 | Virginalia ; or, songs of my summer nights |  |
118
SONNET
ON READING MRS. BROWNING'S DRAMA OF EXILE.
Like some great storm-cloud from the troubled ocean,Pregnant with lightnings which are born in thunder,
Waxing like mountains in their Heaven-ward motion,
Till, by their own strength, they are torn asunder—
Weeping themselves to death in freshning rain;
So rose up from thy soul that God-like strain,
In Miriam-jubilations through the sky,
Filling the star-gemmed altitudes on high
With deep, pathetic wailings, full of pain!
Then, like Apolyon's last sigh, when he fell,
Scented with memories of his Eden-gladness—
God's mercy following him with wrath to Hell—
While Angels' tears drop on him in their sadness;
So died upon my soul thy song in blissful madness.
Oak Grove, Ga., September 10, 1845.
| Virginalia ; or, songs of my summer nights | |