 | The Poetical Works of Caroline Bowles Southey |  |
Beauteous that bright May morning—all about,
Sweet influences of earth, and air, and sky,
Harmoniously accordant. I alone—
The troubled spirit that had driven me forth—
In dissonance with that fair frame of things,
So blissfully serene. God had not yet
Let fall the weight of chastening, that makes dumb
The murmuring lip and stills the rebel heart,
Ending all earthly interests; and I called,
O heaven! that incomplete experience—Grief.
It would not do. The momentary sense
Of soft refreshing coolness passed away,
Back came the troublous thoughts, and all in vain
I strove with the tormentors: all in vain
Applied me with forced interest to peruse
Fair Nature's outspread volume: all in vain
Looked up admiring at the dappled clouds
And depths cerulean. Even as I gazed,
The film, the earthly film, obscured my vision,
And in a lower region, sore perplexed,
Again I wandered, and again shook off,
With vext impatience, the besetting cares,
And set me straight to gather, as I walked,
A field-flower nosegay. Plentiful the choice;
And in few moments, of all hues I held
A glowing handful. In few moments more
Where were they? Dropping as I went along
Unheeded on my path; and I was gone—
Wandering far off, in maze of thought perplext.
Sweet influences of earth, and air, and sky,
Harmoniously accordant. I alone—
The troubled spirit that had driven me forth—
In dissonance with that fair frame of things,
So blissfully serene. God had not yet
Let fall the weight of chastening, that makes dumb
The murmuring lip and stills the rebel heart,
Ending all earthly interests; and I called,
O heaven! that incomplete experience—Grief.
It would not do. The momentary sense
Of soft refreshing coolness passed away,
Back came the troublous thoughts, and all in vain
I strove with the tormentors: all in vain
Applied me with forced interest to peruse
Fair Nature's outspread volume: all in vain
Looked up admiring at the dappled clouds
And depths cerulean. Even as I gazed,
The film, the earthly film, obscured my vision,
And in a lower region, sore perplexed,
Again I wandered, and again shook off,
With vext impatience, the besetting cares,
And set me straight to gather, as I walked,
A field-flower nosegay. Plentiful the choice;
175
A glowing handful. In few moments more
Where were they? Dropping as I went along
Unheeded on my path; and I was gone—
Wandering far off, in maze of thought perplext.
| The Poetical Works of Caroline Bowles Southey | |