The poetical works of James Montgomery collected by himself |
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A TALE WITHOUT A NAME. |
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 | The poetical works of James Montgomery |  |
A TALE WITHOUT A NAME.
“O, woman! in our hours of ease,
Uncertain, coy, and hard to please;
—When pain and anguish wring the brow,
A ministering angel thou!”
Scott's Marmion, canto vi.
Uncertain, coy, and hard to please;
—When pain and anguish wring the brow,
A ministering angel thou!”
Scott's Marmion, canto vi.
Part I.
He had no friend on earth but thee;
No hope in heaven above;
By day and night, o'er land and sea,
No solace but thy love:
He wander'd here, he wander'd there,
A fugitive like Cain;
And mourn'd like him, in dark despair,
A brother rashly slain.
No hope in heaven above;
By day and night, o'er land and sea,
No solace but thy love:
He wander'd here, he wander'd there,
A fugitive like Cain;
And mourn'd like him, in dark despair,
A brother rashly slain.
Rashly, yet not in sudden wrath,
They quarrell'd in their pride,
He sprang upon his brother's path,
And smote him that he died.
A nightmare sat upon his brain,
All stone within he felt;
A death-watch tick'd through every vein,
Till the dire blow was dealt.
They quarrell'd in their pride,
He sprang upon his brother's path,
And smote him that he died.
A nightmare sat upon his brain,
All stone within he felt;
A death-watch tick'd through every vein,
Till the dire blow was dealt.
As from a dream, in pale surprise,
Waking, the murderer stood;
He met the victim's closing eyes,
He saw his brother's blood:
That blood pursued him on his way,
A living, murmuring stream;
Those eyes before him flash'd dismay,
With ever-dying gleam.
Waking, the murderer stood;
He met the victim's closing eyes,
He saw his brother's blood:
That blood pursued him on his way,
A living, murmuring stream;
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With ever-dying gleam.
In vain he strove to fly the scene,
And breathe beyond that time;
Tormented memory glared between;
Immortal seem'd his crime:
His thoughts, his words, his actions all
Turn'd on his fallen brother;
That hour he never could recall,
Nor ever live another.
And breathe beyond that time;
Tormented memory glared between;
Immortal seem'd his crime:
His thoughts, his words, his actions all
Turn'd on his fallen brother;
That hour he never could recall,
Nor ever live another.
To him the very clouds stood still,
The ground appear'd unchanged;
One light was ever on the hill,
—That hill where'er he ranged:
He heard the brook, the birds, the wind,
Sound in the glen below;
The self-same tree he cower'd behind,
He struck the self-same blow.
The ground appear'd unchanged;
One light was ever on the hill,
—That hill where'er he ranged:
He heard the brook, the birds, the wind,
Sound in the glen below;
The self-same tree he cower'd behind,
He struck the self-same blow.
Yet was not reason quite o'erthrown,
Nor so benign his lot,
To dwell in frenzied grief alone,
All other woe forgot:
The world within and world around,
Clash'd in perpetual strife;
Present and past close interwound
Through his whole thread of life.
Nor so benign his lot,
To dwell in frenzied grief alone,
All other woe forgot:
The world within and world around,
Clash'd in perpetual strife;
Present and past close interwound
Through his whole thread of life.
That thread, inextricably spun,
Might reach eternity;
For ever doing, never done,
That moment's deed might be;
This was a worm that would not die,
A fire unquenchable:
Ah! whither shall the sufferer fly?
Fly from a bosom-hell?
Might reach eternity;
For ever doing, never done,
That moment's deed might be;
This was a worm that would not die,
A fire unquenchable:
Ah! whither shall the sufferer fly?
Fly from a bosom-hell?
He had no friend on earth but thee,
No hope in heaven above;
By day and night, o'er land and sea,
No refuge but thy love;
Not time nor place, nor crime nor shame,
Could change thy spousal truth;
In desolate old age the same
As in the joy of youth.
No hope in heaven above;
By day and night, o'er land and sea,
No refuge but thy love;
Not time nor place, nor crime nor shame,
Could change thy spousal truth;
In desolate old age the same
As in the joy of youth.
Not death, but infamy, to 'scape,
He left his native coast;
To death in any other shape,
He long'd to yield the ghost:
But infamy his steps pursued,
And haunted every place,
While death, though like a lover woo'd,
Fled from his loathed embrace.
He left his native coast;
To death in any other shape,
He long'd to yield the ghost:
But infamy his steps pursued,
And haunted every place,
While death, though like a lover woo'd,
Fled from his loathed embrace.
He wander'd here, he wander'd there,
And she his angel-guide,—
The silent spectre of despair,
With mercy at his side;
Whose love and loveliness alone
Shed comfort round his gloom,—
Pale as the monumental stone
That watches o'er a tomb.
And she his angel-guide,—
The silent spectre of despair,
With mercy at his side;
Whose love and loveliness alone
Shed comfort round his gloom,—
Pale as the monumental stone
That watches o'er a tomb.
Part II.
They cross'd the blue Atlantic flood;
A storm their bark assail'd;
Stern through the hurricane he stood;
All hearts, all efforts, fail'd:
With horrid hope, he eyed the waves
That flash'd like wild-fires dim;
But ocean, midst a thousand graves,
Denied a grave to him.
A storm their bark assail'd;
Stern through the hurricane he stood;
All hearts, all efforts, fail'd:
With horrid hope, he eyed the waves
That flash'd like wild-fires dim;
But ocean, midst a thousand graves,
Denied a grave to him.
On shore he sought delirious rest,
In crowds of busy men,
When suddenly the yellow pest
Came reeking from its den:
The city vanish'd at its breath;
He caught the taint, and lay
A suppliant at the gate of death,
—Death spurn'd the wretch away.
In crowds of busy men,
When suddenly the yellow pest
Came reeking from its den:
The city vanish'd at its breath;
He caught the taint, and lay
A suppliant at the gate of death,
—Death spurn'd the wretch away.
In solitude of streams and rocks,
Mountains and forests dread,
Where nature's free and fearless flocks
At her own hand are fed,
They hid their pangs;—but oh! to live
In peace,—in peace to die,—
Was more than solitude could give,
Or earth's whole round supply.
Mountains and forests dread,
Where nature's free and fearless flocks
At her own hand are fed,
They hid their pangs;—but oh! to live
In peace,—in peace to die,—
Was more than solitude could give,
Or earth's whole round supply.
The swampy wilderness their haunt,
Where fiery panthers prowl,
Serpents their fatal splendours flaunt,
And wolves and lynxes howl;
Where alligators throng the floods,
And reptiles, venom-arm'd,
Infest the air, the fields, the woods,
They slept, they waked, unharm'd.
Where fiery panthers prowl,
Serpents their fatal splendours flaunt,
And wolves and lynxes howl;
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And reptiles, venom-arm'd,
Infest the air, the fields, the woods,
They slept, they waked, unharm'd.
Where the Red Indians, in their ire,
With havoc mark the way,
Skulk in dark ambush, waste with fire,
Or gorge inhuman prey:
Their blood no wild marauder shed;
Secure without defence,
Alike, were his devoted head,
And her meek innocence.
With havoc mark the way,
Skulk in dark ambush, waste with fire,
Or gorge inhuman prey:
Their blood no wild marauder shed;
Secure without defence,
Alike, were his devoted head,
And her meek innocence.
Weary of loneliness, they turn'd
To Europe's carnage-field;
At glory's Moloch-shrine, he burn'd
His hated breath to yield:
He plunged into the hottest strife;
He dealt the deadliest blows;
To every foe exposed his life;
Powerless were all his foes.
To Europe's carnage-field;
At glory's Moloch-shrine, he burn'd
His hated breath to yield:
He plunged into the hottest strife;
He dealt the deadliest blows;
To every foe exposed his life;
Powerless were all his foes.
The iron thunder-bolts, with wings
Of lightning, shunn'd his course;
Harmless the hail of battle rings,
The bayonet spends its force;
The sword to smite him flames aloof,
Descends,—but strikes in vain;
His branded front was weapon-proof,
He wore the mark of Cain.
Of lightning, shunn'd his course;
Harmless the hail of battle rings,
The bayonet spends its force;
The sword to smite him flames aloof,
Descends,—but strikes in vain;
His branded front was weapon-proof,
He wore the mark of Cain.
“I cannot live,—I cannot die!”
He mutter'd in despair;
“This curse of immortality,
O, could I quit,—or bear!”
—Of every frantic hope bereft,
To meet a nobler doom,
One refuge, only one, was left,—
To storm the' unyielding tomb.
He mutter'd in despair;
“This curse of immortality,
O, could I quit,—or bear!”
—Of every frantic hope bereft,
To meet a nobler doom,
One refuge, only one, was left,—
To storm the' unyielding tomb.
Through his own breast the passage lay,
The steel was in his hand;
But fiends upstarting fenced the way,
And every nerve unmann'd:
The heart that ached its blood to spill,
With palsying horror died;
The arm, rebellious to his will,
Hung withering at his side.
The steel was in his hand;
But fiends upstarting fenced the way,
And every nerve unmann'd:
The heart that ached its blood to spill,
With palsying horror died;
The arm, rebellious to his will,
Hung withering at his side.
O, woman! wonderful in love,
Whose weakness is thy power,
How did thy spirit rise above
The conflict of that hour!
—She found him prostrate;—not a sigh
Escaped her tortured breast,
Nor fell one tear-drop from her eye,
Where torrents were supprest.
Whose weakness is thy power,
How did thy spirit rise above
The conflict of that hour!
—She found him prostrate;—not a sigh
Escaped her tortured breast,
Nor fell one tear-drop from her eye,
Where torrents were supprest.
Her faithful bosom stay'd his head,
That throbb'd with fever heat;
Her eye serene compassion shed,
Which his could never meet:
Her arms enclasp'd his shuddering frame,
While at his side she kneel'd,
And utter'd nothing but his name,
Yet all her soul reveal'd.
That throbb'd with fever heat;
Her eye serene compassion shed,
Which his could never meet:
Her arms enclasp'd his shuddering frame,
While at his side she kneel'd,
And utter'd nothing but his name,
Yet all her soul reveal'd.
Touch'd to the quick, he gave no sign
By gentle word or tone;
In him affection could not shine,
'Twas fire within a stone;
Which no collision by the way
Could startle into light,
Though the poor heart that held it lay
Wrapt in Cimmerian night.
By gentle word or tone;
In him affection could not shine,
'Twas fire within a stone;
Which no collision by the way
Could startle into light,
Though the poor heart that held it lay
Wrapt in Cimmerian night.
It was not always thus;—erewhile
The kindness of his youth,
His brow of innocence, and smile
Of unpretending truth,
Had left such strong delight, that she
Would oft recall the time,
And live in golden memory,
Unconscious of his crime.
The kindness of his youth,
His brow of innocence, and smile
Of unpretending truth,
Had left such strong delight, that she
Would oft recall the time,
And live in golden memory,
Unconscious of his crime.
Though self-abandon'd now to fate,
The passive prey of grief,
Sullen, and cold, and desolate,
He shunn'd, he spurn'd, relief:
Still onward in its even course
Her pure affection press'd,
And pour'd with soft and silent force
Its sweetness through his breast.
The passive prey of grief,
Sullen, and cold, and desolate,
He shunn'd, he spurn'd, relief:
Still onward in its even course
Her pure affection press'd,
And pour'd with soft and silent force
Its sweetness through his breast.
Thus Sodom's melancholy lake
No turn or current knows;
Nor breeze, nor billow sounding, break
The horror of repose;
While Jordan, through the sulphurous brine,
Rolls a translucent stream,
Whose waves with answering beauty shine
To every changing beam.
No turn or current knows;
Nor breeze, nor billow sounding, break
The horror of repose;
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Rolls a translucent stream,
Whose waves with answering beauty shine
To every changing beam.
Part III.
At length the hardest trial came,
Again they cross the seas;
The waves their wilder fury tame,
The storm becomes a breeze:
Homeward their easy course they hold,
And now in radiant view,
The purple forelands, tinged with gold,
Larger and lovelier grew.
Again they cross the seas;
The waves their wilder fury tame,
The storm becomes a breeze:
Homeward their easy course they hold,
And now in radiant view,
The purple forelands, tinged with gold,
Larger and lovelier grew.
The vessel on the tranquil tide
Then seem'd to lie at rest,
While Albion, in maternal pride,
Advanced with open breast
To bid them welcome on the main:
—Both shrunk from her embrace;
Cold grew the pulse through every vein;
He turn'd away his face.
Then seem'd to lie at rest,
While Albion, in maternal pride,
Advanced with open breast
To bid them welcome on the main:
—Both shrunk from her embrace;
Cold grew the pulse through every vein;
He turn'd away his face.
Silent, apart, on deck he stands
In ecstasy of woe;
A brother's blood is on his hands,
He sees, he hears it flow:
Wilder than ocean tempest-wrought,
Though deadly calm his look;
—His partner read his inmost thought,
And strength her limbs forsook.
In ecstasy of woe;
A brother's blood is on his hands,
He sees, he hears it flow:
Wilder than ocean tempest-wrought,
Though deadly calm his look;
—His partner read his inmost thought,
And strength her limbs forsook.
Then first, then last, a pang she proved
Too exquisite to bear:
She fell;—he caught her,—strangely moved,
Roused from intense despair;
Alive to feelings long unknown,
He wept upon her cheek,
And call'd her in as kind a tone
As love's own lips could speak.
Too exquisite to bear:
She fell;—he caught her,—strangely moved,
Roused from intense despair;
Alive to feelings long unknown,
He wept upon her cheek,
And call'd her in as kind a tone
As love's own lips could speak.
Her spirit heard that voice, and felt
Arrested on its flight;
Back to the mansion where it dwelt,
Back from the gates of light,
That open'd Paradise in trance,
It hasten'd from afar,
Quick as the startled seaman's glance
Turns from the polar star.
Arrested on its flight;
Back to the mansion where it dwelt,
Back from the gates of light,
That open'd Paradise in trance,
It hasten'd from afar,
Quick as the startled seaman's glance
Turns from the polar star.
She breathed again, look'd up, and lo!
Those eyes that knew not tears,
With streams of tenderness o'erflow;
That heart, through hopeless years
The den of fiends in darkness chain'd,
That would not, dared not rest,
Affection fervent, pure, unfeign'd,
In speechless sighs express'd.
Those eyes that knew not tears,
With streams of tenderness o'erflow;
That heart, through hopeless years
The den of fiends in darkness chain'd,
That would not, dared not rest,
Affection fervent, pure, unfeign'd,
In speechless sighs express'd.
Content to live, since now she knew
What love believed before;
Content to live, since he was true,
And love could ask no more,—
This vow to righteous heaven she made,
—“Whatever ills befall,
Patient, unshrinking, undismay'd,
I'll freely suffer all.”
What love believed before;
Content to live, since he was true,
And love could ask no more,—
This vow to righteous heaven she made,
—“Whatever ills befall,
Patient, unshrinking, undismay'd,
I'll freely suffer all.”
They land,—they take the wonted road,
By twice ten years estranged;
The trees, the fields, their old abode,
Objects and men, had changed:
Familiar faces, forms endear'd,
Each well-remember'd name,
From earth itself had disappear'd,
Or seem'd no more the same.
By twice ten years estranged;
The trees, the fields, their old abode,
Objects and men, had changed:
Familiar faces, forms endear'd,
Each well-remember'd name,
From earth itself had disappear'd,
Or seem'd no more the same.
The old were dead, the young were old;
Children to men had sprung;
And every eye to them was cold,
And silent every tongue;
Friendless, companionless, they roam
Amidst their native scene;
In drearier banishment at home,
Than savage climes had been.
Children to men had sprung;
And every eye to them was cold,
And silent every tongue;
Friendless, companionless, they roam
Amidst their native scene;
In drearier banishment at home,
Than savage climes had been.
Part IV.
Yet worse she fear'd;—nor long they lay
In safety or suspense;
Unslumbering justice seized her prey,
And dragg'd the culprit thence:
Amid the dungeon's darken'd walls,
Down on the cold damp floor,
A wreck of misery he falls,
Close to the bolted door.
In safety or suspense;
Unslumbering justice seized her prey,
And dragg'd the culprit thence:
Amid the dungeon's darken'd walls,
Down on the cold damp floor,
A wreck of misery he falls,
Close to the bolted door.
216
And she is gone,—while he remains,
Bewilder'd in the gloom,
To brood in solitude and chains
Upon a felon's doom:
Yes, she is gone,—and he forlorn
Must groan the night away,
And long to see her face at morn,
More welcome than the day.
Bewilder'd in the gloom,
To brood in solitude and chains
Upon a felon's doom:
Yes, she is gone,—and he forlorn
Must groan the night away,
And long to see her face at morn,
More welcome than the day.
The morning comes,—she re-appears
With grief-dissembling wiles;
A sad serenity of tears,
An agony of smiles,
Her looks assume; his spectral woes
Are vanish'd at the sight;
And all within him seem'd repose,
And all around him light.
With grief-dissembling wiles;
A sad serenity of tears,
An agony of smiles,
Her looks assume; his spectral woes
Are vanish'd at the sight;
And all within him seem'd repose,
And all around him light.
Never since that mysterious hour,
When kindred blood was spilt,—
Never had aught in nature power
To soothe corroding guilt,
Till the glad moment when she cross'd
The threshold of that place,
And the wild rapture when he lost
Himself in her embrace.
When kindred blood was spilt,—
Never had aught in nature power
To soothe corroding guilt,
Till the glad moment when she cross'd
The threshold of that place,
And the wild rapture when he lost
Himself in her embrace.
Even then, while on her neck he hung,
Ere yet a word they spoke,
As by a fiery serpent stung,
Away at once he broke:
Frenzy, remorse, confusion burst
In tempest o'er his brain;
He felt accused, condemn'd, accurst,
He was himself again.
Ere yet a word they spoke,
As by a fiery serpent stung,
Away at once he broke:
Frenzy, remorse, confusion burst
In tempest o'er his brain;
He felt accused, condemn'd, accurst,
He was himself again.
Days, weeks, and months, had mark'd the flight
Of time's unwearied wing,
Ere winter's long, lugubrious night
Relented into spring:
To him who pined for death's release,
An age the space between!
To her who could not hope for peace,
How fugitive the scene!
Of time's unwearied wing,
Ere winter's long, lugubrious night
Relented into spring:
To him who pined for death's release,
An age the space between!
To her who could not hope for peace,
How fugitive the scene!
In vain she chid forewarning fears,
In vain repress'd her woe,
Alone, unseen, her sighs and tears
Would freely heave and flow:
Yet ever in his sight, by day,
Her looks were calm and kind,
And when at evening torn away,
She left her soul behind.
In vain repress'd her woe,
Alone, unseen, her sighs and tears
Would freely heave and flow:
Yet ever in his sight, by day,
Her looks were calm and kind,
And when at evening torn away,
She left her soul behind.
Hark!—hark!—the Judge is at the gate,
The trumpets' thrilling tones
Ring through the cells, the voice of fate!
Re-echoed thence in groans:
The sound hath reach'd her ear,—she stands,
In marble-chilness dumb;
He too hath heard, and smites his hands:
“I come,” he cried, “I come.”
The trumpets' thrilling tones
Ring through the cells, the voice of fate!
Re-echoed thence in groans:
The sound hath reach'd her ear,—she stands,
In marble-chilness dumb;
He too hath heard, and smites his hands:
“I come,” he cried, “I come.”
Before the dread tribunal now,
Firm in collected pride,
Without a scowl upon his brow,
Without a pang to hide,
He stood;—superior in that hour
To recreant fear and shame;
Peril itself inspired the power
To meet the worst that came.
Firm in collected pride,
Without a scowl upon his brow,
Without a pang to hide,
He stood;—superior in that hour
To recreant fear and shame;
Peril itself inspired the power
To meet the worst that came.
'Twas like the tempest, when he sought
Fate in the swallowing flood;
'Twas like the battle, when he fought
For death through seas of blood:
—A violence which soon must break
The heart that would not bend,—
A heart that almost ceased to ache
In hope of such an end.
Fate in the swallowing flood;
'Twas like the battle, when he fought
For death through seas of blood:
—A violence which soon must break
The heart that would not bend,—
A heart that almost ceased to ache
In hope of such an end.
On him while every eye was fix'd,
And every lip express'd,
Without a voice, the rage unmix'd,
That boil'd in every breast;
It seem'd as though that deed abhorr'd,
In years far distant done,
Had cut asunder every cord
Of fellowship but one,—
And every lip express'd,
Without a voice, the rage unmix'd,
That boil'd in every breast;
It seem'd as though that deed abhorr'd,
In years far distant done,
Had cut asunder every cord
Of fellowship but one,—
That one indissolubly bound
A feeble woman's heart:
—Faithful in every trial found,
Long had she borne her part;
Now at his helpless side alone,
Girt with infuriate crowds,
Like the new moon her meekness shone,
Pale through a gulf of clouds.
A feeble woman's heart:
—Faithful in every trial found,
Long had she borne her part;
Now at his helpless side alone,
Girt with infuriate crowds,
Like the new moon her meekness shone,
Pale through a gulf of clouds.
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Ah! well might every bosom yearn
Responsive to her sigh,
And every visage, dark and stern,
Soften beneath that eye;
Ah! well might every lip of gall
The unutter'd curse suspend;
Its tones for her in blessings fall,
Its breath in prayer ascend.
Responsive to her sigh,
And every visage, dark and stern,
Soften beneath that eye;
Ah! well might every lip of gall
The unutter'd curse suspend;
Its tones for her in blessings fall,
Its breath in prayer ascend.
“Guilty!”—that thunder-striking sound,
All shudder'd when they heard;
A burst of horrid joy around
Hail'd the tremendous word;
Check'd in a moment,—she was there!
The instinctive groan was hush'd:
Nature, that forced it, cried, “Forbear;”
Indignant justice blush'd.
All shudder'd when they heard;
A burst of horrid joy around
Hail'd the tremendous word;
Check'd in a moment,—she was there!
The instinctive groan was hush'd:
Nature, that forced it, cried, “Forbear;”
Indignant justice blush'd.
Part V.
One woe is past, another speeds
To brand and seal his doom;
The third day's failing beam recedes;
She watch'd it into gloom:
That night, how swift in its career
It flew from sun to sun!
That night, the last of many a dear
And many a dolorous one!—
To brand and seal his doom;
The third day's failing beam recedes;
She watch'd it into gloom:
That night, how swift in its career
It flew from sun to sun!
That night, the last of many a dear
And many a dolorous one!—
That night, by special grace, she wakes
In the lone convict's cell,
With him for whom the morrow breaks
To light to heaven or hell:
Dread sounds of preparation rend
The dungeon's ponderous roof;
The hammer's doubling strokes descend,
The scaffold creaks aloof.
In the lone convict's cell,
With him for whom the morrow breaks
To light to heaven or hell:
Dread sounds of preparation rend
The dungeon's ponderous roof;
The hammer's doubling strokes descend,
The scaffold creaks aloof.
She watch'd his features through the shade
Which glimmering embers broke;
Both from their inmost spirit pray'd;
They pray'd, but seldom spoke:
Moments meanwhile were years to him;
Her grief forgot their flight,
Till on the hearth the fire grew dim;
She turn'd, and lo! the light;—
Which glimmering embers broke;
Both from their inmost spirit pray'd;
They pray'd, but seldom spoke:
Moments meanwhile were years to him;
Her grief forgot their flight,
Till on the hearth the fire grew dim;
She turn'd, and lo! the light;—
The light less welcome to her eyes,
The loveliest light of morn,
Than the dark glare of felons' eyes
Through grated cells forlorn:
The cool fresh breeze from heaven that blew,
The free lark's mounting strains,
She felt in drops of icy dew,
She heard like groans and chains.
The loveliest light of morn,
Than the dark glare of felons' eyes
Through grated cells forlorn:
The cool fresh breeze from heaven that blew,
The free lark's mounting strains,
She felt in drops of icy dew,
She heard like groans and chains.
“Farewell!”—'twas but a word, yet more
Was utter'd in that sound
Than love had ever told before,
Or sorrow yet had found:
They kiss like meeting flames,—they part
Like flames asunder driven;
Lip cleaves to lip, heart beats on heart,
Till soul from soul is riven.
Was utter'd in that sound
Than love had ever told before,
Or sorrow yet had found:
They kiss like meeting flames,—they part
Like flames asunder driven;
Lip cleaves to lip, heart beats on heart,
Till soul from soul is riven.
Quick hurried thence,—the sullen bell
Its pausing peal began;
She hearkens,—'tis the dying knell
Rung for the living man:
The mourner reach'd her lonely bower,
Fell on her widow'd bed,
And found, through one entrancing hour,
The quiet of the dead.
Its pausing peal began;
She hearkens,—'tis the dying knell
Rung for the living man:
The mourner reach'd her lonely bower,
Fell on her widow'd bed,
And found, through one entrancing hour,
The quiet of the dead.
She woke,—and knew he was no more:
“Thy dream of life is past;
That pang with thee, that pang is o'er,
The bitterest and the last!”
She cried:—then scenes of sad amaze
Flash'd on her inward eye;
A field, a troop, a crowd to gaze,
A murderer led to die!
“Thy dream of life is past;
That pang with thee, that pang is o'er,
The bitterest and the last!”
She cried:—then scenes of sad amaze
Flash'd on her inward eye;
A field, a troop, a crowd to gaze,
A murderer led to die!
He eyed the ignominious tree,
Look'd round, but saw no friend;
Was plunged into eternity;
—Is this—is this the end?
Her spirit follow'd him afar
Into the world unknown,
And saw him standing at that bar
Where each must stand alone.
Look'd round, but saw no friend;
Was plunged into eternity;
—Is this—is this the end?
Her spirit follow'd him afar
Into the world unknown,
And saw him standing at that bar
Where each must stand alone.
Silence and darkness hide the rest:
—Long she survived to mourn;
But peace sprang up within her breast,
From trouble meekly borne:
And higher, holier joys had she,
A Christian's hopes above,
The prize of suffering constancy,
The crown of faithful love.
—Long she survived to mourn;
But peace sprang up within her breast,
From trouble meekly borne:
And higher, holier joys had she,
A Christian's hopes above,
The prize of suffering constancy,
The crown of faithful love.
1821.
| The poetical works of James Montgomery | |