 | The poems of Mrs. Emma Catherine Embury |  |
236
LINES
SUGGESTED BY ACCIDENTALLY MEETING WITH AN OLD COPY OF THE “MYSTERIES OF UDOLPHO.”
Full twenty years have past since last my look
Was left upon thy page, bewitching book!
Aye, twenty years; how very strange it seems
Through such a vista to behold youth's dreams,
To wander so far back o'er life's past ways,
And see what shadows charmed our childish days.
Was left upon thy page, bewitching book!
Aye, twenty years; how very strange it seems
Through such a vista to behold youth's dreams,
To wander so far back o'er life's past ways,
And see what shadows charmed our childish days.
Scarce nine short summers had I seen, when first
Radcliffe's deep horrors on my vision burst;
How well do I remember the lone room
Where first I reveled in her awful gloom;
'Twas a deserted chamber, which o'erhung
A wild neglected garden, where flowers sprung,
Wasting their perfumed beauty on the air—
No eye save mine to heed that they were fair.
Old cherry-trees with dark green foliage, made
Across the casement there a pleasant shade,
While at the sunset hour the gorgeous beams
Pierced the thick branches with their golden gleams.
There till the sunset deepened into gray,
And twilight into night, oft would I stay,
Pondering o'er many a tale of wild romance,
And tasting all the bliss of youth's first trance.
In that sweet solitude I learned the wild,
Mysterious fortunes of St. Hubert's child,
Rapt 'mid Udolpho's horrors until night
Shut all its fearful pictures from my sight;
Then sat in trembling silence, half afraid
To look within the chamber's deepening shade.
The very leaves of the tall trees then stirred
With music such as spirits might have heard,
While in each darkened corner seemed to stand
Spectres with mournful look and beckoning hand;
Filling my inmost soul with pleasant fear,
Till some familiar voice fell on my ear,
Breaking the spell that held me in its chain,
And bringing me to common life again.
Radcliffe's deep horrors on my vision burst;
How well do I remember the lone room
Where first I reveled in her awful gloom;
'Twas a deserted chamber, which o'erhung
A wild neglected garden, where flowers sprung,
Wasting their perfumed beauty on the air—
No eye save mine to heed that they were fair.
Old cherry-trees with dark green foliage, made
Across the casement there a pleasant shade,
While at the sunset hour the gorgeous beams
Pierced the thick branches with their golden gleams.
There till the sunset deepened into gray,
And twilight into night, oft would I stay,
Pondering o'er many a tale of wild romance,
And tasting all the bliss of youth's first trance.
In that sweet solitude I learned the wild,
Mysterious fortunes of St. Hubert's child,
237
Shut all its fearful pictures from my sight;
Then sat in trembling silence, half afraid
To look within the chamber's deepening shade.
The very leaves of the tall trees then stirred
With music such as spirits might have heard,
While in each darkened corner seemed to stand
Spectres with mournful look and beckoning hand;
Filling my inmost soul with pleasant fear,
Till some familiar voice fell on my ear,
Breaking the spell that held me in its chain,
And bringing me to common life again.
O many an hour I spent in that lone spot,
All else on earth for those wild tales forgot,
While wise ones shook their heads and said in scorn,
“From such weak dreams is hopeless madness born.”
Had their blood flowed less sluggish in each vein
They had not murmured thus at fancy's reign;
Her gentle rule is felt in every heart
Till passion bids the vanquished queen depart,
And oft we deeply rue the fatal day
That broke her sceptre for his iron sway.
All else on earth for those wild tales forgot,
While wise ones shook their heads and said in scorn,
“From such weak dreams is hopeless madness born.”
Had their blood flowed less sluggish in each vein
They had not murmured thus at fancy's reign;
Her gentle rule is felt in every heart
Till passion bids the vanquished queen depart,
And oft we deeply rue the fatal day
That broke her sceptre for his iron sway.
| The poems of Mrs. Emma Catherine Embury | |