 | My Mind and its Thoughts, in Sketches, Fragments, and Essays |  |
67
STANZAS
TO MY LATE LOVELY AND BELOVED DAUGHTER CHARLOTTE, AT THE AGE OF FIFTEEN.
As round that pure unruffled stream,
Which loves the lonely vale to lave,
More rich the bordering flowrets seem,
Reflected by the lucid wave:
Which loves the lonely vale to lave,
More rich the bordering flowrets seem,
Reflected by the lucid wave:
So, in the charms which deck thy form,
The graces of thy soul we find;
That blush, from nature's pencil warm,
Is but the bounty of thy mind.
The graces of thy soul we find;
That blush, from nature's pencil warm,
Is but the bounty of thy mind.
68
That voice, which like the western breeze,
With balmy health and softness fraught,
Each animated sense to please,—
Was from thy heavenly temper caught.
With balmy health and softness fraught,
Each animated sense to please,—
Was from thy heavenly temper caught.
And though thy bosom's sacred throne,
The whiteness of the dove impart,
Even that the critic stern must own,
Is not more faultless than thine heart.
The whiteness of the dove impart,
Even that the critic stern must own,
Is not more faultless than thine heart.
The finished form—the speaking eyes,
To sense and diffidence are due,
While that their brilliant beam supplies,
From this the modest graces grew.
To sense and diffidence are due,
While that their brilliant beam supplies,
From this the modest graces grew.
No longer then the lover train,
Shall boast that blooming charms alone
Can with despotic empire reign,
And make the conquered soul their own:
Shall boast that blooming charms alone
Can with despotic empire reign,
And make the conquered soul their own:
But gazing on thy perfect face,
To all thy beauteous self resigned,
Shall in that faithful mirror trace
Each finer feature of thy mind.
To all thy beauteous self resigned,
Shall in that faithful mirror trace
Each finer feature of thy mind.
| My Mind and its Thoughts, in Sketches, Fragments, and Essays | |