 | The New Brunswick Poems of Jonathan Odell |  |
5
THE VACANT HOUSE
Whence this emotion? Why, on entering here,
Do I recoil, as with a sudden fear?
In silence as I pass, from room to room,
Why am I conscious of this pensive gloom?
Say, gentle Spirit of the ethereal race,
Thou tutelary Genius of the place,
Sole inmate now, though present yet unseen,
Am I infested with prophetic Spleen?
Or can it be thy warning Voice I hear,
Whispering alarm to Fancy's jealous ear?
It seems, by turns, to rise and die away,
And this burden of the mystic Lay—
“Shall they return, whose absence we bewail?
“Fond hope!—or must our vows and wishes fail?
Do I recoil, as with a sudden fear?
In silence as I pass, from room to room,
Why am I conscious of this pensive gloom?
Say, gentle Spirit of the ethereal race,
Thou tutelary Genius of the place,
Sole inmate now, though present yet unseen,
Am I infested with prophetic Spleen?
Or can it be thy warning Voice I hear,
Whispering alarm to Fancy's jealous ear?
It seems, by turns, to rise and die away,
And this burden of the mystic Lay—
“Shall they return, whose absence we bewail?
“Fond hope!—or must our vows and wishes fail?
Thus restless Mortals covet to descry
Tomorrow's destiny, for every eye
Wisely conceal'd. Ah, rather thank High Heaven
For blindness to the future kindly given!
Tomorrow's destiny, for every eye
Wisely conceal'd. Ah, rather thank High Heaven
For blindness to the future kindly given!
In youth, enamour'd of the Muse, I paid
My ardent vows in her sequester'd Shade;
Nor did She with disdain repay my Suit,
Or to my Search refuse her treasur'd fruit.
The charms of Science and the liberal Arts
For softer charms prepare ingenuous hearts.
Now smiling Love “his golden Shafts employed,”
And all was joy, unbounded, unalloy'd.
My ardent vows in her sequester'd Shade;
Nor did She with disdain repay my Suit,
Or to my Search refuse her treasur'd fruit.
The charms of Science and the liberal Arts
For softer charms prepare ingenuous hearts.
Now smiling Love “his golden Shafts employed,”
And all was joy, unbounded, unalloy'd.
Suspecting no reverse, I thus had seen
Five Summers pass, unclouded and serene;
When o'er the blackening Sky a Storm arose,
Which soon destroyed my Mansion of repose,
And fierce Rebellion drove me from the Shore,
Which I was destin'd to behold no more.
From Anna far, and from her Infant train,
Nine years exil'd, my heart endur'd the pain
Of hope deferr'd; a hope in vain renew'd;
By zeal supported, but by this Fate subdued!
Then, in a Carleton's kind protecting care,
I found, at last, a refuge from despair.
O England! why recall him from the field,
Just when Rebellion was prepared to yield?
But History, to a more impartial Age,
Must yet refer this dark discolour'd page.
He took me from the Wreck, dispell'd my fear,
And plac'd me in a safe Asylum here.
Here, with the remnant of a loyal Band,
Under a Second Carleton's mild command,
My alienated native Land forgot,
I have till now enjoyed a happy lot.
And if my Bark, by some unlook'ed-for blast,
Must yet again upon the Rocks be cast,
Let me at least avoid one shallow Reef,
The unhallowed bitterness of hopeless grief.
Five Summers pass, unclouded and serene;
When o'er the blackening Sky a Storm arose,
Which soon destroyed my Mansion of repose,
6
Which I was destin'd to behold no more.
From Anna far, and from her Infant train,
Nine years exil'd, my heart endur'd the pain
Of hope deferr'd; a hope in vain renew'd;
By zeal supported, but by this Fate subdued!
Then, in a Carleton's kind protecting care,
I found, at last, a refuge from despair.
O England! why recall him from the field,
Just when Rebellion was prepared to yield?
But History, to a more impartial Age,
Must yet refer this dark discolour'd page.
He took me from the Wreck, dispell'd my fear,
And plac'd me in a safe Asylum here.
Here, with the remnant of a loyal Band,
Under a Second Carleton's mild command,
My alienated native Land forgot,
I have till now enjoyed a happy lot.
And if my Bark, by some unlook'ed-for blast,
Must yet again upon the Rocks be cast,
Let me at least avoid one shallow Reef,
The unhallowed bitterness of hopeless grief.
But as the destin'd hour must now be near,
When I shall enter on a new career,
To you, my only Patrons upon earth,
Brothers no less in virtue than by birth,
To you I turn, and, with a heart impress'd
With memory of the past, I yet request
Your generous aid; complete what you've begun;
Extend your kind protection to my Son!
When I shall enter on a new career,
To you, my only Patrons upon earth,
Brothers no less in virtue than by birth,
To you I turn, and, with a heart impress'd
With memory of the past, I yet request
Your generous aid; complete what you've begun;
Extend your kind protection to my Son!
1804
| The New Brunswick Poems of Jonathan Odell | |