 | Spindrift |  |
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TO STELLA.
I
Nay, Lady! vainly shall we seekOblivion of those blissful hours,
When, heart to heart and cheek to cheek,
In the old forest's haunted bowers,
In love's Elysian dream we lay
Through many a golden summer day,
Pillowed on moss, and screened by downward-trailing flowers.
II
As well might yonder queenly roseForget the sunlight whence she drew
Her perfume, and the blush that glows
In ever-deepening splendour through
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The clusters of his mother-vine,
And the warm southern moons that watched them where they grew.
III
Yes—all too beautiful they were;And well for us they ne'er had been!
But evermore our hearts must bear
Their impress; henceforth every scene
Of life's stern tragedy confess
Some touch of their young tenderness:
Some trace of that lost Fairy-land where thou wert queen:
IV
Fair phantoms of youth's lost delight,That o'er the joyless years must shed
A mournful glory—like the light
O'er Alpine steeps at evening spread,
Till each lone peak of desolate snow
Becomes a funeral-torch—a-glow
With memories of day—while day lies cold and dead!
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V
Then one more kiss, dear, ere we part—Not coldly, thus, on cheek and brow:
But on my thirsting lips and heart
Let the old passionate sweetness flow
Unstinted!—let me realise
Ere yet I flee, the sacrifice
By which my love redeems my friendship's sacred vow.
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