 | Abaddon, the spirit of destruction ; and other poems |  |
79
MEMORY'S REVEALINGS.
O'er life's brief, fitful day,
Through the deep cypress vista of the Past,
Linger and watch, like pilgrims on their way
O'er Afric's voiceless waste.
Through the deep cypress vista of the Past,
Linger and watch, like pilgrims on their way
O'er Afric's voiceless waste.
What meets thee there, pale child?
The glimmering ghosts of being's happier years?
What hear'st thou? Sighs along the whispering wild,
Too full of woe for tears.
The glimmering ghosts of being's happier years?
What hear'st thou? Sighs along the whispering wild,
Too full of woe for tears.
Gone to the realm of Mind,
To the dim dwellings of the seraphs gone,
The hearts that breathed their music on the wind—
And I am left alone.
To the dim dwellings of the seraphs gone,
The hearts that breathed their music on the wind—
And I am left alone.
Alone 'mid Life's wild stir,
Where toil o'erwears and thought corrodes the frame,
And great Ambition bears the felon's slur.
While Glory's but a name!
Where toil o'erwears and thought corrodes the frame,
And great Ambition bears the felon's slur.
While Glory's but a name!
80
Grief and despair attend
My wayward wanderings o'er the shadowy heath,
Yet, many an image of a long loved friend
Floats o'er the land of death.
My wayward wanderings o'er the shadowy heath,
Yet, many an image of a long loved friend
Floats o'er the land of death.
O'er the quick spirit's eye,
Like gleams through white clouds of Night's diamond star,
Time's hallowed memories, from their haunts on high,
Thrill me like things that are.
Like gleams through white clouds of Night's diamond star,
Time's hallowed memories, from their haunts on high,
Thrill me like things that are.
Oft to the echo of my song
The earliest touches of my lyre have wailed
O'er him who perished ere I cursed men's wrong,
O'er her who never quailed.
The earliest touches of my lyre have wailed
O'er him who perished ere I cursed men's wrong,
O'er her who never quailed.
Yet there were more—proud boys,
Whose minds just budded when the stem decayed;
Whose bright eyes gleamed with all earth's earliest joys—
And mirrored worlds they made.
Whose minds just budded when the stem decayed;
Whose bright eyes gleamed with all earth's earliest joys—
And mirrored worlds they made.
And others, to whose spell
All spirits bowed in rapture and in bliss,
Whose smile like incense on the bosom fell—
Doomed to the earth-worm's kiss!
All spirits bowed in rapture and in bliss,
Whose smile like incense on the bosom fell—
Doomed to the earth-worm's kiss!
Electric Memory springs
To one whom years of early love endeared.
We parted; Death closed round him his dark wings,
He died—but never feared.
To one whom years of early love endeared.
We parted; Death closed round him his dark wings,
He died—but never feared.
81
Descend, pale visions! come
Round my dark spirit on your angel pinions,
And waft my prayers to heaven's ethereal home
Of Princedoms and Dominions!
Round my dark spirit on your angel pinions,
And waft my prayers to heaven's ethereal home
Of Princedoms and Dominions!
Glide, like June's twilight hues,
O'er the green mountain and its vale of flowers,
Round my lone path, and o'er its thorns diffuse
Odours of lovelier hours.
O'er the green mountain and its vale of flowers,
Round my lone path, and o'er its thorns diffuse
Odours of lovelier hours.
So my rough road shall lead,
Temptation foiled and persecution scorned,
Where youth no more shall struggle, toil and bleed,
But Virtue reign adorned.
Temptation foiled and persecution scorned,
Where youth no more shall struggle, toil and bleed,
But Virtue reign adorned.
So trial shall achieve
Its best reward, the conscious pride of Truth,
And Love no more o'er baffled transports grieve,
In blest eternal youth.
Its best reward, the conscious pride of Truth,
And Love no more o'er baffled transports grieve,
In blest eternal youth.
| Abaddon, the spirit of destruction ; and other poems | |