Madmoments: or First Verseattempts By a Bornnatural. Addressed to the Lightheaded of Society at Large, by Henry Ellison |
 | I. |
| II. |
 | Madmoments: or First Verseattempts |  |
SORROW.
Oh Sorrow, holy Sorrow, thou hast shownMe thy whole Face, and lifted quite thy Veil,
And tho' thy Features may be somewhat pale,
Yet Beauty like to thine I ne'er have known!
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From thy veiled Presence, but now thy least Tale
Or passing Sound of Voice can never fail
To stay my Steps and tune them to thine own!
The noblest Things are deepest— not upon
The surface found, but like the Pearl, below,
And oft uncouth in semblance; they alone
Whom thou hast sobered but not saddened, know
That e'en to thy pale Forehead may be own
Such Smiles as o'erflushed Joy could never show!
Nor are thy Tears all bitter ones: oh no!
But these alone are left thee to express,
Yet how imperfectly, thy Consciousness
Of the Unspeakable, which in thy woe
Revealed itself first to thee, still and deep,
Like to some solemn Vision in sweet Sleep:
An opening up into Eternity
When hoped for least, a full Glance from the Eye
Of God himself, a Recognition clear,
When like to Moses in the fiery Bush
He stood revealed in all his Majesty,
For purified by Grief, thou thyself wert
No longer earthly: the diviner Part
Had triomphed, and in that thy God drew near,
The primal Likeness stamped within thine Heart
In its old Glory did again appear;
But of the Godlike which filled thee, a Tear
Of Wonder only to thine Eye could start!
The Noblest, Godliest, we cant express
But only be: its sublime Consciousness
Imprints itself on all we think and do,
Its only Utterance a whole Life thro'!
Like the Earth's Centrewarmth it works unseen,
Save in the countless Blessings which have been
Caused by it, in the Flowers and Fruits with which
It makes her else bare Surface so, so rich!
| Madmoments: or First Verseattempts | |