On Finding an Old Letter.
Oh, little scented billet doux,1
What strange emotions have you brought,2
What tender trains of pensive thought—3
’Tis ten years since you met my view !4
I seized it with a trembling hand,5
And tore the silken bonds apart ;6
I pressed it to my lips—my heart—7
With feelings few could understand.8
From out its folds there fell some flowers,9
They fell in fragments at my touch—10
In ruin sweet ! they said so much ;11
They spoke to me of bygone hours.12
And where is she from whom they came ?13
Moves she on earth, or dwells above ?14
I loved her with a spirit’s love,15
It was no simple boyish flame.16
Not here—not here—but far away ;17
From one of those bright stars we see18
She now looks down and beckons me,19
Beyond the clouds, beyond the day.20
I kissed the lines—’twas with a sigh—21
Then, mute into the dim dead past,22
A long, long mournful look I cast,23
With aching heart and spellbound eye.24