3. Then the mortal coldness of the soul like death itself comes down; It cannot feel for others' woes, it dare not dream its own; That heavy chill has frozen o'er the fountain of our tears, And though the eye may sparkle still, 'tis where the ice appears. 4. Though wit may flash from fluent lips, and mirth distract the breast, Through midnight hours that yield no more their former hope of rest; 'Tis but as ivy-leaves around the ruin'd turret wreath, All green and wildly fresh without, but worn and gray beneath. Oh could I feel as I have felt, -or be what I have been, Or weep as I could once have wept, o'er many a vanish'd scene: As springs in deserts found seem sweet, all brackish though they be, So midst the wither'd waste of life, those tears would flow to me. 1815. STANZAS FOR MUSIC. THERE be none of Beauty's daughters With a magic like thee; And like music on the waters Is thy sweet voice to me: When, as if its sound were causing The charined ocean's pausing, The waves lie still and gleaming, And the lull'd winds seem dreaming, And the midnight moon is weaving With a full but soft emotion, Like the swell of Summer's ocean. FARE THEE WELL. "Alas! they had been friends in Youth; "To free the hollow heart from paining- "But neither heat, nor frost, nor thunder "The marks of that which once hath been." Coleridge's Christabel. FARE thee well! and if for ever, Still for ever, fare thee well: Even though unforgiving, never 'Gainst thee shall my heart rebel. Though the world for this commend thee- Founded on another's woe VOL. III. S Though my many faults defaced me, Still must mine, though bleeding, beat; Think of him whose prayer shall bless thee, Should her lineaments resemble Those thou never more may'st see, Then thy heart will softly tremble Every feeling hath been shaken; Even my soul forsakes me now : Torn from every nearer tie, Sear'd in heart, and lone, and blightedMore than this I scarce can die. |