 | Poems by Sarah Helen Whitman |  |
34
IN APRIL'S DIM AND SHOWERY NIGHTS.
In April's dim and showery nights,
When music melts along the air,
And Memory wakens at the kiss
Of wandering perfumes, faint and rare;
When music melts along the air,
And Memory wakens at the kiss
Of wandering perfumes, faint and rare;
Sweet, spring-time perfumes, such as won
Prosèrpina from realms of gloom.
To bathe her bright locks in the sun,
Or bind them with the pansy's bloom;
Prosèrpina from realms of gloom.
To bathe her bright locks in the sun,
Or bind them with the pansy's bloom;
When light winds rift the fragrant bowers
Where orchards shed their floral wreath,
Strewing the turf with starry flowers,
And dropping pearls at every breath;
Where orchards shed their floral wreath,
Strewing the turf with starry flowers,
And dropping pearls at every breath;
When, all night long, the boughs are stirred
With fitful warblings from the nest,
And the heart flutters, like a bird,
With its sweet, passionless unrest;
With fitful warblings from the nest,
And the heart flutters, like a bird,
With its sweet, passionless unrest;
35
Oh! then, beloved, I think on thee,
And on that life, so strangely fair,
Ere yet one cloud of memory
Had gathered in hope's golden air.
And on that life, so strangely fair,
Ere yet one cloud of memory
Had gathered in hope's golden air.
I think on thee and thy lone grave
On the green hill-side, far away;
I see the wilding flowers that wave
Around thee, as the night winds sway.
On the green hill-side, far away;
I see the wilding flowers that wave
Around thee, as the night winds sway.
And still, though only clouds remain
On life's horizon, cold and drear,
The dream of youth returns again
With the sweet promise of the year.
On life's horizon, cold and drear,
The dream of youth returns again
With the sweet promise of the year.
April, 1848.
| Poems by Sarah Helen Whitman | |