 | Judith, Esther, and other poems |  |
TO ---
Thou couldst see, and undivulging,
When I soothed my soul's excess,
In a moment-dream indulging,
Coldly call it “thoughtlessness.”
When I soothed my soul's excess,
In a moment-dream indulging,
Coldly call it “thoughtlessness.”
Thou couldst see, yet ne'er discover
The consuming pains I bore,
When Hope's sweet stream frozen over
Met my panting lip no more,
The consuming pains I bore,
When Hope's sweet stream frozen over
Met my panting lip no more,
70
But thy blaming scarcely grieved me,
And thy praise no pleasure gave—
Rude and chilly I believed thee,
As the bark-o'erwhelming wave.
And thy praise no pleasure gave—
Rude and chilly I believed thee,
As the bark-o'erwhelming wave.
Tell that hour when chance-directed,
Or heaven-sent to my relief,
Thou this o'ercharged heart detected,
In its wildest burst of grief.
Or heaven-sent to my relief,
Thou this o'ercharged heart detected,
In its wildest burst of grief.
Then, oh! then, the tears that coursed them,
Bitter from my bosom's mine,
And the rending sobs that forced them,
Tore a passage, ev'n to shine.
Bitter from my bosom's mine,
And the rending sobs that forced them,
Tore a passage, ev'n to shine.
Moment,—but it mocks relation!
Then the gem so long concealed,
Glittered through its incrustation,
All its preciousness revealed.
Then the gem so long concealed,
Glittered through its incrustation,
All its preciousness revealed.
Then was breathed forth, undissembled,
Genuine pity's generous sigh,
While the just-born seraph trembled
In the darkness of thine eye.
Genuine pity's generous sigh,
While the just-born seraph trembled
In the darkness of thine eye.
Every tie which might have bound us,
Left undrawn by either's care,
Loose and careless hung around us,
As the winds had blown them there.
Left undrawn by either's care,
Loose and careless hung around us,
As the winds had blown them there.
71
But, that moment, memory binds them,
Quick the just-wove chain she flings,—
And my heart, its next throb, finds them
Tangled with its tenderest strings.
Quick the just-wove chain she flings,—
And my heart, its next throb, finds them
Tangled with its tenderest strings.
But, it reeks not, still reprove me,
I will thank thee for thy care,
Oh! the heart that's learned to love thee
Still can bleed, and still can bear.
I will thank thee for thy care,
Oh! the heart that's learned to love thee
Still can bleed, and still can bear.
| Judith, Esther, and other poems | |