 | Poems |  |
173
TO ---
Methinks I see you frown—oh! do not throwA shadow o'er the sunshine of that brow—
Nought should be mirror'd on its sweet expanse,
Save the heart's peace, its fairness to enhance;
Who doth not mourn to see dull storm-clouds driven,
O'er the clear azure of the summer heaven—
To see the gloomy darkness sadly fall
On the spring-landscape, like a funeral pall—
Oh! rather smile, although it be in scorn;
If fair the rose, I will not heed the thorn,
And were I near, to watch thy features' play,
And catch the radiance, as it flits away,
Though in disdain, that smile would ever be
A treasured thought, a golden memory!
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'Tis no light task to pen a farewell strain,
And yet it must be so—I do not dare
Persist in this my folly, but if e'er
A wish were breathed, whose purity might plead
For kind forgiveness of an erring deed,
That wish is mine,—that happiness may throw
Its light around thy path and never know
Eclipse or change—that bright hopes may be thine,
And sweetest fancies, jewels from the mine
Of youth's imaginings, that most beseem
The freshness of the spirit's morning dream.
And oh! when youth and these have both departed,
May gentle friends, the tender, and true-hearted,
Cling to thee (happy ones) with answering love,
And fond affection, that no change can move.
But this is vain! the present is too fair
For thoughts of the far future—when the air
Breathes of the perfume of Spring's fairest flowers,
And dew-drops glisten in the wood's green bowers;
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Looks down with smiles upon its pageantry,
Why should we fix our thoughts upon the day,
When all these beauteous things must pass away!
One prayer at parting—may thy spring-time be
As beautiful as Nature's, and as free—
And may its brightness tarry with thee long,
Its flowers, its scents, its sunshine, and its song!
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