Poems by George P. Morris :: :: University of Virginia Library

Poems by George P. Morris

with a memoir of the author

Morris, George Pope (1802-1864)

[section]

[dedication]

THE DESERTED BRIDE.

THE MAIN-TRUCK; OR, A LEAP FOR LIFE.

POETRY.

THE CROTON ODE.

FRAGMENT OF AN INDIAN POEM.

LAND-HO!

WOODMAN, SPARE THAT TREE!

THE COTTAGER'S WELCOME.

THE LAND OF WASHINGTON.

THE FLAG OF OUR UNION.

LINES

THE DREAM OF LOVE.

I'M WITH YOU ONCE AGAIN.

OH, WOULD THAT SHE WERE HERE!

THE SWORD AND THE STAFF

THE CHIEFTAIN'S DAUGHTER.

THY WILL BE DONE.

LIFE IN THE WEST.

SONG OF MARION'S MEN.

JANET McREA.

LISETTE.

MY MOTHER'S BIBLE.

“THE DOG-STAR RAGES.”

A LEGEND OF THE MOHAWK.

THE BALL-ROOM BELLE.

WE WERE BOYS TOGETHER.

A HERO OF THE REVOLUTION.

RHYME AND REASON.

STARLIGHT RECOLLECTIONS.

WEARIES MY LOVE?

FARE THEE WELL, LOVE.

THOU HAST WOVEN THE SPELL.

BESSY BELL.

THE DAY IS NOW DAWNING.

LOOK FROM THY LATTICE, LOVE.

THE EXILE TO HIS SISTER.

NEAR THE LAKE.

THE PASTOR'S DAUGHTER.

MY BARK IS OUT UPON THE SEA.

WILL NOBODY MARRY ME?

THE BEAM OF DEVOTION.

THE WELCOME AND FAREWELL.

'TIS NOW THE PROMISED HOUR.

SONG OF THE TROUBADOUR.

CHAMPIONS OF LIBERTY.

THE HUNTER'S CAROL.

WASHINGTON'S MONUMENT.

THE ROCK OF THE PILGRIMS.

YEARS AGO.

THE SOLDIER'S WELCOME HOME.

THE ORIGIN OF YANKEE DOODLE.

WHAT CAN IT MEAN?

TO MY ABSENT DAUGHTER.

SONG OF THE SEWING-MACHINE.

MY LADY WAITS FOR ME.

MUSIC.

THE MILLIONAIRE.

IN MEMORY OF CHARLES H. SANDFORD.

SEVENTY-SIX.

A PARODY.

THE STAG-HUNT.

DELIVER US FROM EVIL.

UNION.

WE PART FOR EVER.

COME TO ME IN CHERRY-TIME.

ON THE DEATH OF MRS. JESSIE WILLIS.

THANK GOD FOR PLEASANT WEATHER.

IN MEMORY OF JOHN W. FRANCIS, JR.

ON READING GRIM'S ATTACK UPON CLINTON.

ON HEARING THAT MORSE DID NOT “INVENT” THE TELEGRAPH

ADDRESS

The Maid of Saxony; or, Who's the Traitor?

[Ho! Hans!—Why, Hans!—You Hans, I say]

[Rejoice! rejoice! we're safe and sound]

[The life for me is a soldier's life ]

[Confusion!—Again rejected ]

[When I behold that lowering brow]

['T is a soldier's rigid duty]

[The spring-time of love is both happy and gay ]

[From my fate there's no retreating— ]

[Lads and lasses, trip away]

[All hail the king!—Long live the king]

[Home, home, home—]

[Sky, stream, moorland, and mountain ]

[Dared these lips my sad story impart]

[Fiery Mars, thy votary hear ]

[Ah! Love is not a garden-flower ]

[The King, the princes of the court ]

[Victoria! victoria ]

[This gloomy cell is my abode at last ]

[Hark! 'tis the deep-toned midnight bell ]

[Once, mild and gentle was my heart ]

[The gentle bird on yonder spray ]

[That law's the perfection of reason ]

[With mercy let justice]

[What outrage more, at whose command ]

[The javelin from an unseen hand ]

[Rejoice! our loyal hearts we bring]

[Our hearts are bounding with delight ]

Collapse All | Expand All expand section

197

WHAT CAN IT MEAN?

(WRITTEN FOR MISS POOLE, AND SUNG BY HER IN THE CHARACTER OF COWSLIP.)

I'm much too young to marry,
For I am only seventeen;
Why think I, then, of Harry?
What can it mean—what can it mean?

Wherever Harry meets me,
Beside the brook or on the green,
How tenderly he greets me!
What can it mean—what can it mean?

Whene'er my name he utters,
A blush upon my cheek is seen!—
His voice my bosom flutters!—
What can it mean—what can it mean?

If he but mentions Cupid,
Or, smiling, calls me “fairy queen,”
I sigh, and look so stupid!—
What can it mean—what can it mean?

198

Oh, mercy! what can ail me?
I'm growing wan and very lean;
My spirits often fail me!
What can it mean—what can it mean?

I'm NOT IN LOVE!—No!—Smother
Such a thought at seventeen!
I'll go and ask my mother—
“What can it mean—what can it mean!”