 | The Uncollected Poems of Henry Timrod |  |
FORGIVE IT, LADY
Forgive it, Lady, tho' it stand alone,
A sober strain thy sober thought to' engage,
'Mid the gay tokens with which love hath strewn
Each verse-inscrib'd, or Fancy-pictur'd page.
A sober strain thy sober thought to' engage,
'Mid the gay tokens with which love hath strewn
Each verse-inscrib'd, or Fancy-pictur'd page.
Fear naught that would repress the warmth of youth,
Bedim one smile or check one rapturous tear,
Not the austerest worshipper of Truth
Could give to censure these memorials dear.
Bedim one smile or check one rapturous tear,
Not the austerest worshipper of Truth
Could give to censure these memorials dear.
An humble influence is theirs: They are
The sacred tributes of frail clay to clay,
I would as soon condemn the single star
Which cheers, but not illumes, the Wanderer's way.
The sacred tributes of frail clay to clay,
I would as soon condemn the single star
Which cheers, but not illumes, the Wanderer's way.
If I could thus disturb thy guiltless hours
Or crush one happy feeling in its birth,
How should I dare to love the fragrant flowers,
How gaze elately o'er the glad green Earth?
Or crush one happy feeling in its birth,
How should I dare to love the fragrant flowers,
How gaze elately o'er the glad green Earth?
28
Enjoy the passing bounties of the year,
Let Nature, for thy bliss, conjoin with Art,
I would not have thee miss one pleasure here
Which may be welcom'd by a kindly heart.
Let Nature, for thy bliss, conjoin with Art,
I would not have thee miss one pleasure here
Which may be welcom'd by a kindly heart.
Only, recalling evermore how few
The moments which to mortal joy are given,
Strive to unite the beautiful and true
And fix thy treasure and thy hopes in Heaven
The moments which to mortal joy are given,
Strive to unite the beautiful and true
And fix thy treasure and thy hopes in Heaven
| The Uncollected Poems of Henry Timrod | |