Queen Berengaria's Courtesy, and Other Poems By the Lady E. Stuart Wortley. In Three Vols |
 | I, II, III. |
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TWILIGHT AND PEACE. |
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 | Queen Berengaria's Courtesy, and Other Poems |  |
114
TWILIGHT AND PEACE.
The dreaming twilight's languishment
Was brooding o'er the scene,
And Day and Night seemed mingling there,
In shadows and in sheen!
Was brooding o'er the scene,
And Day and Night seemed mingling there,
In shadows and in sheen!
O'er bank, and brook, and festooned bower,
That spread before my sight,
Were shed, in that delicious hour,—
A darkness and a light!
That spread before my sight,
Were shed, in that delicious hour,—
A darkness and a light!
It was not night—it was not day—
'Twas something dearer far—
And nothing sudden—nothing strange,
That perfect calm might mar!
'Twas something dearer far—
And nothing sudden—nothing strange,
That perfect calm might mar!
115
Oh! could this holy light be shed
About us evermore—
Surely sin might not darkly tread
Earth's desecrated floor.
About us evermore—
Surely sin might not darkly tread
Earth's desecrated floor.
So pure, so clear, so tender 'tis—
So exquistely dear;
Holier and holier must become
Our rent and troubled sphere.
So exquistely dear;
Holier and holier must become
Our rent and troubled sphere.
Oh! no—not thus expelled might be,
The stains and strifes of sin—
A different light for that must shine
On the deep Soul within.
The stains and strifes of sin—
A different light for that must shine
On the deep Soul within.
Too soon doth man accustomed grow
To all that strikes his sense;
No mighty benefits might spring,
No perfect good from thence.
To all that strikes his sense;
No mighty benefits might spring,
No perfect good from thence.
116
The outward World too much receives
The inward World's fixed tone;
Did man not ruin and destroy
That Eden, once his own?
The inward World's fixed tone;
Did man not ruin and destroy
That Eden, once his own?
| Queen Berengaria's Courtesy, and Other Poems | |