 | Poems |  |
71
STANZAS.
TO J. S.
When Darkness encompassed my senses and soul,
And the breath of the Pestilence over me stole,
When the eyes of the Fearful looked misty and dim,
When Love breathed a prayer, and Devotion a hymn,
When the clouds of the Present around me unfurled,
And my glance like a spirit's was turned from the world;
There was One, and scarce less than a spirit was she,
Whose smile fell upon me like light on the sea—
And bore back the waves of my fate as they rolled,
Where Eternity's Day-star just bathed them in gold.
And the breath of the Pestilence over me stole,
When the eyes of the Fearful looked misty and dim,
When Love breathed a prayer, and Devotion a hymn,
When the clouds of the Present around me unfurled,
And my glance like a spirit's was turned from the world;
There was One, and scarce less than a spirit was she,
Whose smile fell upon me like light on the sea—
And bore back the waves of my fate as they rolled,
Where Eternity's Day-star just bathed them in gold.
All else were desponding—all else were in tears;
From beneath me seemed gliding the Threshold of years,
A rest—as of death brooded sad o'er the room,
And the low air was heavy with sickly perfume;
The Destroyer's wan sceptre o'ershadowed my heart,
And I thought that the Angels stood gazing apart,
And signed me to come, but an Angel more dear,
All bright with mortality's sweetness, was near,
And I turned from the beauty of Adenne to see,
Life, Hope, and Passion, brought earthward by thee.
From beneath me seemed gliding the Threshold of years,
A rest—as of death brooded sad o'er the room,
And the low air was heavy with sickly perfume;
72
And I thought that the Angels stood gazing apart,
And signed me to come, but an Angel more dear,
All bright with mortality's sweetness, was near,
And I turned from the beauty of Adenne to see,
Life, Hope, and Passion, brought earthward by thee.
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