Lyrics of the heart With other poems. By Alaric A. Watts. With forty-one engravings on steel |
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A SKETCH FROM PRIVATE LIFE. |
 | Lyrics of the heart |  |
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A SKETCH FROM PRIVATE LIFE.
I saw her in her morn of hope, in life's delicious Spring,
A radiant creature of the earth, just bursting on the wing;
Elate and joyous as the lark when first it soars on high,
Without a shadow in its path,—a cloud upon its sky!
A radiant creature of the earth, just bursting on the wing;
Elate and joyous as the lark when first it soars on high,
Without a shadow in its path,—a cloud upon its sky!
I see her yet—so fancy deems,—her soft, unbraided hair
Gleaming, like sunlight upon snow, above her forehead fair;
Her large dark eyes, of changing light, the winning smile that played,
In dimpling sweetness, round a mouth Expression's self had made!
Gleaming, like sunlight upon snow, above her forehead fair;
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In dimpling sweetness, round a mouth Expression's self had made!
And light alike of heart and step, she bounded on her way,
Nor dreamed the flowers that round her bloomed would ever know decay;—
She had no winter in her note, but evermore would sing,—
What darker season had she known,—of Spring, of only Spring!
Nor dreamed the flowers that round her bloomed would ever know decay;—
She had no winter in her note, but evermore would sing,—
What darker season had she known,—of Spring, of only Spring!
Alas, alas! that hopes like hers, so gentle and so bright,
The growth of many a happy year, one wayward hour should blight;—
Bow down her fair but fragile form, her brilliant brow o'ercast,
And make her beauty, like her bliss, a shadow of the past!
The growth of many a happy year, one wayward hour should blight;—
Bow down her fair but fragile form, her brilliant brow o'ercast,
And make her beauty, like her bliss, a shadow of the past!
Years came and went, we met again,—but what a change was there!
The glassy calmness of the eye, that whispered of despair;
The fitful flushing of the cheek, the lips compressed and thin,
The clench of the attenuate hands,—proclaimed the strife within!
The glassy calmness of the eye, that whispered of despair;
The fitful flushing of the cheek, the lips compressed and thin,
The clench of the attenuate hands,—proclaimed the strife within!
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Yet, for each ravaged charm of earth, some pitying power had given
Beauty, of more than mortal birth, a spell that breathed of heaven;—
And as she bent, resigned and meek, beneath the chastening blow,
With all a martyr's fervid faith her features seemed to glow!
Beauty, of more than mortal birth, a spell that breathed of heaven;—
And as she bent, resigned and meek, beneath the chastening blow,
With all a martyr's fervid faith her features seemed to glow!
No wild reproach, no bitter word, in that sad hour was spoken,
For hopes deceived, for love betrayed, and plighted pledges broken;—
Like him who for his murderers prayed, she wept, but did not chide;
And her last orisons were said for him for whom she died!
For hopes deceived, for love betrayed, and plighted pledges broken;—
Like him who for his murderers prayed, she wept, but did not chide;
And her last orisons were said for him for whom she died!
Thus, thus, too oft, the traitor Man repays fond Woman's truth;
Thus blighting, in his wild caprice, the blossoms of her youth:
And sad it is in griefs like these o'er visions loved and lost,
That the truest and the tenderest heart must always suffer most!
Thus blighting, in his wild caprice, the blossoms of her youth:
And sad it is in griefs like these o'er visions loved and lost,
That the truest and the tenderest heart must always suffer most!
| Lyrics of the heart | |