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Poems

By Alfred Domett
  
  

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[This brave bright Earth with Mind o'erflows—]
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


195

[This brave bright Earth with Mind o'erflows—]

“But it was all a mystery.”
Don Juan.

This brave bright Earth with Mind o'erflows—
With secret Soul o'erfraught;
In every form a Feeling glows,
In every tone, a Thought!
And yet o'er all there seems to reign,
A mystery I can ne'er explain!
I feel the joy of frolic rills,
Elate in forest brown;
The proud reserve of beetling hills,
Their calm majestic frown;
The dark defiance—sullen—high—
Of clouds that walk the stormy sky!
The sweet repose the solemn caves
Of azure heaven possess;
The dim might of careering waves,—
The Ocean's restlessness!
The sad despondence of a day
Oppressed with mists of mournful gray!

196

The deep intelligence of Stars
I mark with mute delight;
No want of kindred feeling mars
My glory in the Night!
The Moon's meek thoughts I cannot shun,
Nor miss the rapture of the Sun!
The joy of trembling grass I know,
The wild soul of the breeze;
The languor of each leaning bough,
The quiet of the trees;
The revelry of hissing showers,
And all the moods of thoughtful Flowers.
Yes !—I can feel the Soul, the Mind,
That breathes through Nature's face—
To its expressions am not blind,
Her mighty feelings trace—
And yet o'er all there seem to reign
Deep mysteries I can ne'er explain!
June 3rd, 1832.