Madmoments: or First Verseattempts By a Bornnatural. Addressed to the Lightheaded of Society at Large, by Henry Ellison |
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| II. |
 | Madmoments: or First Verseattempts |  |
HOPE.
1.
That which we hope, we have already: far,Far loveher than if e'en now our own:
'Tis twofold beautiful, for it is shown
Like to an unreal Thing, or as a Star,
On Life's far off Horizon, whose Beams are
Sent thus into our Souls, ere it sinks down,
And the Spot where it stood remains unknown,
When we draw near to grasp it and to mar!
And yet 'tis real, more real than if it were
Already in Possession: thus thro' Hope
Do we enlarge a thousandfold Joy's Scope,
For all the Meanwhile by that Vision fair,
Like to a Glory on our Path, still there,
Are we attended, and by it we ope
2.
The Treasurechamber of the Joys which lieIn the far Years, and tho' they be but as
Shadows softgliding o'er the Magicglass
Held by the Future up to Fancy's Eye,
Yet they to us are pure Reality,
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Away and are forgotten: when I was
A Boy, I do remember well how I
By mere Intensity of hoping made
My Fancies to come true: the Passingday
Was but a friendly Steppingstone, by Aid
Of which I speeded surer on my Way
Over Time's Torrent, which between me lay
And the dear Object after which I prayed.
3.
Thus what we hope we have: at least all Bliss,(Nay more,) that it can yield is ours, and this,
Methinks, is the best Part of it: what more
Could the Thing itself bring? besides, before
Possession it has something vague and vast,
And exists unto Fancy, but when past,
It becomes a mere Fact, and Fancy is
Compelled to fold her Wings: it is then to
Mere Sense reduced: and tho' more real and true
In one Way, for the Hand grasps and the Eye
Beholds it, yet it is too palpably
Possessed, and thus the Soul its Part doth miss,
The best, methinks, the Sense of its Infinity!
| Madmoments: or First Verseattempts | |