The Miniature.
Afar from native plain and grove, 1
To smoothe my unforgettful brow, 2
Fair lineaments of her I love ! 3
Ye are my only solace now ! 4
I cast mine eyes around, and feel5
That far my steps are doomed to range ; 6
But when a glance to thee I steal, 7
I know my heart can never change.8
As Eastern pilgrim, from the streams9
Of childhood distant many a mile, 10
Toils through the desart, while his dreams11
Repose on Mecca all the while ;12
So I, amid the tempest’s jar, 13
Revert to thee a longing eye, 14
The loveliest and the brightest star15
In Retrospection’s glowing sky.16
In sorrow I have wandered long, 17
And sown in hope to reap in grief, 18
And found, amid the busy throng, 19
That care is much and pleasure brief.20
To look upon thy shade again, 21
On thee, in all the pride of yore, 22
Awakens visions worse than vain, 23
And dreams that long are past and o’er !24
It stirs the thoughts of happy years, 25
With silver pace, in silence flown, 26
Beyond the reach of prayer and tears, 27
For ever perished, past, and gone ;28
Before, with sacrilegious strife, 29
The world had ruined simple joy, 30
And all the loveliness of life, 31
Had left the man that ruled the boy.32
The world is changed—our hearts are changed,33
Since long ago we met and loved ; 34
And hopes are sunk, and joys estranged, 35
That then in ardent glory moved.36
The brightest meed that earth bestows, 37
Though yielded now, were nought to me ; 38
For proffered worlds, I would not lose39
A single thought that turns to thee !40
To see thee once again—to hear41
The accents of thine angel tongue— 42
The sight—the sounds to memory dear, 43
When hope was warm, and life was young—44
To sit with thee, as I have sate—45
To con to thee some touching tale,46
And mark how lovers’ luckless fate47
Could o’er thy tender heart prevail—48
To roam with thee the flowery glade, 49
What time the Evening Star on high50
Gleamed o’er the twilight forest’s shade, 51
And caught thy rapture-beaming eye—52
It may not be—it may not be ; 53
Yet shall it sooth this cheerless scene, 54
Beloved shade ! to dote on thee, 55
And all the pleasures that have been ! 56