University of Virginia Library

A BEAUTIFUL SCENE.

Beautiful Scene! I know not why
I look on thee—and look and sigh;
Though thou remind'st me of the Spring
That now around my home doth fling
Beauty, freshness, hope, delight,
Glowing exquisite and bright—
Thou but remind'st to bring regret,
'Twere wiser, better to forget!
Remind me, rather, loveliest Scene!
So placid, smiling, and serene,
With deeper power, with nobler might,
With finer influence of delight,
Of that fair Land—the unknown Land,
Whose glorious scenes far off expand,
That Land which lies beyond the tomb—
The country of immortal bloom;
Of that Eternal Home above,
Lit by the living light of Love!
For such thy beauty is, I deem,
'Tis like some Heaven-commissioned dream,
Sent e'en within the heart, to wake
Longings and desires that break
The thousand petty wretched ties
That bind us to Earth's vanities!
Oh! lovely Scene! I know not why
I still look on thee but to sigh—
And yet, methinks the truth I guess,
And trace the cause of this distress;
Thou dost remind me of my home,
Like thee now clad in Spring's fair bloom,
And thou remind'st me deeply too
Of loved ones, to whose memory true,
And true to whose dear love this heart
Must be—together or apart!
A thought of those sweet absent friends,
With all my thoughts for ever blends,
And still I turn with constant mind
To all that I have left behind!
And wheresoe'er I wandering rove—
Still feel, still keep one changeless love!
And yet I give thee too thy due,
Oh! Nature—with devotion true,
Nor turn a cold and careless eye
On thy o'erpowering witchery!
Nor with an untouched heart can greet
Those charms of thine which still I meet
In this delicious land of light,
Where Beauty liveth in the sight.
No! in the face of Earth and Skies,
New admirations still arise
In this enchanted clime which hues
Of Heaven itself, must sure suffuse!
No!—in my heart for ever now
New admirations kindling glow—
Where'er I turn, where'er I move—
But one—one only—self-same Love!