Queen Berengaria's Courtesy, and Other Poems By the Lady E. Stuart Wortley. In Three Vols |
 | I, II, III. |
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I MOVE THROUGH MANY SHADOWS. |
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 | Queen Berengaria's Courtesy, and Other Poems |  |
202
I MOVE THROUGH MANY SHADOWS.
I move through many shadows evermore,
That darkened out my mortal paths of yore;
How fain would I forget the joys now lost,
Thus shipwrecked on a blank and barren coast!
That darkened out my mortal paths of yore;
How fain would I forget the joys now lost,
Thus shipwrecked on a blank and barren coast!
Still this reluctant heart will recollect!
Poor foundered bark, so ruined and so wrecked!
And 'tis this memory that for ever lends
The keenest sting whose pang my bosom rends!
Poor foundered bark, so ruined and so wrecked!
And 'tis this memory that for ever lends
The keenest sting whose pang my bosom rends!
Oh! Love and Happiness! ye heavenly things!
That brought a world of treasure on your wings,
How can the hapless wretch who once hath known
Your joys supreme, live on when these are flown?
That brought a world of treasure on your wings,
How can the hapless wretch who once hath known
Your joys supreme, live on when these are flown?
203
Love, Love! and Happiness! Ye made this Earth
Too fair for me t' endure its blighted dearth;
My Soul refuseth to receive the draught
Of bitter anguish which must yet be quaffed!
Too fair for me t' endure its blighted dearth;
My Soul refuseth to receive the draught
Of bitter anguish which must yet be quaffed!
That Soul forgets ye not; still vainly pines,
And with an agony convulsive twines
Around the empty shadows, that but mock
Her efforts wild, and smite with keenest shock!
And with an agony convulsive twines
Around the empty shadows, that but mock
Her efforts wild, and smite with keenest shock!
The incessant effort and the failure still,
'Tis these that fill the measure of our ill,
The longing and the memory deep and vain,
The fond resistance—these exalt the pain!
'Tis these that fill the measure of our ill,
The longing and the memory deep and vain,
The fond resistance—these exalt the pain!
My thoughts still cling to those dear perished joys,
And kiss the poisoned weapon that destroys;
In vain I strive to hope, wish, seek, expect,
Still this reluctant heart will recollect!
And kiss the poisoned weapon that destroys;
In vain I strive to hope, wish, seek, expect,
Still this reluctant heart will recollect!
204
I move, 'mid ceaseless shadows ever now,
Reflected back from mine own heart and brow,
Shadows that follow me where'er I stray,
Shadows that make a midnight of the day.
Reflected back from mine own heart and brow,
Shadows that follow me where'er I stray,
Shadows that make a midnight of the day.
Will time bring resignation or relief
Unto this deadly bitterness of grief?
Will time soothe down the tempest of the mind,
And bid the outwearied wretch some solace find?
Unto this deadly bitterness of grief?
Will time soothe down the tempest of the mind,
And bid the outwearied wretch some solace find?
Oh! bitter this regret, this unsooth'd care,
This bitterness, than barren blankness were,
Better to draw Pain's agitated breath,
Than slow to anticipate mine own sure death!
This bitterness, than barren blankness were,
Better to draw Pain's agitated breath,
Than slow to anticipate mine own sure death!
| Queen Berengaria's Courtesy, and Other Poems | |