University of Virginia Library

SONNETS.

SEPARATION.

Oh! nevermore on earth, nor yet in Heaven,
Shall I behold thee?—if the crystal light
That suns the palms of Paradise, is given
To my freed vision, when the awful Night
Of Sin's purgation closes, as—it must,
(For in God's Providence, we humbly trust,
Sin cannot be immortal) —even then,
Amid that multitudinous company,
That throng of thronèd Powers, and ransomed men,
O! nevermore thy saint-like eyes to see,
Shining too far above me in the dome
Of Christ's new firmament, would only be,
Companionless and lorn through Heaven to roam,
To walk the golden Streets, but not—of home.

TO ---.

Love! to thy heart as to a secret shrine,
Veiled with the awe of deepest sanctity,
From the o'erchargèd clouds of Fate I fly,
And find a refuge and a peace divine;
Then, let the tempest thunder wide and far,
Beyond the storm which Pain, and Want combined,
Have raised to 'whelm my manhood and my mind,
Thy steadfast virtues, like a guardian-star,
Point to the realms ‘where the Eternal are,’
While thy calm love with a transcendent light,
Yet mellowed to the chastity of Night,
—My God's sweet benediction, thus expressed,—
Burns in my soul, and mantles warm and bright,
O'er Grief's sad brow, till Grief itself grows blest.