 | Poems |  |
55
TO LEONORA.
IN HER ALBUM.
Launched on the tide of life's tempestuous river,
Like an autumnal leaf cast on the wave
Of some wild restless brook—unknowing whither
The hurrying waters tend—I go to brave
The treacherous billows of a stormy world!
Oppression, Envy, and the sneers of Scorn,
Slander and Hate, their ample wings unfurl'd,
May fan to life a tempest yet unborn,
Before whose withering breath my frail bark driven
Shall struggle madly in the boiling surge,
With shiver'd sails and sides all widely riven,
Singing in groans its own unheeded dirge!
Like an autumnal leaf cast on the wave
Of some wild restless brook—unknowing whither
The hurrying waters tend—I go to brave
The treacherous billows of a stormy world!
Oppression, Envy, and the sneers of Scorn,
Slander and Hate, their ample wings unfurl'd,
May fan to life a tempest yet unborn,
Before whose withering breath my frail bark driven
Shall struggle madly in the boiling surge,
With shiver'd sails and sides all widely riven,
Singing in groans its own unheeded dirge!
Thus, ere I go, I consecrate this page
A peaceful haven for my thoughts, where they,
In the brief pauses of the tempest's rage,
May on thy happy breast their heavy burthen lay;
Here, 'neath the steady beam of thy blue eye,
My soul shall oft communion hold with thine;
Hither the wounded Spirit often fly
To find a refuge in thy heart's pure shrine!
A peaceful haven for my thoughts, where they,
In the brief pauses of the tempest's rage,
May on thy happy breast their heavy burthen lay;
56
My soul shall oft communion hold with thine;
Hither the wounded Spirit often fly
To find a refuge in thy heart's pure shrine!
Enough! Farewell!—in the still hours of night,
When Sleep o'er earth extends her silent reign,
When the round moon and every star shines bright,
We oft shall meet—and part to meet again!
When Sleep o'er earth extends her silent reign,
When the round moon and every star shines bright,
We oft shall meet—and part to meet again!
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