 | The select poems of Dr. Thomas Dunn English (exclusive of the "Battle lyrics") |  |
THE IDYL OF THE PEACH.
The golden Melacatoon is here;
Its downy cheek has a ruddy flush,
And brings to mind my buried dear,
With gipsy skin and sunset blush,
The depths of her lustrous, liquid eyes
Filled to the brim with shy surprise,
When, standing there the leaves among,
I whispered love with faltering tongue,
And earnest strove the maid to woo
In the orchard where the peach-trees grew.
Its downy cheek has a ruddy flush,
And brings to mind my buried dear,
With gipsy skin and sunset blush,
The depths of her lustrous, liquid eyes
Filled to the brim with shy surprise,
291
I whispered love with faltering tongue,
And earnest strove the maid to woo
In the orchard where the peach-trees grew.
And I was young, and she was young,
And I was fond, and she was fair;
The sunlight fondly stooped and flung
A flood of glory on her there;
Sweeter than woodland minstrelsy
The tremulous tone of her voice to me,
As, drooping on my fluttering breast,
Her love she timidly confessed.
And earth seemed past and heaven in view
In the orchard where the peach-trees grew.
And I was fond, and she was fair;
The sunlight fondly stooped and flung
A flood of glory on her there;
Sweeter than woodland minstrelsy
The tremulous tone of her voice to me,
As, drooping on my fluttering breast,
Her love she timidly confessed.
And earth seemed past and heaven in view
In the orchard where the peach-trees grew.
Beneath us there the meadows spread;
Beyond the woodland waved its boughs;
Some bird passed singing overhead,
Tuning its wild notes to our vows;
But charms that nature there displayed
Drew no regard from youth and maid;
Such rapture had the moment brought,
All things around to them were naught;
Each all-in-all to each, the two,
In the orchard where the peach-trees grew.
Beyond the woodland waved its boughs;
Some bird passed singing overhead,
Tuning its wild notes to our vows;
But charms that nature there displayed
Drew no regard from youth and maid;
Such rapture had the moment brought,
All things around to them were naught;
Each all-in-all to each, the two,
In the orchard where the peach-trees grew.
And there we planned our future life,
When I should win a name and fold,
And back return to claim a wife
From her grim father, stern and old,
And she, till toil should conquer fate,
Would at the hearth-stone patient wait.
And so, with many a vow of truth,
Parted that day the maid and youth;
And never met again those two
In the orchard where the peach-trees grew.
When I should win a name and fold,
And back return to claim a wife
From her grim father, stern and old,
And she, till toil should conquer fate,
Would at the hearth-stone patient wait.
And so, with many a vow of truth,
Parted that day the maid and youth;
292
In the orchard where the peach-trees grew.
I won the name I strove to win,
I gained me wealth with toil, and then
I left behind the city's din
And sought the scenes of youth again.
Naught stood around that I had known;
I found the air and sky alone.
Gone was the meadow, gone the wood;
A mansion where the farmhouse stood;
And they had built a village new
In the orchard where the peach-trees grew.
I gained me wealth with toil, and then
I left behind the city's din
And sought the scenes of youth again.
Naught stood around that I had known;
I found the air and sky alone.
Gone was the meadow, gone the wood;
A mansion where the farmhouse stood;
And they had built a village new
In the orchard where the peach-trees grew.
They show me her neglected tomb—
A grave in the valley brier-grown,
A hollow where the bluets bloom,
Some remnants of a shattered stone,
Whereon the comer scarcely reads
A name among the moss and weeds;
That only brings the past to me,
And with the eyes of my heart I see
A loving pair unseen by you
In the orchard where the peach-trees grew.
A grave in the valley brier-grown,
A hollow where the bluets bloom,
Some remnants of a shattered stone,
Whereon the comer scarcely reads
A name among the moss and weeds;
That only brings the past to me,
And with the eyes of my heart I see
A loving pair unseen by you
In the orchard where the peach-trees grew.
Here in this Melacatoon you see
Only a luscious peach—no more;
It has a talisman's power for me
The early rapture to restore.
Returns with this the love that lies
Within my darling's dove-like eyes;
Her timid fingers touch my own;
Fills ear and soul that silvern tone;
She meets me, loving, fond, and true,
In the orchard where the peaches grew.
Only a luscious peach—no more;
It has a talisman's power for me
The early rapture to restore.
Returns with this the love that lies
Within my darling's dove-like eyes;
Her timid fingers touch my own;
Fills ear and soul that silvern tone;
She meets me, loving, fond, and true,
In the orchard where the peaches grew.
| The select poems of Dr. Thomas Dunn English (exclusive of the "Battle lyrics") | |