 | The Poetical Works of Robert Story |  |
268
She shall not Die.
1841.
She shall not die—as thousands die—
To be forgot ere long;
The poet's friend shall claim a sigh
While lives the poet's song!”
To be forgot ere long;
The poet's friend shall claim a sigh
While lives the poet's song!”
Such was the inward vow I made,
When o'er my hour of mirth
The tidings flashed, that cold was laid
The kindest heart on earth.
When o'er my hour of mirth
The tidings flashed, that cold was laid
The kindest heart on earth.
Then winter wrapped the land in snow;
The summer decks it now;
Yet unawaked one note of woe,
And unfulfilled my vow.
The summer decks it now;
Yet unawaked one note of woe,
And unfulfilled my vow.
And ah! unless the poet could
Take all of sweet and fair
That summer sheds by vale and wood,
And all the music there—
Take all of sweet and fair
That summer sheds by vale and wood,
And all the music there—
Could take from flowers their fairest hues,
Their sweetest notes from birds,
And by some magic skill transfuse
The whole into his words—
Their sweetest notes from birds,
And by some magic skill transfuse
The whole into his words—
269
How should he hope, in phrases meet,
His tribute to prefer?
Or how reflect the virtues sweet
That lived and bloomed in Her?
His tribute to prefer?
Or how reflect the virtues sweet
That lived and bloomed in Her?
Vain effort! She who sleeps below,
Must sleep unsung as now—
Still unawaked one note of woe,
And unfulfilled my vow,
Must sleep unsung as now—
Still unawaked one note of woe,
And unfulfilled my vow,
Save for these rhymes, which, unreproved,
May this proud boast prolong—
“He had a friend too much beloved,
Too deeply mourned, for song!”
May this proud boast prolong—
“He had a friend too much beloved,
Too deeply mourned, for song!”
| The Poetical Works of Robert Story | |