Poems and miscellanies selected from the writings of Miss Eliza Townsend Printed but not published |
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TO A. T., AT WASHINGTON.
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 | Poems and miscellanies selected from the writings of Miss Eliza Townsend |  |
167
TO A. T., AT WASHINGTON.
WRITTEN AT MIDNIGHT, DEC. 30, 1825.
Scarce have the notes of yonder bell
Paid to the parting eve farewell,
And now 'tis greeting loud and clear
The morning of the coming year.
But, (as in regal states, 'tis said
The grieving for an old king dead
Merges his faithful people through
In gratulation to the new,)
So seems that jocund bell more true
To sounds of welcome, than adieu!
As Allegro, with laughing grace,
Shoved Penseroso from her place;
Or as that wight to either muse
Addressed, yet if, perforce to choose,
Yielded like all his fellows yet,
His preference to the bright Cadette.
Would that this heart with kindred tone
Could beat for once in unison,
The Future teach the Past to flee,
And Hope take place of Memory!
It may not be, unless its spell
Could minister a miracle,
And give the shapes my dreams that press
Once more their wonted consciousness!
Paid to the parting eve farewell,
And now 'tis greeting loud and clear
The morning of the coming year.
But, (as in regal states, 'tis said
The grieving for an old king dead
Merges his faithful people through
In gratulation to the new,)
So seems that jocund bell more true
To sounds of welcome, than adieu!
As Allegro, with laughing grace,
Shoved Penseroso from her place;
Or as that wight to either muse
Addressed, yet if, perforce to choose,
Yielded like all his fellows yet,
His preference to the bright Cadette.
168
Could beat for once in unison,
The Future teach the Past to flee,
And Hope take place of Memory!
It may not be, unless its spell
Could minister a miracle,
And give the shapes my dreams that press
Once more their wonted consciousness!
Yet not to miss, though lone the time,
The moral of that cheerful chime,
Forbid it that my ingrate strain
O'erlook the goods that yet remain.
For those around—for him apart—
Be grateful and be glad my heart;
And since he wends afar, and may
Not meet the good old England way
Of wishing well on New Year's day,
Bid him from hence the Fates to grant
All he can ask, or wish, or want;
And if nought else this doggerel show,
E'en as it is, so let it go,
Sure in his eyes to stand approved,
So early and so late beloved;
Loved by the boy, and by the man,
Loved long, ere other loves began.
The moral of that cheerful chime,
Forbid it that my ingrate strain
O'erlook the goods that yet remain.
For those around—for him apart—
Be grateful and be glad my heart;
And since he wends afar, and may
Not meet the good old England way
Of wishing well on New Year's day,
Bid him from hence the Fates to grant
All he can ask, or wish, or want;
And if nought else this doggerel show,
E'en as it is, so let it go,
Sure in his eyes to stand approved,
So early and so late beloved;
Loved by the boy, and by the man,
Loved long, ere other loves began.
| Poems and miscellanies selected from the writings of Miss Eliza Townsend | |