LONG AGO.
The sun was swimming in the purple tide,
His golden locks far floating on the sea,
When thou and I stole beachward, side by side,
To say adieu and dream of joys to be.
The ebbing waves were whispering to the strand
Amid the rocks a tender, sweet good-bye—
Ah! Well that night could we two understand
What bitter grief was in their ceaseless cry.
The salt wind blew across the rank marsh grass,
And laid its chilling, fingers on our pulse.
Sea nettles lay in many a shapeless mass,
Half hidden, in the garnet hills of dulse.
The awkward crabs ran sideways from our path,
And starfish sprawled face downward in the mud;
While, token of some bleak December's wrath,
A wreck lay stranded high above the flood.
Few were our words. Love speaks from heart to heart,
Nor needs that rude interpreter the tongue.
A few short hours and fate would bid us part,
No more to stray the weedy rocks among.
We dared not trust our bitter thoughts to speech.
For speech had raised the floodgates of our tears;
And so we walked in silence on the beach
With the wild billows wailing in our ears.
How beautiful thou wast! Thy snowy gown,
Whose rustle made sweet music, part revealed
Thy perfect form. Thy thoughtful eyes and brown,
Beneath their drooping lashes half concealed,
Swam in a sea of tears. Thy tresses played
Wild wanton with the wind, and kissed each cheek,
That flushed and paled, till one had well nigh said.
Thy very blood did think and love and speak.
We sat within the shelter of the boat.
That, buried in the sand for half its length,
Before the black-browed storm no more would float
Nor like a gull defy the tempest's strength.
We spoke of pleasures past, of joys to be
When we should meet again nor ever part.
I faltered forth my deathless love for thee,
And in thy tearful silence read thy heart.
We looked upon the setting of the sun;
We marked the summer twilight fade away;
We saw the star-worlds rising, one by one,
And, stooping, kiss the surface of the bay.
Then sitting in the moonlight, each by each,
I bent and kissed away thy lingering tears;
While ever plunged the billows on the beach
And sent their dreary cadence to our ears.
The sun was swimming in the purple tide,
His golden locks far floating on the sea,
When I stole forth yestre'en and sat beside
The stranded wreck to dream again of thee.
Across my cheek I felt the marsh wind sweep,
Still called the sea along the darkening shore,
Again the changeless stars began to peep;
Naught save thyself had changed since days of yore.
O! happy period of my early youth!
When Love was master, Reason but a slave,
When friends seemed heroes, woman crystal truth,
Success the certain portion of the brave:
Come back, come back and give me ere I die
The pure ideal of my life again!
In vain I plead. Time's snowy ashes lie
Cold on the hearth-stone of my aged brain.
AT CHATEAUGUAY.
Memory gleams like a gem at night
Through the gloom of to-day for me,
Bringing dreams of a summer bright
At Chateauguay.
Summer sleeps in the ripening corn,
Sunlight glitters on wood and lea,
Scent of flowers on the air is borne
At Chateauguay.
Swiftly rushes the river by,
Through the lake to the far-off sea,
Full of light as a maiden's eye,
At Chateauguay.
Stands a house by the river side,
(Weeds upspring where the hearth should be),
Only its tottering walls abide
At Chateauguay.
Birds are singing the live-long day,
Trembling, stoopeth an aspen tree.
Eager to hear what the wind will say
At Chateauguay.
Still the sunlight around me falls,
Still in fancy I seem to see
Two who stand on the crumbling walls
At Chateauguay.
Once more wanders a brown-eyed maid
Up the rough, country road with me,
Swinging her hat by its slender braid,
At Chateauguay.
Once for a moment more we stay
Under the tattling aspen tree—
Birds are sweetly lilting to-day
At Chateauguay.
Tree, thou art dear for that sweet tryst,
Dear, for the maiden's sake, to me
Is each spot that her feet have kissed
At Chateauguay.
A BIRTHDAY.
Fifteen years have come and gone,
Maiden since thy large, brown eyes
Opened first and looked upon
Wintry English skies.
Fifteen treasure ships they were,
Sailing on life's sunlit sea,
Bearing frankincense and myrrh
Sent from heaven to thee:
Fifteen pilgrims, old and gray,
Mounted upon moments fleet,
Who have seen thee but to lay
Pleasure at thy feet:
Fifteen maids who, like a queen,
Decked thee, Sweet, with beauty rare,
Till the world hath never seen
Maiden half so fair.
And a sixteenth year to-day
Brings a wreath of budding hours,
Saying: "Let not one decay;
All must grow to flowers."
All have not the self-same needs;
Loving smiles are life to some,
Others but by kindly deeds.
To perfection come.
Some are quickened by a tear,
Some by hopes and pleasures dead;
Take them, Bright Eyes, without fear,
God is overhead.
THE LOVERS.
With silken tresses floating free,
A dark-eyed maiden wanders
Alone beside the murmuring sea,
And of her lover ponders.
The fisher boats at anchor ride,
The summer moon is waking;
Its beams of silver on the tide
In rippling flakes are breaking.
The golden sands in murmurs speak,
Her dainty foot that presses,
The salt sea wind upon her cheek
Is lavish of caresses.
Afar upon a winding stream
A youth is softly rowing;
Above his head the star-worlds gleam,
And bright the moon is glowing.
The trees are swaying to and fro,
Their shadowy boughs extending,
And leaf-born music, sweet and low,
Is with the night-wind blending.
Far off, where meadows kiss the stream,
A golden light is winking:
Upon the waves its soft rays gleam,
From crest to hollow sinking.
Upon the youth and maiden's heart
The lamp of love is shining,
Though distance holds them both apart,
Their souls are intertwining.
THE SEA SHELL.
'Tis a dainty shell, 'tis a fragile shell
At my feet that the wild waves threw,
And I send it thee, that its lips may tell
In thine ear that my heart is true.
It will tell thee how by the sunlit sea
Pass the hours we were wont to share.
On its pearl-pink lips is a kiss for thee
That my own loving lips placed there.
In a lady's hand it will snugly lie,
'Tis as thin as a red rose-leaf,
Yet it holds the seagull's sorrowing cry,
And the roar of the tide-lashed reef.
In its ivory cave, though the mighty sea
May find room, and to spare, to move,
Yet this same sea shell that I send to thee
Is too small to contain my love.
A JANUARY DAY.
King Winter sleeps. His daughter, Spring,
His sceptre steals away,
And, laughing, bids fair Nature bring
For once a perfect day.
Bright glows the sun in azure skies,
And balmy blows the breeze,
On gayer wing the sparrow flies,
And softly sway the trees.
The seasons run like some great stream
That to the ocean flows,
The waves that here in sunshine gleam
Bound there in mountain snows:
And, as where darkling waters steal,
Drear walls of rock between,
Yet in their depths a gem reveal
That glows with sunny sheen.
So in this blustering month that bears
The banner of the year,
Such days as this with balmy airs
Amid the storms appear.
It is but meet that thy birthday
Should open bright and warm,
And into darkness fade away
Without a cloud or storm.
REMEMBRANCE
Alone I pace the path we walked last year.
Dost thou remember it? Then everywhere
The wheat-fields shimmered in the summer glare,
But now the moonbeams sparkle, silver clear,
On swollen stream and meadows dun and drear,
While, with the myriad blossoms that they bear,
The cherry trees perfume the evening air,
And gaunt and cold the ruined house stands near.
The aspens whisper to the passing breeze.
I hear the night-hawk's scream, the pipe of frogs,
The baying of the distant village dogs,
The lapping waves, the rustle of the trees.
And every sound is musical to me,
For every sound is a sweet song of thee.
IN ABSENCE.
Sleep, dearest, sleep beside the murmuring sea;
Sleep, dearest, sleep, and bright dreams compass thee.
My sleepless thoughts a guard of love shall be
Around thy couch and bid thee dream of me.
Sleep, Bright Eyes, sleep.
Sleep, dearest, sleep, the slumber of the pure;
Sleep, dearest, sleep, in angels' care secure.
Evil itself thy beauty would allure
To cease from ill and make thy joyance sure.
Sleep, Bright Eyes, sleep.
Sleep, dearest, sleep; in slumber thou art mine;
Sleep, dearest, sleep; our souls still intertwine.
Yon radiant star that on thy couch doth shine
Bears from my lips a kiss to lay on thine.
Sleep, Bright Eyes, sleep.
LOVE GUIDES US.
Love guides our bark, and we have naught to fear.
We are the world ourselves, and as we glide
Upon the stream of life, if Love but steer,
We care not how tempestuous the tide.
Thy head leans on my shoulder, and my arm
Is round thee clasped. Thine eyes upturn to mine,
So full of faith the future feels their charm
Blunting Fate's dart that threatens joy of thine.
O Love! thy tresses wind about my sense,
Thy glances melt my soul, and thy ripe lips
Seem morning roses, red and dewy, whence
The bee of love a draught of nectar sips.
Float on, float on upon the crystal tide,
Our company these snowy swans that seem
Our mirrored souls, pure love personified—
Float on, nor ever waken from our dream.
THE LOVER'S APPEAL.
Tell me when you'll wed me?
Sweetest, name the day:
Hope has well nigh fled me,
Joy has slipped away.
Dearest, why this strange delay?
Must I sigh till we are gray?
With a smile,
"Wait awhile,
We are young," you say.
Do you know the reason
Why the nightingale
Through the drear night season
Pipes her tuneful tale?
She was, once, like you, a maid,
Who her wedding day delayed,
And her swain,
All in vain,
For her favor prayed.
She had been a maiden
Fair to look upon,
Sweet as breezes laden
With the scent of dawn.
But her lover prayed that she
Rest not till eternity.
Heaven heard,
And this bird,
She was doomed to be.
Can you read the moral,
Of this mournful tale?
Sweetheart, if we quarrel,
To a nightingale
I will change you, though I weep,
You shall sing and never sleep.
With the owl
You shall prowl
Where the shades lie deep.
Tell me when you'll marry;
Darling, name the day:
Do not longer tarry,
Life slips fast away.
Do not, like the nightingale,
Live your harshness to bewail.
At your feet
I entreat—
Let my love prevail.