 | Sonnets and Miscellaneous Poems by the late Thomas Russell |  |
50
TO SILENCE.
Oh Silence, Maid of pensive mien,
That liv'st unknown, unheard, unseen,
Within thy secret cell,
A pilgrim to thy shrine I come;
Oh lead me to thy hallow'd home,
That I with thee may dwell!
That liv'st unknown, unheard, unseen,
Within thy secret cell,
A pilgrim to thy shrine I come;
Oh lead me to thy hallow'd home,
That I with thee may dwell!
Say, dost thou love to drink the dew
That trickles from the church-yard yew
At midnight's stillest hour;
Or wrapt in melancholy fit
In some dear charnel-house to sit,
Or some dismantled tower?
That trickles from the church-yard yew
At midnight's stillest hour;
Or wrapt in melancholy fit
In some dear charnel-house to sit,
Or some dismantled tower?
Ah no! the hoarse night-raven's song
Forbids thee there to linger long,
When darkness shrouds the coast;
There too complains the wakeful owl,
With many a yelling Demon foul,
And many a shrieking Ghost.
Forbids thee there to linger long,
When darkness shrouds the coast;
There too complains the wakeful owl,
With many a yelling Demon foul,
And many a shrieking Ghost.
51
Or with thy Sister Solitude
Dwell'st thou, mid Asia's deserts rude,
Beneath some craggy rock,
Where nor the roving robber hies,
Nor.Arab sees his tent arise,
Nor shepherd folds his flock?
Dwell'st thou, mid Asia's deserts rude,
Beneath some craggy rock,
Where nor the roving robber hies,
Nor.Arab sees his tent arise,
Nor shepherd folds his flock?
Yet even in that sequester'd sphere
The serpent's hiss assails thy ear,
And fills thee with affright,
While lions, loud in angry mood,
And tigers, roaming for their food,
Rage dreadful thro' the night.
The serpent's hiss assails thy ear,
And fills thee with affright,
While lions, loud in angry mood,
And tigers, roaming for their food,
Rage dreadful thro' the night.
Or dost thou near the frozen pole,
Where slumbering seas forget to roll,
Brood o'er the stagnant deep,
Where nor is heard the dashing oar,
Nor wave, that murmurs on the shore,
To break thy charmed sleep?
Where slumbering seas forget to roll,
Brood o'er the stagnant deep,
Where nor is heard the dashing oar,
Nor wave, that murmurs on the shore,
To break thy charmed sleep?
52
Yet there each bird of harshest cry,
That bravely wings the wintry sky,
Screams to the northern blast,
While on each ice-built mountain hoar,
That parting falls with hideous roar,
Grim monsters howl aghast.
That bravely wings the wintry sky,
Screams to the northern blast,
While on each ice-built mountain hoar,
That parting falls with hideous roar,
Grim monsters howl aghast.
Then where, ah tell me! shall I find
Thy haunt untrodden by mankind,
And undisturb'd by noise,
Where, hush'd with thee in calm repose,
I may forget life's transient woes,
And yet more transient joys?
Thy haunt untrodden by mankind,
And undisturb'd by noise,
Where, hush'd with thee in calm repose,
I may forget life's transient woes,
And yet more transient joys?
| Sonnets and Miscellaneous Poems by the late Thomas Russell | |