Madmoments: or First Verseattempts By a Bornnatural. Addressed to the Lightheaded of Society at Large, by Henry Ellison |
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SUNSETSCENE. |
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 | Madmoments: or First Verseattempts |  |
SUNSETSCENE.
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And deem'st thou us, oh God, fit to look onThis glorious Vision, worthy of the Eyes
Of Angels? yes, for surely Paradise
Could show naught fairer— lo! the Settingsun
'Mid Clouds is sinking, and the Peak of one
Vast towering Mass is burning with rich Dies,
Like fiery Crater, and o'er all the Skies
Its Glow is sent, while ever and anon
The Cloudlets floating o'er it melt away
In Gold and Purpledrops— And now 'tis gray,
Like an extinct Volcano! silent fade
The Fragments of the Pageant to the Lay
Of Eveningbirds, as if their Music swayed
Its Motions, and interpreted by Aid
Of Sound the Eye's still Harmony — lo! Day
Dies out— the glowing Ashes in Nightsshade
With Dews are quenched, and all this rich Parade
Dissolves in Air, like some vain Dream, for aye!
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And yet but one brief Moment past' twas thereIn all its Loveliness, as tho' the Sky
Would have preserved it ever, and the Eye
Halfdoubting seeks the Place, yet vainly, where
The Vision stood: alas! it was too fair
To last, too fair for Man's dim Eyes, and by
Creative Nature shown thus momently:
Ethereal Landscape! too divine to bear
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Or Angel's Footing, but not this dull weight
Of earthly cares, which bows each mortal Head!
Yet let us gaze, as if Time out of Date
It had been, and would still be for us spread:
Fill thy Heart with its Blessedness, instead
Of mourning the brief Lease allowed by Fate
To human Bliss, thus will thy Soul create
From perishable Shapes of Joys soon dead
That which abides— call up the Spirit of
Past Bliss, freed from all Earthliness, above
The reach of Change, a perfect Angel led
By Faith and Fancy for the Form that's fled!
| Madmoments: or First Verseattempts | |