 | The collected poems of William Ellery Channing the younger, 1817-1901 |  |
986
JULIA
Julia—at her name my mind
Throws its griefs and cares behind:
She, the love of early years,
Smiling through her childish tears—
Julia! child of love and pain,
One I ne'er shall see again.
Throws its griefs and cares behind:
She, the love of early years,
Smiling through her childish tears—
Julia! child of love and pain,
One I ne'er shall see again.
And forgive me, Julia dear,
For the sins of that long year!
Think of me with kindly thought,
And condemn me not for naught.
For the sins of that long year!
Think of me with kindly thought,
And condemn me not for naught.
By thine eyes, so softly brown,
By the light and glistening crown
That so gently o'er thy head
Did its shining lustre shed;
By that sad yet loving mouth,
Rose of fragrance from the South;
By thy form, oh, lovelier far
Than a seraph's from a star;
By that ankle small and neat,
And thy little twinkling feet;—
I must still thy loss deplore,
Since the fatal hour sped o'er
When we parted, ne'er to meet,
On the silent noontide street.
By the light and glistening crown
That so gently o'er thy head
Did its shining lustre shed;
By that sad yet loving mouth,
Rose of fragrance from the South;
By thy form, oh, lovelier far
Than a seraph's from a star;
By that ankle small and neat,
And thy little twinkling feet;—
987
Since the fatal hour sped o'er
When we parted, ne'er to meet,
On the silent noontide street.
Should I live a thousand years,
I cannot forget thee,—never,—
Nor the hot and weary tears
That I shed, from thee to sever;
Never will thy truthful eyes
Leave me, in this world of lies.
I cannot forget thee,—never,—
Nor the hot and weary tears
That I shed, from thee to sever;
Never will thy truthful eyes
Leave me, in this world of lies.
Girl of love and graceful youth,
Girl all beauty, girl all truth!
Spirit clad in purer air
Than Time's hateful fashions wear!
Angel, shining through my dreams
When Youth, Hope, and Joy were themes!
Dead seems all Youth's memory,
Save one thought—the thought of thee.
Girl all beauty, girl all truth!
Spirit clad in purer air
Than Time's hateful fashions wear!
Angel, shining through my dreams
When Youth, Hope, and Joy were themes!
Dead seems all Youth's memory,
Save one thought—the thought of thee.
From the blossoms of the Spring
Beauty wreathed thee in her ring;
From the airs of dewy skies
Melted sadness in those eyes—
Speechless, soft and fearful glances,
Maidenhood's enamoured trances—
Faintly trembling, dimly felt,
With a name not aptly spelt.
Beauty wreathed thee in her ring;
From the airs of dewy skies
Melted sadness in those eyes—
Speechless, soft and fearful glances,
Maidenhood's enamoured trances—
Faintly trembling, dimly felt,
With a name not aptly spelt.
988
Now, the moods of passion over,
I am loved by none, nor lover;
'T was not thus when Julia's eye
To my own made sweet reply.
Orphan from her earliest years,
Cradled on a couch of tears,
Dark as Winter's dreariest night
Was her lot—yet she was light;
Never closed her feeling's spring,
Faithful life's best offering.
I am loved by none, nor lover;
'T was not thus when Julia's eye
To my own made sweet reply.
Orphan from her earliest years,
Cradled on a couch of tears,
Dark as Winter's dreariest night
Was her lot—yet she was light;
Never closed her feeling's spring,
Faithful life's best offering.
“Time shall never wile me more
On its dark, its frowning shore.”
So felt I for Julia's fate,
Like my own, most desolate;
Years of pain, those years all sorrow,
To-day wretched as to-morrow;
Never finished, never fast,
Falling slowly to the Past—
What a youth was this to me,
Born for love and sympathy!
On its dark, its frowning shore.”
So felt I for Julia's fate,
Like my own, most desolate;
Years of pain, those years all sorrow,
To-day wretched as to-morrow;
Never finished, never fast,
Falling slowly to the Past—
What a youth was this to me,
Born for love and sympathy!
There was sorrow in her air,
Sweetness married to despair,
In her mouth, that would have laughed
And Love's ruby vintage quaffed;
In her softly shaded cheek,
Where Love could his vengeance wreak;
Sweetness married to despair,
In her mouth, that would have laughed
And Love's ruby vintage quaffed;
In her softly shaded cheek,
Where Love could his vengeance wreak;
In her sweet, entrancing eye,
Whence Love's arrows sought to fly:
Could, then, Fortune frame a creature
Perfect so in every feature?
Beauteous as the dove's soft wing,
Or a fountain of the Spring,
Or the sunset as it sinks,
While the Night its radiance drinks
For a glowing beverage,
Nectar of Day's purple age:
Could Fortune, mocking her, declare
Lovely Julia to despair?
Such dark mystery is life,
This debate 'twixt sleep and strife.
Whence Love's arrows sought to fly:
989
Perfect so in every feature?
Beauteous as the dove's soft wing,
Or a fountain of the Spring,
Or the sunset as it sinks,
While the Night its radiance drinks
For a glowing beverage,
Nectar of Day's purple age:
Could Fortune, mocking her, declare
Lovely Julia to despair?
Such dark mystery is life,
This debate 'twixt sleep and strife.
But thy heart grew never old!
Naught was there save sunset's gold,
Crimson evenings, blushing mornings,
And all Nature's wise adornings.
Naught was there save sunset's gold,
Crimson evenings, blushing mornings,
And all Nature's wise adornings.
Where art fled ne'er have I heard;
In this earthly state? No word.
Art still near the wide blue river
That beyond the meads doth quiver?
Or beneath yon mountain's shade,
By the murmuring chestnut glade?
Shadow of departed years,
Draped in Beauty, draped in Tears,
Where, across life's shadowy main,
Child of sweetness, child of pain!
Art thou drifting, then, to-day?
Dearest Julia, to me say!
In this earthly state? No word.
Art still near the wide blue river
That beyond the meads doth quiver?
Or beneath yon mountain's shade,
By the murmuring chestnut glade?
Shadow of departed years,
Draped in Beauty, draped in Tears,
Where, across life's shadowy main,
Child of sweetness, child of pain!
Art thou drifting, then, to-day?
Dearest Julia, to me say!
| The collected poems of William Ellery Channing the younger, 1817-1901 | |