 | The select poems of Dr. Thomas Dunn English (exclusive of the "Battle lyrics") |  |
AT THE RIVER.
All gloom intense; no struggling star is here
To pierce the darkness of the midnight sky;
The pitchy river, moving sluggish by,
Beats sullenly against the rotting pier—
All else is silent.
To pierce the darkness of the midnight sky;
The pitchy river, moving sluggish by,
Beats sullenly against the rotting pier—
All else is silent.
Like ghosts the tall masts of the mighty ships
Show their dim outline through the dark profound;
From yonder spars, with sails securely bound,
The heavy mist, in drops condensing, drips
Constant and noiseless.
Show their dim outline through the dark profound;
From yonder spars, with sails securely bound,
The heavy mist, in drops condensing, drips
Constant and noiseless.
The damp my frame infiltrates, flakes my hair,
Presses my garments to my shivering form—
This is some roofless dungeon, walled with storm,
With horror barred; the jailer is Despair;
I the sole captive.
Presses my garments to my shivering form—
This is some roofless dungeon, walled with storm,
With horror barred; the jailer is Despair;
I the sole captive.
376
Naught moves around me; I alone have life;
But that is merely passive like the rest.
'Tis well it should be thus for one unblest,
Sinning and sinned against; mother, not wife;
Homeless and friendless.
But that is merely passive like the rest.
'Tis well it should be thus for one unblest,
Sinning and sinned against; mother, not wife;
Homeless and friendless.
Twelve little months have passed; in those how much
Of frenzied joy and bitter woe have been—
Of abject misery which was born of sin,
Ah! the sad truth—who, Sodom-apples touch
In their dust stifles.
Of frenzied joy and bitter woe have been—
Of abject misery which was born of sin,
Ah! the sad truth—who, Sodom-apples touch
In their dust stifles.
Before me where methought I stood alone
A shadow darker than the darkness stands,
Above me lifting high its fleshless hands,
And ever echoes back my piteous moan,
Mocking my anguish.
A shadow darker than the darkness stands,
Above me lifting high its fleshless hands,
And ever echoes back my piteous moan,
Mocking my anguish.
Mock on, and take thy vengeance while thou canst;
I shall escape thee and thy wrath ere long;
But thou shalt not escape me and my wrong:
By my rash deed thy guilt is much enhanced
Rather than lessened.
I shall escape thee and thy wrath ere long;
But thou shalt not escape me and my wrong:
By my rash deed thy guilt is much enhanced
Rather than lessened.
For 'twas thy cold desertion nerved my hand
To right myself in sacrificing thee;
And through thy crime less guilt will cling to me
What time we twain unfleshed together stand
Waiting for judgment.
To right myself in sacrificing thee;
And through thy crime less guilt will cling to me
What time we twain unfleshed together stand
Waiting for judgment.
Left me for her! What was she more than I,
Who gave up all a maid may proudly claim,
Home, friends and honor, kinsfolk and good name,
At thy behest? 'Twas meet that thou shouldst die,
Being thus perjured.
Who gave up all a maid may proudly claim,
Home, friends and honor, kinsfolk and good name,
At thy behest? 'Twas meet that thou shouldst die,
Being thus perjured.
377
Had she then beauty? Didst thou not declare
The rose and lily were combined in me—
My eyes twin stars? How fairer could she be,
When I had been the fairest of all fair,
In thy rapt vision?
The rose and lily were combined in me—
My eyes twin stars? How fairer could she be,
When I had been the fairest of all fair,
In thy rapt vision?
Had she then wealth? That was the bait that took
Thee to thy ruin. Basely thou for gold
The heart that loved thee to this misery sold;
'Twas not the man I loved my dagger strook,
But one far baser.
Thee to thy ruin. Basely thou for gold
The heart that loved thee to this misery sold;
'Twas not the man I loved my dagger strook,
But one far baser.
Ah, me! And yet I loved thee as I slew;
I gazed on thee in love when thou wert dead;
I stooped and kissed thy cold lips ere I fled;
I had no power the cruel deed to do,
Save for my frenzy.
I gazed on thee in love when thou wert dead;
I stooped and kissed thy cold lips ere I fled;
I had no power the cruel deed to do,
Save for my frenzy.
They've found thy corpse ere now, bathed in thy gore;
Let that be hers—the soul within is gone.
Gone! Whither? Where my own will go ere dawn,
Long ere my body floating seeks the shore
Of the black water.
Let that be hers—the soul within is gone.
Gone! Whither? Where my own will go ere dawn,
Long ere my body floating seeks the shore
Of the black water.
Ha! voices! lights! What form the bloodhounds leads?
They'd hunt me down, urged by the raging wife.
She shall not triumph. What is left in life?
Forgive me, Father, for this worst of deeds—
Welcome me, river!
They'd hunt me down, urged by the raging wife.
She shall not triumph. What is left in life?
Forgive me, Father, for this worst of deeds—
Welcome me, river!
| The select poems of Dr. Thomas Dunn English (exclusive of the "Battle lyrics") | |