 | Sonnets and Miscellaneous Poems by the late Thomas Russell |  |
27
SONNET XXIII. Imitated from SONETO DE LUIZ DE CAMOENS.
Weep, Nymphs of Tagus, weep the hapless doom
Ordain'd by Fate, and Death's severe decree,
Severe to all, but most, alas! to me,
In Youth's gay pride, in Beauty's early bloom
To sink the lov'd Ophelia to the tomb.
Heavens! that such eyes, whose orbs so sweetly roll'd,
Such lips of rubies, and such locks of gold
So soon should moulder in eternal gloom!
Tremble ye lesser Stars! if nought could save
Charms, such as her's, from the foul shades of night,
How soon shall fade your glories in the grave!
Yet cease my Soul to grieve; her Heaven-born Sprite,
Too pure to linger in it's earthly cave,
Wing'd its free passage to the realms of light.
Ordain'd by Fate, and Death's severe decree,
Severe to all, but most, alas! to me,
In Youth's gay pride, in Beauty's early bloom
To sink the lov'd Ophelia to the tomb.
Heavens! that such eyes, whose orbs so sweetly roll'd,
Such lips of rubies, and such locks of gold
So soon should moulder in eternal gloom!
Tremble ye lesser Stars! if nought could save
Charms, such as her's, from the foul shades of night,
How soon shall fade your glories in the grave!
Yet cease my Soul to grieve; her Heaven-born Sprite,
Too pure to linger in it's earthly cave,
Wing'd its free passage to the realms of light.
| Sonnets and Miscellaneous Poems by the late Thomas Russell | |