 | Poems |  |
MONIMIA.
AN ODE.
In weeds of sorrow wildly 'dight,
Alone beneath the gloom of night,
Monimia went to mourn;
She left a mother's fond alarms;
She left a father's folding arms;
Ah! never to return!
Alone beneath the gloom of night,
Monimia went to mourn;
She left a mother's fond alarms;
She left a father's folding arms;
Ah! never to return!
The bell had struck the midnight hour,
Disastrous planets now had power,
And evil spirits reign'd;
The lone owl, from the cloistered isle,
O'er falling fragments of the pile,
Ill-boding prophet plain'd.
Disastrous planets now had power,
And evil spirits reign'd;
The lone owl, from the cloistered isle,
O'er falling fragments of the pile,
Ill-boding prophet plain'd.
While down her devious footsteps stray,
She tore the willows by the way,
And gazed upon the wave;
Then raising wild to Heaven her eyes,
With sobs, and broken accent, cries,
“I'll meet thee in the grave.”
She tore the willows by the way,
And gazed upon the wave;
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With sobs, and broken accent, cries,
“I'll meet thee in the grave.”
Bright o'er the border of the stream,
Illumined by a transint beam,
She knew the wonted grove;
Her lover's hand had deck'd it fine,
And roses mix'd with myrtles twine,
To form the bower of love.
Illumined by a transint beam,
She knew the wonted grove;
Her lover's hand had deck'd it fine,
And roses mix'd with myrtles twine,
To form the bower of love.
The tuneful Philomela rose,
And sweetly-mournful sung her woes,
Enamour'd of the tree;
Touch'd with the melody of woe,
More tender tears began to flow,
“She mourns her mate like me.”
And sweetly-mournful sung her woes,
Enamour'd of the tree;
Touch'd with the melody of woe,
More tender tears began to flow,
“She mourns her mate like me.”
“I loved my lover from a child,
“And sweet the youthful cherub smiled,
“And wanton'd o'er the green;
“He train'd my Nightingale to sing,
“He spoil'd the gardens of the Spring,
“To crown me rural Queen.
“And sweet the youthful cherub smiled,
“And wanton'd o'er the green;
“He train'd my Nightingale to sing,
“He spoil'd the gardens of the Spring,
“To crown me rural Queen.
“My brother died before his day;
“Sad, thro' the church-yard's dreay way,
“We wont to walk at eve;
“And bending o'er th' untimely urn,
“Long at the monument to mourn,
“And look upon his grave.
“Sad, thro' the church-yard's dreay way,
“We wont to walk at eve;
“And bending o'er th' untimely urn,
“Long at the monument to mourn,
“And look upon his grave.
“Like forms funeral while we stand,
“In tender mood he held my hand,
“And laid his cheek to mine;
“My bosom beat unknown alarms,
“We wept in one another's arms,
“And mingled tears divine.
“In tender mood he held my hand,
“And laid his cheek to mine;
“My bosom beat unknown alarms,
“We wept in one another's arms,
“And mingled tears divine.
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“From sweet compassion love arose,
“Our hearts were wedded by our woes,
“And paired upon the tomb;
“Attesting all the powers above,
“A fond romance of fancied love
“We vowed our days to come.
“Our hearts were wedded by our woes,
“And paired upon the tomb;
“Attesting all the powers above,
“A fond romance of fancied love
“We vowed our days to come.
“A wealthy Lord from Indian skies,
“Illustrious in my parent's eyes,
“Implored a mutual mind;
“Sad to my chamber I withdrew,
“But Harry's footsteps never flew
“The wonted scene to find.
“Illustrious in my parent's eyes,
“Implored a mutual mind;
“Sad to my chamber I withdrew,
“But Harry's footsteps never flew
“The wonted scene to find.
“Three nights in dire suspence I sat
“Alone; the fourth convey'd my fate,
“Sent from a foreign shore;—
“Go, where thy wandring wishes tend,
“Go, and embrace thy father's friend,
“You never see me more!”—
“Alone; the fourth convey'd my fate,
“Sent from a foreign shore;—
“Go, where thy wandring wishes tend,
“Go, and embrace thy father's friend,
“You never see me more!”—
“Despair! distraction! I obey'd
“And one disorder'd moment made
“An ever-wretched wife;
“Ah! in the circuit of one Sun,
“Heaven! I was wedded and undone,
“And dessolate for life!
“And one disorder'd moment made
“An ever-wretched wife;
“Ah! in the circuit of one Sun,
“Heaven! I was wedded and undone,
“And dessolate for life!
“Apart my wedding robes I tore,
“And guarded tears now gushing o'er
“Disdain'd the bridal bed:
“Wild I invoked the funeral yell,
“And sought devoted now to dwell
“For ever with the dead.
“And guarded tears now gushing o'er
“Disdain'd the bridal bed:
“Wild I invoked the funeral yell,
“And sought devoted now to dwell
“For ever with the dead.
“My Lord to Indian climates went,
“A letter from my Lover sent
“Renew'd eternal woes;
“Before my Love my last words greet,
“Wrapt in the weary winding-sheet,
“I in the dust repose!
“A letter from my Lover sent
“Renew'd eternal woes;
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“Wrapt in the weary winding-sheet,
“I in the dust repose!
“Perhaps your parents have deceived,
“Perhaps too rashly I believed
“A tale of treacherous art;
“Monimia! could you now behold
“The youth you loved in sorrows old,
“Oh! it would break thy heart!
“Perhaps too rashly I believed
“A tale of treacherous art;
“Monimia! could you now behold
“The youth you loved in sorrows old,
“Oh! it would break thy heart!
“Now in the grave for ever laid,
“A constant solitary shade,
“Thy Harry hangs o'er thee!
“For you I fled my native sky;
“Loaded with life for you I die;
“My love, remember me!”
“A constant solitary shade,
“Thy Harry hangs o'er thee!
“For you I fled my native sky;
“Loaded with life for you I die;
“My love, remember me!”
“Of all the promises of youth,
“The tears of tenderness and truth,
“The throbs that lovers send;
“The vows in one another's arms,
“The secret sympathy of charms;
“My God! is this the end?”
“The tears of tenderness and truth,
“The throbs that lovers send;
“The vows in one another's arms,
“The secret sympathy of charms;
“My God! is this the end?”
She said, and rushing from the bower,
Devoted sought in evil hour
The promontory sleep;
Hung o'er the margin of the main,
Her fix'd and earnest eyeballs strain
The dashing of the deep.
Devoted sought in evil hour
The promontory sleep;
Hung o'er the margin of the main,
Her fix'd and earnest eyeballs strain
The dashing of the deep.
“Waves that resound from shore to shore!
“Rocks loud rebellowing to the roar
“Of ocean, storm, and wind!
“Your elemental war is tame,
“To that which rages in my frame,
“The battle of the mind!”
“Rocks loud rebellowing to the roar
“Of ocean, storm, and wind!
“Your elemental war is tame,
“To that which rages in my frame,
“The battle of the mind!”
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With downcast eye and musing mood,
A lurid interval she stood
The victim of despair;
Her arms then tossing to the skies,
She pour'd in Nature's ear her cries,
“My God! my father! where?”—
A lurid interval she stood
The victim of despair;
Her arms then tossing to the skies,
She pour'd in Nature's ear her cries,
“My God! my father! where?”—
Wild on the summit of the steep
She ruminated long the deep,
And felt her freezing blood;
Approaching feet she heard behind,
Then swifter than the winged wind
She plunged into the flood.
She ruminated long the deep,
And felt her freezing blood;
Approaching feet she heard behind,
Then swifter than the winged wind
She plunged into the flood.
Her form emerging from the wave
Both parents saw, but could not save;
The shriek of death arose!
At once she sunk to rise no more;
And sadly-sounding to the shore,
The parted billows close!
Both parents saw, but could not save;
The shriek of death arose!
At once she sunk to rise no more;
And sadly-sounding to the shore,
The parted billows close!
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