 | The Poetical Works of Aubrey De Vere |  |
TO A. S. O. B.
I never looked upon the face
Of her whom you deplore and love;
Yet bending o'er this portrait's grace
Some image lost I seem to trace,
Not lost, but stored above.
Of her whom you deplore and love;
Yet bending o'er this portrait's grace
Some image lost I seem to trace,
Not lost, but stored above.
I never saw those eyes whose beams
Made heaving hearts as calm and bright
As Hesper makes the ocean-streams:
O! if they shine upon your dreams
To you how dear must be the night!
Made heaving hearts as calm and bright
As Hesper makes the ocean-streams:
O! if they shine upon your dreams
To you how dear must be the night!
I never saw those lips whose breath
Was earth's best music once for you:
From the cold cells of dreary death
What message do they now bequeath?
A long and last ‘adieu.’
Was earth's best music once for you:
From the cold cells of dreary death
What message do they now bequeath?
A long and last ‘adieu.’
Your own are trembling: Prize, O prize
That farewell word, that holiest sound,
The pledge of undissevered ties;
Of mortal love in Paradise
With love immortal crowned.
That farewell word, that holiest sound,
The pledge of undissevered ties;
Of mortal love in Paradise
With love immortal crowned.
210
And though your cheek with tears be wet
Forbear to murmur ‘Is this all?’
Love meets and mingles with Regret,
Like alienated brethren met
At the paternal funeral.
Forbear to murmur ‘Is this all?’
Love meets and mingles with Regret,
Like alienated brethren met
At the paternal funeral.
I bring your anguish no relief:
I scorn, like you, the opiate spell:
But barren woes, like joys, are brief;
If faithful you would make your grief,
Grieve calmly, and grieve well!
I scorn, like you, the opiate spell:
But barren woes, like joys, are brief;
If faithful you would make your grief,
Grieve calmly, and grieve well!
So shall wise suffering make you wise;
So, purged from passion's hectic glow,
Life's lasting shapes shall meet your eyes
Like nature's naked majesties
After a night of snow.
So, purged from passion's hectic glow,
Life's lasting shapes shall meet your eyes
Like nature's naked majesties
After a night of snow.
So shall repentance easier be,
And waking Conscience wake in light,
Past times roll back, from night set free,
And Life regain her unity,
And Death lose half his might.
And waking Conscience wake in light,
Past times roll back, from night set free,
And Life regain her unity,
And Death lose half his might.
I charge you by the smile that hung
Upon her eyes in their eclipse;
That to her deep, dark lashes clung,
And looked so sweet, and stayed so long,
And waned so slowly on her lips;
Upon her eyes in their eclipse;
That to her deep, dark lashes clung,
And looked so sweet, and stayed so long,
And waned so slowly on her lips;
To seek within the cloistered pale
Of Sorrow, a sequestered cell;
Nor ever stray beyond that vale
Which catches on the passing gale
Her low, sweet convent bell.
Of Sorrow, a sequestered cell;
Nor ever stray beyond that vale
Which catches on the passing gale
Her low, sweet convent bell.
211
And when you feel your spirit burn,
Or swell, within your aching breast,
Strain to your heart her votive urn:—
Speak nothing then—but gently turn
Your eyes unto the West,
Or swell, within your aching breast,
Strain to your heart her votive urn:—
Speak nothing then—but gently turn
Your eyes unto the West,
Until they meet that mystic line
Where Earth is lost in Heaven's blue gleam,
When earliest stars begin to shine,
And lessening lights of day decline
Along the lilied stream.
Where Earth is lost in Heaven's blue gleam,
When earliest stars begin to shine,
And lessening lights of day decline
Along the lilied stream.
| The Poetical Works of Aubrey De Vere | |