UNVEILING.* BY THE HON. MRS. NORTON. "Go! the useless dream is over, Which so long my heart hath nurst; Perjured knight, and faithless lover, Go! Love's slavish bonds are burst. Never more, at morn or even, Shall I watch for thy return; I have prayed-and strength is given, And my heart hath ceased to burn. "Never more, my faint head leaning On my hot and crimsoned cheek, Taught the tell-tale blood to speak. "Never more, with timid shrinking Even from the light of day, (Lest the sun should read my thinking, And my wandering thoughts betray,) See Frontispiece. Shall my hands my closed eyes cover, And my buried head sink low Dreaming of a worshipped lover, Dreams which none but lovers know. "Never more!—that love hath vanished, And the cheerful days of yore, "Hollow sounds my vacant laughter, "In the midnight, when thou dreamest, And although thy vows are broken, Mine, proud youth, I will not break!" Loudly laughed her scornful lover - And her words, though years pass over, Sweeping past him, slowly trailing Vainly doth the bark that bears him Brave the winds that rouse the sea; Haunted by the sight that scares him, Vainly, by his friends surrounded, Even when, low and humbly bending, With the priest his lips would pray, With his thoughts her last words blending, Prayer and hope are chased away. Slow he hears the drapery trailing Far long the distant aisle ; Wan his form, and pale and wasted,- The bitter cup his heart hath tasted, Hath been drugged and brimmed with woe. Even when on his sick-bed lying, The heavy VEIL comes sweeping on; She sits beside his couch while dying,Watching till his soul is gone! SONG. WHAT is Love?. -a fire, 'Tis a dream,-'tis a desire, Where is Love?-Alas! In the dust it lies Severed green like summer grass, And so it dies. L. C. |