 | The Poetical Works of Reginald Heber |  |
398
THE WELL OF OBLIVION.
SUGGESTED BY A STANZA IN THE ORLANDO INNAMORATO OF BOIARDO.
There is, they say, a secret well,
In Ardennes' forest grey,
Whose waters boast a numbing spell,
That memory must obey.
In Ardennes' forest grey,
Whose waters boast a numbing spell,
That memory must obey.
Who tastes the rill so cool and calm
In passion's wild distress,
Their breasts imbibe the sullen balm
Of deep forgetfulness.
In passion's wild distress,
Their breasts imbibe the sullen balm
Of deep forgetfulness.
And many a maid has sought the grove,
And bow'd beside the wave;
But few have borne to lose the love
That wore them to the grave.
And bow'd beside the wave;
But few have borne to lose the love
That wore them to the grave.
No! by these tears, whose ceaseless smart
My reason chides in vain;
By all the secret of a heart
That never told its pain;
My reason chides in vain;
By all the secret of a heart
That never told its pain;
399
By all the walks that once were dear,
Beneath the green-wood bough;
By all the songs that sooth'd his ear
Who will not listen now;
Beneath the green-wood bough;
By all the songs that sooth'd his ear
Who will not listen now;
By every dream of hope gone by
That haunts my slumber yet,—
A love-sick heart may long to die,
But never to forget!
That haunts my slumber yet,—
A love-sick heart may long to die,
But never to forget!
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