University of Virginia Library

MEMORY'S MAGIC.

Oh! Memory! thou canst give us back again
Our own old feelings, yet unwrung with pain,
Our peace, our purity—till Sin appears
Though the long growth perchance of evil years,
By thee so sweetly sinned against—'tis lost,
Like shadows by strong gleams of Sunshine crost!
Sin seems to whiten back to Innocence,
Cleansed of its stains—and of its dim clouds dense,
All brightly cleared, and lightened for awhile,
Even by the sacred Magic of thy smile!
Aye, Sin, unsinned, that long hath had abode
Within the heart by thoughts infirm o'erflowed,
Forgets its evil into good, when thus
Keen stricken by thy wand so luminous,
Thou mighty and thou all-resistless Power,
That makest the Soul thine own for thy brief hour,
And dost improve and change it as thou wilt,
Till Good becomes its gracelessness and guilt!
Oh! who can vividly and well recall
His childhood's days, ere bound by basest thrall
Of selfishness and passion, he forgot
All lovely, lofty duties of his lot,
Without a momentary change of state,
A temporary rising o'er his fate!
And o'er his feelings, darkened and debased
By long continuance of a trust misplaced
In all the hollow nothings of this Earth,
Of frailest tenure, and of poorest worth?
Till yet once more, ev'n as a little child,
With lowly simple nature undefiled,
The World's fond victim half regenerate moves,
And humbly trusts—and reverently loves—
And deeply feels—from guilt and from its guile,
Through thy dear charm, delivered for awhile,
Strong Memory! thou canst teach the Soul once more
To be the stainless thing it seemed before,
Restore the harmonious truth, that round it hung,
Of yore, recalling from what source it sprung—
Give back that glorious light it seemed to bring
Even from that source—Life's high and holy spring!
And make it feel as it were newly born—
The spark fresh kindled with the fires of morn!
Thou canst do thus—but, Ah! in vain—in vain—
If sinks the Soul from that fine height again,
If back it falls into the common dust,
And woos its earthly idols to its trust—
Memory, how vain is then thy brief bright sway,
What empty homage unto thee we pay,
We but remember all that once we were,
To grovel back into our sordid care—
To hug again a half forgotten load
Of vile anxieties, on Life's steep road!
And to renounce the promise and the hope,
Content along our twilight path to grope,
Without the only aid that can sustain
And bless our weak endeavours, else how vain!—
The aid Divine, the which indeed to acquire,
We must controul each World-defiled desire,
And be as little children pure and meek,
And humbly strive, and innocently seek.
Oh! Memory! snatch my spirit back once more
To all its blameless thoughts and dreams of yore,
And bid my present consciousness to cease
A little while, that I may dwell in peace
Beneath the shadow of thy quiet wings,
And save me from all vain and dangerous things,
Which gain too much ascendancy and power
O'er the unsuspicious Soul, hour after hour.
Oh! let me be beneath thine influence mild,
Once more, once more, as ev'n a little child,
And in that humble holy mood serene,
Let me continue through Life's changeful scene,
And fixedly and faithfully remain,
Even when released from thy engirdling chain;
Set free from thy enchanted flowery yoke,
Whose gentle clasp so many fetters broke,
So many burdens tenderly removed,
And such a high and Heavenly blessing proved!
Yes! Memory, when beneath thy soft controul,
Once more the dreamer grows a child in Soul,
'Tis thine to make him, for a little space,
Raised o'er the crimes and follies of his race,
One of that glorious Kingdom, all sublime,
Beyond the petty march of measured time,
That glorious Kingdom, where the dwellers be
As little children in their purity!
Who from that Heavenly kingdom would descend,
With Earth's vile nothings yet again to blend?
And stained with sin and sorrow to pass on,
'Mongst sufferers and 'midst sinners—surely none!
Memory, ev'n now thy power o'er me exert,
Bring childhood's trustful feelings to my heart,
Bring me mine own old feelings once again,
Unchilled by doubt and all unwrung by pain;
And more—far more—by evil unalloyed,
With purity unaltered—undestroyed!
Memory, ev'n now thy power o'er me assert,
And bring back childhood to my Soul and Heart!