Loop up her tresses Escaped from the comb, Her fair auburn tresses; Whilst wonderment guesses Where was her home?
Who was her father?
Who was her mother? Had she a sister?
Had she a brother?
Or was there a dearer one Still, and a nearer one Yet, than all other?
Alas! for the rarity Of Christian charity Under the sun!
O! it was pitiful! Near a whole city full, Home she had none.
Sisterly, brotherly,
Fatherly, motherly
Feelings had changed: Love, by harsh evidence, Thrown from its eminence; Even God's providence Seeming estranged.
Where the lamps quiver So far in the river,
With many a light
From window and casement, From garret to basement, She stood, with amazement, Houseless by night.
The bleak wind of March
Made her tremble and shiver;
But not the dark arch,
Or the black flowing river:
Mad from life's history, Glad to death's mystery Swift to be hurl'd- Any where, any where Out of the world!
In she plunged boldly, No matter how coldly The rough river ran, Over the brink of it,— Picture it, think of it, Dissolute Man!
Lave in it, drink of it, Then, if you can!
Take her up tenderly, Lift her with care; Fashion'd so slenderly, Young, and so fair!
Ere her limbs frigidly Stiffen too rigidly,
Decently, kindly,
Smooth and compose them;
And her eyes, close them, Staring so blindly!
Dreadfully staring Thro' muddy impurity, As when with the daring Last look of despairing Fix'd on futurity.
Perishing gloomily,
Spurr'd by contumely, Cold inhumanity,
Burning insanity,
Into her rest.
-Cross her hands humbly As if praying dumbly, Over her breast!
Owning her weakness,
Her evil behaviour,
And leaving, with meekness,
Her sins to her Saviour.
WE watch'd her breathing thro' the night, Her breathing soft and low,
As in her breast the wave of life Kept heaving to and fro.
But when the morn came dim and sad And chill with early showers, Her quiet eyelids closed-she had Another morn than ours.
PAST AND PRESENT
I REMEMBER, I remember The house where I was born,
The little window where the sun Came peeping in at morn;
He never came a wink too soon Nor brought too long a day; But now, I often wish the night Had borne my breath away.
I remember, I remember The roses, red and white, The violets, and the lily-cups- Those flowers made of light! The lilacs where the robin built, And where my brother set The laburnum on his birthday,- The tree is living yet!
I remember, I remember
Where I was used to swing,
And thought the air must rush as fresh To swallows on the wing;
My spirit flew in feathers then
That is so heavy now,
And summer pools could hardly cool The fever on my brow.
I remember, I remember
The fir-trees dark and high;
I used to think their slender tops
Were close against the sky: It was a childish ignorance,
But now 'tis little joy
To know I'm farther off from Heaven Than when I was a boy.
GAZING from each low bulwark of this bridge, How wonderful the contrast! Dark as night, Here, amid cliffs and woods, with headlong might The black stream whirls, through ferns and drooping sedge, 'Neath twisted roots moss-brown, and weedy ledge, Gushing-aloft, from yonder birch-clad height Leaps into air a cataract, snow-white; Falling to gulfs obscure. The mountain ridge, Like a grey Warder, guardian of the scene, Above the cloven gorge gloomily towers: O'er the dim woods a gathering tempest lours; Save where athwart the moist leaves' lucid green A sunbeam, glancing through disparted showers, Sparkles along the rill with diamond sheen!
A sun-burst on the Bay! Turn and behold! The restless waves, resplendent in their glory, Sweep glittering past yon purpled promontory, Bright as Apollo's breastplate. Bathed in gold, Yon bastioned islet gleams. Thin mists are rolled, Translucent, through each glen. A mantle hoary Veils those peaked hills shapely as e'er in story Delphic, or Alpine, or Vesuvian old,
Minstrels have sung. From rock and headland proud The wild wood spreads its arms around the bay:
The manifold mountain cones, now dark, now bright, Now seen, now lost, alternate from rich light To spectral shade; and each dissolving cloud Reveals new mountains while it floats away.
[1796-1849]
SHE IS NOT FAIR
SHE is not fair to outward view As many maidens be; Her loveliness I never knew Until she smiled on me.
O then I saw her eye was bright,
A well of love, a spring of light.
But now her looks are coy and cold, To mine they ne'er reply,
And yet I cease not to behold The love-light in her eye:
Her very frowns are fairer far
Than smiles of other maidens are.
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