THE WRECK.
BY MRS. E. LOCK, OF CALCUTTA, AUTHORESS OF A VOLUME OF POEMS ENTITLED "LEISURE HOURS," AN "EDUCATIONAL WORK IN THE BENGALI LANGUAGE," ETC. ETC.
Mark yonder light bark 'mid the whitening surge,
And, hark! how the loud storm is breaking
Around her frail sides, while the howling winds call;
Destruction's dread powers are waking!
Ay, stand on the rock and behold the last shock,
It has shivered her deck, and no more
Her pennons will stream in the sun's glancing beam—
Her voyage forever is o'er!
Down 'neath the wave she sinks! none can save;
Let us bid her adieu, for, ah! never
She'll meet with the light of her Cynosure bright,
For the sea has closed o'er her forever!
The whelming waves of woe swell o'er my soul,
From this affliction I can never rise;
The dark and heavy rolling surges break
Over my storm-tost bark, and not a star,
A beacon-spark amid the gloomy waste,
Shines forth to light me to the opening grave.
A brilliant star there was—my guiding star;
On it I kept my eye and fondly dreamed
It ne'er would set until my journey's end;
On it I gazed as on a star of hope,
To the tired wanderer a gift from God,
A star of promise to the lonely one!
But, ah! am I deceived? have all my hopes
Been placed on nothing save a shadow bright,
An ignis fatuus, a meteor delusive?
It cannot be, for have I not, since first
That light arose upon my darksome path,
Been guided gently, safely by its rays?
The glory of this bright, resplendent star
Has ne'er been quite shut by lowering skies,
Though intervening clouds have oft obscured,
And 'neath a mystic veil have sometimes hid
Its soft and radiant light; still, still enough
I've seen to guide me safe through quicksands, rocks,
Through paths beset with dangers worse than death.
Upward and onward I've pursued my way,
A way strewn thick with cares and trials too,
And sorrows neither few nor far between.
A timid, untried one launched forth upon
The ocean-world, no friend with counsel kind,
No hand to save or aid the helpless bark
To navigate the sea of foreign waters!
Pale apprehension brooded o'er my heart;
At length it sank! but ere 'twas fully lost,
This star arose benignly o'er the grave
Of my departed hopes, and beaming peace,
Ay, on its brow were written PEACE and LOVE.
They filled my heart, those two celestial rays—
An earnest gave that they would ne'er forsake,
But be my guidance to my long, last home.
My sinking soul was strengthened; I arose
In trust relying on the promise given,
Clasped to my heart the cheering form of hope,
And on her anchor leaned in confidence,
Sustained by faith e'en when enwrapped in clouds,
And darkness palpable my guiding light!
Almost one lustrum now has passed away
Since the soft vision met my lifted eye,
Since first I felt its holy influence,
Its secret spell connecting me with heaven!
And has that STAR in gloom impervious set,
Forever set, at least from out my view!
Compact, piled up, dark leaden-colored clouds
Now intervene like demons of revenge
On swift destruction bent. Malice and Hate,
And Scandal's cruel breath unite to doom
The fragile bark to an untimely tomb!
Full many a gloomy night (and all is night
To the lone one now on the boisterous wave, or sea),
Through life's kaleidoscope, with straining eye,
I've gazed and prayed that brighter skies would shine,
Or that, at least, a half-lit solitude
Upon the deep might still remain for me,
And not Cimmerian darkness cover all
Fore'er in life my only solace stay.
Baseless and unsubstantial promise given,
In that unmeaning "morrow" ne'er to rise!