II. Then when nature around me is smiling The last smile which answers to mine, I do not believe it beguiling Because it reminds me of thine; And when winds are at war with the ocean, If their billows excite an emotion, It is that they bear me from thee. III. Though the rock of my last hope is shiver'd, There is many a pang to pursue me: They may crush, but they shall not contemnThey may torture, but shall not subdue me— "Tis of thee that I think-not of them. IV. Though human, thou didst not deceive me, Though slander'd, thou never couldst shake,Though trusted, thou didst not disclaim me, Though parted, it was not to fly, Though watchful, 'twas not to defame me, V. Yet I blame not the world, nor despise it, And if dearly that error hath cost me, VI. From the wreck of the past, which hath perish'd, Thus much I at least may recall, It hath taught me that what I most cherish'd Deserved to be dearest of all: In the desert a fountain is springing, In the wide waste there still is a tree, And a bird in the solitude singing, Which speaks to my spirit of thee. VOL. VI. D DARKNESS. I HAD a dream, which was not all a dream. The bright sun was extinguish'd, and the stars Rayless, and pathless, and the icy earth Swung blind and blackening in the moonless air; Morn came, and went and came, and brought no day, And men forgot their passions in the dread Of this their desolation; and all hearts Were chill'd into a selfish prayer for light: And they did live by watchfires-and the thrones, The palaces of crowned kings-the huts, The habitations of all things which dwell, Were burnt for beacons; cities were consumed, And men were gathered round their blazing homes The flashes fell upon them; some lay down |