 | Poems |  |
84
ON ---.
Thy cheek hath lost its happy flush and bloom,
Thine eye its light;
And the fresh fragrance of life's flowery morn,
Alas! hath vanished quite:
Thine eye its light;
And the fresh fragrance of life's flowery morn,
Alas! hath vanished quite:
Pale the sweet garden, where a season since
The rose did blow;
And haunted only by a tender shade,
A flitting, ghostly glow:
The rose did blow;
And haunted only by a tender shade,
A flitting, ghostly glow:
Solemn and spiritual, and very sad,
Like the far smile
That beams from the Madonna's face divine,
In some dim convent aisle.
Like the far smile
That beams from the Madonna's face divine,
In some dim convent aisle.
The Earth to thee smiles only from her tombs—
Thou standest lone,
Where in thy darkened, and o'erclouded path,
Expiring joys are strewn:
Thou standest lone,
Where in thy darkened, and o'erclouded path,
Expiring joys are strewn:
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Joys that have withered suddenly and dropped
From stately stems
Of thy green Hopes, once beautiful, and crowned
With dewy diadems:
From stately stems
Of thy green Hopes, once beautiful, and crowned
With dewy diadems:
And standing there all desolate, and lorn,
Thy spirit grieves,
As grieve the winds of Autumn, at the fall
Of Summer's wealth of leaves.
Thy spirit grieves,
As grieve the winds of Autumn, at the fall
Of Summer's wealth of leaves.
I gaze upon thy face, serene and fixed,
Pallid and calm;
Tranced with a vision of the land of rest,
The Pilgrim's conquering palm.
Pallid and calm;
Tranced with a vision of the land of rest,
The Pilgrim's conquering palm.
Yet sometimes, turned from glory, thy sad soul
Dissolves in tears—
When, like a loosened Falcon, Memory mounts
Thy Heaven of youthful years.
Dissolves in tears—
When, like a loosened Falcon, Memory mounts
Thy Heaven of youthful years.
Thy far-off Heaven of vanished years and youth,
Where past delights
Shine in cold distance, like the freezing stars
Of the pale Arctic nights.
Where past delights
Shine in cold distance, like the freezing stars
Of the pale Arctic nights.
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Fading, and oh! how faint and desolate,
Thy form doth seem,
And hour by hour thy wan face waxeth dim,
And shadowy as a dream.
Thy form doth seem,
And hour by hour thy wan face waxeth dim,
And shadowy as a dream.
The dream will melt from our horizon soon,
In higher skies,
Already meanings, mystical and strange,
Float in thine eyes.
In higher skies,
Already meanings, mystical and strange,
Float in thine eyes.
And through those gentle lights, thy gentler soul
Too well I know,
Is passing up in dimness and in tears
From mortal wrong and wo.
Too well I know,
Is passing up in dimness and in tears
From mortal wrong and wo.
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