 | The select poems of Dr. Thomas Dunn English (exclusive of the "Battle lyrics") |  |
PAUL SEES THE LOVERS.
As at my casement here this bright May morning
I breathe the early air,
The opening of the shutters gives no warning
To yonder tender pair.
I breathe the early air,
The opening of the shutters gives no warning
To yonder tender pair.
Their outer ears are closed to bar my presence,
My voice they have not heard,
So filled are they with Love's potential pleasance,
So deep their souls are stirred.
My voice they have not heard,
So filled are they with Love's potential pleasance,
So deep their souls are stirred.
288
The beating of their souls in dulcet rhythm
Is all the sound they hear;
The poetry of youthful life is with them,
Extending far and near.
Is all the sound they hear;
The poetry of youthful life is with them,
Extending far and near.
He, fond and bashful, pleading, as before him
So many swains have done,
Feels at her silence clouds of doubt pass o'er him
That quite obscure the sun.
So many swains have done,
Feels at her silence clouds of doubt pass o'er him
That quite obscure the sun.
One hand of hers with apron-string is playing,
The other shades her eyes,
The while her ear drinks in what he is saying
With gladness, not surprise.
The other shades her eyes,
The while her ear drinks in what he is saying
With gladness, not surprise.
Their loving conference should have no witness,
None listen what they say,
Their secret has for secrecy such fitness;
And hence I turn away.
None listen what they say,
Their secret has for secrecy such fitness;
And hence I turn away.
But she, who, as her lover strives to woo her,
Looks down and blushes so,
Brings back Drusilla as I one time knew her
Not many years ago.
Looks down and blushes so,
Brings back Drusilla as I one time knew her
Not many years ago.
Memory, arch-sorcerer, with his wand extended,
Summons again the past;
Youth, love and rapture all in one are blended,
And wretchedness at last.
Summons again the past;
Youth, love and rapture all in one are blended,
And wretchedness at last.
Now part the gilded walls; to dust they crumble,
My luxury disappears,
And I go back to that condition humble
I filled in early years.
My luxury disappears,
And I go back to that condition humble
I filled in early years.
289
The long green hills extending in the distance,
The sloping river shore,
The sandstone cliffs—all spring into existence
As in the long-before.
The sloping river shore,
The sandstone cliffs—all spring into existence
As in the long-before.
Nor are they in my eyes a sight of beauty
The gazer's eye to charm;
But witnesses to most unwilling duty
Upon the country farm.
The gazer's eye to charm;
But witnesses to most unwilling duty
Upon the country farm.
The red-clay farm where I was doomed to labor
Through all the seasons' change,
To plough, to mow, run errands to each neighbor,
And drive the kine to range.
Through all the seasons' change,
To plough, to mow, run errands to each neighbor,
And drive the kine to range.
Then, in young manhood, stands Drusilla near me
Beneath the elmen tree;
She blushes as she pauses there to hear me,
The maid so dear to me.
Beneath the elmen tree;
She blushes as she pauses there to hear me,
The maid so dear to me.
And now at last her smiling promise winning
To be one day my wife,
I feel that night is over, day beginning
To dawn upon my life.
To be one day my wife,
I feel that night is over, day beginning
To dawn upon my life.
Yet, ere a year, a richer lover sought her,
And won her, though a tyke;
For was she not a rich man's only daughter?
Like ever flows to like.
And won her, though a tyke;
For was she not a rich man's only daughter?
Like ever flows to like.
Her father's farm lay next to ours; with tillage
Its fertile acres smile;
Thrice ours in size, extending from the village,
As the crow flies, a mile.
Its fertile acres smile;
Thrice ours in size, extending from the village,
As the crow flies, a mile.
290
Another year; the bitter pang was over,
And I had power to bear.
To a far land I bent my way, a rover,
To seek for fortune there.
And I had power to bear.
To a far land I bent my way, a rover,
To seek for fortune there.
Fortune became my slave; I did but beckon,
And in my lap she poured
Such golden store that it grew hard to reckon
The total of my hoard.
And in my lap she poured
Such golden store that it grew hard to reckon
The total of my hoard.
I tired of avarice; a feeling burning
To see old haunts again
Came over me, and hitherward returning,
I built this mansion then.
To see old haunts again
Came over me, and hitherward returning,
I built this mansion then.
Why need I mourn that misery attended
Drusilla's wedded life?
Dead now, she lies beneath a tombstone splendid,
Who lived a wretched wife.
Drusilla's wedded life?
Dead now, she lies beneath a tombstone splendid,
Who lived a wretched wife.
But they, the pair who stand before my villa,
Sweet fate to them befall.
May she not prove to be a false Drusilla,
Nor he another Paul.
Sweet fate to them befall.
May she not prove to be a false Drusilla,
Nor he another Paul.
| The select poems of Dr. Thomas Dunn English (exclusive of the "Battle lyrics") | |