University of Virginia Library

Search this document 
Sonnets, Lyrics and Translations

By the Rev. Charles Turner [i.e. Charles Tennyson]
 

collapse section
collapse section
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
THE MISSING BRIDE.
collapse section
 
 
collapse section
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
collapse section
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
collapse section
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
collapse section
 
 
 
 
collapse section
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


17

THE MISSING BRIDE.

The wedded girl exclaim'd, “I'll hide, I'll hide!”
And so they sought her gaily far and near,
Till, first in wonder, then in mortal fear,
Hour after hour they look'd for the lost bride.
Oh! would she peep from out the laurel-walk,
Or from yon pleachèd roses nod and smile,
We would forgive her all this mournful talk
And sad surmise, nor chide her girlish guile.
Years pass'd, long years! when in an ancient chest,
Whose heavy lid had dropp'd upon its spring,
They found the object of a bygone quest,
A skeleton, in bridal wreath and ring;
And recogniz'd, with hearts too full to speak,
The mystery of that fatal “Hide and Seek.”