THE VISION OF SOME HEAVENLY DREAM.
Hours like those I spent with you,
So bright, so passing, and so few,
May never bless me more-Farewell!
My heart can feel, but dare not tell,
The rapture of those hours of light
Thus snatch'd from sorrow's cheerless night.
'Tis not thy check's soft blended hue ;
'Tis not thine eye of heavenly blue;
'Tis not the radiance of thy brow,
That thus would win or charm me now:
It is thy heart's warm light, that glows
Like sunbeams on December snows.
It is thy wit, that flashes bright
As lightning on a stormy night,
Illuming e'en the clouds that roll
Along the darkness of my soul,
And bidding, with an angel's voice,
The heart, that knew no joy-rejoice!
Too late we meet-too soon we part;
Yet dearer to my soul thou art
Than some whose love has grown with years,
Smiled with my smile, and wept my tears.
Farewell! but, absent, thou shalt seem
The vision of some heavenly dream,
Too bright on child of earth to dwell:
It must be so-my friend, farewell!
James Joseph Callanan.
THE SECRET LOVER.
Lives there the soulless youth, whose eye
That ruby-tinted lip could see,
Nor long for thee to live or die?
Le don de l'Amour! And bind around the brow of Mary
Le don de l'Amour! From her lips, sweet beds of pleasure, Bring me words of golden measure, Tell, ah! tell me she will treasure
Ah! they fall-my cherish'd roses!
Le don de l'Amour!
Leaf by leaf on earth reposes
Le don de l'Amour!
So the hopes of love deceive us,
So our wreathèd blessings leave us,
Given but the more to grieve us,
Le don de l'Amour!
Anon.
The kiss went tingling to my very heart. Dryden.
THE LOVER'S PLEASANT MEMORIES.
It makith lovers to have remembraunce
Of comfort, and of high plesaunce,
That Hope hath hight hym for to wynne.
For Thought anoon thanne shalle bygynne,
As ferre, God wote, as he can fynde,
To make a mirrour of his mynde,
For to biholde he wole not lette.
Hir person he shalle afore hym sette,
Hir laughing eyen, persaunt and clere,
Hir shappe, hir fourme, hir goodly chere,
Hir mouth that is so gracious,
So swete, and eke so saverous;
Of alle hir fetures he shalle take heede,
His eyen with alle hir lymes fede.
To love, each was to each a dearer self;
Supremely happy in the awaken'd power
Of giving joy. Alone, amid the shades,
Still in harmonious intercourse they lived
The rural day, and talk'd with flowing heart,
Or sigh'd, and look'd unutterable things.
Thomson.
A TWOFOLD EXISTENCE.
As the flight of a river
That flows to the sea,
My soul rushes ever
In tumult to thee.
A twofold existence
I am where thou art;
My heart in the distance
Beats close to thy heart.
Look up,
I am near thee,
I gaze on thy face;
I see thee, I hear thee,
I feel thine embrace.
As a magnet's control on
The steel it draws to it,
Is the charm of thy soul on
The thoughts that pursue it;
And absence but brightens
The eyes that I miss,
And custom but heightens
The spell of thy kiss.
It is not from duty,
Though that may be owed;
It is not from beauty,
Though that be bestow'd ;
But all that I care for,
And all that I know,
Is that, without wherefore,
I worship thee so.
Through granite as breaketh
A tree to the ray,
As a dreamer forsaketh
The grief of the day,
My soul in its fever
Escapes unto thee;
O dream to the griever!
O light to the tree!
A twofold existence
I am where thou art;
Hark, hear in the distance
The beat of my heart!
Lord Lytton.
Thou lov'st amiss:
And to love true
Thou must begin again, and love renew.
If when she appears i' th' room
Thou dost not quake, part struck dumb,
And in striving this to cover
Dost not speak thy words twice over;
Know this, &c.
If fondly thou dost not mistake,
And all defects for graces take,
Persuad'st thyself that jests are broken
When she hath little or nothing spoken;
Know this, &c.
If when thou appear'st to be within
Thou lett'st not men ask, and ask again,
And when thou answer'st, if it be
To what was ask'd thee properly;
Know this, &c.
If when thy stomach calls to eat
Thou cutt'st not fingers 'stead of meat,
And with much gazing on her face
Dost not rise hungry from the place ;
Know this, &c.
If by this thou dost discover
That thou art no perfect lover;
And, desiring to love true,
Thou dost begin to love anew;
Know this,
Thou lov'st amiss :
And to love true
Thou must begin again, and love anew! Sir John Suckling.
THEY CANNOT PART,-THOSE SOULS ARE ONE!
There is a mystic thread of life
So dearly wreathed with mine alone, That destiny's relentless knife
At once must sever both or none.
There is a form on which these eyes
Have often gazed with fond delight;
By day that form their joy supplies,
And dreams restore it through the night.
There is a voice whose tones inspire
Such thrills of rapture thro' my breast,
I would not hear a seraph choir,
Unless that voice could join the rest.
There is a face whose blushes tell
Affection's tale upon the cheek;
But pallid at one fond farewell,
Proclaims more love than words can speak.
There is a lip which mine hath prest,
And none had ever prest before;
It vow'd to make me sweetly blest,
And mine, mine only press it more.
There is a bosom-all my own-
Hath pillow'd oft this aching head;
A mouth which smiles on me alone,
An eye whose tears with mine are shed.
There are two hearts whose movements thrill
In unison so closely sweet,
That pulse in pulse, responsive still,
That both must heave, or cease to beat.
There are two souls whose equal flow
In gentle streams so calmly run,
That when they part,-They part? Ab, no!
They cannot part-those souls are one!
Byron.
THE HOUR OF MEETING.
Each hour until we meet is as a bird
That wings from far his gradual way along
The rustling covert of my soul,-his song
Still loudlier trill'd through leaves more
deeply stirr'd:
But at the hour of meeting, a clear word
Is every note he sings, in Love's own tongue;
Yet, Love, thou know'st the sweet strain
suffers wrong,
Through our contending kisses oft unheard.
Dante Gabriel Rossetti.
Fair lady, when you see the grace
Of beauty in your looking-glass,-
A stately forehead, smooth and high,
And full of princely majesty ;
A sparkling eye, no gem so fair,
Whose lustre dims the Cyprian star;
A glorious check, divinely sweet,
Wherein both roses kindly meet;
A cherry lip, that would entice
Ev'n gods to kiss at any price,-
You think no beauty is so rare
That with your shadow might compare ;
That your reflection is alone
The thing that men most dote upon.
Madam, alas! your glass doth lic,
And you are much deceived; for I
A beauty know of richer grace-
Sweet, be not angry-'tis your face!
Hence, then, oh learn more mild to be,
And leave to lay your blame on me :
If me your real substance move,
When you so much your shadow love,
Wise Nature would not let your eye
Look on her own bright majesty ;
Which, had you once but gazed upon,
You could, except yourself, love none :
What then you cannot love, let me—
That face I can, you cannot, see.
T. Randolph.
As long as she's constant,
So long I'll prove true;
And then if she changes,-
Why so can I too!
I care not that her look is gay,
And that her step is light;
And that she leads the hunt by day,
And leads the dance by night:
That she can come to any call,
And sing to any key,
And be as beautiful to all
As she has been to me.
I care not that her lips are mute,
And flush'd her beaming brow,
When other fingers wake the lute,
Which mine are wearying now;
I care not that her whim repays
The music and the line,
With brighter smile and warmer praise
Than e'er she gave to mine.
Ay, press her hand! -my gift may gleam
Around its whiteness yet;
But you may well forgive the dream
Which she can so forget;
I loved her only for the dress
Of chance and change she wore ; And, trust me, I should love her less If she could love me more!
A FORSAKEN LOVER'S PRIDE.
CUPID ENTRAPPED.
I softly seized th' unguarded power,
Nor scared his balmy rest;
And placed him, caged within the flower,
On spotless Laura's breast.
But when, unweeting of the guile,
Awoke the pris'ner sweet,
He struggled to escape awhile,
And stamp'd his fairy fect.
Ah! soon the soul-entrancing sight
Subdued th' impatient boy!
He gazed, he thrill'd with deep delight,
Then clapp'd his wings for joy.
"And oh," he cried, "of magic kind,
What charms this throne endear!
Some other love let Venus find-
I'll fix my empire here."
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