">{150}</a></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">They ne'er shall wake thee,</div> +<div class="verseind">Lilly Lane,</div> +<div class="verse">All things forsake thee,</div> +<div class="verseind">Lilly Lane.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">I'll not bereave thee</div> +<div class="verseind">Lilly Lane!</div> +<div class="verse">I'll never leave thee,</div> +<div class="verseind">Lilly Lane.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">On thy grave I'll mutter</div> +<div class="verseind">"Lilly Lane!"</div> +<div class="verse">With a frantic, dove-like flutter,</div> +<div class="verseind">"Lilly Lane!"</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Around thy tomb I'll hover,</div> +<div class="verseind">Near the main,</div> +<div class="verse">Like a bleeding dying plover,</div> +<div class="verseind">"Lilly Lane!"</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">{151}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>A SONG OF THE OLDEN TIME.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">To-day my gay and happy heart,</div> +<div class="verseind">Was lost in pleasant dreaming;</div> +<div class="verse">And I had won a loving part</div> +<div class="verseind">In all the by-gone's seeming.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">I saw that most renowned maid,</div> +<div class="verseind">Before her father falling,</div> +<div class="verse">Those savage hearts, within the shade</div> +<div class="verseind">Of antique trees, appalling.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">I saw the deep and gushing love,</div> +<div class="verseind">That fearful moment started,</div> +<div class="verse">That murmur'd like a turtle dove,</div> +<div class="verseind">To cheating hope departed.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">I saw the kind and gentle deeds,</div> +<div class="verseind">That gemm'd her after being</div> +<div class="verse">That little camp, from sorest needs,</div> +<div class="verseind">And frequent slaughter, freeing.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">I thought that she was kindly sent,</div> +<div class="verseind">In gracious God's foreknowing,</div> +<div class="verse">To save from fatal detriment,</div> +<div class="verseind">This infant nation growing.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">I saw the savage maiden's form</div> +<div class="verseind">With Culture's graces, glowing;</div> +<div class="verse">In virgin beauty, bright and warm,</div> +<div class="verseind">Like vernal roses blowing.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">I saw her sweetly, deeply smile</div> +<div class="verseind">On Rolfe beside her sitting,</div> +<div class="verse">As o'er the neighboring stream the while</div> +<div class="verseind">The shades of eve were flitting.</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">{152}</a></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">I saw her wed in love beneath</div> +<div class="verseind">The forest's lofty awning;</div> +<div class="verse">While white and dusk maids bring a wreath,</div> +<div class="verseind">Like night commixt with morning.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">I saw the strange and novel fame,</div> +<div class="verseind">She left to song and story,</div> +<div class="verse">Which down the future's track of flame,</div> +<div class="verseind">Beams forth with deathless glory.</div> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>FAREWELL TO ALBEMARLE.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Farewell, ye verdant hills and vales,</div> +<div class="verseind">Farewell thou rolling river,</div> +<div class="verse">Whose waves flow onward to the sea,</div> +<div class="verseind">Returning, never, never.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">From all thy scenes, I might have gone,</div> +<div class="verseind">I might in joy have parted,</div> +<div class="verse">But since my love remaineth here,</div> +<div class="verseind">I wander broken-hearted.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">I go from one with whom to part,</div> +<div class="verseind">Is grief that can't be spoken,</div> +<div class="verse">From whom to rend my faithful heart,</div> +<div class="verseind">That heart, even now, is broken.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">{153}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>SHE WOULD HAVE IT SO.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">I loved her; and beneath the moon,</div> +<div class="verse">We met among the flowers of June;</div> +<div class="verse">I gave her my all, my love's rich boon,</div> +<div class="verse">I loved her, but we parted soon,</div> +<div class="i4">She would have it so.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">I loved her; through my span of life,</div> +<div class="verse">She might have been my cherished wife;</div> +<div class="verse">And I had striven, with ceaseless strife,</div> +<div class="verse">To make her days with pleasures rife;</div> +<div class="i4">She would not have it so.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">I loved her; for she bent on me</div> +<div class="verse">A smile and look of sorcery;</div> +<div class="verse">Until my heart could not be free;</div> +<div class="verse">Alas! that such deceit should be;—</div> +<div class="i4">But she would have it so.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">I loved her; and my heart was broke,</div> +<div class="verse">Beneath the heavy, crushing stroke;</div> +<div class="verse">As 'neath the lightning dies the oak</div> +<div class="verse">When she in scorn and anger spoke;</div> +<div class="i4">She would have it so!</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">{154}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>TO FANNIE.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Fair maid, in those beloved eyes,</div> +<div class="verseind">The dream of pensive beauty lies,</div> +<div class="verse">The radiance when the day grows less,</div> +<div class="verseind">The charm of twilight loveliness.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Those eyes are mirror of thy soul;</div> +<div class="verseind">As in the waves that deeply roll,</div> +<div class="verse">The sun and moon and stars are seen,</div> +<div class="verseind">Reflected with undimmed sheen.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Thus in the depths of those fair eyes,</div> +<div class="verseind">I see the brightness of the skies,</div> +<div class="verse">I would my image there might shine</div> +<div class="verseind">In orbs so blessed and divine.</div> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>ON HEARING THAT MY LOVE WAS ANGRY.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Sweet love! and wast thou angry then,</div> +<div class="verseind">And did a lovely frown,</div> +<div class="verse">O'ershade that brow of whitest pearl,</div> +<div class="verseind">That cheek of softest down?</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Nay, be not so; thou can'st not be,</div> +<div class="verseind">Less lovely to my sight;</div> +<div class="verse">Though darkness shade the cliff and vale,</div> +<div class="verseind">Yet starry is the night!</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">{155}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>TO A POET.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">O poet, would'st thou make a name</div> +<div class="verseind">That ne'er will die,</div> +<div class="verse">But be coeval with the lights</div> +<div class="verseind">In yonder sky?</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Strike not a single, trembling chord,</div> +<div class="verseind">In the heart-lyre;</div> +<div class="verse">But wake the full and sweet accord</div> +<div class="verseind">Of every wire.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Of joy, of grief, of hopeless love</div> +<div class="verseind">And pining care,</div> +<div class="verse">Of terror, <ins class="correction" title="text reads 'paln'">pain</ins>, and deep remorse,</div> +<div class="verseind">And wild despair.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Of Hope, of Faith, of Piety:</div> +<div class="verseind">Each fibre move;</div> +<div class="verse">But yet the sweetest note shall be</div> +<div class="verseind">The note of Love.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Strike! poet! strike each quiv'ring chord,</div> +<div class="verseind">In that strange lyre,</div> +<div class="verse">Then, men thy golden songs will hoard,</div> +<div class="verseind">Till time expire.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">{156}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>THE CHILD'S PRAYER.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">O Lord, I kneel at mother's knee,</div> +<div class="verse">And lift my trembling heart to thee.</div> +<div class="verse">Send down thy grace, I meekly pray,</div> +<div class="verse">To drive my evil thoughts away:</div> +<div class="verse">Alas! even now I feel my heart,</div> +<div class="verse">From God is learning to depart.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">But Thou, even now, canst change my heart,</div> +<div class="verse">For very good, O God, thou art;</div> +<div class="verse">And thou can'st give me ample grace,</div> +<div class="verse">To run aright my earthly race;</div> +<div class="verse">Nor wander whither I must die,</div> +<div class="verse">Far from the comfort of Thine eye.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Yes Lord! I beg thy Heavenly love,</div> +<div class="verse">To fit me for a home above;</div> +<div class="verse">That I may sing the anthems sweet</div> +<div class="verse">Where pardon'd children all shall meet;</div> +<div class="verse">And that on earth my walk may be,</div> +<div class="verse">O God, forever nigh to Thee.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">{157}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>CRITICUS.</h2> + + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">The Southern Muse—so long with drooping wing,—</div> +<div class="verse">The Southern Muse, alas! too sad to sing—</div> +<div class="verse">Her fair head drooped and dim her mournful eye,</div> +<div class="verse">While pitying breezes sighed in sorrow by,—</div> +<div class="verse">At last—at last—a wondrous friend has found,</div> +<div class="verse">Whose power shall make her through all time renowned:</div> +<div class="verse">Oh! now to her what magic shall belong,</div> +<div class="verse">To charm the nations with a peerless song!</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Hail Criticus! thou marvel of the age!</div> +<div class="verse">Oh! thou wilt fire her with a noble rage!</div> +<div class="verse">Oh! thou her song wilt kindly patronize,</div> +<div class="verse">And make her honored in the nation's eyes.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Oh! glorious vision which transports my soul,</div> +<div class="verse">While thoughts of triumph through my bosom roll;</div> +<div class="verse">The Goddess comes, she brightly smiles once more,</div> +<div class="verse">Nor sadly sighs, as long she sighed of yore;</div> +<div class="verse">Her breath the fragrance of the Southern grove,</div> +<div class="verse">Her voice the voice of victory and of love;—</div> +<div class="verse">Approaching proudly now, with sweetest strain,</div> +<div class="verse">Greets Criticus, her godsire—but in vain.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">How modest! Criticus! thou wilt not wear</div> +<div class="verse">A single honor—nobler is thy care—</div> +<div class="verse">Thou wilt not, merely, reign the Muse's sire;</div> +<div class="verse">But thou wilt sometimes woo her willing lyre!</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Earth! hear that song! The strains that softly sweep</div> +<div class="verse">From mermaid's shell, across the moonlit deep—</div> +<div class="verse">The tones of visions which have only dwelt</div> +<div class="verse">In that deep bosom which has wildly felt—</div> +<div class="verse">Those notes like far off music from the plain,</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">{158}</a></span> +<div class="verse">Where grief nor hate can e'er be known again—</div> +<div class="verse">That haunt the spirit 'midst this lower sphere,</div> +<div class="verse">And wake the dreamer's ever faithful tear—</div> +<div class="verse">How die away in saddest silence all</div> +<div class="verse">Those strains, O Criticus! when thou dost—"squall!"</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Sagacious Criticus! no witling's wit,</div> +<div class="verse">Compares with thine, or durst compare with it.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">How could Parnassus rise in days of yore,</div> +<div class="verse">Ere thou had'st taught the clumsy rocks to soar?</div> +<div class="verse">How could the muses in their ambient bower,</div> +<div class="verse">In loftiest lays, anticipate thy power!</div> +<div class="verse">How could the sparkling Helicon flow free,</div> +<div class="verse">How durst it ripple, and not wait for thee?</div> +<div class="verse">No business had the Stagyrite to name</div> +<div class="verse">The rules of verse; old Homer was to blame,</div> +<div class="verse">For laying out too soon the Iliad's plan;</div> +<div class="verse">Homer was nothing but a "blind, old man!"</div> +<div class="verse">Light, light that Ajax prayed for, now has come,</div> +<div class="verse">And poetasters hence may read their doom!</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">O Grant us, sweetly, Grant, thy gentle roar,</div> +<div class="verse">And pigs shall squeal, and asses bray no more!<a name="FNanchor_F_6" id="FNanchor_F_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_F_6" class="fnanchor">[F]</a></div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Great Criticus! illustrious lord of song!</div> +<div class="verse">To thee a double wreath shall e'er belong:</div> +<div class="verse">The Critics' cypress and the Poet's bay</div> +<div class="verse">Shall twine in love to deck thy brow for aye;</div> +<div class="verse">For far o'er Dunciad's heroes shall thou reign,</div> +<div class="verse">And ne'er shalt lose that honored seat again.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">And still, while future ages roll along,</div> +<div class="verse">Our Southern minstrels to thy court shall throng;</div> +<div class="verse">There lowly fall, and humbly beg thee grant</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">{159}</a></span> +<div class="verse">The sweet reward of their melodious chant;</div> +<div class="verse">A verdant laurel for each beaming brow,</div> +<div class="verse">To bloom through ages, as it bloometh now—</div> +<div class="verse">Or, if thou frown, receive thy chastening rod,</div> +<div class="verse">Thou, Bard's Mæcenas, and thou Poet's god!</div> +</div></div> + + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_F_6" id="Footnote_F_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_F_6"><span class="label">[F]</span></a> 16 lines above were written by Prof. E. Longley.</p></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>TO MARY.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Now lovely Vesper shows her lamp,</div> +<div class="verseind">In yonder slowly darkening sky;</div> +<div class="verse">It is the hour, when musing here,</div> +<div class="verseind">I heave for thee the bursting sigh.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Thus, Mary, as yon mournful pall</div> +<div class="verseind">Of darkness falls on all things round,</div> +<div class="verse">Ah! tell me shall the gloom of fate,</div> +<div class="verseind">My cheerless pathway thus surround?</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">But, as yon lamp—the lamp of love!</div> +<div class="verseind">With brilliant smile, relieves the gloom,</div> +<div class="verse">Say, shall thy heavenly smile relieve</div> +<div class="verseind">The darkness of my mortal doom?</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Alas! I do not know thy thoughts,</div> +<div class="verseind">If thou wilt slay, or sweetly save;</div> +<div class="verse">Yet I shall love thee fondly still,</div> +<div class="verseind">Until I rest within the grave.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">{160}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>SONG OF THE CONVERTED HEATHEN.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">The sky to me did never speak,</div> +<div class="verseind">The sea rolled ever dumb,—</div> +<div class="verse">Of him beneath whose wondrous power,</div> +<div class="verseind">Their mystic forms had come.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">The sacred light was curtained back</div> +<div class="verseind">From my exploring eye,</div> +<div class="verse">And I seemed left to grope in night,</div> +<div class="verseind">And there at last to die.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">When lo! upon a day there came</div> +<div class="verseind">A Man, with placid brow,</div> +<div class="verse">Who rent the curtain—and the light</div> +<div class="verseind">Is gushing on me now.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">The sky doth speak to me of God,</div> +<div class="verseind">The deep and rolling sea</div> +<div class="verse">Is ever grandly singing, Lord,</div> +<div class="verseind">To my bowed soul, of Thee.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Oh! I can see around them now</div> +<div class="verseind">A radiant light doth shine,</div> +<div class="verse">A light that mocks the pencil's pride,</div> +<div class="verseind">A light that is divine.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">{161}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>SIN OF THE CHORAL SINGER.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Hark! the organ's solemn peal</div> +<div class="verseind">Ascends the lofty fane,</div> +<div class="verse">To win the soul's repeal,</div> +<div class="verseind">From everlasting pain:</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">To waft the voice of praise</div> +<div class="verseind">To Him who reigns above,</div> +<div class="verse">Which blends with burning lays</div> +<div class="verseind">Of Seraph's holy love.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Hark! the deep-toned, solemn peal!</div> +<div class="verseind">Again it strikes the air!</div> +<div class="verse">My trembling accents steal</div> +<div class="verseind">To join the anthem there.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">I strive to lift my mind</div> +<div class="verseind">To God's most holy throne;</div> +<div class="verse">And, with my thought refined,</div> +<div class="verseind">To think on Heaven alone.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">But earth-born love intrudes</div> +<div class="verseind">And brings me back to earth;</div> +<div class="verse">To dreamy solitudes</div> +<div class="verseind">My spirit wanders forth:</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">To walk with one, a youth,</div> +<div class="verseind">With bright and sunny hair,</div> +<div class="verse">Whose words are only truth,</div> +<div class="verseind">Whose love is heavenly fair.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">God! forgive my grievous sin!</div> +<div class="verseind">God! forgive my erring love!</div> +<div class="verse">Write not my sentence in</div> +<div class="verseind">Thine awful scroll above!</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">{162}</a></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">God! forgive thy creature's love,</div> +<div class="verseind">Who only loves too well!</div> +<div class="verse">Let not that virtue prove</div> +<div class="verseind">My doleful doom to hell.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">But make my passion less—</div> +<div class="verseind">Its burning purify;</div> +<div class="verse">And make it meet to bless</div> +<div class="verseind">My spirit in the sky.</div> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>A PORTRAIT.</h2> + + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verseind">In those mild eyes, there is a light</div> +<div class="verse">Which dwells not with the evil; and</div> +<div class="verse">A calm repose upon thy features, which</div> +<div class="verse">Says thou art innocent. Around thee gleaming</div> +<div class="verse">There is a robe of more than loveliness,</div> +<div class="verse">Of form, and face, and hair: it is the charm</div> +<div class="verse">Of most majestic Goodness; which exalts</div> +<div class="verse">An earth-born frame into an angel's stature.</div> +<div class="verse">Oh! if this world had many like thyself,</div> +<div class="verse">It were a heaven for blessed ones to dwell in.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">{163}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>HALLOWED GROUND.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">What bids the soul of man to gaze,</div> +<div class="verseind">Upon a spot of earth,</div> +<div class="verse">As a sun of focal rays?</div> +<div class="verseind">The spell of human worth!</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">The spot where human virtue stood,</div> +<div class="verseind">And struck for holy truth,</div> +<div class="verse">Still stirs the world's ecstatic blood,</div> +<div class="verseind">A thing of mighty youth!</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">When can the name of Marathon,</div> +<div class="verseind">Fall powerless, on the soul;</div> +<div class="verse">Whilst thoughts of right, or injury, done,</div> +<div class="verseind">Along its fibres, roll?</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Can Waterloo grow trite by time,</div> +<div class="verseind">Or Yorktown fail to fire,</div> +<div class="verse">Man's breast, with hatred most sublime,</div> +<div class="verseind">To wrong, till time expire?</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">What hallows thus the hills of Greece,</div> +<div class="verseind">And flings that light o'er Rome,</div> +<div class="verse">Which when her very fragments cease,</div> +<div class="verseind">Still crowns her history's dome?</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">'Tis truth's great warfare bravely fought,</div> +<div class="verseind">That hallows in the core,</div> +<div class="verse">A mount—a plain—a barren spot—</div> +<div class="verseind">With fame which dies no more.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">And when can earth forget to glow,</div> +<div class="verseind">Beside each glorious shrine?</div> +<div class="verse">Not till yon stars shall dart below,</div> +<div class="verseind">And sun shall cease to shine.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">{164}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>TO SPRING.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Hail, beauteous maiden, gentle spring!</div> +<div class="verseind">I see thee slowly move,</div> +<div class="verse">On lowering wings, on yon green hill</div> +<div class="verseind">From yon blue fields above.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Hail, beauteous Spring! my bosom swells</div> +<div class="verseind">With joy to feel thee near,</div> +<div class="verse">Thy joyful advent now dispels</div> +<div class="verseind">The winter, dark and drear.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Hail, beauteous Spring, the meads are green,</div> +<div class="verseind">The lordly elms rejoice;</div> +<div class="verse">Yon river flashes in the light,</div> +<div class="verseind">The springs send up a voice.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">The blue-bird sings thy welcome sweet</div> +<div class="verseind">From yonder blooming tree,</div> +<div class="verse">The redbreast pours his simple note,</div> +<div class="verseind">A tribute glad, to thee.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">The cuckoo comes to join thy train,</div> +<div class="verseind">With his melodious lay,</div> +<div class="verse">Until his song, a rapture! runs</div> +<div class="verseind">O'er all thy pleasant way.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Hail, heavenly Spring! a thousand throats,</div> +<div class="verseind">Re-echo with thy praise;</div> +<div class="verse">Thou bring'st the time of flowers and light</div> +<div class="verseind">Of bright and cloudless days.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Hail, beauteous earth! thou art the type</div> +<div class="verseind">Returning with each year,</div> +<div class="verse">To tell us of another land</div> +<div class="verseind">Whose sky is always clear.</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">{165}</a></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">All hail, bright spring, celestial maid!</div> +<div class="verseind">Who fill'st my singing heart;</div> +<div class="verse">But never tongue or lyre shall speak</div> +<div class="verseind">The Transport which thou art!</div> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>ON HEARING THAT MY LOVE WAS PROUD.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">And art thou proud, my darling love?</div> +<div class="verseind">Thus should it ever be;</div> +<div class="verse">For beauty hath, the clearest right,</div> +<div class="verseind">Of sovereign majesty.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Oh! art thou proud, my darling love!</div> +<div class="verseind">Then not to do thee wrong,</div> +<div class="verse">Thou e'er shalt reign the sole, bright queen,</div> +<div class="verseind">Within my heart and song.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">{166}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>TO LIZZIE.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Oh, Lizzie, when I read your card,</div> +<div class="verseind">Which you had printed in the paper,</div> +<div class="verse">Wherein you said your case was hard,</div> +<div class="verseind">My fancy cut a glorious caper.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">I said, that is a prudent fair</div> +<div class="verseind">Who has the true idea of living,</div> +<div class="verse">And would not on the "desert air,"</div> +<div class="verseind">Her fragrance still be giving.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">So I at once resolved to try</div> +<div class="verseind">So conquer all my vacillation,</div> +<div class="verse">And fix my wand'ring heart and eye</div> +<div class="verseind">On only you, in all creation.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">I know that I had often sigh'd</div> +<div class="verseind">To other ladies quite as pretty,</div> +<div class="verse">But then it could not be denied,</div> +<div class="verseind">To let you pass, would be a pity.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">With real pain and much ado,</div> +<div class="verseind">I cut the other chords that bound me,</div> +<div class="verse">And said the ties proposed by you,</div> +<div class="verseind">Should now be tightly drawn around me.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Farewell, I said, to blooming Nell,</div> +<div class="verseind">Who is too long my passion trying,</div> +<div class="verse">For here is one, whose stanzas tell,</div> +<div class="verseind">Like me, for marriage she is dying.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">I am a student small and neat,</div> +<div class="verseind">Not twenty-five, and somewhat dashing,</div> +<div class="verse">With active limbs and beard complete,</div> +<div class="verseind">And wear a vest that's slightly flashing.</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">{167}</a></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">My brow is broad, my eye is black,</div> +<div class="verseind">And quickly changes with my feeling,</div> +<div class="verse">And to your own, it flashes back,</div> +<div class="verseind">The thought their glance was just revealing.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Some gentle blood runs through my veins,</div> +<div class="verseind">And I suppose you truly know it,</div> +<div class="verse">And then, to crown my boastful strains,</div> +<div class="verseind">The world has sworn I am a poet.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">I'd like to wed and with you dwell,</div> +<div class="verseind">Within some happy rural valley,</div> +<div class="verse">Where zephyrs round the lily's bell,</div> +<div class="verseind">In summer sigh, and faint, and dally.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Now Lizzie! I have written back,</div> +<div class="verseind">In answer to your publication;</div> +<div class="verse">So let us promptly tread the track,</div> +<div class="verseind">Before the first of next vacation.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">I'll get the license; get your dress,</div> +<div class="verseind">And flowers to make a bride's adorning;</div> +<div class="verse">Then let us to the chapel press,</div> +<div class="verseind">With bridal friends, at early morning.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">We shall be happy. So will, too,</div> +<div class="verseind">Both clerk, and priest, and mantua-maker;</div> +<div class="verse">My tailor—ah! a fellow true,</div> +<div class="verseind">Will say "I'm proud to see you take her."</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">And then must come the honey moon,</div> +<div class="verseind">Ah me! that sets me deeply sighing,</div> +<div class="verse">You leaning on my heart, whose tune,</div> +<div class="verseind">To yours is still in love replying.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">{168}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>MONTICELLO.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">'Tis true that when the god-like die,</div> +<div class="verseind">Their glorious monument</div> +<div class="verse">Are earth's great mountains and the sky,</div> +<div class="verseind">Their names with all things blent—</div> +<div class="verse">But, then, some storied heap should show</div> +<div class="verse">The grave of worth entombed below.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">'Tis true, the pilgrim wandering slow,</div> +<div class="verseind">O'er sad Achaia's plain,</div> +<div class="verse">Will feel his bosom warmly glow,</div> +<div class="verseind">And memory fire his brain—</div> +<div class="verse">Achilles' strength—and Homer's song</div> +<div class="verse">Across his breast will roll along.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">But, had the Grecian chisel wrought,</div> +<div class="verseind">No pile above their graves,</div> +<div class="verse">Say, could ye point out, save in thought,</div> +<div class="verseind">Their own, from tombs of slaves?</div> +<div class="verse">A crumbling column, only shows</div> +<div class="verse">Where Greece's mighty dead repose.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">But tombs of men, more wise, more free,</div> +<div class="verseind">Amid a brighter day,</div> +<div class="verse">Are like the mounds ye scarcely see,</div> +<div class="verseind">And note not by the way.</div> +<div class="verse">No Mausoleums climb the skies,</div> +<div class="verse">To tell where greater Glory lies.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">{169}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>YOU TOLD ME THAT YOU LOVED ME.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">When summer's rosy twilight fell,</div> +<div class="verse">Upon yon river's gentle swell,</div> +<div class="verse">Leading the spirit by its song,</div> +<div class="verse">As through the land it sweeps along;</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">We watched the stars, those worlds of love,</div> +<div class="verse">That swim yon azure seas above—</div> +<div class="verse">We heard each other's heart-pulse beat,</div> +<div class="verse">In unison divinely sweet.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Your virgin hand was laid in mine,</div> +<div class="verse">I gazed into your spirit's shrine:</div> +<div class="verse">We lost the sense of stars and earth,</div> +<div class="verse">And of the dancing waters' mirth:</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">We only saw each other then;</div> +<div class="verse">We look'd as if no more again,</div> +<div class="verse">And our tumultuous hearts should die,</div> +<div class="verse">In that wild dream of ecstasy.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">I clasped you to my bosom there,</div> +<div class="verse">I played with your dishevell'd hair;</div> +<div class="verse">And then the thoughts which long had slept</div> +<div class="verse">Within us, waken'd; and we wept.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">We wept to think of what had past—</div> +<div class="verse">The doubt—the trial—joy at last—</div> +<div class="verse">We wept to think of mournful fears—</div> +<div class="verse">We wept to hail the future years.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">I ceased to shed such happy tears,</div> +<div class="verse">I whisper'd comfort in your ears,</div> +<div class="verse">I press'd you closer to my heart,</div> +<div class="verse">Till mine no more could throb apart.</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">{170}</a></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">But then we smiled, we laughed to feel</div> +<div class="verse">The heaven which deep love can reveal;</div> +<div class="verse">We laughed that Love had ever bound,</div> +<div class="verse">His golden bands our souls around!</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Do you not know the boundless bliss</div> +<div class="verse">Which follows true love's lightning kiss;</div> +<div class="verse">For, in that hour with heaven above,</div> +<div class="verse">Your cheeks, your mouth received my love.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">And when that deep, blest trance was o'er,</div> +<div class="verse">And we could clasp and kiss no more;</div> +<div class="verse">Love's dear confessions had been made,</div> +<div class="verse">And we no more could be afraid;</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">When Angels' pens had writ the vow</div> +<div class="verse">Which nothing can dissever now;</div> +<div class="verse">Our hearts return'd to Nature's face,</div> +<div class="verse">To planets, and the waters' race.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">All, all was calm; all, all was bright;</div> +<div class="verse">The moon was climbing to yon height,</div> +<div class="verse">Of Heaven's blue cone, rough round with stars,</div> +<div class="verse">With Venus—but no angry Mars.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">{171}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>THE SONG OF THE SLAIN AT THE BATTLE OF TICONDEROGA.</h2> + + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Farewell to the land which we sought o'er the wave;</div> +<div class="verse">We made it our home; it will now be our grave:</div> +<div class="verse">Farewell, ye proud mountains, and valleys uneven,</div> +<div class="verse">And thou, bright shining Glory, now setting in heaven.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Farewell to our hearthstones, our cherished ones there,</div> +<div class="verse">Our wives and our children, now reft of our care:</div> +<div class="verse">Farewell, everloved of our souls—nevermore,</div> +<div class="verse">Shall we look on your faces—our lifetime is o'er.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">We march to the field—'twill be red with our blood,</div> +<div class="verse">Which shall make of its soil there a horrible mud;</div> +<div class="verse">Where our bones by wild beasts on the desolate plain,</div> +<div class="verse">Shall be torn, and be whiten'd by tempest and rain.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">We march to the field—and our comrades in war,</div> +<div class="verse">Shall shout to the heavens their triumph afar—</div> +<div class="verse">And Victory shall perch on our banners on high</div> +<div class="verse">And Tyrants fore'er from our country shall fly;</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Yet never shall we view that glorious sight—</div> +<div class="verse">We sink, with yon sun, in the deathgloom of night;</div> +<div class="verse">Farewell to our homes and our country for aye,</div> +<div class="verse">We go to our graves, with the setting of day.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Farewell, yes, farewell, Earth, Heavens and all</div> +<div class="verse">Which here in the last hour of life we recall:</div> +<div class="verse">Farewell! we are doomed to the night of the grave,—</div> +<div class="verse">But our mem'ry shall live with the names of the brave.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">{172}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>TO MY COPY OF SHAKSPEARE WHICH HAD BEEN LOST.</h2> + + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Hast thou come back, my Shakspeare! bard,</div> +<div class="verseind">Who didst dethrone and drive away those others,</div> +<div class="verse">From cold Parnassus, fate that seem'd too hard,</div> +<div class="verseind">To be inflicted on thy gentle brothers.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Thou didst spare one, left him enthroned fast,</div> +<div class="verseind">The blind old man of Scio, hoary Homer,</div> +<div class="verse">So that of all the harpers first and last,</div> +<div class="verseind">To call him king, is not a base misnomer.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">There on those far and ever whiten'd rocks,</div> +<div class="verseind">You two sit monarchs of a rich dominion;</div> +<div class="verse">But I forgot dark Milton's sacred locks,</div> +<div class="verseind">Serenely resting from his seraph pinion!</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Hast thou come back, great bard, to charm and bless</div> +<div class="verseind">My heart with many a grand, illusive vision,</div> +<div class="verse">And show those gorgeous fields of happiness,</div> +<div class="verseind">With vistas and with rivers all Elysian?</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Stay now with me; no more through all the years,</div> +<div class="verseind">Wilt thou and I, O glorious friend! be parted;</div> +<div class="verse">Or, if e'er so, my overflowing tears,</div> +<div class="verseind">Will prove that I am grieved, or broken-hearted.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Yes stay, and I shall haste to thy converse,</div> +<div class="verseind">With full delight, at rosiate morn, calm even,</div> +<div class="verse">And I shall dream of rich and golden verse</div> +<div class="verseind">From angel lyres within the bowers of Heaven.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">{173}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>I LOVE THEE.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">I love thee—oh! I love thee,</div> +<div class="verseind">With fervor, deep and wild,</div> +<div class="verse">Thy beauty's charm most strangely,</div> +<div class="verseind">My spirit hath beguiled.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">I love thee—oh! I love thee,</div> +<div class="verseind">The Spring's first, freshest flower,</div> +<div class="verse">Comes not across my spirit,</div> +<div class="verseind">With such a holy power.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">I love thee—oh! I love thee,</div> +<div class="verseind">The fibres of my heart</div> +<div class="verse">Are closely twined about thee,</div> +<div class="verseind">As if by magic art.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">I see thee—oh! I see thee,</div> +<div class="verseind">In the sunbeam, in the bud,</div> +<div class="verse">In all that's fair in nature,</div> +<div class="verseind">In all that's bright and good.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">I hear thee—oh! I hear thee,</div> +<div class="verseind">In the melting music-words,</div> +<div class="verse">That swell, at joyous morning,</div> +<div class="verseind">From the woodland choir of birds.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">I crave thee—oh! I crave thee,</div> +<div class="verseind">Thou angel sent from God!</div> +<div class="verse">To beautify the pathway,</div> +<div class="verseind">Which must by me be trod.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">I love thee—oh! I love thee!</div> +<div class="verseind">And, dearest, I implore,</div> +<div class="verse">That bliss may still await thee,</div> +<div class="verseind">On Heaven's far brighter shore.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">{174}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>ON ——.</h2> + + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">A brainless beauty, a would-be coquette,</div> +<div class="verse">A brow of marble, but a heart of jet;</div> +<div class="verse">An eye that shows no vestige of the deep</div> +<div class="verse">And stained thoughts that in her bosom sleep:</div> +<div class="verse">By day a vestal, but by night a bawd;</div> +<div class="verse">Her ways a riddle, her whole life a fraud;</div> +<div class="verse">At church an angel, but at home a shrew,</div> +<div class="verse">Cheating her mother, to her sire untrue;</div> +<div class="verse">Vain without talent, without merit proud;</div> +<div class="verse">By all who see her, still a fool allow'd;</div> +<div class="verse">Without all love, with but the show of truth,</div> +<div class="verse">She stares and simpers at the scornful youth;</div> +<div class="verse">Or ambling loosely on the village street,</div> +<div class="verse">While strangers sneer upon the fool they meet:</div> +<div class="verse">She lives and moves the true epitome</div> +<div class="verse">And climax of all d——mn'd Hypocrisy.</div> +<div class="verse">Here I enshrine her, where all time shall see</div> +<div class="verse">Her name preserv'd in deathless infamy.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">{175}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2><a name="VIRGINIA_MELODIES" id="VIRGINIA_MELODIES"></a>SERENADE.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Far o'er the landscape green,</div> +<div class="verseind">The moonlight like a lake,</div> +<div class="verse">Lies; 'tis a lovely scene,</div> +<div class="verseind">To bid my lady wake;</div> +<div class="i2">My lady, lady, wake,</div> +<div class="i2">Wake, oh! wake!</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">The night is rich with smells,</div> +<div class="verseind">Like thoughts from heart of love,</div> +<div class="verse">Wafted from flower bells,</div> +<div class="verseind">On unseen wings above;</div> +<div class="i2">My lady, lady, wake,</div> +<div class="i2">Wake, oh! wake!</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">The Nightingale, a wo!</div> +<div class="verseind">Within the grove complains!—</div> +<div class="verse">The stars are coming low</div> +<div class="verseind">To hear her killing strains!</div> +<div class="i2">My lady, lady, wake,</div> +<div class="i2">Wake, oh! wake!</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">O see! my lady, far</div> +<div class="verseind">Beyond yon western steeps,</div> +<div class="verse">The moon, with one white star,</div> +<div class="verseind">In paly parting, weeps:</div> +<div class="i2">My lady, lady, wake,</div> +<div class="i2">Wake, oh! wake!</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Before the envious day,</div> +<div class="verseind">Shall gaze upon thy charms;</div> +<div class="verse">Come, lady, come away,</div> +<div class="verseind">And rest lock'd in these arms!</div> +<div class="i2">My lady, lady, wake,</div> +<div class="i2">Wake, oh! wake!</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">{176}</a></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Oh lady, see! the moon</div> +<div class="verseind">Her silver chariot stops,</div> +<div class="verse">(A list'ning to my tune,)</div> +<div class="verseind">On yonder green oak-tops!</div> +<div class="i2">My lady, lady, wake,</div> +<div class="i2">Wake, oh! wake!</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">My song can make her pause,</div> +<div class="verseind">But wake and doff that frown,</div> +<div class="verse">Nor man's, nor God's great laws,</div> +<div class="verseind">Forbid thee to look down:</div> +<div class="i2">My lady, lady, wake,</div> +<div class="i2">Wake, oh! wake.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">{177}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>THE OLD MILL WHEEL.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">The old mill-wheel, it turns, it turns</div> +<div class="verseind">Throughout the livelong day,</div> +<div class="verse">And flings the current of the stream,</div> +<div class="verseind">Abroad in glist'ning spray:</div> +<div class="verse">That old, black wheel has turn'd for years,</div> +<div class="verseind">Beside the mossy mill,</div> +<div class="verse">That stands, like some old, sacred thing,</div> +<div class="verseind">Beneath the clay-red hill.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">The old mill-wheel, it turns, it turns</div> +<div class="verseind">Like time's unresting one,</div> +<div class="verse">Which day and night, and night and day,</div> +<div class="verseind">Hath never ceased to run:</div> +<div class="verse">The old mill-wheel, an emblem true,</div> +<div class="verseind">Of Time that ne'er stands still,</div> +<div class="verse">I love to see it turning so,</div> +<div class="verseind">Beside the mossy mill.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">The old mill-wheel, it turns, it turns,</div> +<div class="verseind">As in my childhood's hour;—</div> +<div class="verse">As when I bathed beneath its rim,</div> +<div class="verseind">In its refreshing shower:</div> +<div class="verse">But they who were my comrades then,</div> +<div class="verseind">Are sleeping on the hill,</div> +<div class="verse">And now, to them, forever now,</div> +<div class="verseind">The old Mill-wheel stands still.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">{178}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>SERENADE.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">How sombre is the gloom!</div> +<div class="verseind">I see no beam of star,</div> +<div class="verse">Gleam o'er the garden's bloom,</div> +<div class="verseind">Or silent wood afar;</div> +<div class="verse">So dark the thoughts which shroud</div> +<div class="verseind">His soul who sings to thee;</div> +<div class="verse">Oh lady, cold and proud;</div> +<div class="verseind">Who scorn'st to think on me;</div> +<div class="i4">Lady, lady, wake!</div> +<div class="i4">List oh! list.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">The firefly lights the night,</div> +<div class="verseind">A moment and then dies;</div> +<div class="verse">The lilacs pine for light,</div> +<div class="verseind">With sweet and odorous sighs:</div> +<div class="verse">So Hope's deceitful beam,</div> +<div class="verseind">Illumines my despair,</div> +<div class="verse">While I still sigh and dream,</div> +<div class="verseind">With many a sobbing prayer,</div> +<div class="i4">Lady, lady, list!</div> +<div class="i4">List and smile!</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Lo! now the clouds break off,</div> +<div class="verseind">And heaven once more is free;</div> +<div class="verse">The mounts their garments doff,</div> +<div class="verseind">The mists rise from the sea;</div> +<div class="verse">From yonder casement high</div> +<div class="verseind">She looks, she looks, oh see!</div> +<div class="verse">She bends on me her eye</div> +<div class="verseind">Of heavenly brilliancy:</div> +<div class="i4">Lady, lady, dear;</div> +<div class="i4">Lady dear!</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">{179}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>VIRGINIA HOME OF HONOR.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Oh, home of honor, native land,</div> +<div class="verseind">When roaming o'er the sea,</div> +<div class="verse">The eye still turns, the heart still yearns,</div> +<div class="verseind">O dearest home, for thee.</div> +<div class="verse">When ranged around the social board,</div> +<div class="verseind">We bid our sorrows flee,</div> +<div class="verse">We own a pride that we are sons,</div> +<div class="verseind">O dearest home, of thee.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">If earth retains one single draught</div> +<div class="verseind">Of pure and tranquil joy,</div> +<div class="verse">Within whose sweet and sparkling wave,</div> +<div class="verseind">Is mixt no sad alloy;</div> +<div class="verse">'Tis here we taste it while we sit,</div> +<div class="verseind">Beneath our natal tree,</div> +<div class="verse">'Tis here it glads our heart of hearts,</div> +<div class="verseind">O dearest home, with thee.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">When we are cast on foreign shores,</div> +<div class="verseind">Beyond the dark-blue sea,</div> +<div class="verse">Sad memory oft returns to weep,</div> +<div class="verseind">O dearest home, with thee,</div> +<div class="verse">And when the knell of death shall come,</div> +<div class="verseind">And set our spirits free,</div> +<div class="verse">Our hearts shall find their sweetest rest,</div> +<div class="verseind">O dearest home, with thee.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">{180}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>HYMN TO THE FATHER.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Heavenly father, God of mercy,</div> +<div class="verseind">Look upon a sinful soul;</div> +<div class="verse">For, the waves of sad contrition,</div> +<div class="verseind">Now above me darkly roll.</div> +<div class="verse">Ah! my crimes are dark and grievous,</div> +<div class="verseind">The huge burthen hard to bear;</div> +<div class="verse">All the day and night I'm sighing</div> +<div class="verseind">Whelm'd in grief and dark despair.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Ah! how deeply I have fallen</div> +<div class="verseind">From my high and happy state,</div> +<div class="verse">Where, enrob'd in thy dear image,</div> +<div class="verseind">Once, in tranquil peace, I sate.</div> +<div class="verse">Black with sores, a loathsome leper,</div> +<div class="verseind">Lo! I wait before Thy throne;</div> +<div class="verse">Cans't thou, Maker, wilt thou heal me,</div> +<div class="verseind">Make me whole and all thine own?</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Oh! Thy grace is freely gushing,</div> +<div class="verseind">Boundless is Thy wondrous Love;</div> +<div class="verse">And for all Thy erring children,</div> +<div class="verseind">Lord, Thy tender bowels move.</div> +<div class="verse">Hail! Supreme, Exhaustless Mercy,</div> +<div class="verseind">Christ hath freed my soul from sin;</div> +<div class="verse">And a holy calm comes o'er me,</div> +<div class="verseind">And a heavenly peace within.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">{181}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>O BIRDIE! SPEAK TO ME.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">O Birdie! speak to me,</div> +<div class="verseind">Speak from thy silent grave;</div> +<div class="verse">It doth not roll o'er thee,</div> +<div class="verseind">Death's dark and Stygian wave!</div> +<div class="verse">Sweet! speak, I'm sick, to hear</div> +<div class="verseind">The heaven of thy voice,</div> +<div class="verse">Which wont, while life was dear,</div> +<div class="verseind">To thrill me and rejoice.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Speak, Birdie! speak to me!</div> +<div class="verseind">Speak from the flowers which bloom,</div> +<div class="verse">Beneath the cedar tree</div> +<div class="verseind">That hides thy dearest tomb!</div> +<div class="verse">Speak, angel! speak to me;</div> +<div class="verseind">I know thou art not dead,</div> +<div class="verse">That the dear soul in thee</div> +<div class="verseind">But, bird-like, upward sped!</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Yes! Birdie! speak to me,</div> +<div class="verseind">Maid most bright, most dear;</div> +<div class="verse">Ask, if I'm true to thee,</div> +<div class="verseind">Ask if my grief's sincere?</div> +<div class="verse">Ask if the warm tears roll</div> +<div class="verseind">From my devoted heart?</div> +<div class="verse">O Birdie! then my soul</div> +<div class="verseind">In peace shall hence depart.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">{182}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>TO ONE.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">I love thee, and my trembling lyre</div> +<div class="verseind">Will learn no other strain;</div> +<div class="verse">I marvel if thy gentle heart</div> +<div class="verseind">Will ever cease disdain;</div> +<div class="verse">I marvel if our future lives,</div> +<div class="verseind">Will mingle into one,</div> +<div class="verse">And glitter like a happy stream,</div> +<div class="verseind">In an unclouded sun.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">I see that mid a wooing throng,</div> +<div class="verseind">Thou art a central star,</div> +<div class="verse">And vying youths, with noble pride,</div> +<div class="verseind">Have brought their gifts from far:</div> +<div class="verse">I only think the smiles thou giv'st,</div> +<div class="verseind">So freely unto them,</div> +<div class="verse">If given to me, would bless me more,</div> +<div class="verseind">Than thrones or diadem.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">I love thee, and this throbbing heart,</div> +<div class="verseind">From thrall no longer free,</div> +<div class="verse">Must heave in joy, or ache with wo,</div> +<div class="verseind">Till Death's dark hour, for thee.</div> +<div class="verse">I feel that I must know thy love,</div> +<div class="verseind">Or all of life will be</div> +<div class="verse">One long, deep wail, one throb of pain,</div> +<div class="verseind">One speechless agony.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">{183}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>THE WANDERER.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">With none to share my ship with me,</div> +<div class="verse">A wand'rer o'er life's stormy sea,</div> +<div class="verse">One brilliant star, like lamp of love,</div> +<div class="verse">Smiles calmly from its throne above.</div> +<div class="verse">Oh! brightly o'er the surging wave,</div> +<div class="verse">That lustre shines to bless and save;</div> +<div class="verse">And on through billows thund'ring roll,</div> +<div class="verse">Conducts me to my heavenly goal.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">That star by gracious Love was placed,</div> +<div class="verse">To look, in beauty uneffaced,</div> +<div class="verse">Over the wildest wrath of storms,</div> +<div class="verse">And scatter round its glittering charms:</div> +<div class="verse">It is Religion, and its ray</div> +<div class="verse">Is fed by angel hands alway:</div> +<div class="verse">It beams with beauty so divine,</div> +<div class="verse">The wand'rer smiles to see it shine.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Hail, one bright star on all life's main;</div> +<div class="verse">Though surf roll high, and cordage strain;</div> +<div class="verse">And cowards, ship! may quake for thee;</div> +<div class="verse">Thou walk'st victorious o'er the sea.</div> +<div class="verse">Oh! proudly, as an ocean-queen,</div> +<div class="verse">Thy frame, majestic still is seen—</div> +<div class="verse">Until thou rest in heaven at last,</div> +<div class="verse">Thy sailing done, thy anchor cast.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">{184}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>TO BETTIE.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Why, beauteous Bettie, longer shed</div> +<div class="verseind">Pearly showers of causeless grief,</div> +<div class="verse">Why bend down that lovely head,</div> +<div class="verseind">Like the autumn's rain-wash'd leaf?</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Though in weeping, sad distress,</div> +<div class="verseind">Thy dear charms have lovelier grown,</div> +<div class="verse">As drench'd Nature o'er her dress,</div> +<div class="verseind">Wears the rainbow's splendid zone.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Yet why shed those beaded pearls</div> +<div class="verseind">From those eyes of softest blue,</div> +<div class="verse">And why loose those auburn curls</div> +<div class="verseind">O'er that sweet neck's damask hue?</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Every liquid, falling gem,</div> +<div class="verseind">Flashing like the diamond's ray,</div> +<div class="verse">In an eastern diadem,</div> +<div class="verseind">Let me kiss them all away.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Then, from out this stormy gloom,</div> +<div class="verseind">Thy dear smile shall brightly steal;</div> +<div class="verse">O'er my heart's enliven'd bloom,</div> +<div class="verseind">O'er the joy thy thoughts reveal.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Why, beauteous Bettie! longer shed,</div> +<div class="verseind">Showers of pearls so bright to see?</div> +<div class="verse">Bid dark doubt be quickly sped,</div> +<div class="verseind">I am faithful still to thee.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">{185}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>BABY SONG.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Rock'd on Mamma's heaving breast,</div> +<div class="verseind">Heaving like the pearly deep,</div> +<div class="verse">Hugg'd to that sweet, honey rest,</div> +<div class="verseind">Sleep, little baby, sleep,</div> +<div class="i6">Baby sleep.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">White like the new moon's falling beams,</div> +<div class="verseind">O'er the wooded, westward steeps,</div> +<div class="verse">Falls the white throng of her dreams,</div> +<div class="verseind">While my baby sleeps,</div> +<div class="i6">Oh, she sleeps.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Closed her soft and sparkling eyes,</div> +<div class="verseind">Oped her mouth like a tulip's cup,</div> +<div class="verse">In a starry trance she lies,</div> +<div class="verseind">Like a bud at night shut up;</div> +<div class="i6">Baby sleeps.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Around her scarcely parted lips,</div> +<div class="verseind">Now a smile—a laughter!—creeps,</div> +<div class="verse">Losing all their sad eclipse—</div> +<div class="verseind">Angels near! while baby sleeps</div> +<div class="i6">Deeply sleeps.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Rock'd upon dear Mamma's breast,</div> +<div class="verseind">Heaving like the wild sea deeps,</div> +<div class="verse">Joy hath brought Mamma sweet rest,</div> +<div class="verseind">While our baby sleeps,</div> +<div class="i6">Softly sleeps.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">{186}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>MY OLD VIRGINIA HOME.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Around my old Virginia home,</div> +<div class="verseind">My heart forever clings;</div> +<div class="verse">Whene'er I hear its name pronounced,</div> +<div class="verseind">I think a thousand things.</div> +<div class="verse">I think how once a little band,</div> +<div class="verseind">Came to these forest lands;</div> +<div class="verse">And struggling long, built this fair home,</div> +<div class="verseind">And left it to our hands.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">I think how our forefathers fought,</div> +<div class="verseind">To keep it free from chains,</div> +<div class="verse">How they rejoic'd at vict'ry won,</div> +<div class="verseind">With loud, triumphal strains.</div> +<div class="verse">My cherish'd old Virginia home,</div> +<div class="verseind">Tears, tears come to my eyes,</div> +<div class="verse">When thinking on thee, loveliest land,</div> +<div class="verseind">Beneath the boundless skies!</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">{187}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>TAKE THOSE PLEDGES BACK.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Take back those pledges, dearest maid,</div> +<div class="verseind">Which once I warmly gave,</div> +<div class="verse">For then I dreamed I would be free,</div> +<div class="verseind">And nevermore thy slave.</div> +<div class="verse">Yes! take them back once more, for love</div> +<div class="verseind">Hath made me only thine;</div> +<div class="verse">And I should give these gems away,</div> +<div class="verseind">Whose heart's no longer mine.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">'Tis said the heart can often love,</div> +<div class="verseind">But that can never be;</div> +<div class="verse">Though I have bow'd at other shrines,</div> +<div class="verseind">I never loved but thee.</div> +<div class="verse">I feel that thou art dearer far</div> +<div class="verseind">Than aught this world can give,</div> +<div class="verse">And come what may, come grief or joy,</div> +<div class="verseind">For only thee I live.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Yes! take those pledges back, dear maid,</div> +<div class="verseind">And let them fondly speak,</div> +<div class="verse">The deathless flame that will not fail,</div> +<div class="verseind">In spring, or winter bleak:</div> +<div class="verse">For they have told an honest tale,</div> +<div class="verseind">That I shall change no more,</div> +<div class="verse">Till I shall clasp thy form again</div> +<div class="verseind">On Heaven's eternal shore.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">{188}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>SONG.—UNDYING AFFECTION.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">I loved thee in my happy youth,</div> +<div class="verseind">When I was free from guile,</div> +<div class="verse">And I have kept that early truth,</div> +<div class="verseind">And wear as fond a smile:</div> +<div class="verse">I've look'd to thee, through every storm</div> +<div class="verseind">That lower'd upon my way,</div> +<div class="verse">Thou say'st my fair and fairy form</div> +<div class="verseind">Hath made thy rainbow's ray.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">I loved thee in that early time,</div> +<div class="verseind">Life's best and brightest years;</div> +<div class="verse">I gave thee in thy manhood's prime,</div> +<div class="verseind">My changing smiles and tears:</div> +<div class="verse">And now when evening shades come o'er</div> +<div class="verseind">The length'ning path of life,</div> +<div class="verse">And we must think of love no more,</div> +<div class="verseind">I am thy faithful wife.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">{189}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>FREEDOM'S HOME.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">O freedom's home! thy banner streams,</div> +<div class="verseind">A meteor on the gale;</div> +<div class="verse">And I behold the haughty flags</div> +<div class="verseind">Of Europe fade and pale.</div> +<div class="verse">And, crowding on the surging sea,</div> +<div class="verseind">They cleave the billows bright;</div> +<div class="verse">They come to rest beneath its folds,</div> +<div class="verseind">Attracted by its light.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">O freedom's home! forevermore</div> +<div class="verseind">We'll join our hearts and hands,</div> +<div class="verse">To make thee bright with peaceful wealth,</div> +<div class="verseind">The gem of richest strands:</div> +<div class="verse">But, if a tyrant e'er should threat,</div> +<div class="verseind">This Eden of the free,</div> +<div class="verse">Dear home of freedom, we will bleed,</div> +<div class="verseind">And yield our life for thee.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">{190}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>NATIVE MOUNTAINS.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Native Mountains! on your summits,</div> +<div class="verseind">Stream the gleaming floods of day,</div> +<div class="verse">While a thousand silver cascades,</div> +<div class="verseind">Leap within the early ray;</div> +<div class="verse">There amid your flowery valleys,</div> +<div class="verseind">Stands the cot of her I love;</div> +<div class="verse">Clamb'ring o'er your rocky summits,</div> +<div class="verseind">I behold it from above.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Native Mountains! how my bosom</div> +<div class="verseind">Swells with happiness and pride,</div> +<div class="verse">When I gaze upon ye soaring</div> +<div class="verseind">O'er your vales so green and wide.</div> +<div class="verse">All my wishes, all my pleasures,</div> +<div class="verseind">Still are closely, sweetly bound,</div> +<div class="verse">To ye, lofty native Mountains,</div> +<div class="verseind">With your valleys blooming round.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">{191}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>THE TRAIN IS COMING.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">The train is coming, coming,</div> +<div class="verseind">It whistles, don't you hear?</div> +<div class="verse">I saw the smoking engine,</div> +<div class="verseind">And soon they will be here.</div> +<div class="verse">The train is coming, coming,</div> +<div class="verseind">It is already here,</div> +<div class="verse">I think that handsome Willie,</div> +<div class="verseind">I'm sure, he'll soon appear.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">I've waited long to see him,</div> +<div class="verseind">And thought the train was slow;</div> +<div class="verse">But now I see it stopping,</div> +<div class="verseind">And Willie's come, I know.</div> +<div class="verse">I got, on Sunday morning,</div> +<div class="verseind">The sweetest billet-doux,</div> +<div class="verse">It had a white envelope,</div> +<div class="verseind">And his initials, too.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">I read it, then I started,</div> +<div class="verseind">To hear the sermon through,</div> +<div class="verse">But I could not hear the sermon,</div> +<div class="verseind">For all that I could do.</div> +<div class="verse">For it said that he was coming,</div> +<div class="verseind">Without mistake to-day,</div> +<div class="verse">That he was growing weary</div> +<div class="verseind">Of things and folks away.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">But list! the bell is ringing,</div> +<div class="verseind">And here is Willie's card;</div> +<div class="verse">I'll meet him in the parlor,</div> +<div class="verseind">For I am quite prepar'd,</div><span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">{192}</a></span> +<div class="verse">To answer any questions</div> +<div class="verseind">That Willie now may ask,</div> +<div class="verse">And then to serve and love him,</div> +<div class="verseind">Will be my daily task.</div> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>LINES.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Far hath lovely Fanny flown,</div> +<div class="verseind">O'er the mountains, o'er the sea;</div> +<div class="verse">All our peace with her hath gone,</div> +<div class="verseind">We are wed to misery.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">As the rainbow fades away,</div> +<div class="verseind">As the short-lived spring departs,</div> +<div class="verse">Shone she brightly o'er our way,</div> +<div class="verseind">Fled from our repining hearts.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Yet the rainbow will return,</div> +<div class="verseind">And the Spring will come once more;</div> +<div class="verse">But the fair whose flight we mourn,</div> +<div class="verseind">Walks on Death's Elysian shore.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">{193}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>LOVE SONG.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">My heart is newly gushing,</div> +<div class="verseind">With love for thee, with love for thee,</div> +<div class="verse">With thoughts as wild and wasteful,</div> +<div class="verseind">As yonder sea, as yonder sea.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Oh yes! my soul is wretched</div> +<div class="verseind">With longing pain, with longing pain,</div> +<div class="verse">It gives a ceaseless moaning,</div> +<div class="verseind">Like yonder main, like yonder main.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Thy strange and matchless beauty,</div> +<div class="verseind">Is like the sea, is like the sea;</div> +<div class="verse">Thy face in love or anger,</div> +<div class="verseind">Is sweet to me, is sweet to me.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Thy maiden soul is precious</div> +<div class="verseind">As yonder deep, as yonder deep,</div> +<div class="verse">Within its glassy clearness,</div> +<div class="verseind">Bright jewels sleep, bright jewels sleep.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Thy sinless mind resembles</div> +<div class="verseind">Yon deep, blue sea, yon deep, blue sea;</div> +<div class="verse">The glorious things of heaven</div> +<div class="verseind">Are seen in thee, are seen in thee.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Oh main! as some poor sailor</div> +<div class="verseind">Is lost in thee, is lost in thee,</div> +<div class="verse">My soul is lost in sighing,</div> +<div class="verseind">No hope for me, no hope for me.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">{194}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>PARTING SONG.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">We meet with smiles, we part in tears;</div> +<div class="verseind">This is our earthly lot,</div> +<div class="verse">We cannot find a place on earth,</div> +<div class="verseind">Where friends have parted not.</div> +<div class="verse">And oh! it is the saddest thought,</div> +<div class="verseind">That we no more may meet,</div> +<div class="verse">That we may see their face no more,</div> +<div class="verseind">Whose friendship was so sweet.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">We meet with smiles, we part in tears,</div> +<div class="verseind">But Mem'ry long will bring,</div> +<div class="verse">Their image in our waking thoughts,</div> +<div class="verseind">A blest and sacred thing:</div> +<div class="verse">And we shall pause amid the crowds,</div> +<div class="verseind">Where we are strangers now;</div> +<div class="verse">And deeply think of what has been,</div> +<div class="verseind">Till grief will shade our brow.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Till grief will shade our aching brow,</div> +<div class="verseind">And tears will freely flow,</div> +<div class="verse">Till we shall weep, as we have wept,</div> +<div class="verseind">O'er friends now sleeping low;</div> +<div class="verse">For, who may tell, if e'er again,</div> +<div class="verseind">Those friends shall meet our gaze;</div> +<div class="verse">Who've wander'd forth from all our love,</div> +<div class="verseind">Where Death's dark angel strays?</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">{195}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>THE SONG OF MAY.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">To mountains hoar and russet plain,</div> +<div class="verse">A joyous sprite, I come again;</div> +<div class="verse">With many a sweet and joyous strain,</div> +<div class="verse">And break grim winter's icy chain.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">From yon blue chambers far above,</div> +<div class="verse">On brilliant wings, I lightly move;</div> +<div class="verse">I come, and lead the cooing dove,</div> +<div class="verse">And all the choir that fill the grove.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">To leafy wild, and city's hum,</div> +<div class="verse">The queen of joy, I come, I come;</div> +<div class="verse">The little rills no more are dumb;</div> +<div class="verse">But hail me, as I come, I come.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">With breath that glads both land and main,</div> +<div class="verse">I come again, I come again!</div> +<div class="verse">On hillside, bank, and level plain,</div> +<div class="verse">The flowers appear, in beauteous train.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">To blooming land and azure main,</div> +<div class="verse">Each year I duly come again;</div> +<div class="verse">A stranger from yon heavenly plain</div> +<div class="verse">Of light and bliss; as poets feign.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">{196}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>TO MY LYRE.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">O harp, with whom my childhood played,</div> +<div class="verseind">Within that verdant dell,</div> +<div class="verse">O'erbower'd by boughs of grateful shade,</div> +<div class="verseind">I go—Farewell! farewell!</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">If I have durst to raise thy tone</div> +<div class="verseind">To sing a theme too high,</div> +<div class="verse">Thou, thou must bear the sin alone,</div> +<div class="verseind">O harp, not I, not I.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">For, thou had'st witch'd me with a love</div> +<div class="verseind">Where reason had no part;</div> +<div class="verse">I felt that thou would'st e'en approve,</div> +<div class="verseind">And fondly heard my heart.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">The song hath ended. Silence falls</div> +<div class="verseind">Round the enchanted dell;</div> +<div class="verse">Awhile I heed no more thy calls,</div> +<div class="verseind">Sweet harp! farewell! farewell!</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">{197}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>YOU ASK WHY I AM LONELY NOW.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">You ask why I am lonely now,</div> +<div class="verseind">In all this brilliant scene,</div> +<div class="verse">And why I look on beauty's charms,</div> +<div class="verseind">With cold, unalter'd mien.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">You say that, many a loving heart,</div> +<div class="verseind">Would joy to be my own,</div> +<div class="verse">That none of all the human race,</div> +<div class="verseind">Should ever live alone.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">I'll tell you why I'm lonely now,</div> +<div class="verseind">If grief will let me speak,</div> +<div class="verse">And why I glance on woman's charms</div> +<div class="verseind">With cold, unalter'd cheek.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">'Twas in my boyhood's happy days,</div> +<div class="verseind">I loved a blue-eyed maid;</div> +<div class="verse">The light of heaven o'er that young cheek,</div> +<div class="verseind">In changeful feeling stray'd!</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">I loved her with a love as true,</div> +<div class="verseind">As ever dwelt on earth;</div> +<div class="verse">Oh sure my worship was too deep,</div> +<div class="verseind">Even at that shrine of worth.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">She loved me not, that knowledge fell,</div> +<div class="verseind">Upon me like a blight;</div> +<div class="verse">Ah me! I am too fondly weak?</div> +<div class="verseind">Is this a teardrop bright?</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">You asked why I am lonely now,</div> +<div class="verseind">And I the tale have told:</div> +<div class="verse">And I shall yet be lonely, till</div> +<div class="verseind">The grave my heart shall hold.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">{198}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>OLD HOMESTEAD.</h2> + + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Old homestead! old homestead! what feelings arise!</div> +<div class="verse">As now the old homestead greets kindly our eyes;</div> +<div class="verse">Old homestead, where oft we were merry or sad;</div> +<div class="verse">Each day as it fled, still some witchery had.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">The homestead! how dear is its old, friendly look,</div> +<div class="verse">Its dun rolling hills, and its slow running brook;</div> +<div class="verse">Its time-worn, old gables, and cornice so plain,</div> +<div class="verse">Its roof that grew mossy from shadow and rain.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Old homestead! some dwelt with us, loved with us here;</div> +<div class="verse">Some smiled at our smile, and they wept at our tear:</div> +<div class="verse">Of those some have gone to a far distant land;</div> +<div class="verse">And some—where yon cedars like pale mourners stand.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Oh! memories most thrilling, most holy, most dear,</div> +<div class="verse">Still cluster around thee, old homestead, fore'er;</div> +<div class="verse">Thou hast a deep magic that never can die,</div> +<div class="verse">'Till 'neath the green valley, we endlessly lie.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">{199}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>LOVE SONG.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">I love thee, oh! I love thee,</div> +<div class="verseind">As the sweet bee loves the flower,</div> +<div class="verse">As the swallow loves the summer,</div> +<div class="verseind">As the humming bird the bower;</div> +<div class="verse">As the petrel loves the ocean,</div> +<div class="verseind">As the nightingale the night;</div> +<div class="verse">I love, I love thee, dearest!</div> +<div class="verseind">Thou being good and bright.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">I love thee, oh! I love thee,</div> +<div class="verseind">There's nothing on this earth,</div> +<div class="verse">Can feel a deeper fondness,</div> +<div class="verseind">A flame of purer worth;</div> +<div class="verse">The eagle loves its offspring,</div> +<div class="verseind">Most faithful is the dove;</div> +<div class="verse">But thou! thy smallest ringlet,</div> +<div class="verseind">Has more from me than love.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">{200}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>SUSIE.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">A gentle maid, a dove-like soul,</div> +<div class="verseind">An eye that knows no ill;</div> +<div class="verse">I met her from her rural walk,</div> +<div class="verseind">Upon yon grassy hill.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Her apron filled with early flowers,</div> +<div class="verseind">And some were lightly bound</div> +<div class="verse">Into a wreath that sweetly lay</div> +<div class="verseind">Her snowy temples round.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">And as I met her on that hill,</div> +<div class="verseind">At twilight's magic hour,</div> +<div class="verse">My spirit felt her loveliness</div> +<div class="verseind">And own'd her magic power.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">And since our meeting on that hill,</div> +<div class="verseind">I still have fondly thought,</div> +<div class="verse">Of what a store of pleasant dreams,</div> +<div class="verseind">That eve to me hath brought.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">{201}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>LINES ON PARTING WITH ——.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Since Fate's tyrannical decree,</div> +<div class="verse">Sweet friend, dissevers you and me,</div> +<div class="verse">Now memory shall vanquish fate,</div> +<div class="verse">And yield the bliss we knew so late.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Yes, she a mournful devotee,</div> +<div class="verse">From scenes of busy strife shall flee;</div> +<div class="verse">To kneel beneath that cherish'd shrine,</div> +<div class="verse">Whose every offering is thine.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Oh! sometimes in the lonely hour,</div> +<div class="verse">My heart shall own a deeper power,</div> +<div class="verse">And tears shall tell, upon my cheek,</div> +<div class="verse">The grief that words could never speak.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">{202}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>BLUE-EYED ELLA.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Oh blue-eyed Ella's face is fair,</div> +<div class="verse">And beautiful her braided hair,</div> +<div class="verse">As fair the feelings that do speak</div> +<div class="verse">Upon her pure and placid cheek.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Oh! blue-eyed Ella's heart is kind</div> +<div class="verse">With warm desires by Heav'n refin'd;</div> +<div class="verse">Amid this world of crime and ill,</div> +<div class="verse">She walks serene and sinless still.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Oh! blue-eyed Ella! keep for me,</div> +<div class="verse">A thought from scorn and coldness free;</div> +<div class="verse">I fain would ask, I fain would find</div> +<div class="verse">A memory in so blest a mind.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">{203}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>ACROSTIC.</h2> + + +<div class="poemnarrow"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Far hath beauteous Fanny flown,</div> +<div class="verseind">And sad Nature's drooping eye,</div> +<div class="verse">Now declares her pleasure gone,</div> +<div class="verseind">Newly weeping from the sky.</div> +<div class="verse">Yet, when she shall seek again,</div> +<div class="verseind">Mildest maid! these haunts she loved,</div> +<div class="verse">In that hour, will Nature's pain,</div> +<div class="verseind">(Caus'd by her) be all remov'd.</div> +<div class="verse">Here sad Nature shall regain</div> +<div class="verseind">Increase of the joy she proved,</div> +<div class="verse">Ere you fled the flowery plain.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">{204}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2>TO THE MUSE. L'ENVOI.</h2> + + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Dear maid, with whom I, happy, wander'd back,</div> +<div class="verseind">To roam o'er that now sacred, hallow'd ground,</div> +<div class="verse">Where Smith who trod old ocean's stormy track,</div> +<div class="verseind">The noble state of chivalry did found.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Delightful hours thou mad'st them all, when I</div> +<div class="verseind">Went musing there with thee, my spirit guide,</div> +<div class="verse">I saw the chieftain with his eagle eye,</div> +<div class="verseind">And all his val'rous comrades, by his side.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">I saw the doubtful scene; the hard assay,</div> +<div class="verseind">The daring crown'd with victory at last;</div> +<div class="verse">I saw the ancient forest fall away,</div> +<div class="verseind">I saw the little empire spreading fast.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">And, on through other realms in charmed life,</div> +<div class="verseind">I follow'd, by thy silver accents led,</div> +<div class="verse">So sweet, the summer air with bliss seem'd rife,</div> +<div class="verseind">And harping angels hover'd o'er my head.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">But yet—farewell! with sadden'd, sinking heart,</div> +<div class="verseind">I turn from all the joys I late have known,</div> +<div class="verse">Where from the rushing crowd I oft shall start,</div> +<div class="verseind">To find myself dejected and alone.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse">Yet, sometimes thou return, and with those eyes</div> +<div class="verseind">Bright as an angel's, look on me again,</div> +<div class="verse">So I shall feel the wonted raptures rise,</div> +<div class="verseind">And I shall lose the deaden'd sense of pain!</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">{205}</a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<h2>J.W. RANDOLPH,</h2> + +<h3>121 MAIN STREET, RICHMOND, VA.</h3> + + +<p>In addition to the largest and best assortment of <span class="smcap">Law, Medical, +Theological, Classical, School</span> and <span class="smcap">Miscellaneous Books</span>, in +Virginia, offers for sale the following works on Masonry:</p> + +<div class="blockquot hang"> +<p>ALLYN'S RITUAL OF FREEMASONRY, with 30 plates; to which is added a key +to the Phi Beta Kappa, the Orange and Odd Fellows Societies, with notes +and remarks; by A. Allyn. 12mo. muslin, $5 00</p> + +<p>THE MYSTIC CIRCLE, AND AMERICAN HAND-BOOK OF MASONRY, with plates; by +G.H. Gray, sen., of Mississippi. 12mo. sheep, $1 50</p> + +<p>THE FREEMASON'S MANUAL, a companion for the initiated through all the +Degrees of Freemasonry, 100 plates; by Rev. K.J. Stewart, K.T. 12mo. +muslin, $1 00</p> + +<p>THE VIRGINIA TEXT-BOOK OF ROYAL ARCH MASONRY, with plates; by J. Dove, +M.D. Grand Secretary of the Grand Royal Arch Chapter of Virginia. 12mo. +muslin, $1 25</p> + +<p>THE FREEMASON'S LIBRARY, AND GENERAL AHIMAN REZON, with plates; by S. +Cole, P.M. of Concordia and Cassia Lodges, &c. 8vo. half sheep, $1 50</p> + +<p>THE TRUE MASONIC CHART, OR HIEROGLYPHIC MONITOR; by R.W. Jeremy L. +Cross, G.L.; to which are added Illustrations, Charges, Songs, &c. and a +History of Freemasonry. 12mo. muslin, $1 25</p> + +<p>THE CRAFTSMAN AND FREEMASON'S GUIDE, compiled and arranged from Webb, +&c., by C. Moore, Editor of the Masonic Review, Cincinnati, with plates. +18mo. sp. $1 00</p> + +<p>A LEXICON OF FREEMASONRY; by A.G. Mackey, M.D., Author of the Mystic +Tie. 12mo. muslin, $2 00<span class="pagenum noind"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">{206}</a></span> THE FREEMASONS' MONITOR, with additions, +notes, plates, &c.; by T.A. Davis. 12mo. muslin, $1 50</p> + +<p>THE HISTORICAL LAND-MARKS and other Evidences of Freemasonry, explained; +by Rev. G. Oliver, D.D., plates. 2 vols. 8vo.</p> + +<p>THE MASONIC TEXT-BOOK, containing a History of Masonry, Laws, &c., of +the Grand Lodge of Virginia, and other valuable Masonic information; +edited by J. Dove, M.D., plates. 12mo. muslin, $1 25</p> + +<p>THE KNIGHT TEMPLARS' MANUAL, with plates; by Jeremy L. Cross. 12mo. +muslin, $1 25</p> + +<p>THE ANALOGY OF ANCIENT CRAFT MASONRY TO NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION; +by C. Scott, A.M. 8vo. muslin.</p> + +<p>THE TRUE MASONIC GUIDE, with plates, &c.; by R. Macoy. 12mo. muslin.</p> + +<p>THE MASTER WORKMAN; or, True Masonic Guide, with plates; by H.C. Atwood. +12mo. sp.</p> + +<p>All other Masonic Works can be had by ordering of</p> + +<h3 class="right">J.W. RANDOLPH.</h3> +</div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Lays of Ancient Virginia, and Other +Poems, by James Avis Bartley + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LAYS OF ANCIENT VIRGINIA *** + +***** This file should be named 16735-h.htm or 16735-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/7/3/16735/ + +Produced by Mark C. Orton, Pilar Somoza and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Lays of Ancient Virginia, and Other Poems + +Author: James Avis Bartley + +Release Date: September 23, 2005 [EBook #16735] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LAYS OF ANCIENT VIRGINIA *** + + + + +Produced by Mark C. Orton, Pilar Somoza and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + +LAYS +OF +ANCIENT VIRGINIA, +AND OTHER +POEMS: + +BY + +JAMES AVIS BARTLEY, +OF ORANGE COUNTY, VIRGINIA. + +RICHMOND: +J.W. RANDOLPH, PUBLISHER +1855 + + + + +Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1855, + +BY J.A. BARTLEY, + +In the Clerk's Office of the Eastern District Court of the United States +for the Eastern District of Virginia. + +G.S. ALLEN & CO., PRINTERS, CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA. + + + + + TO MY FATHER, + THIS VOLUME IS INSCRIBED + BY HIS SON, + + THE AUTHOR. + + + + + + +PREFATORY LETTER TO THE PUBLIC. + + +DEAR PUBLIC: + +These Poems were written with pleasure; if they be read with pleasure, I +shall be requited amply. How often the Guardian Angel of the Father of +Virginia in surpassing loveliness rose before my imagining eyes! Like +the spirit of a dream, she glided through the foliage, verdant and +shadowy. Enchanted myself, the desire to enchant others seized me. The +"Poet's Enchanted Life" is a gallery of poetic pictures of nature. Most +of the minor and miscellaneous pieces, breathe the spirit of virtuous +affection. If critics censure me unjustly or intemperately, I will fight +them--but I hope to find them, as well as you, dear Public, very kind +friends of a loving Author. + + J.A. BARTLEY. + + + + +POCAHONTAS. + + +Where yonder moss-grown ruin[A] lonely stands, +Which from the James, the Pilgrim may survey, +Stretch alway forth its old, forsaken hands +As if to beg some friend its fall to stay, +And now the wild vine flaunts in greenness gay; +Erst rose a Castle, known to deathless fame, +Though now the mournful rampart falls away, +Hither Virginia's hero-father came, +To found a glorious state, and give these regions name. + +For, then, both far and near the forest wide, +Stretched from the main unto the setting sun, +And Bears and Panthers walked in fiercest pride, +And slept at ease when their red feast was done, +But here of white men there had ne'er walked one, +But a fierce race of wild and savage hue, +Their simple life from chase and angling won, +And oft, when wrath arose, each other slew, +In bloody wars which dyed their soil with crimson dew. + +I ween it was a novel sight to see +The white man landing in the vasty wild, +Which each familiar creature seemed to flee, +Where not a christian dwelling ever smiled, +Nor e'er a well-known sound the ear beguiled, +But all was wild and hideous--and the heart, +Mayhap, of stout man, trembled as a child, +--And oft the exile's tear would, gushing, start, +That ever he was lured from Albion's coast to part. + +But there was one, the chieftain, of that band, +Whose soul no dread, however great, could chill, +His was the towering mind, the mighty hand, +On which, his feeble followers resting, still +Would fear no peril from approaching ill. +With him the strangers built their rugged home, +And turned the soil, and eat, and drank their fill; +Glad that to this fair Eden they had come, +And reconciled became to their adopted home. + +Thus pass'd away in peaceful happiness, +A little space by yonder river's side, +But now arose the wail of keen distress, +Gaunt Famine, with his murderous eye, they spied, +Stalk round the walls of those who wept and sighed, +And when their venturous chieftain wandered forth, +Ill hap betrayed him to the savage pride, +The death-club rose, his head upon the earth, +To perish there and thus, that man of kingly worth. + +Not yet! before that last sad deed be done, +An Indian maiden springs beneath the blow, +And says her virgin blood shall freely run, +For him, extended on the ground below, +See! how, her face upturned, her tears do flow, +See Love and anguish painted in her eyes, +That, like a Seraph's, in their pity, glow, +And surely Angels, looking from the skies +Claimed this poor savage girl a sister in disguise. + +Those eyes, those tears prevent the falling stroke, +For Powhatan could not withstand her tears, +His favorite child, who, charmed, beneath the oak, +His savage spirit from her dawning years, +The wondering white man now he kindly rears, +And bids his menials haste the Indian's fare +For him whom now his daughter's love endears, +And lo! within the Lion's horrid lair, +The Dove has brought her mate, and sees him unhurt there. + +Oh Love! how powerful o'er all thou art, +In dusky breasts or breasts of whiter hue, +To thy delicious touch the human heart +Throbs with respondent transport ever true. +On Love's swift wings, this Indian virgin flew, +To snatch from hateful death the lovely chief, +Love drew her tears, like showers of pearly dew, +Love filled her passionate breast with tender grief +And love still drinks her soul, and naught can give relief. + +She decks her long, black hair with gayest flowers +And tries each girlish art to warm his breast, +And, straying oft, among the leafy bowers, +Whilst Luna's silvery smiles upon them rest, +And Earth sleeps deeply, in that beauty drest, +The lonely Muckawiss[B], with doleful strain, +Pities her fate--alas, she is not blest, +But hopes and doubts, and dares to hope again, +That Smith may love, and ne'er is free from love's soft pain. + +And fair was she, the dim wood's lustrous child, +Though born amid a race of uncouth men, +And gentle as the fawn, which, through the wild, +Trembled with timorous haste, and fled, and when +She stood within the rude and silent glen, +Of deepest forests, she appear'd more bright, +Than other nymphs who roamed these regions then, +And now--for o'er her form and sylph-like waist, +A native modesty entranced the most fastidious taste. + +He whom she loved to all these charms was cold, +Though well he saw her bosom's gentle fire, +Stern is the soul that worships fame or gold, +To all that softer ecstacies inspire. +A stony heart these tyrants e'er require, +Brave Smith ne'er thought of Pocahontas' love, +But only that his name would glitter higher +In coming centuries, others' names above, +Whose soon contented souls an humbler distance rove. + +To cheat her pining soul of this dear dream, +They told a dreary tale that he had died, +While to her father's hut, like some fair gleam +Of sunlight, with some heavenly thought, she hied, +And now both day and night, how sorely sighed, +And inly groaned the poor bereaved maid, +Nor could restrain strong nature's gushing tide, +That in the dark, cold grave, her love was laid;-- +Disconsolate, she moved along the leafy glade. + +Pausing beside her Smith's imagined tomb, +Weeping, by moonlight pale, she strewed fair flowers, +To wither o'er him, emblems of his bloom +So soon departed from these lovely bowers. +Once plucked, these buds will never bless the showers, +Sweet charities, by wearing wonted charms, +But lose for aye their balm for summer hours; +So all her showery grief him no more charms, +To spring and rest a joy in her exulting arms. + +She deems he sleeps within the envious ground, +Which stole him early from her young, warm breast, +No more her brow with wild flower wreaths is bound, +And all her ornaments, neglected, rest; +Since fled is now the dreamy hope which blest +Her artless soul, she loathes her glance to fling +On corals, braids, and flowers, and royal vest, +And slowly wanders like some moon-struck thing, +Through gloomy cypress groves, and by yon haunted spring. + +But time must soothe the most exquisite smart +Of love, when wounded by the dart of death; +For life would flee, should not such woe depart, +Too deeply weighing on the heart beneath. +Fair Pocahontas breathes the wonted breath +Of tranquil life, a creature darkly bright, +Decking her hair again with many a wreath, +Walking amid the high wood's gentle night, +Charming her wild, old Father's heart with strange delight. + +Yet nought could make her cease to view with love, +The tender memory of the mournful past; +And once when warring clouds grew black above, +The shrieking Earth with awful night o'ercast, +And long foiled Hatred hoped to glut his fast +With English gore, with irksome steps she stole, +O'er deep morass, through tangled brake, and cast +The boon of life to each devoted soul, +Who slept within that Castle's frail and weak control. + +Oh! we might marvel that her savage heart, +Would show such love to her loved father's foes; +But love like this, will act no selfish part; +Over drear earth, diffusing joy, it goes, +Its breath the fragrance of the earliest rose, +Its voice the sound of an unearthly thing, +Its form an Angel's, and as pure as those, +Who come to gladdened man on shining wing, +Which scatters round the sweets of an immortal spring. + +Now when the dogwood gemmed with blossoms white, +The gorgeous grove where oak and stately pine, +Upthrew their gnarled arms of massy might, +And thus a leafy canopy did twine, +This dusky Dryad would with grace recline, +Along the mossy bank of crystal stream, +In whose smooth glass her angel beauties shine, +Beside brave Rolfe, a man of pallid gleam, +Who sighed his soul to her, and taught her love's true dream. + +Beneath the silver moon, resplendent queen, +With simple rites, these mingling souls were wed; +The happy stars looked down, with brighter sheen, +To view love's wretched fears for ever fled; +The wild flowers trembled in their dewy bed, +And up a most enchanting fragrance sent; +The blissful Hours, unnoticed, onward sped; +And, with their gentle music sweetly blent, +The breathing winds and waters murmured their content. + +Ah me! what deep, celestial transports thrill'd +These beating bosoms, in so sweet a scene: +What tears of tender joy their visions filled, +Scanning each other's soul-absorbing mien +And, in that bower of paradisal green, +Happy, they sighed, in accents fond and warm, +That thus enclosed Earth's primal pair had been, +Where oft they spied bright Seraph's glorious form, +And rose on high afar the grove's eternal charm. + +There oft the mocking bird, a songster gay, +Would soothe their souls, with multifarious song, +Singing his farewell-hymns to dying Day, +As fade his smiles the darkening glades along; +And when the frowns of night more thickly throng, +The amorous firefly led them at that hour, +O'er wooded hills, and marshes deep and long, +To their sweet rest, which sank, with grateful power, +Along their wearied nerves, in their wild, oaken bower. + +As flows the stream, with calm, unruffled wave, +O'er shining sands, to kiss the glassy main, +So flowed the life their gracious Maker gave, +Nor felt the obstructive power of obvious pain; +So deep o'er them was Passion's rapturous reign, +That mid their bower's delicious solitude, +They dreamed their hearts might never sigh again; +By love their gentle spirits were subdued, +To the deep rapture of a heavenly seeming mood. + +Alas! the race of Pocahontas flow, +As waves, away, which can return no more; +No more o'er plain and peak they bear the bow, +Or shove the skiff from yonder curving shore; +Their reign, their histories, their names are o'er; +The plow insults their sires' indignant bones; +The very land disowns its look of yore; +Vast cities rise, and hark! I hear the tones +Of many mingling Tongues; and boundless labour groans. + +And paler nymphs are sweetly wooed and won, +Upon this soil, and they are happy too, +But of these fairer English damsels, none +Have shown devotion more divinely true, +Than thou, untutor'd maid of dusky hue; +Nor shall thy tribes from memory vanish quite, +While beauteous deeds as angels ofttimes do, +Still sway the generous mind with heavenly might, +For thine would snatch even worse from Time's oblivious night. + +The tallest fir, that decks the blooming grove, +Decays the first, the most abounding rose, +By worms is first consumed; the pearl we love +Is stolen first, the star that brightest glows +To gild the gloom, is first that sets, and those +Whose lovely lives on earth we prized the most, +And most assuaged the pangs of thronging woes, +Which--oh how oft! our fated paths have cross'd, +By all are ever mourned, "the loved and early lost." + +So Rolfe's dear spouse was early snatched away,-- +But left one pledge of her undying love-- +(Perchance her happy spirit oft would stray +Round their dear footsteps wheresoe'er they rove) +And Europe's turf grow green her heart above. +No more could grief or joy disturb her breast. +Soft by her tomb let musing Fancy move! +Let not a sound of thoughtlessness molest +The melancholy spot of her eternal rest! + +Her fair form sank low in the gloomy earth-- +Her spirit soared and found a brighter home, +Where now with sun-bright smiles, she wanders forth, +Beneath the glories of a heavenly dome; +Where Seraphs o'er bright fields forever roam, +And flowers aloft Life's never dying tree, +Whither no evil thing can ever come; +Where now she blends her heart and harp to sing +A ceaseless song of praise to her Eternal King. + +But oft the eye which scans yon ruin old, +Where Jamestown erst in simple grandeur rose, +Shall fill with tears--as there it doth behold-- +For it will speak to him of heroes' woes, +Felt erewhile whence this river gently flows,-- +And sprang this famous, Hero-bearing State;-- +And while with pride his patriot bosom glows, +His heart her gentle history will relate, +And warmly laud her deeds, and mourn her early fate. + + +[Footnote A: Jamestown.] + +[Footnote B: Whip-poor-will.] + + + + +A SONG. + + +Amid the tempest, wild and dark, + Upon Life's troubled sea; +One only star illumes the scene, + With heavenly brilliancy. + +Oh! sweetly o'er the howling deeps, + Its venturing beam shines out; +And bright, relieves my weeping eye, + And calms my soul from doubt. + +That star is pure Religion's light. + A pole star, calm but blest, +It guides my lost and trembling bark, + To Heaven's sweet port of rest. + + + + +ELFINDALE. + + +PART FIRST. + +Sweet Frankie lives in Elfindale; +Where all the flowers are fair, and frail +(Like her fair self,) a slender fairy, +And like a zephyr, playsome, airy, +But lovelier far, than buxom Mary. +Now, since I saw her full, bright eyes, +And heard her tongue's rich melodies, + Solace the evening air, +Sweet Elfindale, e'er loved of yore, +Has grown more fair, beloved more, +A part of some fay-walked shore, + A haunt of beauties rare. +The gay dawn smells more fragrant there, +(When youthful May, new, fresh and fair, +Comes, bird-like through the laughing air,) + Than it was even of old; +And Evening throws a richer dress, +(O'er Elfindale's mild loveliness,) + Of fading pink and gold. +The moonlight nights are lovelier now, + On silent Elfindale; +More pure the beams, more soft the glow, + That sleeps upon the vale: +So much of beauty God hath given +To sweetest Frankie--gracious Heaven! +She spares so much to beautify, +Fair Elfindale to my charm'd eye,-- +And yet she loses none at all +Of that which holds my soul in thrall. +Now, if my harp shall echo well, +The story of her life, and tell, +In worthy feet, her beauty's power +That flourished as a springtime flower, +I shall be richer, happier far +Than one should own a round, bright star. +And what if the fair maid should smile, + To hear my warbled strain? +Ah! that would all my grief beguile, + Undo the life of Pain. +I one time saw a laughing mirth +Leap in the maiden's eyes, +And thought the too aspiring earth +Had robbed the jewelled skies, +Of one bright angel, even her: +She made my very being stir. + +I ne'er saw sweet Frankie's mother, + What I had glowed to see, +Yet think no mortal earth's another, + Bore child so fair as she. +I ween that mother was a queen + In royal qualities, +And in her lofty eyes and mien, + Lurked lovely majesties. +I ne'er saw sweet Frankie's mother, + What I had glowed to see; +But cannot, long-lost mother! smother + The love that swells for thee. + +When Frankie came into this world, + In lovely Elfindale, +The winds were lulled, and waves lay curled, + Beneath the moonlight pale: +The cold stars twinkled far above, +And danced, with their bright eyes of love; +The gleaming waters did rejoice, +And breathed a soft, enamored voice; +The sleeping zephyr on his flowers, +Awaked to bless the gliding hours +Which gave this tiny being, birth, +A bliss, a Blessing to the earth. +She was, in truth, a beauteous child: +At three years old her eyes were wild +With something of a playfulness; +And then she had the softest tress +Of auburn tint, that fell and flew +About her neck of damask hue. +To watch throughout the Summer day, +The butterfly's capricious play, +Or humming bird's bright, rainbow wings, +And all gay, joyous, natural things. +To hear the poets of the grove, +Sing forth their little lays of love; +Or to survey the stars come forth, +Or dancing rainbows hug the earth: +These were the pastime and the play, +That whiled her infant hours away. +And blest was sylvan Elfindale, +With child so fair within its pale. + +That was a bland and holy morn, +Like one, on very purpose, born, + A gray godmother stood, +Before the chancel's sacred place, +With Frankie's sweet and artless grace, + And heard the preacher good. +And as the bright baptism fell, +Upon her fallen tresses well, +And o'er her bosom's chastened swell, + The beauteous maiden smiled: +She looked a wingless cherub then-- +My inmost spirit fluttered, when + I said, O wondrous child! +I thought a troop of angels stood +Amid that lofty fane, +And (I in that ecstatic mood) +They sped to bliss again. +That, whole bright day, I wandered wide, + O'er sunny hill and vale, +And thought no day of brighter pride + E'er lay on Elfindale; +I thought, that day dear Frankie love, +Had been new-linked with those above; +And henceforth angels would attend +The maiden, to her journey's end. + +Fair Frankie grew in attributes +That harmonized like golden flutes, + Or harps of silver strain: +She loved the Lovely--growing so, +With every year's advancing flow;-- + She was the Death of Pain! +The dwellers in green Elfindale, + Were happier all for her, +The very flowers she loved to trail, + With pleasure's thrill, would stir. +She loved both man and brute that dwelt + Within that vale of Good; +And they, as bettered beings, felt + New virtue--as they should. +And thus a shining, golden chain, + Of many links of love, +Knit Frankie to the peopled plain, + And to the good above. +Affection's wreathed rings of beauty, + Bound round a globe of gold; +It is my verse's pleasing duty, + To say to all, behold, +Sweet Frank that central globe of worth; +That gems, with pride, this spot of earth, +This flower-engirdled, blissful vale, +This heart-delighting Elfindale. + +And now when lovely Frankie stood, +In the dear pride of womanhood, + The queen of Elfindale; +One sought her for her loveliness-- +A joy--a heaven of happiness-- +An earth-born angel meant to bless +My throbbing soul with rich excess + Of joys that never fail. +She sat hid in a garden bower, + Watching the first, sweet star, +That crowns the lovely twilight hour, + And glows to earth from far. +A sad sweet dream oppressed her thought, + And tinged her calm, white face; +Her eyes fixed fast, their radiance fraught, + With melancholy grace. +I stole unto her close retreat, + As winds creep on a vale; +And, standing, gazed upon the sweet, + Sweet queen of Elfindale. +She turned her head, she faintly smiled, + She bent her gaze on me; +It made my very spirit wild, + With thrilling ecstacy. +I caught and clasped, her to my heart, + Yet never spoke a word;-- +But the twin-vow that could not part, + By Love in Heaven was heard. + + +PART SECOND. + +Again unto the lofty fane, + Sweet Frankie lightly went; +With smiling joy and same of pair + Upon her features blent. +Again, as on that sunny morn, + When white-winged angels stood, +To see her, of bright water, born, + Before the preacher good. +Again within the chancel's gloom, + She sweetly, gently stands; +With marriage hymn, with rich perfume, + With Hymen's happy bands; +With wild-rose wreaths, with gayest bloom, + And wreathed maiden's hands. +But, now she stands with me even there, + With sweetly downcast eyes, +So purely white, so passing fair, + Like one of Paradise. +The preacher speaks the solemn words, + Yet fraught with deepest bliss; +We twain in one are bound by chords, + With sob--with clasp--with kiss. +Returning from that sacred place, + All earth and sky rejoiced, +And all the winds and waters' race + Their compliments then voiced. +The birds sang sweetly on the spray, + As they ne'er sang before; +And love lay o'er the world away, + A robe of golden ore. + +And now, we live in Elfindale, + Dear Frank and I together; +And there is light on this sweet dale, + In calm, or stormy weather. +A fairy daughter leaps between + Our nightly moving paces; +Upon whose soft and marble brow, + Gleam many artless graces. +We dwell, we dwell, in Elfindale-- + I--child--and happy mother; +And, if earth holds a sweeter vale, + We cannot wish another. +Life has been arched with bluer skies, + By curved rainbows brighter; +And nature--ah! what wondrous dyes, + Now lavishly bedight her. +Love has become a glorious robe, + With thickest gold o'erladen; +And now we dwell upon a globe + Which is, indeed, an Aidenn. +I dwell with fixed eyes upon + My wife and cherub maiden, +I feel the light of that fire-sun, + That broadly shines on Aidenn,-- +And all our days that brightly run, + Are heavily joy-laden-- +And now we know our grief is done, + And that we dwell in Aidenn. + + + + +OF A SKYLARK. + + +At dawn I rose from silent sleep, + And heard a sky-lark singing, +Amid the azure far and deep, + Till all the arch was ringing. + +And now, as deeper, deeper still + His form sank into heaven, +Me-seemed his heart's concentered thrill, + To his loved Lord was given. + +If I possessed such wondrous wings, + I would soar and sing to heaven, +Till my freed soul from sordid things, + Should thus be widely riven. + + + + +THE PRINCESS OF PERU. + +RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED TO MISS MARY T. ROBERTSON OF ABINGDON, VA. + + +Far to the wilds of rich Peru, +Gonzalo came--of pallid hue, +Strange in these Western lands of night, +Where nought, save woman's eyes, are bright. +But these have all that outward beam, +Reflected from their glances' gleam +Of light and fire, that kindle bliss; +Or sink to gloom in Death's abyss. +Gonzalo came, a son of Spain, +That land which gleams beyond the main, +And sent its children to these lands, +To gather gold with reckless hands. +And, he, Gonzalo, stood a tower, +In sturdy grace, and manly power; +No Indian's weapon was to him, +More than a sea-reed, slight and slim; +And yet to brown Iola's eye, +He seemed the lord of lady's sigh. +Gonzalo seen, her thought, her dream, +With fancy's love-fraught visions teem. +She deemed that orb of glorious fire, +To which her country's souls aspire, +That crimson god whose glowing face +Illumines all the mortal race: +She deemed his glory, only, vied +With brave Gonzalo's matchless pride. +And down along the green, fresh earth, +Where sin not yet had known its birth; +She knelt, and cast her hands and eyes, +To the bright God of those bright skies; +And worshipped him whose blessed beams, +Had given Gonzalo to her dreams. +Iola, princess of Peru, +Most fair (though of a dusky hue,) +Like this new, unpolluted clime, +Unknown to hate, unknown to crime, +Where all that dwell know but to love, +(The gentleness which marks the dove.) +And like that rich, unguarded shore, +She knew to be, and seem no more; +And like that land so rich in bloom, +Its branches wrought at noon a gloom; +Her form was bright with beauty's hues, +Which each propitious year renews; +And, as within its bosom lay, +Treasures which mocked the sun's bright ray; +In her rich soul shone wealth to shame, +That tropic sun's meridian flame. +She stood a lovely being fraught, +With that most dear to human thought, +The power to love, to force the bliss +Of heaven, to such a world as this. + Iola, dearest maiden, threw +A wondrous charm o'er all who knew +Her loveliness; her menial train +Adored her even to anxious pain. +And to her father's rapturous eyes, +She shone a rainbow--whose bright dyes +Illumed his aged spirit's night; +A thing of loveliness and light. +And in and out the Inca's hall +She went, returned to his known call. +She seemed a sunbeam sent from heaven, +To make his troubled spirit even; +For, if his soul, oppressed with grief, +In aught of earthly, sought relief; +Iola's image quickly seen, +His soul grew peaceful and serene. +In his tried spirits' darkest mood, +She was an omen still of good. + Such was the maid with hue of night, +But soul and eyes like midday light, +Whose beauty shed a sparkling spell, +O'er Peru's plain and shadowy dell;-- +Who mid the rugged Andes stood, +The charm of polished womanhood, +And many a stranger wondered where, +She caught that grace and beauty's air. + +"Iola!" said Gonzalo, "far +Where shines yon lovely evening star, +Sings many a gay and loving maid, +Beneath the cooling olive shade. +Their brows are whiter, too, than thine, +But yet none to me are so divine, +As thine, fair maid of dark Peru, +With heart like its Volcanoes too. +E'er since I landed on those shores, +Of endless spring, and brightest ores, +I have not thought of ought but thee, +Ne'er can my bosom now be free. +List! sweet Iola! am I vain? +I deem thou lovest we well again; +For, when I sought thy downcast eyes, +They met mine with a glad surprise; +And when I spake to thee full low, +Thy voice was like a fountain's flow, +So softly sweet, so lulling, too, +It bathed my soul in rapture's dew. +Iola! sure I love thee well, +And if thou wilt thy father tell, +I deem he will not eye me ill, +Whose love is with his daughter still." + Iola raised her glance to heaven, +Then to Gonzalo, darting, even +Her soul, into his own, and said; +"This soil with blood was never red; +And, sure, my father would not slay, +Those men for whom his child will pray. +But why thinkest thou of blood? the thought, +With wretched fear is ever fraught. +Think, think of love, and gentle peace, +Gonzalo! let these bodings cease. +Think, think of love--here on my heart, +Repose, and even Death's stern dart, +By Love conjured, will turn away, +Some unloved thing of earth to slay." +"Angel of good!" Gonzalo cried, +"A thousand joys are at thy side, +Thou comest to light my dangerous way, +With calm, and pure, and heavenly ray. +I feel thou art a spirit sent, +From heaven's snow-white battlement, +To lead me through these stranger wilds, +With voice and actions like a child's, +So guiltless in thy love--so dear, +I bless thy goodness with a tear. +Oh! like thy climate's deathless spring, +Succeeding days and years shall bring, +Living affection to my heart, +Till we no more on earth can part." +"Then, dear Gonzalo! let us meet, +As oft as evening airs are sweet, +In yonder bower--my own--my dove, +And I will be thy gentle love. +That bower my Inca-father reared, +For good such thing to him appeared, +Where his Iola might be lone, +To dream of fancies all her own. +Yes! oft as evening shades came down, +On giant Andes' glittering crown +Of endless snow, that shines afar +Next to the radiant zenith star; +Then throw their dark and sombre lines, +Upon the mountain's lower pines: +Come, then, to me, and we will speak, +Sweet thrilling words, and on my cheek, +Thy lip shall feed till we expire, +In glowing love's consuming fire." +"Yes, I will come, maid of Peru! +Though Fate, yon soaring Andes threw, +Between my wish and thee my love, +That lofty barrier I'd remove; +And press to thee with Condor's flight, +To thee, to love, to life's delight. +N'er since these eyes beheld the day, +Have they seen aught, whose potent sway, +Could bend my will, as thou, dear maid! +Sweet star, amid my spirit's shade. +Not all the wealth that gleams around +Within thy country's magic bound, +And fills my world with loudest fame, +Of this new world's most wondrous name, +Sways more with me than idle dream, +Or transient bubbles on a stream, +Compared, Iola! with thy power;-- +And I will come to thy sweet bower." + + * * * * * + +"Iola! art thou in thy bower, +At this most dear, appointed hour? +On fleetest pinions I have come, +To meet thee mid this richest bloom, +Thy Inca father's garden flowers, +Whose odors fall like balmy showers; +But, of them all, thou art the flower +Who hast the most delightful power, +And of the wondrous birds that sing +Amid this garden's blooming spring; +Thou art the loveliest; and thy voice +Most meet to bid my soul rejoice." +Iola spoke not in reply; +But gazed on him with vacant eye: +Still was she silent as the grave, +O'er those we love but could not save; +And she seemed calm as tropic sea, +When its hushed waves from winds are free. +Gonzalo wondered; why no word, +Came from that lip that mocked the bird +Of her own land, in melody, +When warbling from his cocoa tree. +But why, O gem of rich Peru, +Thy silence strange, thy aspect new? +What envious power has bound thy voice, +Which erst could bid my soul rejoice. +Oh! surely some malignant sprite +From realms of most infernal night, +Has taken thy angel voice away;-- +But speak, Iola, speak, I pray! +Her tears gushed forth like tropic rain, +That widely floods the blooming plain; +And thus began, "Gonzalo! thou +Deceived'st me--but I know thee now. +Ask me not how I know it sooth; +Enough, I know the bitter truth. +I felt forebodings of this hour; +It did my happiest thoughts o'er power, +With a dark weight; but then I thought, +'Twas by my foolish fancy wrought. +'Twas like the omen which precedes +The earthquake when the summer reeds +Are strangely still, until the shock +The central earth shall wildly rock. +Thou dost not love me, child of Spain! +Thy heart can love no thing but gain; +The paltry dust I tread above, +To thee, is more than woman's love. +My love is vain, and life is less +Since lost my hope of happiness +Look from this garden;--far below +Yon Andes' sides with verdure glow, +But far on high, the icy chill +Of winter glitters, glitters still: +I am that lonely verdure--thou +That mountain's cold, unchanging brow. +I'll ne'er upbraid thee--no--oh no! +For love is kind, in deepest woe, +I love thee still, and will till Death, +Shall win my love with living breath. +This even, farewell--yes, yes, adieu! +No years our meeting can renew. +Would that when round these royal bowers, +I played in childhood's happy hours, +The Condor bird had borne me high, +On his huge pinions through the sky, +Upon yon mountain's snowy crest, +To hush his high and hungry nest. +Farewell, Gonzalo! fly with speed, +Leave shade and silence to my need." + + * * * * * + +There was a cry of terror in the hall +Of Peru's monarch, and a startling call; +But no reply--Iola sure was gone; +Yet none knew why or whither she had flown. +Her Inca-father put his crown aside, +And filled the temple with loud prayer--a tide +Of lamentation rolled along the fair +And blooming realm; heaven wore a dim despair. +She ne'er was found; but how or when she died +None knew; by her own hand; or if she cried, +Vainly, in wild beasts' clutch;--but ne'er before +Din wail so wild resound along the shore +Of fair Peru; her father lived not long, +After this chord was snapped in his life's song. + + + + +THE HOLY LADY. + + +Oh, Heaven hath given to earth some souls, + Of rarest loveliness, +Whose being's constant current rolls, + The wretched still to bless. + +Well wishing Heaven hath given to earth, + Some hearts of purest fire, +To renovate our sinful birth, + And raise our low desire. + +The Holy Lady did not go + Afar, by sea or land, +But ministered to sighing wo, + And suffering near at hand. + +'Twas sweet to see the Lady fair, + Each blessed sabbath morn, +Wear such a sweetly solemn air, + Of bright devotion, born. + +'Twas sweet to see her bow at eve, + On lowly bended knee, +To pray, and sadly, sweetly grieve, + For man's perversity. + +But sure were we that city fine, + Wherein this Lady dwelt, +Was bettered by a power divine, + And heavenly prompting felt. + +When she was old, her heart not cold, + A youthful beauty lay, +A light most wondrous to behold! + Upon her tresses gray. + +The charm of goodness does not fade, + Like natural beauty's flower, +But blooms in glory undecayed, + And death-defying power. + + + + +TIME AND ETERNITY. + + +The darkness falls on wood and field, + On lofty peak, on silent sea, +The infant Moon and Planets yield + A faint and feeble brilliancy. + +Cans't thou behold the look and shape + Of mount and main, of wold and wood? +The morrow's sun, o'er sea and cape, + Will show them out, both plain and good. + +Time darkens all to mortal eyes + Save what faint reason's stars illume: +But when Eternity shall rise, + All shall their shapes and hues assume. + + + + +YEMEN. + + +My soul has been wandering in Yemen, + The land of the aloe and myrrh; +Where the breezes that blow from the ocean, + Brought feelings of heaven to her. + +In the joy-giving vallies of Yemen, + On its mountains that blush with their bloom; +My soul has been wandering but lately, + To hide from the weight of her gloom. + +My Soul, like the fleet horse of Yemen, + Flew chainless o'er mountain and plain, +Till she paused by the flower-scented ocean, + Then returned on her pinions, again. + +In that beautiful world, in that Yemen, + My Soul lately wandered in bliss; +Till she found there a glorious maiden, + She vainly had sighed for, in this. + +Then my Soul walked far with this maiden-- + In this beautiful region of gold, +And died on the love-burdened accents, + From the fount of her bosom that rolled. + +Oh Yemen! whose name is the Happy, + Whose mountains are fragrant with bloom-- +My Soul met her Consort there lately-- + And now she says nothing of gloom. + + + + +LILLY: A POEM. + + +The May sun sheds an amber beam, + Upon the river's liquid plain, +But never to that glorious gleam, + Her eyes will ope again: +Sweet Lilly, come again, +Sweet Lilly, come again. + +We look across the landscape wide, + Where spring bemocks the thought of pain, +And scatters charms with lavish pride;-- + The vernal joy is all in vain: +Sweet Lilly, come again, +Sweet Lilly, come again. + +The summer breezes lightly lift + The clustered flowers oppressed with rain, +Which fleecy cloud-sieves downward sift,-- + It falls on Lilly's form in vain: +Sweet Lilly, come again, +Sweet Lilly, come again. + +Oh! can the glory of the year, + The Spring that decks the widening plain, +Thus strive to make the maid appear, + But yield the hopeless task in vain: +Sweet Lilly, come again; +Sweet Lilly, come again. + +Silence!--where brighter May suns beam, + On greener hills and vales, +Bright Lilly walks, as in a dream, + Fann'd by celestial gales:-- +Now, Lill! come not again! +Now, Lill! come not again. + + + + +ADIEU TO EMORY. + + +Adieu to thee, Emory! adieu to thee now! +There is grief in my spirit, there's gloom on my brow, +I have left the sweet scenes where I knelt at thy shrine, +O Learning! thy wreath with my name to entwine. + +Adieu to the scenes where, when study was o'er, +And the toil of the mind was remembered no more; +I roamed o'er the mountains, forgetful, afar, +'Neath the light of the beautiful Evening Star. + +Like the light of that star--like a splendor on high-- +Like a Heavenly Dream that was born in the sky-- +Bright Poesy burst on my pathway even there, +And a rainbow of Beauty encircled the air. + +Ah! she shone with a brilliance more dazzling and strong, +Than e'er to a child of the earth could belong; +And her pinions that waved through the rose-scented air, +Had a tint that was brighter than thought can declare. + +Yet adieu to thee, Emory,--thy scenes I regret; +In a far distant scene, I may think of them yet; +Fond Fancy may roam o'er thy mountains again, +And love them as freshly and warmly as then. + +Yet, the tears gush unbidden, when breathing adieu,-- +With the change of our years, our hearts are changed too! +And, haply, the world, with its coldness, will chill +My feelings at length, as bleak winter the rill. + +Adieu to thy scenes, adieu to thee now! +There is grief in my spirit--there is gloom on my brow-- +Though Fancy may paint all thy beauty once more, +The days that have flitted, she cannot restore. + + + + +VIRGINIA. + + +Thy soil, Virginia! is all hallowed ground, + Made such by steps of patriots; thy high fame, +Alway unto our ears, a glorious sound, + Kindles, in all high hearts, heroic flame. + +I walk beneath thy forests, high and lone, + I hear a voice that sinks into my heart, +The voice of fetterless Liberty; the tone + Which bids the flame of patriotism start. + +Greece was the land of heroes, and her soil + Is sacred with the deathless memory +Of martyred virtue, which on Death could smile, + At Marathon and proud Thermopylae: + +Gray Rome shall never lose the magic charm, + That valor's fire can pour along a land; +That charm shall bid the hearts of mankind warm, + Long after her last stone hath ceased to stand: + +Yet, thou, Virginia! art a prouder land, + For when thy hills become red shrines to Right; +Thy plains become the spots, where, smiling, stand, + The angels, gentle Peace and true Delight. + +And now, how fair thy homes! on every hand, + Thy cities and thy country domes arise, +From mountains vast, to ocean's shelly strand, + And bring a pride into our gazing eyes! + +How brave thy polished sons! their hearts how free! + How far above the plotting of the mean! +How they contemn all base chicanery, + And proudly move, as men, through every scene! + +And when thy daughters, an angelic train, + Roam mid thy flowery walks, how sweet their love! +And when they speak--the sound seems like a strain, + That wander'd from a blissful clime above! + +Immortal land! my soul is proud, to think + I yet can walk upon thy mother soil, +And, willing that her mouldering frame may sink, + Back to thy breast, after its lifetime toil. + + + + +WATOGA. + + +Oh, think not that the polished breast, + Only, can feel the fire of love, +Pure as the flames that brightly rest + In bosoms of the realms above. +Yes! often in the rudest form, + A heart may be, more clear and bright +Than ever lent the loveliest charm + To goddess of the Festal light. +Come, hear a story of the time, + When this wide land was one green bower, +The roving Red man's Eden-chine, + Where bloomed the wildest flower. +The great ships brought a wondrous race, + One evening o'er the ocean beach; +Strange was the pallor of their face, + Strange was the softness of their speech. +'Twas evening, and the sunset threw + A gorgeous brilliance o'er the scene, +Deep crimson stained the heaven's sweet blue, + But ocean rivalled all its sheen. +The painted red men came to view, + With marvel, what the winds had brought,-- +For, surely, those proud vessels flew, + As if their force from Heaven they caught. +But who is yonder slender youth, + With smoothest brow and smoother cheek, +And eyes so full of boyhood's truth, + And mouth, which closed, yet seems to speak? +"Ah, sure, that lovely youth's from Heaven!" + A dark-eyed maiden of the wood +Sighed out upon the breath of even, + As in the mellowed light she stood. +And, ever from that fatal hour, + This white youth's image, slight and pale, +Would haunt the maiden's leafy bower, + And wake her spirit's wail. +In that high heart that fiercely hates, + Love is as fierce and wild; +And so the love is wild, that waits + To mount its height in this poor child: +This poor, frail child who born beneath + A roof of leaves, is made to dream, +That she may wear a bridal wreath + For youth of snowy gleam. +Watoga! sure some demon lied, + To thee, when wrapt amid thy sleep, +To make thee his forlornest bride, + Beneath the moaning deep. +That youth who floats an Angel through, + Thy night, thy daily dream-- +He loves a maid whose eyes are blue, + And cheek like yon full moon's white beam. +The simple ornaments which thou + Hast taken thy form to deck, +The wild flower wreath that binds thy brow, + The shells that gem thy neck; +Each ornament shall deck a bride + To wed the Demon Death, +Beneath the ocean's sluggish tide, + A thousand feet beneath! +The fair youth who hath warped thy mind, + He loves a snow-white maid! +Then know'st it!--now not long confined, + Thou'lt fly the greenwood shade. +'Tis night on lone Atlantic's deep, + And summer o'er that placid sea, +The stars watch Earth's scarce-breathing sleep-- + Oh! she sleeps deeply--tenderly. +What figure o'er yon bluff that scowls, + Upon the smiling water? +Ah! whose that wild and freezing howl? + It is the forest's daughter. +One moment,--and the hollow moan + Of billows sings her funeral song;-- +In sooth, it was a dreadful tone, + And it will haunt us long. +This is the brief and mournful tale + Of one who loved in vain;-- +She slept not in the flowery vale, + But in the deep, deep main, +They tell she was a demon's bride, + But now a wondrous wail, +Each night swells o'er the peaceful tide, + And through the loudest gale. +Watoga was her Indian name, + The white men called her yellow-flower;-- +And evil fire, a poisonous flame, + Blasted her heart's sweet bower. +Failing to be the youth's dear bride, + Adorned in colors gay, +She went to a Demon's pride, + Under the Sea, they say. +And I have grieved to think of her, + And, if in these degenerate years, +There's feeling, her most mad despair, + Would melt a stone to tears. + + + + +NAPOLEON. + + +INTRODUCTION. + +If ye will walk amid the ancient wood, +Ye will perceive the lordly oak o'erspread +The slender shrubs, and shield them from the storm. +If ye will look upon a thrifty hive +Of honey-loving bees, ye will remark +A Sovereign rules this small but populous State; +And, if she live, they live, and fill with life +The sunny air around--but if she die, +They quickly die, and then their precious sweet, +Becomes a dainty dish for vilest worms. +If ye will scan the custom of those birds, +That seek the boreal lakes, when spring unfolds-- +Soaring far up amid the azure heaven, +Ye will note one who leads them in their flight, +As Chief his army to the embattled fight, +And, oft he shouts far back to them to cheer +Their fainting hearts, and flagging pinions on, +To trace the long, long course to far off lands. +If ye will note the noblest of a flock, +Ye will observe the weaker follow him. +And thus if ye will wisely look on men, +Ye will perceive the wisest lead them on +To every work; for this is nature's law, +And whoso breaks it, breaks it to his hurt. +Fair France once drooped beneath the feeble rule, +A blighting reign, of many a Bourbon fool, +Until Napoleon rose, her natural king, +And crushed the Bourbon, as an abscess thing. +Great Heaven decrees, that Greater still must reign, +Or else the weaker must exist in vain. +Fair France seemed conscious of this grand design, +And hailed Napoleon as a man divine-- +Bedecked his path for many a flowery mile, +And claimed her monarch with a beaming smile. +Thus came Napoleon--and, on every hand, +Fair Joys prepared to hover o'er the land. +Then, France! thy glorious age was nigh begun, +When rose upon thee such a glorious sun; +Soon had thy bliss and praises been complete, +And Earth had, falling, worshipped at thy feet. +Beneath this monarch's rule--who loved the best-- +Thy meanest subject had been very blest. +And thou had'st antidated our high claim +Of rescuing man from civil slavery's shame. +But, ever, Envy views, with murderous eye, +Those souls who strive to make their station high. +When France was weak, her sister realms were kind-- +When France grew strong, in hellish league combined, +They sought to crush her to the sordid earth-- +Lest she should grow--and they should pine in dearth. + + Go beat the spaniel, if he rouse thine ire, +His servile nature may no more aspire-- +But leave the lion in his lordly lair, +Or he thine entrails in his rage will tear. +Go, rob the linnet's unprotected nest, +And rend her offspring, from her little breast; +But leave the Eagle in his eyrie high, +Or thy torn flesh shall hush his eaglet's cry. +Fair France's lion was Napoleon! he +Roamed o'er the land, a monarch proud and free: +And when the Nations, in their pigmy might, +Provoked the Lion to engage in fight, +With gory jaw, he rent their legions strong, +And left them bleaching the wide earth along. +Fair France's Eagle was Napoleon! he +Soared thro' her sky, a monarch proud and free: +And when the boy-like kingdoms thought to bring +The glorious soarer down with bleeding wing, +With swift, fierce swoop, he darted from on high, +And the rent pigmies, shrieked with mighty cry. + + Vain were their wishes, all their envy vain, +They could not bring the soarer to the plain;-- +Till Fate's fell arrow--surer than the rest-- +Winged the far flight, and pierced his glorious breast. +Then fell Napoleon, Eagle of his clime, +By Fate's fell shaft, from yon proud heaven sublime: +And when he fell, France knew no keener woe, +Then the deep piercing of that mortal blow. +The sweet land drooped, and sickened in her grief-- +That hope so happy, had given truth so brief-- +That Fate's fell shaft her glorious Bird had slain, +No more o'er conquered earth to soar again. + + But not at once Napoleon breathes his last-- +More woes must come--if now the worst be past. +Napoleon's star, declining on his eye, +Tells France shall yield him not a place to die. +That he must hie him to an alien shore, +And see his France, and blue-eyed boy no more. +The noble Lion must be chained at length, +By Fate's strong force, though not by man's weak strength. +But, harmless now, that meaner things shall prey +On whom they fled from, in his Glory's day. +Oh! when the Chieftain turned to wave adieu +To lovely France, across the waters blue, +The iron man who never quailed in war, +Where Death's conspiring darts flew fast and far-- +If peering Envy marked no gushing tear-- +Wept, wept to leave the land that was so dear-- +And if that woe was mute--it was more deep, +As deepest floods, in silent caverns sleep. + + But who are they to whose exalted name, +He turns for friendship in his fall's deep shame? +What flattered enemy may gladly prove, +A fallen Hater yet may know her love? +Britannia! in this latest deep distress, +Napoleon's fate thou now mayest surely bless, +Attest thy greatness to a fallen foe, +And make thy fame sublime o'er all below. + + Lo! on yon dreary isle, yon desolate rock, +That quails beneath old ocean's ceaseless shock-- +Where flaming suns and sudden ruins combine, +Fo waste and wreck the human form divine-- +Where man cut off from all most dear to man, +Makes hopeless exile, happy if he can:-- +Then say; Britannia! that thy nobleness +Deigns thy asylum to thy foe's distress? +Say, this the Glory which thou lov'st to boast, +O'er meaner dwellers of each neighboring coast? + + Contracted nation! thy contracted home, +A sterile rock round which the billows foam! +How well consorts it with thy dwarfish soul, +That owns no noble feeling's high control. + + What glorious record holds the past of thee, +What single page from foul disgrace is free; +Bend, weeping Mary, Scotland's lovely Queen, +With noblest grace, and sad, yet royal mien, +Bend from yon dome of pure, celestial blue, +Say, when a fugitive from sorrow flew, +To Britain's bosom, did she live--or die-- +Unheard--uncared for, her last lingering sigh? + + On yon bleak isle, behold the Eagle razed, +Who lately soaring, down on Europe gazed. +See now a jackal move about his gate, +Gloat o'er his grief, and mock his fallen State-- +Howl round his nobler prisoner every hour, +How brave! to mock him now, deprived of power! + + Behold, on yon lone rock the Lion bound, +Who once o'er prostrate Europe looked around; +See now, a Spaniel, yelping at the gate +Of his strong dungeon, mock his altered State. + + Methinks, when dying on that lonely isle, +The sad abode of his most sad exile; +If, haply, he had touched the mournful lyre, +It breathed this "Farewell"--ere he did expire. + + "I die not on this hideous rock, + As common men would die; + The world will weep above my grave, + Despite a dismal lie. + + I well endure the fiercest pangs + That myriads give to one,-- + But oh! my lovely France! I grieve, + To leave thee so undone. + + My towering aim, to see thy fame + O'er all beneath the sky-- + So much--at last--is now achieved, + And, half content, I die. + + The woes my foes decree me here, + Ne'er wake my faintest sigh-- + But when I view my country's woes, + Not yet I wish to die. + + But lo! the Future opens now, + Before my glazing eyes, + And shapes of new and coming things, + Before my vision rise. + + I see the Bourbon hurled at last, + From France's tottering throne, + A proud Napoleon reigning there, + France, smiling, points her own!' + + Earth yet adores my mighty name-- + And, late, laments my doom, + Nor longer wrongs the gliding ghost + That loathes its island tomb. + + Long--long through age succeeding age, + Napoleon doth awake + A fearful throb in injured breasts, + To make vile despots quake-- + + And teach the world this truthful lore, + That Greater still must reign, + Or Weaker must exist on earth + And pass to dust in vain!" + + + + +STANZAS. + + +Hark! how the wintry tempest raves, + Along the frozen plain-- +Dark, dark the lowering clouds above, + And fast descends the rain. + +But, lady! now a deeper gloom + Surrounds thy lover's soul, +And wilder floods of grief and woe, + Around his spirit roll. + + + + +THE LOVER. + +SCENE I.--A WOODED MOUNTAIN IN BLOOM--TIME +SUNRISE--ENTER LOVER SOLUS. + +This is my fair resort, the Summer Sun +Is rising there, the ocean gleams like gold, +On which his rolling chariot burns like fire. +Ten thousand birds are up in branch and air, +To hail this coronation, every day +Repeated from the first to last of time. +It is a glorious sight, and worthy all +That has been said or sung of it in verse. +But yet 'tis dim to me, Odora's eyes +Have cast that glory in a dull eclipse, +Oh! sweet Odora! I am mad with love +Of thy sweet eyes. Would they might rain their rays +Upon me, as yon orb, rains rays on earth. +Oh, sweetest eyes of love! they set on fire +My tinder heart. Odora! come to me! +Upon this mountain's green and glittering brow, +Where now I stand and gaze down earth and main, +O'er which that God's all gladdening glory soars. +Come, sweet Odora! thine eyes outshine that God. +Thy speech's music so transcends these birds, +They'll pine for grief and die. Oh sweet, come, come. + +ENTER ODORA IN THE DRESS OF A WOODNYMPH. + +Transcendant vision! Even now I thought of thee, +My mind, o'erheated, called--and thou art here. +What blissful fate hath brought thee? Dost thou roam +The scented hills at morn, to gather flowers; +To gaze into the fountain's glassy mirror, +Or list the sweet birds sigh on every bough, +Thou art a woodnymph, speaks thy fair attire. +Sweet fancy of a sweeter maidenhood, +That thou dost walk at dawn a woodnymph wild. +Here will I seal upon thy foam-white brow +My flame again, which burns like yonder orb. +Odora! speak to me! thy voice is sweet, +As sounds of rescue to a ship-wrecked soul. + + +SCENE II.--LOVER IN A GORGEOUS SALOON IN A GREAT +CITY--EVENING--ENTER ODORA--LOVER SPEAKS. + +Again I meet my love. 'Tis wondrous bliss, +That such a Moon shines on my spirit's night. +Like yonder moon, at times, she disappears;-- +But still the virtue of her visit stays, +Till she returns, with moon-like certainty. +Come, my Odora come! sing, + +ODORA SINGS. + + When winds are cold, and winter strips, + The Oak and ghostly Pine; + And fastens every streamlet's lips, + And cold icicles shine: + Still fair amid the scene so bleak, + The daisy flower is seen; + So truest love will comfort speak, + And make life's winter green. + +That strain would charm an adder even to tears, +So sweet a song, from mouth so full of grace. +Before I saw thee, my Odora! ne'er +I thought this world could ever grow so fair +To me. Love throws a rosy, sparkling tissue +On mountain, hill, lake, tree, shrub, leaf and flower, +Love sweetens every note of nature seven fold. +But sing again. Thy voice is like a harp. + +ODORA SINGS. + + When winds are bleak, and snows are deep, + And waters frozen dumb; + And voiceless insects snugly sleep, + Where beam can never come: + The daisy blooms beneath some tree, + That screens her form from harm;-- + So, love! I nestle near to thee, + And live beneath thy arm. + +Oh! angel! thou dost sing a meaning lay, +And teachest wisdom, in sweet poetry. +But whence, my fair philosopher, thy lore, +Hath God bestowed such deep laid knowledge on +A light and playsome girl, whose pranks and wiles +Have quite bewitched my would-be firmer soul. +Methinks thou singest well to-night; adieu, +And may pure angels bring thee radiant dreams. + + +SCENE III. AN EVENING IN SUMMER. A GARDEN.--LOVER +ALONE, AND READING A BOOK. + +A tale of happy love! 'Tis like my fate. +Two youthful beings, yearning each for love, +Met by a haunted stream, with ivied banks, +Beneath the evening star--the star of love. +Their souls fled to each other suddenly: +So that they felt they were ordained of old, +To twain be one, one flesh, one bone, one soul. +They loved, and dwelt among the grassy hills, +By lakes that mirrored all their trees and flowers. +A happy life, and curly-headed boys +Were round their steps, their walks, their cottage door, +Filling the air with laughter, silvery sweet. +Gay spring, bright summer, autumn, winter passed, +And found and left them happy, So time flew, +Till both were old, their hearts yet light and gay. +Then, they slept sweetly, side by side, near by +A favorite stream they oft had gazed upon, +Meek christians said they hoped that love so rare +Had full fruition found, in brighter worlds. +It is a happy story, and my eyes, +Have poured their pearl upon these pages here, +That tell so dear a tale. Oh! God be praised, +If such a fate befall my love and me. +I will go seek Odora, and return +To talk with her amid this fragrant bower, +Of what a book has charmed my sighing soul. +I found it here. Perchance she read it first. +How that one thought which doth fill up the mind, +Will color outward objects, circumstance, +And accident, with tincture of itself. + + _He goes--then Odora and he re-enter the garden._ + +LOVER SPEAKS.--I here have found, Odora, love, this book, +Which tells a strange, sweet tale of happy love, +How two young beings found a heaven on earth, +Cans't tell me, whence it came, if fact or dream? + +ODORA SPEAKS.--It is a happy story. In my father's room +Of precious volumes late I fell on this; +And read it in this garden; sweet romance, +It brought the love-beats to my heart, drops to mine eyes. + + +SCENE IV.--ODORA AND LOVER IN A FIELD UNDER A +PERFECT RAINBOW. (LOVER SPEAKS.) + + Above this field that shines an Eden, lo! +That wondrous arch of many married hues: +A gorgeous belt, round Nature's lovely waist! +Sure, earth now seems no place of graves. A wide +Gay, blooming Paradise! With moistened face, +She smiles, like God, upon this joyous world. +A new, wild burst of various harmony, +Salutes that Bow of charm--that orb of Glory. +Thou art the sun and rainbow to my heart, +And, as they fade from sight--but do not die-- +But come to-morrow with their wonted charms, +Thou shalt not die--but gleam o'er me in heaven, +With none of all thy beauty, lost or less. +Can'st thou not sing a song, love, ere it fades? + +SHE SINGS. + + The Sun gave birth to yonder bow + That trembles in the sky + That life-bestowing sun art thou-- + That trembling bow am I. + When he withdraws his beaming face, + The rainbow disappears; + And, if those frown on me but once, + I melt away in tears. + + I thank thee for that song. Oh! thou art, sure, +The wealthiest empire ruled by mortal man. +Thy thoughts fall down on me, like drops of gold. + + +SCENE V. THE BANKS OF A ROMANTIC RIVER, FLOWING +AMONG MOUNTAINS, AND VIEWED BY MOONLIGHT. + + How wild this scene, among the mountains lit +By moonbeams. Ivied bluff and cedared bank, +And river rippling o'er its gravelly floor. +The cool and silence, and the holy night, +Remember me of fairies, those strange forms, +That ever revelled underneath green trees, +And danced upon the velvet, verdant sward. +Here will I sit upon this grassy knoll, +And hear the song of this sweet water's flow, +And gaze upon yon moon, who nears her noon. +How beautiful to me, are moonlight shores. +Here will I sing of loved Odora's charms, +What time she lies locked in sleep's rosy arm. +No bird was ever fairer in its nest. +No bud e'er sweeter in its unoped cup; +No jewel brighter in the chrystal sea; +No diamond richer in the caves of earth. + +LOVER SINGS. + + The God of love, made beauteous things, + To give His Man delight-- + He made the sun--the bird's gay wings-- + The constellated night. + He made the mountains of the earth, + The ocean, beautiful; + He gave all harmonies their birth, + Man's troubled soul to lull. + The charm of charms--the Joy of Joys, + That crowned the perfect whole; + Was, Woman's form, and Woman's voice, + And Woman's tender soul. + + + + +THE ANGELS OF EARTH. + + +Angels of Earth! they soothe and bless + The troubled soul of man, +Bestow the most of happiness, + They can. + +Angels of Earth--they are but few, + Sustained by Heavenly grace, +To raise again, and to renew, + Our race. + +Predestined thus they do retain + That image earliest given, +To Adam, yet unknowing pain, + From heaven. + +They move before our wondering eyes, + A vision passing strange, +And sure we feel from yonder skies, + They range. + +But oft, as brightest flowers and bows, + The earliest fade and die; +This glorious vision soonest goes + On high. + +Our verdant vale once knew a maid, + Who dwelt in such a light, +Her presence made the spirit's shade, + Look bright. + +Harmonia was her name. Her voice + Was tremulously low; +To hear it made the heart rejoice + And glow. + +Could I compare that voice divine, + To bird's most joyous lay, +When hailing from his lofty pine, + Young day? + +Or, to the thrush's full, rich song + That gushes from her breast, +And hushes all wild Passion's throng + To rest? + +Could I compare the sight of her, + To glorious angel spring-- +To whose sweet breath--all lands--seas--stir, + And sing. + +Oh fair Harmonia! God is love, + Who gave thee to our earth, +To renovate and lift above + Our birth. + +Harmonia dwelt within a vale + Of wildest loveliness, +Where sweetest odors fill'd the gale + To bless. + +And so they called it "vale of Spring," + This dear Harmonia's home; +Where Beauty shed, with spendthrift wing, + Her bloom. + +The pine-crowned mountains stood around, + To screen the lovely dale, +From tempest's stroke, and lightning's wound, + Fierce gale. + +Harmonia grew to woman's pride, + And blent her life with one; +Like rivers bright, now side by side, + They run. + +The tale of grief, the sinner's tear, + Come not to them in vain; +The sad, remorseful wretch they cheer, + Again. + +Oh ne'er thought we, a vale of earth, + With morn, and noon, and even, +Could seem to own the very worth + Of heaven. + +Such is the valley of the spring, + Our sweet Harmonia's home, +Where beauty sheds, with liberal wing, + Her bloom. + +Meek Eva is another soul, + Ordained to soothe and bless, +And charm to joy, with soft control, + Distress. + +Meek Eva hath great, gleaming eyes, + Full-orbed with radiant light, +Which bring the beauty of the skies, + To sight. + +No word of anger ever falls, + From her sweet mouth of grace; +No sinful passion ever palls + Her face. + +Sweet Eva lives to do but good, + In all her gentle life: +With her good fame, the neighborhood, + Is rife. + +Angels of good, they shed abroad + The spirit of the dove; +For He who gave them, is a God + Of love. + +Angels of light--they make a heaven + Of such a world as this-- +They make the rugged pathway even, + To Bliss. + +Angels of Earth--but we shall see + These angels yet again; +Where angels, robed in purity, + E'er reign. + + + + +AUSTRALIA; OR, THE NEW GOLDEN AGE. + + + In ancient days, in old, immortal Rome, +Where virtues, surnamed Roman, had their home; +When Virtue triumphed over Vice, and threw +Across their annals, a more lovely hue; +When every citizen was proud to be +The state's fast friend, and venal bribes would flee; +When manhood wrote upon each lofty brow +That glorious seal which makes the meaner bow; +When Industry, Art, Science, Learning cast +That light o'er Rome which gilds her to the last; +The Roman minstrel caught the sacred flame, +And made that age the chosen child of fame: +The Golden Age recalled the happy hour, +When man walked sinless in the first, sweet bower. +Such was the glorious golden Age of yore,-- +That golden Age of virtue is no more. +The modern, brighter, happier Age of Gold;-- +Oh! dost thou mean that Vice lies dead and cold +In her detested grave, where none will shed, +Not even her slaves, a tear above her, dead-- +That Virtue lives--the rainbow child of heaven, +And holds the balance in these centuries even? + + The Golden Age! the words are still the same,-- +The meaning once man's glory--now his shame. +Hail thou new Golden Age! O heavenly Age! +Mankind sustains thee with a noble rage: +All, all unite to gild thee with some rays +Of gathered light--themselves with shining praise. +See! how they rush, and leave sweet childhood's home, +The serf his hut, the lordly man his dome, +Forsakes, with callous heart, each hallow'd scene, +The oft frequented tree, the shady green; +Swift, swift they fly to see the realms of gold, +And think to reap the joy their raving fancies told. +Ye, isles of Britain! see them quickly leave +Your rocky coasts, and never deign to grieve. +Ye, sunny shores of France! behold them start +Nor shed one teardrop, as your ships depart. +Ye love-charmed bowers of Spain! your Houris' eyes +Are rayless now--for brighter lustre vies! +Ye, boundless plains, and giant hills, that rise +In craggy pride, and prop Columbia's skies, +Ye view your maddened sons, with guilty haste, +Roll from your shores and tempt the watery waste-- +Forgotten every claim that Virtue knows, +Despised the scenes, where early childhood rose, +Swift to the land of gold, they, joyful, flee, +Nor care the sacred joys of home again to see. +Lo! where they rush, and leave the drooping land-- +Unseen the parting tear, the loved one's waving hand. +Thus they depart--if those who walk the main, +But few shall view their native scenes again. + + Oh God! how vile thy creatures there become! +Thy pleadings powerless--all thy threatenings dumb: +On far Australia's plains, by California's streams, +Life's crimson flowing current often gleams: +For Cain has found in gold another power +To make him slay, as Envy at the hour, +When Thou dost set the ever-during mark +On him a Wanderer, where all earth was dark. +And how uncertain is the hold on life, +In those sad lands of gold and constant strife. +Fiends strike by day; by night they ever lurk, +By wood or cottage, swift to do Death's work; +Till even when none are near to deal the blow, +Imagination sees a hidden foe, +Behind each tree, and by the little cot, +Till gloomy Apprehension shades each spot. + + Lo! in yon bower of honeysuckle where +A thousand bees intone the summer air; +And humming birds, a fairy birth of springs, +Hover to suck the sweet on quivering wings; +There, at the morning's sweet and balmy prime, +A clasping couple blame the swift-wing'd Time. +Each morn, each eve, they seek this lonely bower, +And deeply bless its fair and fragrant flower, +Which shadows o'er so much of wildest bliss-- +The burning glance--the long and honied kiss-- +The broken sigh--the murmured, tender word, +Whose thrilling tone the inmost heart hath stirred-- +The matchless joy which makes us hold as nought, +All pangs that Fate may bring, or ever brought. +The lover hears that far amid the West, +Gold gleams within each river's crystal breast-- +That, wide and far, the gorgeous vision smiles, +And laps the spirit in delicious wiles. +He quits--he flies--he will behold the strand, +Where Wealth lies gasping for his tardy hand. +He will return--an edifice shall rise +In stately grandeur to the curving skies; +In their own land, his lovely bride and he, +Will move a lord and lady of degree. +She springs--she flings her fair, etherial form +Upon his breast, which once, with love, was warm-- +But now curst love of gold has surely chilled, +The heart that once her love so wildly thrilled. +Her long, fair locks, distracted, stream below, +Her gushing tears like wintry torrents, flow: +Her Herbert steels his heart against their power,-- +The ship that wafts him sails, ere morning's hour. + + At length he hails the longed for, distant shore; +The perils of the deep, at least, are o'er, +No fell disease has struck, with vengeful power, +His form to earth, to this protracted hour. +He sees the land--before his gaze unfold +The mighty, gorgeous realms of guilt and gold. +How swells his bursting heart with evil pride! +Cursed pride, for which so many souls have died. +Accursed pride of Lucre--loathsome Dame +Of every sin on earth that hath a name. +In fancy now he sees his palace soar +A fairy work! upon his childhood's shore; +In fancy sees his smiling, loving bride, +A queen amid her menial train preside; +And quite forgets that she his wiser wife, +Would love some cot, wherein to pass their life:-- +Till Fate, vindictive, lays her lover low +Far from the hand which might relieve his woe. +At last, he dies--his spirit's latest groan +By her unheard--his latest wish unknown. +Thus Heaven hath punished him whose love of gold +Hath made him slight what he should dearest hold. + + Beside yon haw-crowned hill, a widowed dame, +Dwelt with her son, by whom her living came. +Enticed by gorgeous dreams that haunt his sleep, +Her age's pillar wanders o'er the deep-- +Deserts his aged, widowed, trembling dame-- +Ah thus will gain destroy the sense of shame! +There on those barren hills and burning plains, +His insane fancy gloats on glittering gains. +Until, at last, avenging fever lays, +His form on earth, through dark, delirious days, +Without a mother's soothing care to ease +His dying throes, beyond those distant seas. +Yet, when, in that brief space which comes before, +The spirit flies, to visit earth no more, +A transient light breads on his wildest brain, +His bosom speaks in this lamenting strain! +"Ah! damning love of gold, which sees me here, +And made me leave an aged mother dear. +Now Heaven, how just! repays my guilty deed! +No mother soothes me in my sorest need. +Yet if kind Heaven will prize that mother's prayer, +Which, incense-like, now rises through the air; +I build my faith--that my last breath will ope +The gate of bliss to my believing hope." + + Far mid yon vastest woods, behold a swain. +If small his joy, small is his spirit's pain. +He tills the soil, for him the wild flowers bloom, +And lovely daisies shed their meek perfume. +His happy wife, relieves his every care, +And bliss is double when enjoyed with her. +His flocks supply his little household dear, +With decent garments, and salubrious fare. +Glad he beholds the smiling god of day, +Walk from the East upon his radiant way, +Gild all the fields--the lengthy plains--the peaks +Of giant mountains, with vermillion streaks-- +While all his farm spreads out beneath his eyes, +His heart's sweet home--his little paradise. +How better far this humble, noiseless life-- +Afar from guilty gold and bloody strife. +How glad he views his prosperous projects smile, +What guiltless joys his long, long life beguile. +With joy he sees his offspring rise around, +His body's scions, with sweet virtue crowned. +And, when, at last, his form succumbs to time, +He sees that offspring strangers yet to crime; +And, inly joys to think his drooping age +They will sustain, and all his pains assuage, +Till, like an apple mellowed, ripe, and sound, +He falls, and slumbers in his own good ground. + + + + +THE PROPHECY OF COLUMBIA. + + +The sun descends along the glowing west, +His bright rays quivering o'er Potomac's breast-- +And still he flashes, with his parting smile, +And gilds the top of yonder mighty pile[C]-- +Which Heroes children bade arise to heaven-- +In this new paradise (though later given.) +He sets! that glorious orb! and now is gone-- +And night's dark wings are slowly moving on;-- +But see! the moon, full-orbed, ascends the sky, +And walks that dark-blue path so calm on high-- +Pours her soft light--a sea of silvery beams, +On that proud pile--as on the sleeping streams; +As if indignant that the Night would hide, +With her black wing, a nation's central pride-- +That towering dome, beheld from o'er the sea, +To crown the clime of all who now are free. +As there I wandered, when the day was o'er-- +Near that proud pile--along the silent shore-- +And, fondly lingering o'er the magic scene, +Marked each blest spot, where Freedom's feet had been,-- +The Present fled--the Future rose to light-- +Columbia's Genius stood revealed to sight. +Her Phantom form uprose and touched the sky-- +Her mighty realm lay stretched beneath her eye. +An awful light--yet gentle--yet serene-- +Shone from those eyes, and from her god-like mien; +At first, cold fear ran through my shivering frame, +And dread forebodings o'er my spirit came. +But soon she spoke--though not in warlike tone, +But mild as zephyr when his breath hath blown. +A smile of kind, parental love confest +Her glowing son whom now she thus addrest. + +"O son! well-pleased, I mark thy patriot fire, +Nor wholly scorn thy yet unpracticed lyre. +Behold yon structure whose lone, silent height +Meek Luna gilds with her celestial light. +See how it soars! and leaves the darker plain-- +So high--that none will soar, as that again-- +Until the Monument that God will rear +On sin's dark grave--as Tyranny's is here. + Yes! view that Capitol;--its lofty dome +O'erlooks the clime thou lovest to call thy home. +Just, just the joy thou feelest--it o'er views, +The happiest land that quaffs the sun's bright hues. +But think thou not that, this, my chosen land +Has reached its borders--they shall yet expand-- +Until yon heap, on which the moonbeams play, +O'erlooks a hemisphere that owns my sway. +There boundless tracts of evershining snow, +There--flowery isles that in the tropics glow-- +There sea-like pampas, waving to the main, +There--thousand cities dotting o'er the plain-- +There--noble James--there Hudson's fairy tide-- +There--Susquehanna--e'er with Song allied-- +Here--broad Potomac, too,--shall here arise +The hum of wide industry to the skies. +There--mighty Oregon--amid the West-- +Rolls wealth uncounted o'er his watery breast. +There--mightier Amazon--the King of Floods, +Sweeps grandly down from nevertraversed woods, +There--Lakes--supplied by endless hills of snow-- +There--Mexico--the gulf of placid flow-- +There--wide Atlantic--blue as Beauty's eyes-- +There--far Pacific--vast as are the skies-- +Each whitened by quick-passing, shifting sails, +Conspire to make me rich--till Carthage fails +To show a record of more wealth and power, +Even where the farthest isles became her dower. + And yon dusk hill[D], amid the moon's pale light, +In nation's eyes, shall soar a prouder height-- +Till from each shore where man has learned to dwell-- +The eyes shall strain, and feel the mighty spell-- +For there repose the bones of Washington-- +Upon that hill--earth's noblest, earthly one. + + But this Columbia's fairest praise shall be, +Her Sons shall kneel beneath their chosen tree-- +At prayer--as fades the daylight into even-- +And, lift--unblamed--their hearts to smiling Heaven. + + Here Learning, too, shall rear unnumbered domes, +Here Shakspeares--Tassos--find more happy homes, +Here Homer's fire, and Virgil's polished grace, +A sacred charm shall give to many a place. +Each shady hill shall be a Muse's haunt-- +By each pure spring aerial nymphs shall chant-- +Chant the sweet song to heavenly Liberty-- +While thundering cataracts peal it to the sea!" +She spake no more;--or I too much opprest +By wondrous visions, needed welcome rest. +And when I waked, the day had now unfurled +His rosy banners o'er the laughing world, +And while the glorious prospect charmed my view, +I felt Columbia's prophecy was true. + + +[Footnote C: The National Capital at Washington.] + +[Footnote D: The Tomb of Washington, at Mount Vernon.] + + + + +LOVE. + + +Of woman was I born, and man I am. +I come to teach the greatest, yet the most meek +Of all true lessons which man e'er can learn-- +_God's man was made to love, and nought to hate, +Except the Ill which God and angels hate._ +Oh! this grand lore hath fallen on my heart +Like smiling sunlight on a gloomy ocean. +Oft have I heard and felt great throbs of love +Vibrating through the universe of worlds, +Through every grain of matter, through the hearts +That live and swarm beneath the eye of God. +Oft standing mid the holy calm of night, +The surf of love came rolling on my soul +From off the farthest verge of God's great realms, +As rolls the surf of ocean on a beach, +For ever and for ever, and for ever. +Love was the Cause of all things, and the End; +For God is Love and ever will be Love: +And those who feel most love are most like God-- +As seraphs, cherubs, saints and righteous men; +And those who feel least love, are least like God, +As Satan, Moloch, Belial, and bad men. + +Once man, and all that live and move on earth, +In sea, and sky, were bound by links of love +To God and angels, in one perfect chain-- +And God and angels came and talked with man +Full often, in the shade of Eden's trees, +While lions and all lambs lay down together, +All in the happy shade of Eden's trees. +Oft have I watched the myriad lovely flowers, +In spring and summer, in the woods and meads, +And thought they clasped their tiny hands in love, +Then all bowed low their painted heads in love, +To the great lord of light who smiled on them. +Oft have I watched the myriad forest leaves, +Trembling as if with some sweet thought of love, +Till love's sweet incense went up from all these, +To the bright orb who smiled bright love on them: +And then a thousand birds began to sing +One song of love to that bright God above. +Oft I have heard that larks, in England's realm, +Fly from the earth, at morning's golden blush, +And fill the whole bright arch with golden songs? +And I have reasoned they sung only love, +Which teaches them that strangest melody, +Which they soar nearest heaven to warble out. +Oft have I seen the beams that leave the sun, +Embrace within the clouds, with shining arms-- +And form a splendid arch in earth and heaven, +Which shines eternal covenant of Love-- +Toward which our hearts forever mount and sing, +As skylarks mount and sing to morning's flash. +Oft have I seen the sparkling water-drops, +Cohere in love, and make a crystal lake-- +A gulf--a sea--an ocean's mighty mirror. +Oft have I thought that all the system worlds, +A few of which we watch, at holy night, +Far up amid those deep, blue fields of night-- +Are hung by Love, and wheel forever round +The Central Point, in circles swift but true; +And in their orbits flying thus for ever, +Sing forth a choral song of burning love, +To that Creator who loves them again. +Oft have I thought, the law which Newton named +The Law of Gravitation, is the Law +Of Love, which God had called the Law of Love. +And if a world could ever hate the rest, +'Twould rush forever to the abysm of gloom, +And dreariest part of chaos. I infer +_God's man was made to love and nought to hate +Only the Ill which God and Angels hate._ + +Ah! happy spirits were they all in heaven, +And all loved God, and one another loved-- +And all moved round the Triune God enthroned-- +In blissful circles--nearing him for aye, +Yet not approaching ever--till that Foul +And Hateful One fell off from love and then +Fell down into his dark, eternal den, +Where love's sweet beam can never, never reach. + + + + +THE LOVERS. + + +Two lovers in the strength of life, + Had built a beauteous home, +Where tall, ancestral oaks uprose, + O'ershadowing their high dome. + +He was a tall and manly form, + With ringlets dark like night; +But she was like the lily's stem, + With eyes of moon-like light. + +Six happy years they chronicled + Within their nest of bliss; +To taste each day some sweetest joy, + They could not go amiss. + +Three little images of them, + Two boys and one a maid, +Beneath those high, ancestral oaks, + With silver laughter, played. + +The thunder-blast of war came o'er + The lover's startled soul; +The wife bowed low her head and heart, + To sorrow's strong control. + +The lady drooped--as droops a flower + Without the sun or rain; +And now at twilight's hectic flush, + She sang a wild, low strain: + +"He's gone, I cannot smile as when + I saw him at my side! +Ah me! the memory of that hour + When I was his new bride. + +"Our two young hearts were joined in love, + As two bright lamps of flame, +Cut off from him, life is to me + A mockery and a name. + +"God help my helpless little ones, + And keep them for his own. +My heart is breaking--husband! long + Thou shalt not be alone." + +When faded all the autumn flowers + The lady surely died-- +Broken the bands that bound her life + To him--his wife and bride. + +Love was the Cause of all things, and the End, +For God is Love, and ever will be Love. +God's grey-beard prophets sang a future time, +When all would be restored in love to God, +And the first Eden be rebuilt on earth; +That lions and all lambs should play together, +On the long grass of Eden's greenest lawns. +That man should yet behold that happy scene, +When one loud jubilate of worship--love-- +Should climb the heavens from each lone shore of earth. + + + + +SONG. + + +Oh! Love's the sweetest joy of earth, + Love's keenest pang is bliss, +And, like a wild, delirious bee, + We hang upon a kiss: + +With lip to lip and heart and heart, + We live in that sweet death, +And feel the breeze of paradise, + Upon a loved one's breath. + +We lean upon a beating breast, + As on a throne of gold; +And, like a monarch, thence, look out, + On love-hued sea and wold. + +We dwell upon a loved one's song, + As on a strain of heaven, +And think it charms the throbbing stars + That throng the halls of Even. + +Oh! Love is like a river-flood, + That rolls and pauses never-- +An ocean-tide that bears us on + Forever and forever. + +This is the lore I come to teach the world-- +That Love formed all of matter, all of spirit; +That Love keeps all things, lest they fall to chaos; +That Love's pulse vibrates throughout all God's works, +Whose beat is harmony like angels' songs-- +And man is most like God and least like Devil, +When he most loves all things which God hath made. + + + + +HOURS WITH NATURE. + + +When smiling spring, an angel fair! + Walks o'er the verdant plain, +And breathes a soft and balmy air, + From isles beyond the main: +When robins sing, and waters play, + And lambs skip o'er the mead, +And forest birds, with music gay, + Their callow offspring feed: +When May-flowers shine by every stream, + And fragrants showers come down, +While sun-rays o'er the mountains gleam, + And form a dazzling crown:-- +Oh! then 'tis sweet to be with thee, + Dear Nature ever fair, +To roam thy walks of song and glee, + Thy realms, sky, earth and air. +Bright angel spring, thou seem'st divine, + With ever smiling brow: +No sin-created gloom is thine, + Nought dims thy beauty now. +Wide earth, stream, river, lake and sea, + Shine forth an angel land, +Where spirits, robed in purity, + Roam, love-linked, hand in hand. +Now June, like full-blown womanhood, + Succeeds the maiden spring, +And broods upon the solitude, + With broad and bird-like wing. +The air re-echoes forth a song + Of full and perfect bliss, +Where happy lovers roam along, + And melt into a kiss. +But Summer bursts upon the world, + With views of waving grain, +Beneath the sweating sickle hurled, + Upon the fragrant plain. +The warm, long day calls forth at length, + The storm's electric fire, +That shatters the oak's imperial strength, + And bids the shrubs expire. +The cloud rolls off--and see! what pride! + A many colored bow, +Hangs on the cloud's retreating side, + And o'er the fields below. +Then, glorious summer flies away, + From upland, slope and plain; +And Autumn, crowned with shocks of hay, + Appears in joy again. +Old, jolly Autumn! happy man! + Wild tumbling on the meads; +We'll love thee, Autumn, as we can, + Thy glory is our needs. +Thou heapest our barns with plenty--thou + Art, sure our faithful friend; +And, in the aspect of thy brow, + Lovely and useful blend. +Thy golden hues recede at length, + And seem to sigh decay, +Till, thou, despoiled of life and strength, + Art borne, a corpse, away. +Wild, bleak, and blustering Winter wild, + Assumes the icy throne; +Deep snows upon the earth are piled, + And hushed is every tone. +The trees stand bare, bleak skeletons, + Of bodies once so fair, +And dirges, dirges, woeful ones, + Resound amid the air. +Bleak, winter wild! thy dreary scenes, + Have yet one modest flower; +The daisy finds some little greens, + Whereby she builds her bower. +The daisy is a preacher wise, + Whom heavenly robes array; +Each winter lives, and sweetly tries, + A loving word to say. +"Oh! man, amid thy darkest woe, + Some humble bliss remains;-- +Then, let thy murmurings cease to flow, + And hush thy doleful strains." +It is the dawn. Faint crimson streaks + The dewy, orient sky, +Like virtue's blush, on maiden cheeks, + Ah! sweet and peerless dye. +At last--the sun, an Eastern king, + Comes forth in rested pride; +And soars, with bright and burning wing, + Above the hill and tide. +Above yon Blue Ridge, towering piles, + Uptorn by Nature's throe-- +He speeds, he speeds, through myriad miles, + To his meridian glow. +The birds sink down, amid the copse, + And sing a feeble song; +At last, each sound, on sudden, stops, + And Silence holds the throng. +But Evening, comes, a sober maid, + With one bright, starry eye; +And throws her mantle--star-inlaid-- + Upon the silent sky. +It is night's noon. How dark, how vast, + Yon boundless vault appears; +A shadow o'er the earth is cast, + That wakes the spirit's fears +How death-like hushed! all life seems dead, + Does Nature live at all? +Ah, truest symbol! it has said, + "The hush--the gloom--the Pall!" +Day is the varying life of Man,-- + Some sunshine--clouds again-- +Night is his death--which erst began + When Sin began to reign. +Dark, spectral Night! I sing of thee; + For, thou art lovely, too-- +And Death will wake the melody + Of him whose life was true. +To walk upon the azure sea, + It is a thing of bliss; +When skies are bright, and sails are free + And smiling wavelets kiss. +How grandly leans the ship, a queen, + Above the sparkling tide-- +With joy she walks the watery scene, + A thing of fear and pride. +To scale the crown of vast Blue Ridge, + And eye the world below-- +Farm--river--ravine--wiry bridge-- + And soaring crane and crow-- +And misty woods--and fields afar-- + Neat villages and towns-- +Blest herds and flocks no beast can mar, + That nibble sunny downs. +Oh! that is, sure, a pleasant thing, + And bathes the soul in joy; +And many a grief-worn man 'twould bring, + To be once more a boy. +'Tis sweet to rove, at twilight dim, + Beside an aldered stream, +To list thy lady's evening hymn, + 'Neath starlight's trembling gleam. +'Tis sweet to sit within a bower, + Inwrought with flower and vine, +What time along yon mountain tower, + The shades of eve decline. +'Tis sweet to hear the nightingale, + O'erflow the forest shade, +With harmony which might avail, + To win a Dis-stole maid. +'Twere sweet to cleave the snowy foam, + With ship and spirit free, +Where tropic spices ever roam, + The Caribbean sea. +'Twere sweet to sail by Yemen's shore, + And touch that golden strand, +Where Indus' river wanders o'er, + Its glittering, golden sand. +Oh! Nature! thou art far above, + The painter's, Poet's pride-- +Thou art the glorious Child of Love-- + Adorned a heavenly bride. + + + + +YORKTOWN. + + +Here met three nations, panoplied for fight, + Moving before the vision gorgeously; +Then shamed with Battle's gloom the paling Night, + Upon the land and sea. + +Earth quailed beneath the cannon's burrowing roar, + Beneath three Armies' slow and ominous tread; +And Ocean who the portioned conflict bore, + Shuddered with pain and dread. + +But when the morning rolled the double shroud + Of Night and Battle from the land and sea, +The Sun looked forth through no obstructing cloud, + And saw a Nation FREE. + + + + +POET'S ENCHANTED LIFE. + + +THE ANGEL-CHILD. + +A fairy land of grass and flowers, + And of the greenest trees +A land of singing brooks and springs, + A land of singing breeze. +A land of bright but mellowed hues, + Beneath the western skies, +The lady bore a beauteous child, + In this sweet paradise. +An auburn head--an olive face-- + An eye of azure light-- +A perfect beauty seemed the child, + To my enchanted sight. +I loved him for his loveliness, + This budding, beauteous child, +The mother's heart within would leap + When e'er the infant smiled, +And when upon her warming breast, + She watched his closing eyes, +His lips would smile, as if he saw + The angels in the skies. +And truth to say, she ofttimes thought, + The angels were near by, +So strange a gleam was on his hair, + So bright his cherub eye. +He was so meek and gentle-souled, + So free from evil stain, +Ah! well I knew, 'twere toil to find + So lovely child again. +It was a antique, white-walled cot, + Beneath the western skies, +This lady dwelt with this sweet child, + In this sweet paradise. +The mother loved her beauteous child; + Oft gazing on his sleep, +The joy that smoothed her matron brow, + Was beautiful and deep. +The summer flower hath hasty growth-- + The sweet child grew apace, +And lo! a brighter loveliness, + Was born upon his face. +So fair--so fair--and oh! so dear! + Alas! a mother's love +May be too strong to please her God-- + The child went up above. +And now alone the mother was + In all this world so wide, +For ere the child had lisped his name + Her stricken husband died. +Alone in all this world so wide, + Alone the mother was; +If this were true--God wot 'twas false, + Our hearts should sigh alas. +The child--the child--transformed! come down, + On rainbow-colored wings, +Whose flashing, o'er the mother's path, + A mystic glory flings. +He set gay flowers of heavenly pride + Amid this cursed clime-- +Ah! brilliant flowers--ah! brighter flowers, + Than bloomed in Eden's prime. +He softly led her on the way, + And sang to her charm'd soul, +A sweet, low strain that men heard not, + And fiends could not control. +At last the mother went with him + To dwell on Heaven's wide plain, +Where father, mother, cherub now, + Sing forth a glorious strain. + + + + +SUNSET. + + +The Summer's sunset throws a tender spell, +Along the hills, o'er ocean's softened swell; +The God of day goes flaming down the sky, +And zephyr floats on perfumed pinions by. +Oh! who can gaze upon this gorgeous sight, +Nor feel his bosom chain'd by deep delight, +This hour when beauty wears her richest dye, +And love o'erflows charmed ocean, earth and sky; +Till fancy, dreaming in her lovely bower, +Hears far off strains of deep, o'erwhelming power, +And, lifting up her pensive orbs above, +Spies Angels winging through yon vault of love, +And says that "they are wafting souls forgiven +On their bright pinions, to yon nameless Heaven." +On such an eve, so peaceful and so bright, +Two loved ones flee beyond yon failing light, +No more to droop within this gloomy world, +Their angel pinions next God's throne were furled; +There now--for aye forgot this earthly night-- +They lave those bright wings in eternal light. + + + + +IMAGINATION. + + +Now fir'd imagination soars on high, and shows +Magnific scenes. The first--a summer's dawn-- +A sky of purest blue--a golden sea +Beneath--earth bright with lovely hues like Heaven. +Yon orb of fire suspended o'er that sea +Of molten gold, burns like a throne in Heaven. +His foaming, flashing radiance, floods earth--sky-- +And throbbing sea, till each lies bathed in glory, +Which seems the break of a celestial morn. +That scene has passed. Another charms +The gaze. The mighty orb of blazing flame, +Has run a curve of brightness o'er the sky, +And presently will cut the Western main, +With its bright rim. We stand upon an isle, +One of the Hesperian, in the unknown seas, +Toward the setting sun. The waves which gush, +And softly splash against the rocky shores, +Are dyed by richest, ever varying tints, +Like those, we fancy, tinge that sea that flows, +Around the throne of God, and, in whose billows, +The seraphs, as wing'd birds, embathe their breasts-- +Whilst heaven becomes another sea like that-- +And all is bright waves dashing o'er our hearts, +And making music sweeter than the songs +Of those we loved in youth, ere hatred grew. +That scene has pass'd. Imagination sleeps +To husband strength for more ambitious flight. +But, soon restored, with native, heavenly might, +She soars beyond the sun high thron'd at noon-- +And, with her hand that flows with gold and gems, +Flings wide Heaven's gates that flame with living beams. +And lo! the scene of Heaven! Oh! brighter far, +Than aught earth shows of beautiful or fair, +Is that bright heaven of our hopes and dreams. +Yet even imagination's piercing eye +Receives into its scope but humble part +Of all the glory that o'erflows that heaven. +A boundless sea of love--all hued like love, +Gleams round the throne of Triune God, which seems +To rise from out that placid depth, built of +Its water, crystallized to gold and pearl, +Wherein joy's beauteous light forever plays. +Over that sea rings set beyond vast rings +Of burning seraph, saint, and cherub, stand +With starry crowns; and, with unceasing songs, +Struck from their lyres that burn as morning suns, +And born in hearts that burn in joys of heaven-- +Louder than twelvefold thunder, yet more sweet +Than all the sweetest strains e'er heard on earth, +Fill Heaven with light and song ineffable, +Along the bright flow of eternity. +Then swift in flight as saint and seraph there, +She passes back through those vast gates of fire, +And slowly drops upon some flowery peak, +Or ocean isle, upon this mundane sphere; +Then sleeps soft in the folds of some fair flower, +Or, in the crystal bosom of a dewdrop. + + + + +MILLY. + + +A fairy thing was Milly when + She blest my wondering sight; +I ne'er shall meet her match again-- + A maid so gaily bright. + +Her ringlets flowed about her neck-- + A neck that mocked the snow! +A sunny robe her bosom decked, + That proudly heaved below. + +Sometimes she roamed the leas at morn, + And sang like a sweet bird-- +Until a melody was born + On each outgushing word. + +Sometimes amid her cottage home, + She touched the breathing lyre, +And then her quivering lips were dumb, + Her soaring soul on fire. + +She was a very fairy maid; + And then we sinned to crave +That she with us might be delayed, + And never reach the grave. + +One twilight when a star came forth, + She clapped her hands and smil'd, +And said that star within the North + Would take an earthly child. + +Did some near, viewless angel speak + That word unto the maid, +That thus with sweet, unblanched cheek, + That awful word she said? + +But thus it was; when autumn told + The yellow leaves to fall, +The maid no more could we behold, + No more she knew our call. + +And now I watch that cold, high star, + Amid the leaden North, +And think she looks on me afar, + Forlorn upon this earth. + + + + +THE WINTRY DAYS. + + +The wintry days have come once more, + The birds are still, the sweet flowers dead, +And faint winds sigh a wailing song + O'er leaves heaped high within their bed. + +The neighboring stream that lately leapt, + And laughed, and played adown the glen, +Is now as hushed and mute as though + It ne'er would leap and smile again. + +A mournful silence fills the sky, + And falls upon the gazer's soul, +And down the sympathizing cheek, + The watery teardrops silent roll. + +The beauty of the peaks and plains, + The loveliness of earth and sky, +Have passed away, and, passing, said, + "Ye mortals frail! ye too must die." + +So has the beauty of my hopes + Withered beneath woe's wintry touch,-- +My heart has yielded to despair, + Though lingering long and weeping much. + +But oh! bright Hope, mid bleak Despair, + Sprang, cheerly speaking to my heart, +Sweet, smiling spring shall yet return, + And joyless winter must depart. + +And Mercy throned beyond the sun, + Whose breath thy living soul hath given, +Will lead thee to a deathless spring + Within the glorious gates of heaven. + +Ah! deeply do I bless that word! + It drives my gloomy fears away;-- +I kneel upon the dreary snow, + And bid my God be praised for aye. + + + + +SPRING. + + +Now, Mary fair, the Spring has come, + Back to our fairyland, +And buds begin to breathe perfume, + The breeze blows sweet and bland; +The gay, green groves are ringing clear, + The crystal waters shine; +Now, Mary sweet, the scene is dear, + The moments are divine. + +And, Mary, hearken how the birds + Are courting in the grove, +Oh! listen how their music words + Speak tender things of love. +Let us be happy, Mary fair, + We waste these heavenly hours, +Let's rove where fragrance fills the air, + Among the opening flowers. + +Yes, Mary dear, let's quit the throng, + And from the tumult flee, +The birds these living bowers among, + Shall sweetly sing for thee; +And happy zephyr wave his wing, + And streams make melody, +And loveliest flowers gaily spring + Thy matchless face to see. + +Dear Mary, why, why should we stay, + While Nature calls us forth? +See! love and pleasure, smiling, stray, + O'er all the gladsome earth! +While all around is mirth and song, + Let us be joyful, too, +And, listening to the feathered throng, + Our vows of love renew. + + + + +AN INCIDENT. + + +The sighs of summer night, were sweet without, +As the breath of spirits, on the folded roses, +The sweet moon, like a young and timid bride, +Came softly trembling through the eastward oaks-- +Where I espied a Glorious Beauty standing, +Glowing and bright, in a portico vine-wreathed. +Shaken by wrestling Hope and Doubt within, +I quickly slid unto her side; and she +Wore no dark frown--but smiled--she smiled on me! +Her white brows shone amid her darkest hair, +Like that moon's beams amid the opening gloom: +And her slight, delicate shape would shame the limbs +Of fairies tripping on the moonlit green. +And she did smile on me--that Glorious Beauty! +And I stood there, and clasped her lily hands! +And I did peer into her lustrous eyes! +And they gave back my ardent gaze of love! +She spake--the tremulous accents of her voice +Was like a sweet stream breaking upon rocks; +And when the music of those thrilling words, +Rushed on my soul--I sank upon her bosom, +And felt that we could part no more on earth. + + + + +THE LETTER. + + +Amid a flower-strown cottage room, + The Lady sat at even, +Beneath the peerless evening star, + Just peeping out in heaven; +And, in her hands, as lilies, white, + She held a billet-doux, +Which, round upon the tranquil air, + A grateful fragrance threw. + +And now she bends her beauteous head, + To read the written lines-- +Her white hand starts--a crystal tear + Upon the paper shines; +Her startled bosom gently heaves, + Like billows capped with snow, +And quickly o'er her lovely face, + Her blushes come and go. + +Those glowing words have waked within + Her soul, the flame of love, +Which blends her woman nature with + The natures of above:-- +A fire whose rays will change to light + Her lover's darkest gloom, +Till he beholds it beam again, + On Heaven's undying bloom. + + + + +THE LOST PLEIAD. + + +No more with thy bright sisters of the sky, + Who warble ever, +Wilt thou send forth thy choral melody, + Sad maid! for ever. + +No more the bright, innumerable train, + Who move in Heaven, +Will know thy face upon the etherial plain, + At rosy even. + +The night will mourn thine absence ever more, + With dewy tears, +And, the bright day, will, dimmer now, deplore, + The darkened years. + +Our wandering eyes will search for thee in vain, + And we shall sigh +That thy high beauty could not conquer pain, + The doom to die. + +Earth scarce had mourned some lesser beauty--thou, + Celestial maid! +Mid all didst wear a so unearthly brow, + And thou--decayed! + +The beauteous thought of thee which, ray-like, slept, + In our pure love, +Became a memory which we have kept + To grieve above. + +Gone, like the withered pride of early Spring-- + Like sweet songs, o'er-- +Ah! thou hast turned from us thine angel wing, + To come no more. + +Struck from thy high and glittering sapphire throne, + In upper light, +Say, did thy loveliness go, hopeless, down, + To nether night? + +Or, throned beyond the gloomy fate to fall, + Bright maid divine! +Sublime amid the Eternal's flaming Hall, + Dost thou e'er shine? + + + + +THE SLEEPER. + + +The sleeper lies, with closed eyes, + And softly moving breath, +So soft, so still, her life's sweet thrill, + 'Tis only more than death. + +Her dark, dark hair, reposing there, + Upon her pillow's snow, +And sweeping down her cheek's faint brown, + And bosom's spotless glow. + +She wakes at last, her sleep has past, + Her eyes on me are thrown; +My sleeping love--my heavenly dove-- + Has been in realms unknown. + + + + +DWELLING IN HEAVEN. + + +They do not--nay, they cannot die; + They go to dwell in Heaven; +Where God a free and full supply + Of purest joys hath given. + +They do not--nay, they cannot die: + Because we see them not +Do objects cease--oh! brothers! why + This lesson now forgot? + +They die not--nay, they cannot die: + In joy's serene, calm air, +Their cheek yet wears its roseate dye + Their smiles are yet as fair. + +Their tones yet breathe as sweet a strain, + Their hearts are still as true, +And still their wonted love retain, + My friend, for me and you. + +Oh no! they do not, cannot die, + They live far up in Heaven, +Beyond where flame yon portals high, + At still and silent even. + +They dwell--they dwell eternally, + Where roll no winds--no storm, +And, if we seek them, we shall see, + Each bright and happy form. + + + + +THE FACE I SEE IN DREAMS. + + +Strangely sweet, and softly clear, + With pure and starry beams, +Reposing there, and moving here; + The face I see in dreams. + +Oh! lovely is that wild, sweet face, + Which thus and ever gleams, +And smiles, with a seraphic grace, + Upon my heart's deep streams. + +Oft at pale midnight's holy calm, + Beside imagined streams, +I recognize the soothing balm, + The face I see in dreams. + +And, even at noon's wideseeing glare, + When earth, with clamor teems, +That face appears, as strangely fair, + That face I see in dreams. + +The sum of universal charms, + The sun of beauty-beams, +Appear to deck that form of forms, + And face I see in dreams. + + + + +TO ELOQUENCE. + + +Ah Eloquence! thou God-like power; + That swayest the human heart, +We still must call thee, rarest dower, + In the high gift of Art; +And still thou shalt be styled a queen, +To brighten earth's grief-shaded green. + +When thou dost falter sorrow's tale, + With trembling accents low, +The plaintive breezes of the vale, + With mingled pathos, flow; +The melting eye is bathed in tears, +And grief, in every face, appears. + +When thou dost stand in mortal's view, + And breathe thy thoughts of flame, +The conscious soul, conceives them, too, + And breathes and burns the same;-- +And when, in fancy, thou dost soar, +'Tis like Niag'ra's thundering roar. + +When thou dost tell of living joys + Far up in heaven above, +The rapturous music of thy voice, + Is like the Voice of Love-- +The entranced spirit flits away +To bathe in seas of whitest day. + + + + +NEAR YONDER BANKS AT EVEN. + + +Near yonder banks at even, + We whispered words most dear, +Till love's sweet star in Heaven, + Was shining, bright and clear. + +We saw the river glancing + Beneath the planet's light, +Its ripples seemed, while dancing, + To mock the gloom of night. + +But soon the star in Heaven, + By rising mists was hid, +And, by us, dark and even, + The river's current slid. + +So shone our love's sweet river + Beneath Hope's radiant star; +But soon, in darkness, ever, + It swept, in silence, far. + + + + +AN HYMN. + + +To him whose soul is locked and bolted fast, + By lust and guilt against the entrance there, +Of heavenly light; whose soul is over-cast + By mists of sin and fogs of black despair; + +The meaning of these worlds, not understood, + Becomes a dark and cabalistic book; +He not perceives that He who made, is good, + And that, His love was writ in every nook. + +Dark, dark his every view of actual things, + The diamond shines with faint, unmeaning ray; +What use or beauty hath the bird's gay wings? + What glory, worlds that sweep through space away? + +His ear is barred against the glorious song, + Which Nature chants, ne'er wearying, to her God; +The planetary paeans, borne along + Through God's high vault, descend upon a clod. + +Oh fool of fools, and wretched man is he, + Who breathes his life in this untutored state; +And, in that world to come, how dread will be + His startled soul's at last awakened fate. + +But, unto him, whose scales have fallen away, + Whose deafness has been healed by Love Divine; +A flood of music gushes in foraye, + And all God's works, with deathless lustre, shine. + +The diamond hath a beam that, conquering, vies; + The bird's gay wings assume yet gayer hues; +Brighter become the rainbow's gorgeous dyes, + Purer the evening and the morning dews. + +Sweeter the choral song of groves and founts, + Grander the anthem of the starry spheres; +From God's vast universe, forever, mounts + A strain that charms his own and seraphs' ears. + +Undaunted, he surveys the ocean rage, + With placid face, he feels the earthquake's shock, +He knows his Lord the fury will assuage, + His soul is safe, though earth's foundations rock. + +The Omnipotent yet liveth! He will bear + The humble soul, on His parental breast; +And, when the last great throe the sky shall tear, + This soul upon His arm shall surely rest. + + + + +TO P.S. WHITE. + + +What is the gilded chaplet worth, + That decks a conqueror's brow? +There is no conqueror on earth + Of nobler kind, than thou, +For bloodless victories are thine, +Whose splendor never shall decline. + +The thanks of men redeemed from shame, + The smiles of womanhood, +The praise of great ones wed to fame, + And of the humble good, +A victor's monument, shall be, +Through coming ages, unto thee. + + + + +MONTPELIER, ORANGE COUNTY, VA. + + +Where'er the great have lived or died, + A charm pervades the very air; +And generous spirits, pausing, oft + Will pour the heart's deep homage there. + +Thus, thou, sequestered, simple spot! + Where dwelt a mighty one of yore, +Becomest a shrine, where pilgrims kneel, + From earth's remotest, every shore. + +Whose fame, where'er a patriot breathes + A thought of freedom, has been heard; +And fallen on tyrant's startled souls, + Like coming fate's prophetic word. + +Yet, shame upon this senseless age, + Which blindly worships guilty gold, +No votive marble shows the tomb, + Whose vault received his ashes cold. + +Alas! that this should be our shame! + For which even yet our eyes shall weep; +_Nought points the world's admiring eye, + To where its friend's sad relics sleep._ + + + + +THE HEAVENLY FLOWER. + + +Now the final stroke is over! + And the heart hath ceased its beat; +And that form so palely beauteous, + In a ghastly winding sheet. +She has pass'd the gloomy portal, + She has reached the realm of light;-- +And there is a heavy silence, + While we sit and muse to-night. + +She was a flower, fading quickly, + From before our wistful eyes, +Giving back her spirit fragrance, + Early to the eager skies. +But she parted all so lovely, + Growing brighter day by day, +That our souls could scarce regret her, + Passing, like a dream, away. + +Now that frail and beauteous flower, + Which scarce opened here below, +Scattering round a heavenly sweetness, + On the hearts which bled with woe; +By a death which maketh living, + Changed into a lovelier flower, +Gives a fragrance far more lovely, + Round about a deathless bower. + +Oh! weep not for this, fond parents! + Though your earthly eyes be dim-- +Yet--she blooms in fadeless beauty, + Where the Seraphs chant their hymn; +Where a heaven, serenely glorious, + Bends above a paradise, +Clad in tints of gayer splendor, + Than our dream-land's gorgeous dyes. + +Yes! she blooms in deathless beauty, + In that brighter world than ours; +Where the happy saints and angels, + Gleam her glorious sister flowers; +Where no frost, no killing tempest, + E'er shall fall, or fiercely blow, +But mild zephyrs, waked on roses, + Round her softly come and go. + +There she yet is pure and lovely + As she was with us below-- +And our hearts should cease to mourn her, + When her God hath bade us know-- +That, within that peaceful heaven, + She is happier than before, +And that we should strive to meet her, + When, like hers, our toil is o'er. + + + + +LILLY MAY. + + +The fairest of our village maids, + Was blue-eyed Lilly May; +Her brow was decked with golden curls, + Her laugh was wild and gay: +And spotless as a ray of heaven, + Young love within her lay. + +The rose which decked the fairy vale, + Near by our rural town, +Showed not a deeper tint of blood, + Than dyed her cheeks of down, +And innocence like that of heaven, + Her fair, young head did crown. + +Oh Lilly May! Oh! Lilly May! + My heart was all thine own, +Earth ne'er gave me a sweeter sound, + Than thy low, loving tone; +For we each other's first loves were, + And each heard each alone! + +Oh Lilly May! I curse the day + That tempted me to part! +And ever haunting, strange regret + To my sad soul thou art; +I fear that I have deeply sinned, + And broken thy true heart. + + + + +TO ELEANOR. + + +When Hesper shows his rosiate lamp of love, + High in yon lofty arch of dewy blue; +When gentle dews distilling from above, + Sparkle upon the spreading grass and groves of yew-- +When sinks to rest the faintly murmuring breeze, + And dim and indistinct the landscape view-- +Lonely I stray among the poplar trees + And muse, dear Eleanor, dear love, on you. + +When Luna looks upon yon mountains brown, + And gilds the winding stream with silvery hue, +And Silence, like a fall of whitest down, + Falls where the sylphs their elfin dance renew +In lonely glens and cliffs of ivy green; + And human forms lie bathed in sleep's soft dew-- +Silent I stray along the fairy scene, + And muse, dear Eleanor, dear love, on you. + +When golden streaks along the East appear, + Spreading and flashing o'er that sea of blue; +And springs at length with aspect bright and clear, + Great Sol upon the glittering world of dew-- +The wakened Hours commence their wonted race, + And Nature strikes her living harp anew-- +Smiling I scan Creation's glorious face, + And muse, dear Eleanor, dear love, on you. + + + + +THE VOW OF LOVE. + + +'Twas evening's hour of magic power, + The sun went brightly down, +And shadows fell as with a spell, + Along the mountains brown. + +On high the sky, with gorgeous dye, + Then glittered bright and wide, +And westward far, the evening star, + Came trembling like a bride. + +The birds did chime their drowsy rhyme, + As day was getting o'er, +The rippling wave, did sweetly lave + The winding, pebbly shore. + +There walked beside that crystal tide, + Fair Holston's lovely stream, +My lady bright, at soft twilight, + In beauty's matchless gleam. + +And I did walk and softly talk + Unto her beauty there, +And deemed that she more fair must be, + Than Goddess, wrought of air. + +Her hand in mine--"Oh! be thou mine, + Nor scorn my pleading sigh." +"Yes"--still I cried, "be thou my bride, + My own, until we die!" + +Now as that tide doth onward glide + To reach the glittering sea, +With sparkling glow, our souls will flow, + To bright eternity. + + + + +DISAPPOINTMENT. + + +Last eve ere sleep had closed mine eyes, + To me there came a dream, +That when the saffron morn should rise + O'er lovely hill and stream; +I should behold a vision move + By yonder crystal spring-- +A vision of an earthly dove, + With pure and blessed wing. + +I thought the days of old romance, + Would now return to earth; +And, in that soft and placid trance, + So sweet--yet not like mirth-- +I saw the Dryads gently gliding + Through shadowy groves of myrtle-- +And Nereides their glances hiding, + And Venus with her turtle. + +Alas! our brightest dreams deceive! + The morning rises, bright and sweet, +And every thing in nature waits + Thy fairy face and form to greet; +But they, alas! will wait in vain, + As I, with aching heart, +Whilst wrapt in other joy or pain, + In other scenes, thou art. + +Thus ever from our path below, + Some vision lovelier far, +Than Eden's bird, or glittering gem, + Or beam of Beauty's star-- +Glides swiftly by--and we are left + To mourn the fleeting bliss, +That mocks us, as we sadly thread, + So dark a scene as this. + + + + +THE DREAM OF LOVE. + + +I dreamed last night, my lady-love, + A dear, delicious dream; +'Twas not in bower or blooming grove, + Nor by the sylvan stream. + +'Twas in thy father's noble hall, + In dreams I saw thee, lady love! +Yet 'twas no gorgeous festival, + No flowers beneath--no lights above. + +It was a sacred, simple scene, + Thy smiling sisters gathered round, +With kindly air, and gentle mien, + And spoke--a magic, home-born sound! + +Then thou and I, sweet lady-love! + Roved out amid the garden green, +Whilst Day and Night together strove, + Along the soft, romantic scene. + +And then I praised the charming view-- + The lofty peaks and rosiate skies-- +The vallies, in their vernal hue-- + The sky's still brightening, crimson dyes. + +And oh! I saw thy angel smile, + It smiled its lovelight all on me! +My heart was heaving high the while, + And still my eyes saw nought but thee. + +I took thy trembling hand in mine, + Then clasped thee to my happy breast, +And then those honeylips of thine + My forehead with their kisses blest. + +Last night I dreamed, sweet lady-love! + This dear, delicious dream; +Oh! could I waking pleasures prove + So sweet as those that seem. + + + + +SABBATH. + + +The Sabbath morn! How beautiful, + How peaceful and how blest; +An Angel's whisper seems to lull + The weary world to rest. + +Hark! how the churchbell's music steals + From yonder sacred fane; +Then echoes, like a heavenly sound, + O'er neighboring hill and plain. + +And see! along each different way, + To yonder temple fair, +With soft, slow step, and solemn mien, + The village folk repair. + +And now, great Nature sends on high + Her orison of prayer, +And wears upon her sacred face + A smile divinely fair. + + + + +THE THUNDER STORM. + + +'Twas a cloudless night in August, and the earth all silent lay, +With hills, and glittering rivers and mountains far away, +And angels then seemed bending through the whiteness of the beams, +Whispering to weary mortals soft and sorrow-soothing dreams. +Oh! surely, eye of mortal never gazed on fairer scene, +Than there lay sweetly dreaming in that loveliness and sheen:-- +But what is darkening yonder? and hark! that distant sound, +That comes like ghostly mutters faintly o'er the echoing ground. +And now that lightning flashes, like sulphureous light of Hell, +And now the winds come rushing o'er the far off wood and fell. +That cloud grows quickly larger, and the lightning flashing more-- +Hark! Earth and Heaven are rocking in a consentaneous roar! +And heavily the deluge floods the hills, the vales, the streams, +And beasts howl out for terror and men start up from dreams. +Oh! 'tis a dreadful scene to-night, the dreadest e'er we saw, +The hardest heart that beateth now, in watery fear will thaw. +But lo! 'twas but a moment, like a wayward Beauty's wrath, +And the moon resumes in heaven, see! her all serener path-- +And the clouds receding slowly rest upon the horizon round, +And the katydids and waters make the only living sound. +'Tis yet a night of loveliness, and fondly we may deem, +That Heaven and Earth are resting in the beauty of a Dream. + + + + +THE LIFE-LAND. + + +Oh yes, there's a land, far away, out of sight, +Where the fairest of flowers forever bloom bright-- +Where the groves never wither--the buds never die-- +And bright rivers of crystal forever roll by. +'Tis the clime of the Christian--the home of the blest-- +Where the wretched are happy--the weary at rest. +'Neath its bowers in bloom, by its waters so still, +The righteous shall walk, free from anguish and ill;-- +And they never shall pass from its portals again, +For their pleasures forever and aye shall remain. + + + + +TO MISS ----. + + +The flowers you gave, dear girl, will fade, + Nor shun the common lot, to die; +The thoughts they spoke, still undecayed, + Shall bloom immortal as the sky. + +Beneath the sun's meridian ray, + They'll fade and leave no trace behind: +The love they woke shall ne'er decay, + But be immortal like the Mind. + + + + +THE WIFE TO THE ABSENT HUSBAND. + + +Come back to me, my absent friend! + Since thou wast far away, +The vernal flowers have lost some charms, + Less bright the vernal day. +The wild, sweet voices of the fields; + Of birds amid the sky; +Of streams that wander through the wood, + With dreamy melody; +Sound not so sweet--and shine less bright, + Unto my pensive soul, +Since thou wentest forth, O dearest friend, + To brook the world's control. + +Come back to me! come back to me! + Let not the dream of fame, +Too long allure thy lingering feet + To worship at a name. + +Yet, I would have thee nobly strive + To win that glorious meed, +But still, of Woman's saving love, + Hast thou not urgent need? + +Come back to me! come back to me! + Thou never yet hast known, +How lone and desolate I feel + When left, by thee, alone. + +The dove without her loving mate, + Repeats a song like mine-- +Thus seems, o'er sad, neglected love, + To murmur and repine. + +Come back to me--oh! quickly come! + The joy that I shall know +Will more than pay for all this depth + Of dark and bitter woe, + +Which thou hast doomed my heart to feel + Through many a weary day; +And I will then forgive thy fault, + In lingering thus away. + + + + +OH, BLUE-EYED MAID, I SIGH FOR THEE. + + +Oh! blue-eyed maid, I sigh for thee, + A gentle twilight's close, +When music dies upon the lea, + And dew drops wet the rose. +I look on tranquil nature round, + And list to music's fall, +And think but half their charms are found, + Since thou art far from all. + +Oh, blue-eyed maid! the gorgeous beams + That light a monarch's hall, +The glittering wealth of golden streams, + To me were darkness all; +Unless thy light of loveliness, + Adorned the regal scene, +And thou bedecked in royal dress, + Shouldst reign my loving Queen. + + + + +TO MARY. + + +Oh, Mary, when afar from thee, + And mountains rise between, +And I am wandering pensively + Through many a varied scene; + +It soothes to bid my fancy stray, + On freest wings, to thee, +And cherish all the memories + So very dear to me. + +I view again thy face, thy form, + Thy look, thy ready smile, +I hear again those magic words, + That all my soul beguile. + +I sit beside thy chair, and gaze, + Upon thy willing face, +And there behold the speaking glow + Of that mysterious grace, + +Which binds my constant soul to thee, + And makes, through all life's years, +All that can make thy heart rejoice, + Or bathe thy cheek with tears, + +Awake in me the thrill of joy, + Or bow my soul in grief; +And makes me strive to make thee blest, + Or yield thy pangs relief. + +Yes, Mary, I will love but thee, + Of all thy lovely race; +Our hearts shall find in life one home, + In death one resting place. + +And, if I linger now afar, + 'Tis fortune's hard decree-- +Oh! were the dove's swift pinions mine, + How would I fly to thee. + +Those charms, with memory's feeble light + On me would cease to beam; +Their rays, with present, perfect warmth, + Upon my heart would gleam. + +Thus, by thy side, so sweetly near, + How blest to pass my life; +To press thy gentle hand in mine, + And call thee my sweet wife. + +If Adam lost his happiness, + Bewailed with ceaseless sighs, +With thee, my Eve, I scarce could wish + Another Paradise. + + + + +THOUGH THOU WAST PASSING FAIR. + + +Though thou wast passing fair, + And wondrous beauty crown'd thee, +And Fancy's robe most rare, + Forever brightly bound thee: + +I could not teach my heart, + To bow in love before thee, +Nor bid the death depart, + Which now hangs darkly o'er thee. + +I know a hectic flush + On thy sweet cheek is burning, +That thou dost stilly hush + Thy wrung heart's deepest yearning. + +I know that in thy breast, + A serpent closely lurking, +Forbids thee e'er to rest, + Thy utter ruin working. + +When, in the chilly ground, + Thy lovely form lies sleeping, +Where vi'lets spring around, + And purest dews are weeping: + +Thy sinless soul ascending + Above this dreary sod, +Shall feel its being blending + In deathless love with God. + + + + +THE LADY'S SOLILOQUY. + + +Ah! now I am beloved by him, + And sweet it is, to think, +That life no more will be so dim, + To make my spirit sink. + +Ah! now I am beloved by him; + The secret I will keep; +In silence to the mantling brim, + I'll quaff this cup so deep. + +Beloved by him! beloved by him! + How dear the tender thought! +My eyes in happy tears do swim, + My heart with bliss is fraught. + +Beloved by him--that noble youth! + With proud yet gentle mien, +Who speaks the guileless words of truth, + And yet is not so "green." + +Beloved by him--ah! I shall own + A husband very soon; +And he shall kneel before my throne, + With many a costly boon, + +The plate, the gold, the proud array + Of horses, charioteers;-- +And when comes round the paying day, + I'll kiss him in arrears! + + + + +LOVE WITHOUT HOPE. + + +I cannot cease to love thee, + Coldest fair! +Though pleading cannot move thee, + And I despair. + +Thy beauty was diviner, + Than the summer moon, +And thou didst outshine her, + At her noon. + +Thy brow was like the silver + On the star-lit sea; +Thy bright eyes did bewilder + All, as me. + +Thy motions were the motions + Of a charmed bird, +As, poised o'er dream-world oceans, + His sweet voice is heard. + +Thou wast queenlier far + Than the queenliest flower, +More glorious than a star + In a fairy bower. + +But it can not move thee, + My mad prayer! +Though I must ever love thee, + Coldest fair! + + + + +TO MARY. + + +Dear Mary, if my heart has hushed awhile, +Its loving voice within my breast--yet there, +Thine image was enshrined the dearest thing, +Which now remains to me in this sad world. +Thou bad'st me sing a song of thee, and said'st, +That I should make thee to my dreamy thought, +Whoe'er I would, and I will make thee be, +A fair and gentle friend--a lovely one-- +Ah yes, the nearest, tenderest of all friends. +Sweet Mary, dost thou read my thought? +Who will be all in all to me on earth, +Sheathing my soul against the edge of pain, +Even till I seem to dwell in paradise, +With thee my Eve, and we may need no fall. +See, fairy spring hath walked upon the hills, +Where her foot-prints are green and flowers appear; +The turtle coos within our pleasant land. +Oh! now I throb to be by thy sweet side, +To sun me in the sweet spring of that smile +Which warms the beauties of my mind to birth. +Thus, Mary, when afar from thee, amid +The unloving and unloved I muse of thee, +And sing and love thee still, and cannot wish +The thought of thee a moment from my soul. +Thou art the friend whom I would ever have +Dwell by my soul in absence and when nigh. +Thou art the friend whom I would have be still, +The loved and guardian angel of my path, +Amid the mazes of a treacherous world. +Thou art the friend, with whom in smiling peace +I fain would walk, to the not dreadful tomb. +And now, adieu, sweet Mary! I must cease +My strain; but, as a wind-strain sleeps +Upon a bed of roses; so the echo +Of this my strain, will find its rest with thee. + + + + +WRITTEN IN AN ALBUM. + + +As stainless thought my hand should write, +Upon this page of spotless white; +Nor would I that thy falling tear +Should blot the wish recorded here. + +Oh, like the rose which opens here, +The earliest of the vernal year, +May Mary's bloom enchant the day, +And bless the Minstrel's votive lay. + +But when the envious, Boreal wind, +Shall leave his Northern cave behind, +And seek to sieze thy beauteous bloom +To deck his dark and dreary tomb: + +May some kind angel swiftly fly, +And leave the region of the sky, +Transplant thee to a clime where ne'er +Sad winter mars the blooming year. + + + + +THE DEAD EAGLE. + + +No more through the regions of glorious day, +Shall thy wings waft thee proudly--oh proudly away-- +No more shall thy scream thrill the spirit that heard, +And saw thee, high mounting, O proud, mighty bird: +For thy form lies with beasts on the filth of the plain, +And it never shall soar from its slumber again. + +How strong was thy wing, and how fierce was thine eye-- +Which vanquished the storm--and the sun throned on high-- +How far was thy flight mid thy path through the blue, +As thou sankest away from our wandering view;-- +But thy form rottens now with the beasts of the plain, +And it never shall soar from its slumber again. + +We will mourn, we will mourn for thee, proud bird of heaven, +Whose loftiest walks to thy footsteps were given; +For thy form rots with beasts on the reed-sighing plain, +And it never shall soar from that slumber again. + + + + +LAMENT. + + +My soul is sad--oh! dark to-night, + 'Tis wrapt in midnight's gloom; +Wild minstrel! seize thy harp and sing, + As o'er the victor tomb. + +For thoughts, more beautiful than dreams, + Within my soul have died, +As fade away the glorious tints + From heaven, at even-tide. + +Wild minstrel! seize thy harp, I pray, + And let a dirge arise +In frantic woe--then faintly die + Amid the nightwind's sighs. + +The saddest--deepest--wildest strain + Should wail such visions o'er; +Within the mournful Past entombed, + To be awaked no more. + + + + +OH, LOVE! THE DEW LIES ON THE FLOWER. + + +Oh, love! the dew lies on the flower, + And the stars gleam on the sea; +It is the charm'd, the silent hour, + When I should roam with thee. +The day dies out within the West, + The shadows gather near; +And now sweet fancies fill my breast, + And thou art strangely dear. + +Behold! as yonder heavenly moon, + Breaks through the dark-blue sky, +And through night's deepest, stillest noon, + That brightness will supply-- +Thy smile thus sheds its heavenly light + Athwart life's deepest gloom,-- +Thus brightly gilds the spirit's night + Its gentle beams illume. + + + + +RED ROSE. + + +Sweet rose! ere Ellen gathered thee + From off thy parent stem, +With hope to rival her sweet cheek, + Thou wast a floral gem. +But when I think her snow-white hands, + Did pluck thee, rose! for me, +The brightest gems of earth or sky, + Are naught compared with thee. +How fondly even for hours I gaze + Upon thy charms so rare, +Thy tint of richest, purest red, + Thy fragrant petals fair. +Sweet rose! my Ellen's pledge of love, + Thou fairest thing of earth, +Save darling Ellen's angel self,-- + Words cannot speak thy worth. +To token faintly to her soul, + How prized by me thou art, +My trembling hand has placed thee here + Beside my throbbing heart. + + + + +ELLEN. + + +Ellen, my heart is not yet thine, + And still I can but sigh, +Whene'er I view thy semblance shine + In Memory's mirror nigh. + +Thy brow so soft--thy cheek so fair-- + Thy looks so sweetly mild-- +Thy angel air--thy angel smile, + My spirit have beguiled. + +Ellen, my heart is not yet thine, + But oft my fancy dreams-- +When evening's peaceful shades decline + Along our mountain streams. + +Yes! oft my tranced fancy sees, + Mid evening's deepening shade, +Thy airy form--and, in the breeze, + Thy voice I hear, sweet maid! + +Oh! Ellen! may yon heavens smile, + On thee, their beauteous birth, +And with the loveliest joys beguile + Thy path amid the earth. + + + + +THE SABBATH WORSHIPPER. + + +'Twas Sabbath morn. A holy light + Hung o'er the hill and wood, +O'er wooded stream, and lofty height, + And mighty solitude. +All Nature lay in bright repose, +And from her silent lips arose, +In mystic accents through the air, +The voice of worship, praise, and prayer. + +I gazed into the bright, blue sky, + Then bent my eyes to view, +The earth which lay so sweetly by + In robes of summer hue; +I dreamed that blessed ones might deign, +To leave their radiant seats again, +Nor weep to yield their home in heaven, +For the bright ones that Earth had given. + +On morn, so holy, pure, and bright-- + I looked on one most fair, +Whose braided hair was dark as night, + And wrought with maiden care-- +Forth issue from her father's door, +Walking with sweet mien evermore, +As if blest spirits led her there, +And she beheld their forms in air. + +Hark! how it thrills the holy air-- + The choir's high song of praise, +Which many voices mingling there + In sweetest concert, raise, +And oh! how warmly, fervently +Those words of prayer ascend the sky, +And joined with that loud strain of praise +Blend with the song that Seraphs raise. + +And sits that lovely lady there, + Uniting in the strain? +And does she bend her form so fair, + When silence comes again? +Yes! she was there, and lovelier there, +Than she this hour could be elsewhere; +Though few beneath yon heavenly sky +Might with her erring beauty vie. + + + + +TO ----. + + +As some gay flow'ret brightly rears, + Its head beside the pilgrim's way, +And charms away his flowing tears, + And glads him, with its blessed ray-- +Sweet Mary--"Angel without wing," + Heaven gave thee man's rough path to cheer-- +To bid the mourner smile and sing, + "At last, Earth is not wholly drear." + + + + +WHERE IS OUR BROTHER? + + +Where is our brother? I have come + From wandering far and long, +And oh! I miss one well-known face, + Gone from our little throng. + +Where is our brother? Where is he, + Ye late saw smiling here, +I look in vain his face to see + To catch his tones so clear. + +Where is my brother? Can it be, + That we shall never more +Behold his form upon the earth, + As oft, so oft, before. + +Ah! till we meet before the bar + At Time's last, awful day, +We shall not see his face again, + Although we mourn alway. + +In youth cut down, he lies so still, + That all the strength of grief, +Cannot restore his form to us, + One moment though so brief. + +Through Life's long day, we'll think on him, + And mourn his early flight, +And Earth, to us, hath lost a star, + Gone down in endless night. + +To us, gone down in endless night,-- + Beyond the sun afar, +He beams beside his Savior-God, + A bright immortal star. + + + + +STAR OF REST. + + +Star of Rest! thy silvery lustre, + Brightly streams from heaven above, +Ere each sweet and glittering cluster + Ope on earth their eyes of love. + +Star of Rest! how gently closeth + Every bud beneath thy brow, +And the wearied frame reposeth + From its daily labor now. + +Star of Rest! thy streaming splendor, + Lends the proud and queenly moon, +Till a glorious host attend her + Through her deep and silent noon. + +Star of Rest! we bless thy beaming, + From that vault so calm and blue, +For thou bringest sweetest dreaming, + And thou fillest the heart with dew. + +Love of Heaven--oh! brightly shining, + Gleam above our dying bed, +When the Day of life declining, + Tells us that its toil has sped. + + + + +MELANCHOLY. + + +There comes a time for flowers to fade, and light to die in gloom, +There is a time for mortal bliss to know a certain doom. +Sometimes I feel that I have reached that hour, and I have felt, +When pondering o'er the dreary change, my spirit in me melt. +The joyful trust, the bounding hopes, that laughed at scorned defeat, +The feeling, like pure rock-born streams, as strong, as deep, and sweet; +The soul that thrilled with transport wild, at Beauty's magic name; +Ah! all have strangely altered now,--I am no more the same. +And now I feel alone and sad amid an ocean wide, +I care not much to what strange coast my single plank may ride, +I am alone--what matters it where my bowed frame may be, +Since now my heart is never more by land or rolling sea. +I feel that as yon Night now throws its mantle o'er the earth, +Till ghostly shapes and ghostly sounds, go dimly walking forth-- +That soon the night of Death may throw its mantle over me, +And unfamiliar things shall rise from dark eternity. +Yet, would I hope, when such shall come, to dwell not with pain, +But walk, with a triumphant song, o'er heaven's unshadowed plain-- +Where Youth and Hope, and Love and Joy, (the angels,) ever smile, +And evermore the aching heart from woe and grief beguile. + + + + +FOR MARY. + + +Oh! may the brightest smiles of heaven + That beam on men below, +Still shine upon sweet Mary's path, + Wherever she may go. + +May Angels, like herself! still guard + Her steps from every ill, +Until she walks in robes of white, + O'er God's high, happy hill. + +And, when, in that celestial clime, + She beams a spirit bright-- +How sweet to think she'll love me then + Where nought our love can blight. + + + + +LINES. + + +Oft have I heard thine accents steal, + Like music on the air, +Then quickly turned to see thy form, + Sweet Mary! standing there. + +But thou did'st ever glide away, + Nor heed my pleading prayer-- +But now, alas! thou'rt but a Thought, + A phantom like the air. + + + + +THE FLOWERS. + + +The flowers! the flowers! I love ye, flowers; + Ye have a mystic voice +To speak unto my inmost soul + And make my heart rejoice. + +Your charms illume the splendid halls + Where wealthy princes move, +And light the humble peasant's cot, + Like gleams of heavenly love. + +Oh flowers, bright flowers! I feel within + My inmost heart, your power; +And know I see the light of Heaven, + Within a blooming flower. + +Had I a lovely home amid + Some valley green and fair-- +The flowers--sweet flowers--should ever gleam, + In star-like beauty there. + + + + +THE ENCHANTED REALM OF JOY. + + +Oh! I am sick of the ennui that comes of the earth, +All tasteless its landscapes--and charmless its mirth. +Away, swift away, on a pinion, as sprite, +I will speed to a kingdom not day and not night: +Where a spell of enchantment as soft as a dream, +Moves over the mountain, the valley, and stream; +And the bird and the rill with a sleep-bringing rhyme, +Soothe the gliding away of the current of time. +Away, swift away to this dream-world of bliss-- +From a place all so tiresome and tasteless as this. +And would I might ever abandon its beams +That radiate but feebly, to dwell by the streams +That gleam from the mountains of green fairyland, +And, at last, in bright morn of Heaven expand. + + + + +TO MISS M.T.R. + + +Whate'er may be my unknown fate + Upon this dark, terrestrial sphere, +Wilt smile to hear that I am blest, + And o'er my anguish shed thy tear? + +Methinks it were a happy lot, + That thou would'st grieve or smile with me; +And though all others prove most false, + I ne'er should find untruth in thee. + +Yes! thou wouldst seem some heavenly one + If such thy friendship followed me, +Nor would I cease, through every change, + To crave of Heaven its love for thee. + + + + + +BENEATH THOSE STARS OF SUMMER. + +RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED TO MISS ----. + + +Beneath those stars of summer, + I told thee my wild love; +And I beheld thy blushes, + And saw thy bosom move. +It was a holy moment, + And bliss o'erflowed my heart; +For thou did'st say that never + I should from thee depart. +I thought how very happy + Our future life would be, +That life's worst pain and suffering + Were sweet, if shared with thee. +Thou said'st thy deepest pleasure, + Thy highest pride would be, +Through all of life to gladden, + To soothe and comfort me. +And now when years have glided, + As silver waves depart, +I feel that thou did'st utter + The truth from out thy heart: +For thou hast never pained me, + Through all these happy years, +But still hast fondly loved me, + And charmed me even to tears. +Thou hast been such a blessing, + Thy virtues so much worth; +'Twere not profane to call thee + An angel upon earth. +And if those souls most loving, + Upon this spot of care, +Shall feel most bliss in heaven, + Thou'lt be a bright one there. + + + + +TO FANNIE. + + +My Fannie dear! when absence rends + My faithful heart from thee, +What gloomy thoughts oppress my mind, + There is no joy for me. + +By day, woe wastes my sinking soul, + By night I wake and sigh; +And still the grief that kills me quite, + Is, Fannie is not nigh. + +Oh! may that God whose name is Love + Her form to me restore; +That I may never, never part + From darling Fannie more. + + + + +A STROLL DOWN QUALITY ROW. + + +The other day I took a stroll, + Just when the sun grew low, +A down the Row of Quality, + That gay and charming row. + +I had been dreaming all the day + Of bright, poetic forms +Moving through silent fairyland, + Bedecked with glorious charms. + +As down the row, I slowly walked, + First came proud Majesty; +Love shone in all her queenly looks, + Command was in her eye. + +Then gentle Grace came smiling next, + Without the aid of art, +And, with a soft and pleasing bliss, + She past into my heart. + +Then Beauty came supreme o'er all, + A Heaven-anointed queen; +But modest Goodness walked behind, + With mild yet winning mien. + +Then I returned to dream and sing + Through many a pleasant hour, +Of all that evening's loveliness, + And beauty's matchless power. + + + + +THERE IS A GOD. + + +The azure vault so far above, +Arrayed in smiles of peace and love, +Would sweetly seem the truth to prove-- + "There is a God." + +The blooming earth so glad below-- +The fragrant flowers--the streams that flow-- +The tuneful birds--would bid us know, + "There is a God." + +Yon soaring sun on wings of fire, +Proclaims his great, celestial Sire-- +'Tis chanted by the starry choir, + "There is a God." + +We know it, too, at nights' fair noon, +When lo! the pale and placid Moon, +Illumes the balmy night of June, + "There is a God." + +The smiling Spring, and Autumn brown, +Hoarse-raging Winter's angry frown, +And Summer fair, unceasing own, + "There is a God." + +The mountains high, and dark, and vast-- +The thunder's roar--the howling blast-- +The lightnings springing thick and fast, + Amid the gloom, + +That wraps the Earth, and Sea, and Sky-- +The Storm-fiend's wild, terrific cry-- +The Earth-quake's shock--proclaim on high, + "An awful God!" + +But oh! that awful God above, +Is yet a gracious God of love-- +A bleeding Lamb--a wounded Dove-- + The sinner's God. + +Poor sinner! love His holy name, +And when this world shall pass in flame +A heavenly mansion thou mayst claim, + To dwell with God. + + + + +TO THE BELOVED. + + +I dream of thee, beloved one, + When the moon comes o'er the sea, +And hangs her horns of silver, + In yonder forest tree! +I wake from out my slumber, + I think I hear thy voice, +It thrills my list'ning spirit, + It makes my soul rejoice. + +Oh love! thy fair, bright image, + Is hov'ring near to mine, +Oh love! I see thy passion, + In those deep eyes of thine: +Ah me! those bright eyes gleaming, + Have bound my senses quite, +Those eyes are o'er me beaming, + The only stars of night. + + + + +TO LORA GORDON BOON. + + +Sweet maiden of the feeling soul, + I saw thy little form, +Arrayed in gay and glittering garb, + And felt thy beauty's charm. + +And, Lora! when I saw thee show + The mighty poet's thought, +The poet's truth, with vivid force, + Before my mind was brought. + +And when I heard thee sweetly sing, + The bold gay "Cavalier," +I thought that was the sweetest tone + E'er fell on mortal ear. + +"Sweet Maid!" 'twas love's most plaintive voice, + That echoes from the soul, +And makes the listening spirit pause + In that divine control. + +And when thou sang'st the "Soldier Boy," + I heard the drum and fife, +The bugle's blast, the cannon's boom, + The keen, sharp shriek for life! + +And when thou sang'st with gentle voice, + The "Bonnie Breast Knots" too; +'Twas like the words of peace and love, + That follow war's wild crew. + +And when I saw thee lightly whirl + Through that ecstatic dance, +My happy spirit flew with thee, + As in a joyous trance. + +Sweet maiden, when thou pass'd'st away, + I felt a soft regret; +And oh! thy genius and thy charms, + I never shall forget. + +Sweet maiden, fare thee--fare thee well! + Thou sing'st and flitt'st away-- +A thing that charmed us, and shall be, + Remembered through life's day. + + + + +MONTICELLO. + + +On Monticello's classic brow, + I stood and gazed around on earth; +And feelings of no common glow, + Within my bosom had their birth. + +The glorious memory of the past, + When valor, single-handed, won, +The brightest boon for man at last, + Freedom for every sire and son. + +I thought how strangely, wildly rung + That dictum in the world's dull ear, +Breathed with a firm, unfaltering tongue, + "No tyrant's pride shall flourish here." + +But, look upon yon humble tomb, + Oh! does it hide some humble one? +Now, part the mountain's leafy bloom,-- + Is this the grave of JEFFERSON? + +Huge shame confound this long neglect, + That thus o'ershades his resting place, +Who, living, sought to raise, protect, + And fit, this home of Adam's race. + +Who guards that most illustrious tomb, + And welcomes there the pilgrim's love? +A stranger to his native soil, + Stands sentinel his grave above. + +Virginia! oh! retrieve thy name, + No longer scorn thy source of pride; +Pay double tribute to their fame, + Whose shades so long in vain have sighed. + +Rear monuments to tell the world, + The virtues of departed worth, +Till yonder sun in night be hurled, + The glorious heritage of earth. + +Then through the ages that succeed, + The hearts shall come from every shore, +To worship where their relics lie, + Whose glorious fame can die no more. + + + + +TO MARIAN. + + +Dear Marian, thou art far away, +And I'm disconsolate to-day, + In sorrow sighing; +My pleasant thoughts lie like the leaves, +O'er whose cold heads AEolus grieves, + Complaining, dying. +'Tis weary, dreary, dreary here, +The yellow leaves are falling sere, + With mournful rustling, +The little bird has hush'd his song, +And close the greener boughs among + He's coldly nestling. +How sad the high wind's sounding dirge, +As 'twere old ocean's moaning surge, + Around our dwelling; +I well may tell the reason why, +But oh! the teardrops in mine eye + Are swiftly swelling. +The world is sad, and I am so; +Does Marian hear my plaint? Oh, no; + She's far away. +Ye envious streams--ye hateful hills! +Ah me! what cruel anguish thrills + My heart to-day! +But soon may Fortune learn to smile +Upon her sad and helpless child, + And let us meet, +No more to part, no more to sigh, +But happy live, and happy die, + In union sweet! + + + + +THE SPIRIT OF POESY. + + +O! radiant spirit, bright Poesy, where +Is thy dwelling, thou seraph of beauty, so fair +In the rainbow thou laughest at sweet summer's even, +And thou ridest the tempest that rends earth and heaven; +On the lawn gemm'd with dew, 'mid the forest in green, +On the mountains' huge brows, in the valleys between, +In the blue rolling ocean, in sky, earth and air-- +Thy spiritual loveliness broods every where, +Thou quaffest morn's tears in a chalice of light, +And thy form in the splendor of Phoebus flames bright; +Thou kissest the rose-bud so fay-like and fair, +And the lightnings thou wreathest in thy dark-streaming hair! +Thy melody trills in the silver rill's flow, +And it roars in the earthquake that thunders below; +All heaven is fill'd with thy presence divine, +All earth in the smile of thy beauty doth shine: +From heaven to earth, and from earth swift to heaven, +Thy golden-wheel'd chariot is viewlessly driven: +And thou robest all things in the raiment of love, +By fingers of seraphim woven above-- +And the song which thou sing'st is the melody flowing, +Like droppings of nectar, from angel lips glowing-- +And God is the Fountain, O, Poesy bright, +Whose waters now flood me with mystic delight! + + + + +THE WATER. + + +The water, see it, leaps from the mountain's high brow, + Like a roll of smooth silver, and laughingly now +See, it skips, like a child, through the valley so green, + Throwing beauty and blithesomeness over the scene. + +See the dew-drops of morning that glitter so bright, + Drunk up by the leaves and the flowers with delight; +See the fair delicate fays, for their heavenly feast, + In colors more lovely their light limbs have drest. + +See the dark-rushing showers exultingly come + Down, down to the earth from their high, cloudy home! +How the countless drops twinkle, and dance, and rejoice, + Then creep to the ground with a tremulous voice! + +Oh the water, the water, it shineth so bright! + It falls like a beautiful raining of light, +And it gladdeneth the earth, and the sky, and the sea, + 'Till the world laugheth out in her fullness of glee! + +See it all smileth fairest--'tis beauty above, + In Heaven and Earth 'tis but beauty and love; +With harmony dancing--a scene like a dream, + When Heaven comes down on the spirit to beam! + +Oh the water! the water! man, quaff its bright flow; + It will gladden thy spirit, but give thee no woe: +As it fresh'neth the world, so its rills will impart + Health, gladness, and sweetness and joy to thy heart. + +But oh, the foul demons (horrific to tell) + Have mixed a fierce poison, the wild flame of hell; +And it killeth each fairest and loveliest thing + That the earth ever knew in her bridal of Spring. + +'Tis the wild stream of hell! oh it burneth the soul, + It scatheth, and blighteth, and killeth the whole; +Yet, a Vulture, it gnaweth the quivering liver, + Forever consuming, but satiate never. + +Ay, it fills the wide world with the wailing and woe, + That liken the shrieking of Devils below: +And the words of the eloquent never can tell, + The abyss of this anguish, this foretaste of Hell. + +Oh God of the curst! turn this fierce stream away, + In trembling, and misery, and anguish we pray; +Make the waters of Temperance flow wide o'er the Earth, + Till she shine as of yore in the smile of her birth! + + + + +BLANNERHASSETT'S ISLAND. + + +On beautiful Ohio when you sail, +And view its banks, forever green and fair, +And feel the falling sunlight, and the gale +That freshly stirs that wild and western air; +You may observe a lovely island there, +A greenery spot, enclosed by waters bright, +A spot of beauty, and a spot most rare; +There the fair summer moon sheds softest light, +And summer stars look down from heaven's cerulean height. + +Around that isle, a mournful story clings, +That ever wakes a soft and sad regret, +In those who feel the sorrow which it brings, +All swift and fresh upon the memory yet, +Of those who sail beyond it, brightly set, +An emerald within that crystal flood; +Its sad, strange name a feeling doth beget +That wakes a sigh in bosoms meek and good, +And leaves the thoughtful sprite in no ungrateful mood. + +Here Blannerhasset[E] dwelt; a blest recluse, +In this green Eden of the leafy West; +And felt sweet Peace her softest balm infuse, +Into his once too world-disturbed breast: +There did he find a deep and quiet rest: +The mockbird sang his vespers, while the star +Shone sweetly o'er the rippling river's crest; +There no rude sound the halcyon calm did mar, +And Grief was absent still, and Hate was banished far. + +So Blannerhasset with his partner, dwelt, +In kind connubial tenderness, in this +Most gay and blooming scene; here, here they felt +That feeling which if earth hath aught like bliss, +Is bliss! the tender look! the touch! the kiss! +And, often mid this sylvan scene was heard, +(Where no vile Envy gave its serpent hiss,) +The voice of love, the only, joyous, word +Which blended with the notes of wind, and rill, and bird. + +Sweet pair! with all that's best of life, possest, +Wealth, love, refinement, learning, genius, birth; +Bright, blooming offspring, virtuous, good and blest +Charming their hearts, with that young, pangless mirth; +And, when at evening mild, they saunter'd forth, +Beneath the rosy sky, they looked toward heaven, +And wondered why this was so bright an earth, +And why that God whose gifts to man are even, +This wondrous happiness to them alone had given. + +Then came a dark-soul'd man, with magic eye, +And glozing tongue, and Blannerhasset's mind, +Became his slave, he could not now deny +His devilish spell, a villian, smooth refin'd, +Whose mighty arts his thoughtless victim bind, +In fearful chains: Burr was this Satan's name, +Who crept into this Eden unconfin'd, +And drove this erring pair of later fame, +Like that of old, to roam and sigh o'er earth the same. + +"Come, go with me," said Burr, "and you shall find, +Strange honors, riches, and a deathless name," +And Blannerhasset thought the villian kind, +Who fed his soul, on novel dreams of fame, +While Burr aspir'd to breathe a sinful flame, +Through Blannerhasset's sweet and guiltless wife, +But she his artful cozening overcame, +And brav'd the demon with victorious strife, +And sacredly maintained the whiteness of her life. + +But they were ruin'd, this sequester'd pair, +Who shunn'd the world's alluring charms to crime, +Soon they were driven forth in dark despair, +Like the sad consorts of that earlier time. +A grief fell on that island's blooming prime. +They pass'd away, and never saw again, +Their island home amid that pleasant clime. +Awhile they roamed o'er earth's most desolate plain, +But soon securely slept from life's wild woe and pain. + +This is real history of that isle, +That ever draws the weary traveller's eye, +He sees its fairy greenness brightly smile, +Amid that river; as he passeth by, +Perchance his human eye's no longer dry, +While he recalls that mournful history; +And he may ask, with sudden sorrow, why, +The dream of rapture doth so early flee +And souls so meek and good, the prey of fiends should be. + +That isle is now as lovely as of yore, +Gay Nature smiles as sweetly, the wild air +Is resonant with music; the green shore +Exhales a constant fragrance, sweet and rare, +But those who made its borders still more fair, +Have slept the sleep of death, long years ago, +Yet is their memory fresh, and ever there +The pilgrim's heart will feel the thought of woe, +His eye will blend a tear with yon fair river's flow. + + +[Footnote E: Transcriber's note: Spelling is different in the title of +the poem; both have been kept as in the original.] + + + + + +TO BETTIE. + + +Give me thy heart, give me thy hand, +Thy love, thy dower, thy goods, thy land; +Give me o'er thee a free command, +Then shall I be a monarch grand. + +This brave great world is little worth, +Its largest wealth is but a dearth; +But fond and mutual love can make, +Another richer for its sake. + +Give me thy love, thy heart, thy soul, +O'er thee a sovereign control, +Then though huge seas of sorrow roll, +I will defy their wish'd control. + +Give me thy destiny, thy all +Which thou dost best and dearest call; +Then let the darts of envy fall, +Let ruffian malice ban and brawl. + +I will contemn their power; I will +Still strain with joy's ecstatic thrill, +Thee to this bosom, dearest! till +I rest in heaven from earthly ill. + +Give me thy heart, thy unstained hand, +And though I scorn it, give thy land, +Then, by a rainbow sweet and bland, +Shall life's cerulean arch be spann'd. + +Beneath that arch of beauty, flowers +Brilliant as bloom in heaven's own bowers, +And bathed in joy's ambrosial showers, +Shall strew the earth through charmed hours. + +Beneath that bow, rich melodies, +Like odors that in heaven arise, +Sweet as an angel's breathing sighs, +Shall rise and kiss the smiling skies. + +Give me thy heart, hand, bosom, all +Which thou dost nearest, dearest call, +Than let the darts of envy fall, +Let ruffian malice ban and brawl. + +Till life's long summer shall depart, +The tender thrill of joy shall start, +We'll laugh at Boreas' icy dart, +Beside the fire which warms the heart. + + + + +EPITAPH FOR AN INFANT. + + +Sweet bud of life, God knew this earth, + Was not a home for thee; +He took thee, even from thy birth, + To bless Eternity. + + + + +THE MILLENNIUM. + + +The promis'd years, the better times, + By God himself foretold, +Have dawn'd, and banish'd hateful crimes, + The latest age of gold. + +Not now a brother fears to tread + The way a brother goes, +Not now the wife's sad heart is fed, + On brutal cuffs and blows. + +Not now the human eye is fierce + With cruel thirst of gore; +Not now the angry spear doth pierce + The bosom. Such are o'er. + +This scene become a Paradise, + A scene of peace and love, +Wherein each living being tries + To work for God above. + +The Bible fills the mighty world, + The end is drawing nigh, +When, earth in burning fragments hurl'd, + The soul shall rise on high. + +The promis'd years, the better times, + By God himself foretold, +Have dawned with their triumphal chimes, + On the sweet air unroll'd. + + + + +TO A POET'S WIFE. + + +Thou art indeed a happy one, + And hast a charmed life, +A noble triumph thou hast won, + A bright-eyed Poet's wife. + +His fancy plucks all glittering gems + From mountain caves and sea, +To form that best of diadems, + He proudly gives to thee. + +That realm that doth thy power obey, + Is richer far than these, +More sweet its nights, more bright its day, + More bland its wandering breeze. + +And gentle creatures move and kiss + The sceptre in thy hand, +And gather garlands, wreaths of bliss, + Amid thy fairy land. + +The Angels' song comes down at times, + And flows into his song, +Like the triumphal, silver chimes, + That steal the heavens along. + + + + +LILLY LANE. + + +Come to my calling, + Lilly Lane, +Like music falling, + Come again. + +The earth is dreary, + Sorrow's reign, +My thoughts are weary, + Come again. + +The flowers upspringing, + Bring me pain, +My thoughts are winging + To thee again. + +Come to my sorrow, + Come again, +Give night a morrow, + Yet again. + +Oh! birds are singing + Many a strain, +The woodlands ringing, + Come again. + +Yet I am weeping, + E'er with pain, +Grief's vigil keeping, + Come again. + +The dawn gleams brightly + O'er the plain, +The airs come lightly + O'er the main. + +They ne'er shall wake thee, + Lilly Lane, +All things forsake thee, + Lilly Lane. + +I'll not bereave thee + Lilly Lane! +I'll never leave thee, + Lilly Lane. + +On thy grave I'll mutter + "Lilly Lane!" +With a frantic, dove-like flutter, + "Lilly Lane!" + +Around thy tomb I'll hover, + Near the main, +Like a bleeding dying plover, + "Lilly Lane!" + + + + +A SONG OF THE OLDEN TIME. + + +To-day my gay and happy heart, + Was lost in pleasant dreaming; +And I had won a loving part + In all the by-gone's seeming. + +I saw that most renowned maid, + Before her father falling, +Those savage hearts, within the shade + Of antique trees, appalling. + +I saw the deep and gushing love, + That fearful moment started, +That murmur'd like a turtle dove, + To cheating hope departed. + +I saw the kind and gentle deeds, + That gemm'd her after being +That little camp, from sorest needs, + And frequent slaughter, freeing. + +I thought that she was kindly sent, + In gracious God's foreknowing, +To save from fatal detriment, + This infant nation growing. + +I saw the savage maiden's form + With Culture's graces, glowing; +In virgin beauty, bright and warm, + Like vernal roses blowing. + +I saw her sweetly, deeply smile + On Rolfe beside her sitting, +As o'er the neighboring stream the while + The shades of eve were flitting. + +I saw her wed in love beneath + The forest's lofty awning; +While white and dusk maids bring a wreath, + Like night commixt with morning. + +I saw the strange and novel fame, + She left to song and story, +Which down the future's track of flame, + Beams forth with deathless glory. + + + + +FAREWELL TO ALBEMARLE. + + +Farewell, ye verdant hills and vales, + Farewell thou rolling river, +Whose waves flow onward to the sea, + Returning, never, never. + +From all thy scenes, I might have gone, + I might in joy have parted, +But since my love remaineth here, + I wander broken-hearted. + +I go from one with whom to part, + Is grief that can't be spoken, +From whom to rend my faithful heart, + That heart, even now, is broken. + + + + +SHE WOULD HAVE IT SO. + + +I loved her; and beneath the moon, +We met among the flowers of June; +I gave her my all, my love's rich boon, +I loved her, but we parted soon, + She would have it so. + +I loved her; through my span of life, +She might have been my cherished wife; +And I had striven, with ceaseless strife, +To make her days with pleasures rife; + She would not have it so. + +I loved her; for she bent on me +A smile and look of sorcery; +Until my heart could not be free; +Alas! that such deceit should be;-- + But she would have it so. + +I loved her; and my heart was broke, +Beneath the heavy, crushing stroke; +As 'neath the lightning dies the oak +When she in scorn and anger spoke; + She would have it so! + + + + +TO FANNIE. + + +Fair maid, in those beloved eyes, + The dream of pensive beauty lies, +The radiance when the day grows less, + The charm of twilight loveliness. + +Those eyes are mirror of thy soul; + As in the waves that deeply roll, +The sun and moon and stars are seen, + Reflected with undimmed sheen. + +Thus in the depths of those fair eyes, + I see the brightness of the skies, +I would my image there might shine + In orbs so blessed and divine. + + + + +ON HEARING THAT MY LOVE WAS ANGRY. + + +Sweet love! and wast thou angry then, + And did a lovely frown, +O'ershade that brow of whitest pearl, + That cheek of softest down? + +Nay, be not so; thou can'st not be, + Less lovely to my sight; +Though darkness shade the cliff and vale, + Yet starry is the night! + + + + +TO A POET. + + +O poet, would'st thou make a name + That ne'er will die, +But be coeval with the lights + In yonder sky? + +Strike not a single, trembling chord, + In the heart-lyre; +But wake the full and sweet accord + Of every wire. + +Of joy, of grief, of hopeless love + And pining care, +Of terror, pain, and deep remorse, + And wild despair. + +Of Hope, of Faith, of Piety: + Each fibre move; +But yet the sweetest note shall be + The note of Love. + +Strike! poet! strike each quiv'ring chord, + In that strange lyre, +Then, men thy golden songs will hoard, + Till time expire. + + + + +THE CHILD'S PRAYER. + + +O Lord, I kneel at mother's knee, +And lift my trembling heart to thee. +Send down thy grace, I meekly pray, +To drive my evil thoughts away: +Alas! even now I feel my heart, +From God is learning to depart. + +But Thou, even now, canst change my heart, +For very good, O God, thou art; +And thou can'st give me ample grace, +To run aright my earthly race; +Nor wander whither I must die, +Far from the comfort of Thine eye. + +Yes Lord! I beg thy Heavenly love, +To fit me for a home above; +That I may sing the anthems sweet +Where pardon'd children all shall meet; +And that on earth my walk may be, +O God, forever nigh to Thee. + + + + +CRITICUS. + + +The Southern Muse--so long with drooping wing,-- +The Southern Muse, alas! too sad to sing-- +Her fair head drooped and dim her mournful eye, +While pitying breezes sighed in sorrow by,-- +At last--at last--a wondrous friend has found, +Whose power shall make her through all time renowned: +Oh! now to her what magic shall belong, +To charm the nations with a peerless song! + +Hail Criticus! thou marvel of the age! +Oh! thou wilt fire her with a noble rage! +Oh! thou her song wilt kindly patronize, +And make her honored in the nation's eyes. + +Oh! glorious vision which transports my soul, +While thoughts of triumph through my bosom roll; +The Goddess comes, she brightly smiles once more, +Nor sadly sighs, as long she sighed of yore; +Her breath the fragrance of the Southern grove, +Her voice the voice of victory and of love;-- +Approaching proudly now, with sweetest strain, +Greets Criticus, her godsire--but in vain. + +How modest! Criticus! thou wilt not wear +A single honor--nobler is thy care-- +Thou wilt not, merely, reign the Muse's sire; +But thou wilt sometimes woo her willing lyre! + +Earth! hear that song! The strains that softly sweep +From mermaid's shell, across the moonlit deep-- +The tones of visions which have only dwelt +In that deep bosom which has wildly felt-- +Those notes like far off music from the plain, +Where grief nor hate can e'er be known again-- +That haunt the spirit 'midst this lower sphere, +And wake the dreamer's ever faithful tear-- +How die away in saddest silence all +Those strains, O Criticus! when thou dost--"squall!" + +Sagacious Criticus! no witling's wit, +Compares with thine, or durst compare with it. + +How could Parnassus rise in days of yore, +Ere thou had'st taught the clumsy rocks to soar? +How could the muses in their ambient bower, +In loftiest lays, anticipate thy power! +How could the sparkling Helicon flow free, +How durst it ripple, and not wait for thee? +No business had the Stagyrite to name +The rules of verse; old Homer was to blame, +For laying out too soon the Iliad's plan; +Homer was nothing but a "blind, old man!" +Light, light that Ajax prayed for, now has come, +And poetasters hence may read their doom! + +O Grant us, sweetly, Grant, thy gentle roar, +And pigs shall squeal, and asses bray no more![F] + +Great Criticus! illustrious lord of song! +To thee a double wreath shall e'er belong: +The Critics' cypress and the Poet's bay +Shall twine in love to deck thy brow for aye; +For far o'er Dunciad's heroes shall thou reign, +And ne'er shalt lose that honored seat again. + +And still, while future ages roll along, +Our Southern minstrels to thy court shall throng; +There lowly fall, and humbly beg thee grant +The sweet reward of their melodious chant; +A verdant laurel for each beaming brow, +To bloom through ages, as it bloometh now-- +Or, if thou frown, receive thy chastening rod, +Thou, Bard's Maecenas, and thou Poet's god! + + +[Footnote F: 16 lines above were written by Prof. E. Longley.] + + + + +TO MARY. + + +Now lovely Vesper shows her lamp, + In yonder slowly darkening sky; +It is the hour, when musing here, + I heave for thee the bursting sigh. + +Thus, Mary, as yon mournful pall + Of darkness falls on all things round, +Ah! tell me shall the gloom of fate, + My cheerless pathway thus surround? + +But, as yon lamp--the lamp of love! + With brilliant smile, relieves the gloom, +Say, shall thy heavenly smile relieve + The darkness of my mortal doom? + +Alas! I do not know thy thoughts, + If thou wilt slay, or sweetly save; +Yet I shall love thee fondly still, + Until I rest within the grave. + + + + +SONG OF THE CONVERTED HEATHEN. + + +The sky to me did never speak, + The sea rolled ever dumb,-- +Of him beneath whose wondrous power, + Their mystic forms had come. + +The sacred light was curtained back + From my exploring eye, +And I seemed left to grope in night, + And there at last to die. + +When lo! upon a day there came + A Man, with placid brow, +Who rent the curtain--and the light + Is gushing on me now. + +The sky doth speak to me of God, + The deep and rolling sea +Is ever grandly singing, Lord, + To my bowed soul, of Thee. + +Oh! I can see around them now + A radiant light doth shine, +A light that mocks the pencil's pride, + A light that is divine. + + + + +SIN OF THE CHORAL SINGER. + + +Hark! the organ's solemn peal + Ascends the lofty fane, +To win the soul's repeal, + From everlasting pain: + +To waft the voice of praise + To Him who reigns above, +Which blends with burning lays + Of Seraph's holy love. + +Hark! the deep-toned, solemn peal! + Again it strikes the air! +My trembling accents steal + To join the anthem there. + +I strive to lift my mind + To God's most holy throne; +And, with my thought refined, + To think on Heaven alone. + +But earth-born love intrudes + And brings me back to earth; +To dreamy solitudes + My spirit wanders forth: + +To walk with one, a youth, + With bright and sunny hair, +Whose words are only truth, + Whose love is heavenly fair. + +God! forgive my grievous sin! + God! forgive my erring love! +Write not my sentence in + Thine awful scroll above! + +God! forgive thy creature's love, + Who only loves too well! +Let not that virtue prove + My doleful doom to hell. + +But make my passion less-- + Its burning purify; +And make it meet to bless + My spirit in the sky. + + + + +A PORTRAIT. + + + In those mild eyes, there is a light +Which dwells not with the evil; and +A calm repose upon thy features, which +Says thou art innocent. Around thee gleaming +There is a robe of more than loveliness, +Of form, and face, and hair: it is the charm +Of most majestic Goodness; which exalts +An earth-born frame into an angel's stature. +Oh! if this world had many like thyself, +It were a heaven for blessed ones to dwell in. + + + + +HALLOWED GROUND. + + +What bids the soul of man to gaze, + Upon a spot of earth, +As a sun of focal rays? + The spell of human worth! + +The spot where human virtue stood, + And struck for holy truth, +Still stirs the world's ecstatic blood, + A thing of mighty youth! + +When can the name of Marathon, + Fall powerless, on the soul; +Whilst thoughts of right, or injury, done, + Along its fibres, roll? + +Can Waterloo grow trite by time, + Or Yorktown fail to fire, +Man's breast, with hatred most sublime, + To wrong, till time expire? + +What hallows thus the hills of Greece, + And flings that light o'er Rome, +Which when her very fragments cease, + Still crowns her history's dome? + +'Tis truth's great warfare bravely fought, + That hallows in the core, +A mount--a plain--a barren spot-- + With fame which dies no more. + +And when can earth forget to glow, + Beside each glorious shrine? +Not till yon stars shall dart below, + And sun shall cease to shine. + + + + +TO SPRING. + + +Hail, beauteous maiden, gentle spring! + I see thee slowly move, +On lowering wings, on yon green hill + From yon blue fields above. + +Hail, beauteous Spring! my bosom swells + With joy to feel thee near, +Thy joyful advent now dispels + The winter, dark and drear. + +Hail, beauteous Spring, the meads are green, + The lordly elms rejoice; +Yon river flashes in the light, + The springs send up a voice. + +The blue-bird sings thy welcome sweet + From yonder blooming tree, +The redbreast pours his simple note, + A tribute glad, to thee. + +The cuckoo comes to join thy train, + With his melodious lay, +Until his song, a rapture! runs + O'er all thy pleasant way. + +Hail, heavenly Spring! a thousand throats, + Re-echo with thy praise; +Thou bring'st the time of flowers and light + Of bright and cloudless days. + +Hail, beauteous earth! thou art the type + Returning with each year, +To tell us of another land + Whose sky is always clear. + +All hail, bright spring, celestial maid! + Who fill'st my singing heart; +But never tongue or lyre shall speak + The Transport which thou art! + + + + +ON HEARING THAT MY LOVE WAS PROUD. + + +And art thou proud, my darling love? + Thus should it ever be; +For beauty hath, the clearest right, + Of sovereign majesty. + +Oh! art thou proud, my darling love! + Then not to do thee wrong, +Thou e'er shalt reign the sole, bright queen, + Within my heart and song. + + + + +TO LIZZIE. + + +Oh, Lizzie, when I read your card, + Which you had printed in the paper, +Wherein you said your case was hard, + My fancy cut a glorious caper. + +I said, that is a prudent fair + Who has the true idea of living, +And would not on the "desert air," + Her fragrance still be giving. + +So I at once resolved to try + So conquer all my vacillation, +And fix my wand'ring heart and eye + On only you, in all creation. + +I know that I had often sigh'd + To other ladies quite as pretty, +But then it could not be denied, + To let you pass, would be a pity. + +With real pain and much ado, + I cut the other chords that bound me, +And said the ties proposed by you, + Should now be tightly drawn around me. + +Farewell, I said, to blooming Nell, + Who is too long my passion trying, +For here is one, whose stanzas tell, + Like me, for marriage she is dying. + +I am a student small and neat, + Not twenty-five, and somewhat dashing, +With active limbs and beard complete, + And wear a vest that's slightly flashing. + +My brow is broad, my eye is black, + And quickly changes with my feeling, +And to your own, it flashes back, + The thought their glance was just revealing. + +Some gentle blood runs through my veins, + And I suppose you truly know it, +And then, to crown my boastful strains, + The world has sworn I am a poet. + +I'd like to wed and with you dwell, + Within some happy rural valley, +Where zephyrs round the lily's bell, + In summer sigh, and faint, and dally. + +Now Lizzie! I have written back, + In answer to your publication; +So let us promptly tread the track, + Before the first of next vacation. + +I'll get the license; get your dress, + And flowers to make a bride's adorning; +Then let us to the chapel press, + With bridal friends, at early morning. + +We shall be happy. So will, too, + Both clerk, and priest, and mantua-maker; +My tailor--ah! a fellow true, + Will say "I'm proud to see you take her." + +And then must come the honey moon, + Ah me! that sets me deeply sighing, +You leaning on my heart, whose tune, + To yours is still in love replying. + + + + +MONTICELLO. + + +'Tis true that when the god-like die, + Their glorious monument +Are earth's great mountains and the sky, + Their names with all things blent-- +But, then, some storied heap should show +The grave of worth entombed below. + +'Tis true, the pilgrim wandering slow, + O'er sad Achaia's plain, +Will feel his bosom warmly glow, + And memory fire his brain-- +Achilles' strength--and Homer's song +Across his breast will roll along. + +But, had the Grecian chisel wrought, + No pile above their graves, +Say, could ye point out, save in thought, + Their own, from tombs of slaves? +A crumbling column, only shows +Where Greece's mighty dead repose. + +But tombs of men, more wise, more free, + Amid a brighter day, +Are like the mounds ye scarcely see, + And note not by the way. +No Mausoleums climb the skies, +To tell where greater Glory lies. + + + + +YOU TOLD ME THAT YOU LOVED ME. + + +When summer's rosy twilight fell, +Upon yon river's gentle swell, +Leading the spirit by its song, +As through the land it sweeps along; + +We watched the stars, those worlds of love, +That swim yon azure seas above-- +We heard each other's heart-pulse beat, +In unison divinely sweet. + +Your virgin hand was laid in mine, +I gazed into your spirit's shrine: +We lost the sense of stars and earth, +And of the dancing waters' mirth: + +We only saw each other then; +We look'd as if no more again, +And our tumultuous hearts should die, +In that wild dream of ecstasy. + +I clasped you to my bosom there, +I played with your dishevell'd hair; +And then the thoughts which long had slept +Within us, waken'd; and we wept. + +We wept to think of what had past-- +The doubt--the trial--joy at last-- +We wept to think of mournful fears-- +We wept to hail the future years. + +I ceased to shed such happy tears, +I whisper'd comfort in your ears, +I press'd you closer to my heart, +Till mine no more could throb apart. + +But then we smiled, we laughed to feel +The heaven which deep love can reveal; +We laughed that Love had ever bound, +His golden bands our souls around! + +Do you not know the boundless bliss +Which follows true love's lightning kiss; +For, in that hour with heaven above, +Your cheeks, your mouth received my love. + +And when that deep, blest trance was o'er, +And we could clasp and kiss no more; +Love's dear confessions had been made, +And we no more could be afraid; + +When Angels' pens had writ the vow +Which nothing can dissever now; +Our hearts return'd to Nature's face, +To planets, and the waters' race. + +All, all was calm; all, all was bright; +The moon was climbing to yon height, +Of Heaven's blue cone, rough round with stars, +With Venus--but no angry Mars. + + + + +THE SONG OF THE SLAIN AT THE BATTLE OF TICONDEROGA. + + +Farewell to the land which we sought o'er the wave; +We made it our home; it will now be our grave: +Farewell, ye proud mountains, and valleys uneven, +And thou, bright shining Glory, now setting in heaven. + +Farewell to our hearthstones, our cherished ones there, +Our wives and our children, now reft of our care: +Farewell, everloved of our souls--nevermore, +Shall we look on your faces--our lifetime is o'er. + +We march to the field--'twill be red with our blood, +Which shall make of its soil there a horrible mud; +Where our bones by wild beasts on the desolate plain, +Shall be torn, and be whiten'd by tempest and rain. + +We march to the field--and our comrades in war, +Shall shout to the heavens their triumph afar-- +And Victory shall perch on our banners on high +And Tyrants fore'er from our country shall fly; + +Yet never shall we view that glorious sight-- +We sink, with yon sun, in the deathgloom of night; +Farewell to our homes and our country for aye, +We go to our graves, with the setting of day. + +Farewell, yes, farewell, Earth, Heavens and all +Which here in the last hour of life we recall: +Farewell! we are doomed to the night of the grave,-- +But our mem'ry shall live with the names of the brave. + + + + +TO MY COPY OF SHAKSPEARE WHICH HAD BEEN LOST. + + +Hast thou come back, my Shakspeare! bard, + Who didst dethrone and drive away those others, +From cold Parnassus, fate that seem'd too hard, + To be inflicted on thy gentle brothers. + +Thou didst spare one, left him enthroned fast, + The blind old man of Scio, hoary Homer, +So that of all the harpers first and last, + To call him king, is not a base misnomer. + +There on those far and ever whiten'd rocks, + You two sit monarchs of a rich dominion; +But I forgot dark Milton's sacred locks, + Serenely resting from his seraph pinion! + +Hast thou come back, great bard, to charm and bless + My heart with many a grand, illusive vision, +And show those gorgeous fields of happiness, + With vistas and with rivers all Elysian? + +Stay now with me; no more through all the years, + Wilt thou and I, O glorious friend! be parted; +Or, if e'er so, my overflowing tears, + Will prove that I am grieved, or broken-hearted. + +Yes stay, and I shall haste to thy converse, + With full delight, at rosiate morn, calm even, +And I shall dream of rich and golden verse + From angel lyres within the bowers of Heaven. + + + + +I LOVE THEE. + + +I love thee--oh! I love thee, + With fervor, deep and wild, +Thy beauty's charm most strangely, + My spirit hath beguiled. + +I love thee--oh! I love thee, + The Spring's first, freshest flower, +Comes not across my spirit, + With such a holy power. + +I love thee--oh! I love thee, + The fibres of my heart +Are closely twined about thee, + As if by magic art. + +I see thee--oh! I see thee, + In the sunbeam, in the bud, +In all that's fair in nature, + In all that's bright and good. + +I hear thee--oh! I hear thee, + In the melting music-words, +That swell, at joyous morning, + From the woodland choir of birds. + +I crave thee--oh! I crave thee, + Thou angel sent from God! +To beautify the pathway, + Which must by me be trod. + +I love thee--oh! I love thee! + And, dearest, I implore, +That bliss may still await thee, + On Heaven's far brighter shore. + + + + +ON ----. + + +A brainless beauty, a would-be coquette, +A brow of marble, but a heart of jet; +An eye that shows no vestige of the deep +And stained thoughts that in her bosom sleep: +By day a vestal, but by night a bawd; +Her ways a riddle, her whole life a fraud; +At church an angel, but at home a shrew, +Cheating her mother, to her sire untrue; +Vain without talent, without merit proud; +By all who see her, still a fool allow'd; +Without all love, with but the show of truth, +She stares and simpers at the scornful youth; +Or ambling loosely on the village street, +While strangers sneer upon the fool they meet: +She lives and moves the true epitome +And climax of all d----mn'd Hypocrisy. +Here I enshrine her, where all time shall see +Her name preserv'd in deathless infamy. + + + + +SERENADE. + + +Far o'er the landscape green, + The moonlight like a lake, +Lies; 'tis a lovely scene, + To bid my lady wake; + My lady, lady, wake, + Wake, oh! wake! + +The night is rich with smells, + Like thoughts from heart of love, +Wafted from flower bells, + On unseen wings above; + My lady, lady, wake, + Wake, oh! wake! + +The Nightingale, a wo! + Within the grove complains!-- +The stars are coming low + To hear her killing strains! + My lady, lady, wake, + Wake, oh! wake! + +O see! my lady, far + Beyond yon western steeps, +The moon, with one white star, + In paly parting, weeps: + My lady, lady, wake, + Wake, oh! wake! + +Before the envious day, + Shall gaze upon thy charms; +Come, lady, come away, + And rest lock'd in these arms! + My lady, lady, wake, + Wake, oh! wake! + +Oh lady, see! the moon + Her silver chariot stops, +(A list'ning to my tune,) + On yonder green oak-tops! + My lady, lady, wake, + Wake, oh! wake! + +My song can make her pause, + But wake and doff that frown, +Nor man's, nor God's great laws, + Forbid thee to look down: + My lady, lady, wake, + Wake, oh! wake. + + + + +THE OLD MILL WHEEL. + + +The old mill-wheel, it turns, it turns + Throughout the livelong day, +And flings the current of the stream, + Abroad in glist'ning spray: +That old, black wheel has turn'd for years, + Beside the mossy mill, +That stands, like some old, sacred thing, + Beneath the clay-red hill. + +The old mill-wheel, it turns, it turns + Like time's unresting one, +Which day and night, and night and day, + Hath never ceased to run: +The old mill-wheel, an emblem true, + Of Time that ne'er stands still, +I love to see it turning so, + Beside the mossy mill. + +The old mill-wheel, it turns, it turns, + As in my childhood's hour;-- +As when I bathed beneath its rim, + In its refreshing shower: +But they who were my comrades then, + Are sleeping on the hill, +And now, to them, forever now, + The old Mill-wheel stands still. + + + + +SERENADE. + + +How sombre is the gloom! + I see no beam of star, +Gleam o'er the garden's bloom, + Or silent wood afar; +So dark the thoughts which shroud + His soul who sings to thee; +Oh lady, cold and proud; + Who scorn'st to think on me; + Lady, lady, wake! + List oh! list. + +The firefly lights the night, + A moment and then dies; +The lilacs pine for light, + With sweet and odorous sighs: +So Hope's deceitful beam, + Illumines my despair, +While I still sigh and dream, + With many a sobbing prayer, + Lady, lady, list! + List and smile! + +Lo! now the clouds break off, + And heaven once more is free; +The mounts their garments doff, + The mists rise from the sea; +From yonder casement high + She looks, she looks, oh see! +She bends on me her eye + Of heavenly brilliancy: + Lady, lady, dear; + Lady dear! + + + + +VIRGINIA HOME OF HONOR. + + +Oh, home of honor, native land, + When roaming o'er the sea, +The eye still turns, the heart still yearns, + O dearest home, for thee. +When ranged around the social board, + We bid our sorrows flee, +We own a pride that we are sons, + O dearest home, of thee. + +If earth retains one single draught + Of pure and tranquil joy, +Within whose sweet and sparkling wave, + Is mixt no sad alloy; +'Tis here we taste it while we sit, + Beneath our natal tree, +'Tis here it glads our heart of hearts, + O dearest home, with thee. + +When we are cast on foreign shores, + Beyond the dark-blue sea, +Sad memory oft returns to weep, + O dearest home, with thee, +And when the knell of death shall come, + And set our spirits free, +Our hearts shall find their sweetest rest, + O dearest home, with thee. + + + + +HYMN TO THE FATHER. + + +Heavenly father, God of mercy, + Look upon a sinful soul; +For, the waves of sad contrition, + Now above me darkly roll. +Ah! my crimes are dark and grievous, + The huge burthen hard to bear; +All the day and night I'm sighing + Whelm'd in grief and dark despair. + +Ah! how deeply I have fallen + From my high and happy state, +Where, enrob'd in thy dear image, + Once, in tranquil peace, I sate. +Black with sores, a loathsome leper, + Lo! I wait before Thy throne; +Cans't thou, Maker, wilt thou heal me, + Make me whole and all thine own? + +Oh! Thy grace is freely gushing, + Boundless is Thy wondrous Love; +And for all Thy erring children, + Lord, Thy tender bowels move. +Hail! Supreme, Exhaustless Mercy, + Christ hath freed my soul from sin; +And a holy calm comes o'er me, + And a heavenly peace within. + + + + +O BIRDIE! SPEAK TO ME. + + +O Birdie! speak to me, + Speak from thy silent grave; +It doth not roll o'er thee, + Death's dark and Stygian wave! +Sweet! speak, I'm sick, to hear + The heaven of thy voice, +Which wont, while life was dear, + To thrill me and rejoice. + +Speak, Birdie! speak to me! + Speak from the flowers which bloom, +Beneath the cedar tree + That hides thy dearest tomb! +Speak, angel! speak to me; + I know thou art not dead, +That the dear soul in thee + But, bird-like, upward sped! + +Yes! Birdie! speak to me, + Maid most bright, most dear; +Ask, if I'm true to thee, + Ask if my grief's sincere? +Ask if the warm tears roll + From my devoted heart? +O Birdie! then my soul + In peace shall hence depart. + + + + +TO ONE. + + +I love thee, and my trembling lyre + Will learn no other strain; +I marvel if thy gentle heart + Will ever cease disdain; +I marvel if our future lives, + Will mingle into one, +And glitter like a happy stream, + In an unclouded sun. + +I see that mid a wooing throng, + Thou art a central star, +And vying youths, with noble pride, + Have brought their gifts from far: +I only think the smiles thou giv'st, + So freely unto them, +If given to me, would bless me more, + Than thrones or diadem. + +I love thee, and this throbbing heart, + From thrall no longer free, +Must heave in joy, or ache with wo, + Till Death's dark hour, for thee. +I feel that I must know thy love, + Or all of life will be +One long, deep wail, one throb of pain, + One speechless agony. + + + + +THE WANDERER. + + +With none to share my ship with me, +A wand'rer o'er life's stormy sea, +One brilliant star, like lamp of love, +Smiles calmly from its throne above. +Oh! brightly o'er the surging wave, +That lustre shines to bless and save; +And on through billows thund'ring roll, +Conducts me to my heavenly goal. + +That star by gracious Love was placed, +To look, in beauty uneffaced, +Over the wildest wrath of storms, +And scatter round its glittering charms: +It is Religion, and its ray +Is fed by angel hands alway: +It beams with beauty so divine, +The wand'rer smiles to see it shine. + +Hail, one bright star on all life's main; +Though surf roll high, and cordage strain; +And cowards, ship! may quake for thee; +Thou walk'st victorious o'er the sea. +Oh! proudly, as an ocean-queen, +Thy frame, majestic still is seen-- +Until thou rest in heaven at last, +Thy sailing done, thy anchor cast. + + + + +TO BETTIE. + + +Why, beauteous Bettie, longer shed + Pearly showers of causeless grief, +Why bend down that lovely head, + Like the autumn's rain-wash'd leaf? + +Though in weeping, sad distress, + Thy dear charms have lovelier grown, +As drench'd Nature o'er her dress, + Wears the rainbow's splendid zone. + +Yet why shed those beaded pearls + From those eyes of softest blue, +And why loose those auburn curls + O'er that sweet neck's damask hue? + +Every liquid, falling gem, + Flashing like the diamond's ray, +In an eastern diadem, + Let me kiss them all away. + +Then, from out this stormy gloom, + Thy dear smile shall brightly steal; +O'er my heart's enliven'd bloom, + O'er the joy thy thoughts reveal. + +Why, beauteous Bettie! longer shed, + Showers of pearls so bright to see? +Bid dark doubt be quickly sped, + I am faithful still to thee. + + + + +BABY SONG. + + +Rock'd on Mamma's heaving breast, + Heaving like the pearly deep, +Hugg'd to that sweet, honey rest, + Sleep, little baby, sleep, + Baby sleep. + +White like the new moon's falling beams, + O'er the wooded, westward steeps, +Falls the white throng of her dreams, + While my baby sleeps, + Oh, she sleeps. + +Closed her soft and sparkling eyes, + Oped her mouth like a tulip's cup, +In a starry trance she lies, + Like a bud at night shut up; + Baby sleeps. + +Around her scarcely parted lips, + Now a smile--a laughter!--creeps, +Losing all their sad eclipse-- + Angels near! while baby sleeps + Deeply sleeps. + +Rock'd upon dear Mamma's breast, + Heaving like the wild sea deeps, +Joy hath brought Mamma sweet rest, + While our baby sleeps, + Softly sleeps. + + + + +MY OLD VIRGINIA HOME. + + +Around my old Virginia home, + My heart forever clings; +Whene'er I hear its name pronounced, + I think a thousand things. +I think how once a little band, + Came to these forest lands; +And struggling long, built this fair home, + And left it to our hands. + +I think how our forefathers fought, + To keep it free from chains, +How they rejoic'd at vict'ry won, + With loud, triumphal strains. +My cherish'd old Virginia home, + Tears, tears come to my eyes, +When thinking on thee, loveliest land, + Beneath the boundless skies! + + + + +TAKE THOSE PLEDGES BACK. + + +Take back those pledges, dearest maid, + Which once I warmly gave, +For then I dreamed I would be free, + And nevermore thy slave. +Yes! take them back once more, for love + Hath made me only thine; +And I should give these gems away, + Whose heart's no longer mine. + +'Tis said the heart can often love, + But that can never be; +Though I have bow'd at other shrines, + I never loved but thee. +I feel that thou art dearer far + Than aught this world can give, +And come what may, come grief or joy, + For only thee I live. + +Yes! take those pledges back, dear maid, + And let them fondly speak, +The deathless flame that will not fail, + In spring, or winter bleak: +For they have told an honest tale, + That I shall change no more, +Till I shall clasp thy form again + On Heaven's eternal shore. + + + + +SONG.--UNDYING AFFECTION. + + +I loved thee in my happy youth, + When I was free from guile, +And I have kept that early truth, + And wear as fond a smile: +I've look'd to thee, through every storm + That lower'd upon my way, +Thou say'st my fair and fairy form + Hath made thy rainbow's ray. + +I loved thee in that early time, + Life's best and brightest years; +I gave thee in thy manhood's prime, + My changing smiles and tears: +And now when evening shades come o'er + The length'ning path of life, +And we must think of love no more, + I am thy faithful wife. + + + + +FREEDOM'S HOME. + + +O freedom's home! thy banner streams, + A meteor on the gale; +And I behold the haughty flags + Of Europe fade and pale. +And, crowding on the surging sea, + They cleave the billows bright; +They come to rest beneath its folds, + Attracted by its light. + +O freedom's home! forevermore + We'll join our hearts and hands, +To make thee bright with peaceful wealth, + The gem of richest strands: +But, if a tyrant e'er should threat, + This Eden of the free, +Dear home of freedom, we will bleed, + And yield our life for thee. + + + + +NATIVE MOUNTAINS. + + +Native Mountains! on your summits, + Stream the gleaming floods of day, +While a thousand silver cascades, + Leap within the early ray; +There amid your flowery valleys, + Stands the cot of her I love; +Clamb'ring o'er your rocky summits, + I behold it from above. + +Native Mountains! how my bosom + Swells with happiness and pride, +When I gaze upon ye soaring + O'er your vales so green and wide. +All my wishes, all my pleasures, + Still are closely, sweetly bound, +To ye, lofty native Mountains, + With your valleys blooming round. + + + + +THE TRAIN IS COMING. + + +The train is coming, coming, + It whistles, don't you hear? +I saw the smoking engine, + And soon they will be here. +The train is coming, coming, + It is already here, +I think that handsome Willie, + I'm sure, he'll soon appear. + +I've waited long to see him, + And thought the train was slow; +But now I see it stopping, + And Willie's come, I know. +I got, on Sunday morning, + The sweetest billet-doux, +It had a white envelope, + And his initials, too. + +I read it, then I started, + To hear the sermon through, +But I could not hear the sermon, + For all that I could do. +For it said that he was coming, + Without mistake to-day, +That he was growing weary + Of things and folks away. + +But list! the bell is ringing, + And here is Willie's card; +I'll meet him in the parlor, + For I am quite prepar'd, +To answer any questions + That Willie now may ask, +And then to serve and love him, + Will be my daily task. + + + + +LINES. + + +Far hath lovely Fanny flown, + O'er the mountains, o'er the sea; +All our peace with her hath gone, + We are wed to misery. + +As the rainbow fades away, + As the short-lived spring departs, +Shone she brightly o'er our way, + Fled from our repining hearts. + +Yet the rainbow will return, + And the Spring will come once more; +But the fair whose flight we mourn, + Walks on Death's Elysian shore. + + + + +LOVE SONG. + + +My heart is newly gushing, + With love for thee, with love for thee, +With thoughts as wild and wasteful, + As yonder sea, as yonder sea. + +Oh yes! my soul is wretched + With longing pain, with longing pain, +It gives a ceaseless moaning, + Like yonder main, like yonder main. + +Thy strange and matchless beauty, + Is like the sea, is like the sea; +Thy face in love or anger, + Is sweet to me, is sweet to me. + +Thy maiden soul is precious + As yonder deep, as yonder deep, +Within its glassy clearness, + Bright jewels sleep, bright jewels sleep. + +Thy sinless mind resembles + Yon deep, blue sea, yon deep, blue sea; +The glorious things of heaven + Are seen in thee, are seen in thee. + +Oh main! as some poor sailor + Is lost in thee, is lost in thee, +My soul is lost in sighing, + No hope for me, no hope for me. + + + + +PARTING SONG. + + +We meet with smiles, we part in tears; + This is our earthly lot, +We cannot find a place on earth, + Where friends have parted not. +And oh! it is the saddest thought, + That we no more may meet, +That we may see their face no more, + Whose friendship was so sweet. + +We meet with smiles, we part in tears, + But Mem'ry long will bring, +Their image in our waking thoughts, + A blest and sacred thing: +And we shall pause amid the crowds, + Where we are strangers now; +And deeply think of what has been, + Till grief will shade our brow. + +Till grief will shade our aching brow, + And tears will freely flow, +Till we shall weep, as we have wept, + O'er friends now sleeping low; +For, who may tell, if e'er again, + Those friends shall meet our gaze; +Who've wander'd forth from all our love, + Where Death's dark angel strays? + + + + +THE SONG OF MAY. + + +To mountains hoar and russet plain, +A joyous sprite, I come again; +With many a sweet and joyous strain, +And break grim winter's icy chain. + +From yon blue chambers far above, +On brilliant wings, I lightly move; +I come, and lead the cooing dove, +And all the choir that fill the grove. + +To leafy wild, and city's hum, +The queen of joy, I come, I come; +The little rills no more are dumb; +But hail me, as I come, I come. + +With breath that glads both land and main, +I come again, I come again! +On hillside, bank, and level plain, +The flowers appear, in beauteous train. + +To blooming land and azure main, +Each year I duly come again; +A stranger from yon heavenly plain +Of light and bliss; as poets feign. + + + + +TO MY LYRE. + + +O harp, with whom my childhood played, + Within that verdant dell, +O'erbower'd by boughs of grateful shade, + I go--Farewell! farewell! + +If I have durst to raise thy tone + To sing a theme too high, +Thou, thou must bear the sin alone, + O harp, not I, not I. + +For, thou had'st witch'd me with a love + Where reason had no part; +I felt that thou would'st e'en approve, + And fondly heard my heart. + +The song hath ended. Silence falls + Round the enchanted dell; +Awhile I heed no more thy calls, + Sweet harp! farewell! farewell! + + + + +YOU ASK WHY I AM LONELY NOW. + + +You ask why I am lonely now, + In all this brilliant scene, +And why I look on beauty's charms, + With cold, unalter'd mien. + +You say that, many a loving heart, + Would joy to be my own, +That none of all the human race, + Should ever live alone. + +I'll tell you why I'm lonely now, + If grief will let me speak, +And why I glance on woman's charms + With cold, unalter'd cheek. + +'Twas in my boyhood's happy days, + I loved a blue-eyed maid; +The light of heaven o'er that young cheek, + In changeful feeling stray'd! + +I loved her with a love as true, + As ever dwelt on earth; +Oh sure my worship was too deep, + Even at that shrine of worth. + +She loved me not, that knowledge fell, + Upon me like a blight; +Ah me! I am too fondly weak? + Is this a teardrop bright? + +You asked why I am lonely now, + And I the tale have told: +And I shall yet be lonely, till + The grave my heart shall hold. + + + + +OLD HOMESTEAD. + + +Old homestead! old homestead! what feelings arise! +As now the old homestead greets kindly our eyes; +Old homestead, where oft we were merry or sad; +Each day as it fled, still some witchery had. + +The homestead! how dear is its old, friendly look, +Its dun rolling hills, and its slow running brook; +Its time-worn, old gables, and cornice so plain, +Its roof that grew mossy from shadow and rain. + +Old homestead! some dwelt with us, loved with us here; +Some smiled at our smile, and they wept at our tear: +Of those some have gone to a far distant land; +And some--where yon cedars like pale mourners stand. + +Oh! memories most thrilling, most holy, most dear, +Still cluster around thee, old homestead, fore'er; +Thou hast a deep magic that never can die, +'Till 'neath the green valley, we endlessly lie. + + + + +LOVE SONG. + + +I love thee, oh! I love thee, + As the sweet bee loves the flower, +As the swallow loves the summer, + As the humming bird the bower; +As the petrel loves the ocean, + As the nightingale the night; +I love, I love thee, dearest! + Thou being good and bright. + +I love thee, oh! I love thee, + There's nothing on this earth, +Can feel a deeper fondness, + A flame of purer worth; +The eagle loves its offspring, + Most faithful is the dove; +But thou! thy smallest ringlet, + Has more from me than love. + + + + +SUSIE. + + +A gentle maid, a dove-like soul, + An eye that knows no ill; +I met her from her rural walk, + Upon yon grassy hill. + +Her apron filled with early flowers, + And some were lightly bound +Into a wreath that sweetly lay + Her snowy temples round. + +And as I met her on that hill, + At twilight's magic hour, +My spirit felt her loveliness + And own'd her magic power. + +And since our meeting on that hill, + I still have fondly thought, +Of what a store of pleasant dreams, + That eve to me hath brought. + + + + +LINES ON PARTING WITH ----. + + +Since Fate's tyrannical decree, +Sweet friend, dissevers you and me, +Now memory shall vanquish fate, +And yield the bliss we knew so late. + +Yes, she a mournful devotee, +From scenes of busy strife shall flee; +To kneel beneath that cherish'd shrine, +Whose every offering is thine. + +Oh! sometimes in the lonely hour, +My heart shall own a deeper power, +And tears shall tell, upon my cheek, +The grief that words could never speak. + + + + +BLUE-EYED ELLA. + + +Oh blue-eyed Ella's face is fair, +And beautiful her braided hair, +As fair the feelings that do speak +Upon her pure and placid cheek. + +Oh! blue-eyed Ella's heart is kind +With warm desires by Heav'n refin'd; +Amid this world of crime and ill, +She walks serene and sinless still. + +Oh! blue-eyed Ella! keep for me, +A thought from scorn and coldness free; +I fain would ask, I fain would find +A memory in so blest a mind. + + + + +ACROSTIC. + + +Far hath beauteous Fanny flown, + And sad Nature's drooping eye, +Now declares her pleasure gone, + Newly weeping from the sky. +Yet, when she shall seek again, + Mildest maid! these haunts she loved, +In that hour, will Nature's pain, + (Caus'd by her) be all remov'd. +Here sad Nature shall regain + Increase of the joy she proved, +Ere you fled the flowery plain. + + + + +TO THE MUSE. L'ENVOI. + + +Dear maid, with whom I, happy, wander'd back, + To roam o'er that now sacred, hallow'd ground, +Where Smith who trod old ocean's stormy track, + The noble state of chivalry did found. + +Delightful hours thou mad'st them all, when I + Went musing there with thee, my spirit guide, +I saw the chieftain with his eagle eye, + And all his val'rous comrades, by his side. + +I saw the doubtful scene; the hard assay, + The daring crown'd with victory at last; +I saw the ancient forest fall away, + I saw the little empire spreading fast. + +And, on through other realms in charmed life, + I follow'd, by thy silver accents led, +So sweet, the summer air with bliss seem'd rife, + And harping angels hover'd o'er my head. + +But yet--farewell! with sadden'd, sinking heart, + I turn from all the joys I late have known, +Where from the rushing crowd I oft shall start, + To find myself dejected and alone. + +Yet, sometimes thou return, and with those eyes + Bright as an angel's, look on me again, +So I shall feel the wonted raptures rise, + And I shall lose the deaden'd sense of pain! + + + + + + +J.W. 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