Queen Berengaria's Courtesy, and Other Poems By the Lady E. Stuart Wortley. In Three Vols |
 | I, II, III. |
|
|
THE NIGHT OF SORROW. |
 | Queen Berengaria's Courtesy, and Other Poems |  |
120
THE NIGHT OF SORROW.
Sorrow, like Night, brings other worlds in view,
Like night can lend them fairest radiance too.
The Sun of Joy himself is beauteous shown,
But, oh! he lets no light shine save his own!
Like night can lend them fairest radiance too.
The Sun of Joy himself is beauteous shown,
But, oh! he lets no light shine save his own!
Sorrow! though gloomy thou mayst seem at first
Star after star shall from thy bosom burst,
Another universe shall slowly spring
Beneath the imperial shadow of thy wing!
Star after star shall from thy bosom burst,
Another universe shall slowly spring
Beneath the imperial shadow of thy wing!
Thou hast thy treasures!—deeper than the sea!—
More mysteries in thy sealed abysses be!—
A dim Philosophy is all thine own,
But to thy vassals and thy votaries known.
More mysteries in thy sealed abysses be!—
A dim Philosophy is all thine own,
But to thy vassals and thy votaries known.
121
Thou hast thy knowledge!—Many a weak-brained fool
Hath learned Philosophy in thy stern school—
And even the sagest can but little know,
Who hath to learn the lessons of life's woe.
Hath learned Philosophy in thy stern school—
And even the sagest can but little know,
Who hath to learn the lessons of life's woe.
Thou hast thy triumphs!—those with solemn love
Who cherish thee—are throned indeed above
The common petty accidents of fate—
Which with the worldly have so much of weight.
Who cherish thee—are throned indeed above
The common petty accidents of fate—
Which with the worldly have so much of weight.
Thou hast thy happiness! most strange of all!—
But who hath ever mourned—nor can recall
That beatific Melancholy brought
Through Grief's indulgence to the brooding thought?
But who hath ever mourned—nor can recall
That beatific Melancholy brought
Through Grief's indulgence to the brooding thought?
Sorrow! like Night thou bring'st new worlds to view,
Like Night thou lend'st them spotless radiance too:
The golden Sun of joy and cloudless bliss
Pours one sole light, and shows no world but this—
Like Night thou lend'st them spotless radiance too:
The golden Sun of joy and cloudless bliss
Pours one sole light, and shows no world but this—
122
Thanks, Sorrow! for thy teaching!—thou hast been
My sable guide through all this earthly scene;
Thanks for thy teeming gloom—for shades spread wide—
For worlds of mightier happiness descried!
My sable guide through all this earthly scene;
Thanks for thy teeming gloom—for shades spread wide—
For worlds of mightier happiness descried!
| Queen Berengaria's Courtesy, and Other Poems | |