The poet, too-ah! well I deem,
Small is the need the tale to tell ;
Who knows not that his thought, his dream, On thee at noon, at midnight dwell? Who knows not that thy magic spell Can charm his every care away?
In memory cheer his gloomy cell; In hope can lend a deathless ray?
"Tis sweet to watch Affection's eye; To mark the tear with love replete ; To feel the softly-breathing sigh,
When Friendship's lips the tones repeat; But oh! a thousand times more sweet The praise of those we love to hear! Like balmy showers in summer heat, It falls upon the greedy ear.
The lover lulls his rankling wound, By dwelling on his fair one's name; The mother listens for the sound
Of her young warrior's growing fame. Thy voice can soothe the mourning dame, Of her soul's wedded partner riven, Who cherishes the hallowed flame, Parted on earth, to meet in heaven!—
That voice can quiet passion's mood; Can humble merit raise on high; And from the wise and from the good, It breathes of immortality! There is a lip, there is an eye, Where most I love to see it shine, To hear it speak, to feel it sigh My mother, need I say, 't is thine! Literary Panorama.
breathe not-sure 't was something holy! Earth has no sounds like these-again it passes With a wild voice, that slowly rolls away, Leaving a silence not unmusical!
And now again the wind-harp's frame hath felt The spirit-like the organ's richest peal Rolls the long murmur, and again it comes, That wild low wailing voice.-
Bear record of strange feelings;
-it was evening, And this same instrument lay on my window That the sighing breezes there might visit it;- I then did love to leave my lonely heart, Like this soft harp, the plaything of each impulse, The sport of every breath. I sate along, Listening for many minutes—the sounds ceased, Or, though unnoted by the idle ear,
Were mingling with my thoughts-I thought of one, And she was of the Dead.She stood before me With sweet sad brow, like the wan moon at midnight Smiling in silence on a world at rest-
I mingled with the mirth Of the noisy many, it is strange, that night With a light heart, with light and lively words, I sported hours away; and yet there came At times wild feelings-words will not express them- But it seemed that a chill eye gazed upon my heart, That a wan cheek, with a sad smile, upbraided me; I felt that mirth was but a mockery,
I did not sleep-I could not choose but listen, For o'er the wind-harp's strings the spirit came
With that same sweet low voice. Yes! thou may'st smile, But I must think, my friend, as then I thought,
That the voice was hers whose early death I mourned, That she it was who breathed those solemn notes Which like a spell possessed the soul.-
Wakeful, the prey of many feverish feelings,
My thoughts were of the dead!—At length I slept, If it indeed were sleep.-She stood before me In beauty-the wan smile had passed away— The eye was bright-I could not bear its brightness. Till now I knew not death was terrible,
For seldom did I dwell upon the thought; And if, in some wild moment, Fancy shaped A world of the departed, 't was a scene Most calm and cloudless, or if clouds at times Stained the blue quiet of the still soft sky, They did not dim its charms, but suited well The stillness of the scene, like thoughts that move Silently o'er the soul or linger there,
Shedding a tender twilight pensiveness! This is an idle song!-I cannot tell
What charms were hers who died.-I cannot tell What grief is theirs, whose spirits weep for her! Oh! many were the agonies of prayer, And many were the mockeries of hope; And many a heart, that loved the weak delusion, Looked forward for the rosy smiles of Health, And many a rosy smile passed o'er that cheek Which will not smile again;- and the soft tinge That often flushed across that fading face,
And made the stranger smile with friends, would wake A momentary hope ;- -even the calm tone
With which she spoke of Death, gave birth to thoughts, Weak, trembling thoughts, that the lip uttered not!
And when she spoke with those, whom most she mourned To leave, and when through clear calm tears the eye Shone with unwonted light, oh! was there not
In its rich sparkle something that forbade
The fear of Death? And when in life's last days
The same gay spirit, that in happier hours
Had charactered her countenance, still gleamed On her wan features-when such playful words, As once could scatter gladness on all hearts, Still trembled from the lip, and o'er the souls Of those who listened shed a deeper gloom.— In hours of such most mournful gaiety, Oh! was there not even then a lingering hope, That flitted fearfully, like parent birds
Fast fluttering o'er their desolate nest?
Mourn not for her who died!-She lived, as saints Might pray to live-she died as Christians die ;— There was no earthward struggle of the heart, No shuddering terror- — no reluctant sigh.- They who beheld her dying, fear not Death! Silently-silently the Spoiler came,
As sleep steals o'er the senses, unperceived,
And the last thoughts that soothed the waking soul Mingle with our sweet dreams.-Mourn not for her! Blackwood's Magazine.
LAST Smile of the departing year,
Thy sister sweets are flown;
Thy pensive wreath is far more dear,
For blooming thus alone.
Thy tender blush, thy simple frame, Unnoticed might have passed;
But now thou com'st with softer claim, The loveliest and the last!
Sweet are the charms in thee we find, Emblem of hope's gay wing;
"T is thine to call past bloom to mind, To promise future spring.
That the voice was hers whose early death I mourned, That she it was who breathed those solemn notes Which like a spell possessed the soul.—
Wakeful, the prey of many feverish feelings,
My thoughts were of the dead!—At length I slept, If it indeed were sleep.-She stood before me In beauty-the wan smile had passed away— The eye was bright-I could not bear its brightness. Till now I knew not death was terrible,
For seldom did I dwell upon the thought; And if, in some wild moment, Fancy shaped A world of the departed, 't was a scene Most calm and cloudless, or if clouds at times Stained the blue quiet of the still soft sky, They did not dim its charms, but suited well The stillness of the scene, like thoughts that move Silently o'er the soul or linger there,
Shedding a tender twilight pensiveness! This is an idle song!-I cannot tell
What charms were hers who died.-I cannot tell What grief is theirs, whose spirits weep for her! Oh! many were the agonies of prayer, And many were the mockeries of hope; And many a heart, that loved the weak delusion, Looked forward for the rosy smiles of Health, And many a rosy smile passed o'er that cheek Which will not smile again;- and the soft tinge That often flushed across that fading face,
And made the stranger smile with friends, would wake A momentary hope ; -even the calm tone
With which she spoke of Death, gave birth to thoughts, Weak, trembling thoughts, that the lip uttered not!
And when she spoke with those, whom most she mourned To leave, and when through clear calm tears the eye Shone with unwonted light, oh! was there not
In its rich sparkle something that forbade
The fear of Death? And when in life's last days
The same gay spirit, that in happier hours
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