Waits to clasp thee to its tender throbbings- Sadly will the old dame miss her daughter dear, Seated near; When the aged mother drinks the soft air In the shadow of the tall acacia's When the sultry heat becomes oppressive, Weary grow beneath the trellis frame work Where the sweet-pea's white and pale pink blossoms Where the pointed purple-dropping fuscias Overhead are hung, Where the creepers into mimic archways She will miss thy helping arm, around her Guiding step by step her tottering footfalls Resting oft, upheld by that dear arm bent With the summer petals thou wilt leave us, In its ripeness bends to meet the sickle, From earth's arid bosom torn, to fertilize So thou goest from us with God's blessing BREATHINGS OF THE INVISIBLE. Wrestling with a spirit yet unbroken, As their moods I trace, Stretched beneath the gloom of cloudy skies. Mock not though the rhymer fondly museth Through our being, feeling, thought, and sound: In entanglement Mystic as the life by which they're bound. In his toil the weary student bending, All unseen her influence is blending With the stillness clustered round his brow; Tells him she is there, And in blissful charm his senses bow. Ere the distant portal bell hath sounded; Doth thy love profound Mark his coming!-soon he will be here. Far beyond the tangible love goeth When the matron's holy fountful breast Of the slumbering infant's breathings knoweth, A 3 To her bosom's sense Saith a throb intense List! the babe awakeneth from its rest. When the storm of battle's tide was rolling For his soul no passing bell was tolling, To those far away, He could ne'er return to them again? Who can tell the agony of sorrow In the bleeding bullet-riven breast; Hope for favor where Love for ever dwelleth with the blest? In their moonlit home his friends were seated, Free from thought of sadness or of care; In a distant room his harp repeated Notes of prelude to a well-known air. ""Tis our Orpen's touch! He is thinking much To surprise us-but how came he there ?" To that distant chamber swiftly gliding Like pale ghosts they gather round the door. Surely it is he and he is hiding, Orpen, speak! O speak now, we implore! Save their hurried breath As they pant with terror more and more. When the door was opened, not a token Human hand had not produced the sound. None could e'er explain How such legends every where abound. It was at the moment of his falling, Messengers in after days brought word: From red battle's scene of dread appalling Winged his yearning spirit like a bird; In blind wanderings Fluttering o'er the strings, And the harp with voice of warning stirred. Is their nothing, though no voice resoundeth? Through the darkness deep, What is it that so thrilleth with affright? Weird fancy peoples echoes never ended: Like shadow thoughts, when in our hearts we pray, With their mystic harmony seems blended Faint glimmerings of remote celestial ray : As some starry beam O'er a sedgy stream Sprinkling light within its watery way. WHISPER. "Tra l'opre tutte, in cui grandeggia Iddio, La prima e questa: e di ammirarla ha ingiunto Per quanto all bello ei sia cieco e restio. Fai d'ogni nostro senso alta rapina !" Il Conte Vittorio Alfieri. "Poter Della Bellezza." Throbbing heart, tumultuous beating, Silence keep, Inward tears of joy unuttered Let me weep! Bathed the lips in blissful cups o'erflowing Vain throbbing heart tumultuous beating Till again she comes to bless me O passionate heart, be still! perturbed, rest! Haste slow-paced time till honeyed hours return,— Till fevered loving lips no longer burn. Ebb not so low life's tide! in wishing, longing, In entranced dreamings of the past: Veiled with angel's wings around me cast. Radiant she comes! so liquid deep, Those eyes that all wild passions steep In bland affection's balm! Flooding all my soul with joy. Anon, unkindly coy, She paineth with harsh wincings from my touch. |