 | [Poems by Payne in] John Howard Payne ... his life and writings |  |
337
VALENTINE.
ADDRESSED TO MISS FOOT, THE CELEBRATED ACTRESS.
Though other eyes have warn'd me,
Though other lips have charm'd me,
Yet transient was their pow'r,
Forgotten in an hour!
Though other lips have charm'd me,
Yet transient was their pow'r,
Forgotten in an hour!
Those brows of thine which darkle
O'er eyes which sweetly sparkle
With beams from mind of brightness,
And heart of jocund lightness;—
Have wing'd, like Cupid's bow,
With secret shaft a blow
Which binds one, thine forever
In chains which cannot sever,
Ere this, a captive never.
O'er eyes which sweetly sparkle
With beams from mind of brightness,
And heart of jocund lightness;—
Have wing'd, like Cupid's bow,
With secret shaft a blow
Which binds one, thine forever
In chains which cannot sever,
Ere this, a captive never.
Perhaps, in untold anguish
That captive long will languish:—
Perhaps, a hidden stranger,
He'll guard thy youth from danger:—
Perhaps, an unseen spirit,
He'll climb thy couch at night,
And rock himself to rest
Upon thy heaving breast,
Or drink the sighs which creep
Unconscious through thy sleep.
That captive long will languish:—
Perhaps, a hidden stranger,
He'll guard thy youth from danger:—
Perhaps, an unseen spirit,
He'll climb thy couch at night,
And rock himself to rest
Upon thy heaving breast,
Or drink the sighs which creep
Unconscious through thy sleep.
And then, like memory's gleams,
Glide softly through thy dreams,
And catch without control
The breathings of a soul
So unstain'd in whiteness,
Malice hates its brightness!
Glide softly through thy dreams,
And catch without control
The breathings of a soul
So unstain'd in whiteness,
Malice hates its brightness!
Nymph, by whom all are charmed,
Long may'st thou live unharm'd!
—Be world and Fortune kind!
Be Argus Envy blind,—
And every wish enjoy'd,
Save that which would discover
Thy Valentine and Lover!
Long may'st thou live unharm'd!
—Be world and Fortune kind!
Be Argus Envy blind,—
And every wish enjoy'd,
Save that which would discover
Thy Valentine and Lover!
| [Poems by Payne in] John Howard Payne ... his life and writings | |