Lyrics of the heart With other poems. By Alaric A. Watts. With forty-one engravings on steel |
 |
LEAVES FROM A POET'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY.
|
 | Lyrics of the heart |  |
36
LEAVES FROM A POET'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY.
WRITTEN ON THE FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THE AUTHOR'S BIRTH DAY; UNDER CIRCUMSTANCES OF GREAT MENTAL DEPRESSION.
Tell me not a radiant morrow
Follows oft the gloomiest night;
That the darkest cloud of sorrow
Sometimes hides a world of light;
If the heart hath long been pining,
Faint and sick with hope's delay,
And the star above us shining,
Veils from earth its guiding ray.
Follows oft the gloomiest night;
That the darkest cloud of sorrow
Sometimes hides a world of light;
If the heart hath long been pining,
Faint and sick with hope's delay,
And the star above us shining,
Veils from earth its guiding ray.
Evil days have overtaken,
With their storm-charged clouds my way;
And my soul, till now unshaken,
Shrinks within its coil of clay:
Even the Muse,—invoked not often,
Save to soothe the spirit's wrong,
Pride to tame, or grief to soften,—
Half withholds the power of Song!
With their storm-charged clouds my way;
And my soul, till now unshaken,
Shrinks within its coil of clay:
Even the Muse,—invoked not often,
Save to soothe the spirit's wrong,
Pride to tame, or grief to soften,—
Half withholds the power of Song!
37
Foul Oppression, fiercer, stronger,
That her step I strove to stay,
Till my feeble arm no longer
Might her trampling hoofs delay,—
Treads me down: no more my trust is
In my buoyant faith of old;
What can Reason, Truth, or Justice,
'Gainst the giant might of gold!
That her step I strove to stay,
Till my feeble arm no longer
Might her trampling hoofs delay,—
Treads me down: no more my trust is
In my buoyant faith of old;
What can Reason, Truth, or Justice,
'Gainst the giant might of gold!
Stormy skies are lowering o'er me;
Raging billows gird me round;
And the gloom that spreads before me
Grows but more and more profound:
Not a beacon-light is left me,
To my distant port a clew;
Fate, at one fell swoop, hath reft me
Of both chart and compass too!
Raging billows gird me round;
And the gloom that spreads before me
Grows but more and more profound:
Not a beacon-light is left me,
To my distant port a clew;
Fate, at one fell swoop, hath reft me
Of both chart and compass too!
Like a gallant ship succumbing,
That no more obeys her helm,
Bide I now the tenth wave coming,
With its mandate to o'erwhelm:
O'er my hopes, a clean breach making,
Sweeps that flood of wrack and wrong;
Rending stays, and bulwarks breaking,
Which I once believed so strong!
That no more obeys her helm,
Bide I now the tenth wave coming,
With its mandate to o'erwhelm:
O'er my hopes, a clean breach making,
Sweeps that flood of wrack and wrong;
Rending stays, and bulwarks breaking,
Which I once believed so strong!
38
Whilst upon the scene of ruin,
From his covert safe on high,
On the storm his work is doing,
Glares the Wrecker's baleful eye!
As the stout ship goes to pieces,
Torn each stalwart limb from limb,
How his sordid joy increases,
If some fragment drifts to him!
From his covert safe on high,
On the storm his work is doing,
Glares the Wrecker's baleful eye!
As the stout ship goes to pieces,
Torn each stalwart limb from limb,
How his sordid joy increases,
If some fragment drifts to him!
Once, of old, my glad way winning,
Youth and Hope both led me on;
Now, once more the world beginning,
Hope and Youth alike are gone:
Sad Experience, bought how dearly,
Cruel, seldom to be kind;
Like the stern-light, shows too clearly
But the track we leave behind!
Youth and Hope both led me on;
Now, once more the world beginning,
Hope and Youth alike are gone:
Sad Experience, bought how dearly,
Cruel, seldom to be kind;
Like the stern-light, shows too clearly
But the track we leave behind!
Friends with whom in youth I started
On life's first adventurous way,
Once so warm and genial-hearted,
One by one have dropped away!
Some, earth's vain turmoil exchanging
For the land that knows no wrong;
Others Fortune's smiles estranging
From the weak, when they grew strong!
On life's first adventurous way,
Once so warm and genial-hearted,
One by one have dropped away!
Some, earth's vain turmoil exchanging
For the land that knows no wrong;
Others Fortune's smiles estranging
From the weak, when they grew strong!
39
Summer friends, like swallows trooping,
Come when sunshine warms the heart,
But at winter's advent drooping,
For less chilling skies depart:
Foes, like stormy petrels flocking
'Round the doomed and labouring bark,
Deepening woe, misfortune mocking,
Come when heaven is wild and dark!
Come when sunshine warms the heart,
But at winter's advent drooping,
For less chilling skies depart:
Foes, like stormy petrels flocking
'Round the doomed and labouring bark,
Deepening woe, misfortune mocking,
Come when heaven is wild and dark!
Many a year, ambition dulling,
Irksome labour claimed my pen;
At the oar incessant pulling
'Mid the stir and strife of men!
From more calm pursuits diverted
To a task I plied in vain,
Tastes abandoned, haunts deserted,
Which, though late, I seek again!
Irksome labour claimed my pen;
At the oar incessant pulling
'Mid the stir and strife of men!
From more calm pursuits diverted
To a task I plied in vain,
Tastes abandoned, haunts deserted,
Which, though late, I seek again!
Long Fate's adverse current cleaving,
With a bold and sturdy stroke,
Hoping still, and still believing,
Did I bear that galling yoke!
Day and night, not seldom, toiling,
Wanting that which sweetens toil;
Life of half its joys despoiling,
Bartering peace for wild turmoil!
With a bold and sturdy stroke,
Hoping still, and still believing,
Did I bear that galling yoke!
Day and night, not seldom, toiling,
Wanting that which sweetens toil;
Life of half its joys despoiling,
Bartering peace for wild turmoil!
40
Manhood's vigorous prime exhausted;
All the flowering years of life;
Health impaired, acquirements wasted
In that long and fruitless strife;
Just as Fortune's tide was turning,
And my respite all but won;
For the hard-earned haven yearning,
But for others' sakes alone;
All the flowering years of life;
Health impaired, acquirements wasted
In that long and fruitless strife;
Just as Fortune's tide was turning,
And my respite all but won;
For the hard-earned haven yearning,
But for others' sakes alone;
Lawless Rapine, hundred-handed,
Sordid, cunning, bold, and strong,
With her base familiars banded,
Falsehood, Fraud, Revenge, and Wrong;
Of that poor reward bereft me;
Swept my household Gods away;
Ravaged even my hearth, and left me,
Save in heaven, no single stay!
Sordid, cunning, bold, and strong,
With her base familiars banded,
Falsehood, Fraud, Revenge, and Wrong;
Of that poor reward bereft me;
Swept my household Gods away;
Ravaged even my hearth, and left me,
Save in heaven, no single stay!
But the great and just Redresser,
(Who may 'scape unscathed His frown,)
That can strike the rich oppressor
In his rampant triumph down;
May vouchsafe me His protection,
Sweeten even this bitter cup;
And from “profitless dejection”
Lift my trampled spirit up!
(Who may 'scape unscathed His frown,)
That can strike the rich oppressor
In his rampant triumph down;
May vouchsafe me His protection,
Sweeten even this bitter cup;
And from “profitless dejection”
Lift my trampled spirit up!
| Lyrics of the heart | |