A little changeling spiritCrept to my arms one day:I had no heart or courageTo drive the child away. So all day long I soothed her,And hushed her on my breast;And all night long her wailingWould never let me rest. I dug a grave to hold her,A grave both dark and deep;I covered her with violets,And […]

Lingering fade the rays of daylight, and the listening air is chilly;Voice of bird and forest murmur, insect hum and quivering sprayStir not in that quiet hour: through the valley, calm and stilly,All in hushed and loving silence watch the slow departing Day. Till the last faint western cloudlet, faint and rosy, ceases blushing,And the […]

“Never again!” vow hearts when reunited,“Never again shall Love be cast aside;For ever now the shadow has departed;Nor bitter sorrow, veiled in scornful pride,Shall feign indifference, or affect disdain,–Never, oh Love, again, never again!” “Never again!” so sobs, in broken accents,A soul laid prostrate at a holy shrine,–“Once more, once more forgive, oh Lord, and […]

Blue against the bluer HeavensStood the mountain, calm and still,Two white Angels, bending earthward,Leant upon the hill. Listening leant those silent Angels,And I also longed to hearWhat sweet strain of earthly musicThus could charm their ear. I heard the sound of many trumpetsIn a warlike march draw nigh;Solemnly a mighty armyPassed in order by. But […]

I had a Message to send her,To her whom my soul loved best;But I had my task to finish.And she was gone home to rest. To rest in the far bright heaven:Oh, so far away from here,It was vain to speak to my darling,For I knew she could not hear! I had a message to […]

Just when the red June Roses blowShe gave me one,–a year ago.A Rose whose crimson breath revealedThe secret that its heart concealed,And whose half shy, half tender graceBlushed back upon the giver’s face.A year ago–a year ago–To hope was not to know. Just when the red June Roses blowI plucked her one,–a month ago:Its half-blown […]

I. You write and think of me, my friend, with pity;While you are basking in the light of Rome,Shut up within the heart of this great city,Too busy and too poor to leave my home. II. You think my life debarred all rest or pleasure,Chained all day to my ledger and my pen;Too sickly even […]

It was midnight when I listened,And I heard two Voices speak;One was harsh, and stern, and cruel,And the other soft and weak:Yet I saw no Vision enter,And I heard no steps depart,Of this Tyrant and his Captive, . . .Fate it might be and a Heart. Thus the stern Voice spake in triumph:-“I have shut […]

Trust me, no mere skill of subtle tracery,No mere practice of a dexterous hand,Will suffice, without a hidden spirit,That we may, or may not, understand. And those quaint old fragments that are left usHave their power in this,–the Carver broughtEarnest care, and reverent patience, onlyWorthily to clothe some noble thought. Shut then in the petals […]