Gleams through its veil of shimmering haze, In every wood I see thee stand, The frosted white and amber ferns, I hear thy call upon the breeze, Gay as the dancing wind, and sweet, Which never were at fault or loss, But, by some forest instinct led, Where art thou, comrade true and tried? And sadly burns the autumn-tide Already, in these few short weeks, A hundred things I leave unsaid, And month by month, and year by year, I shall but miss thee more, and go With half my thought untold, I know. I do not think thou hast forgot, Shall talk of each old time and place, By wisdom learned since we were dead. Sarah Chauncey Woolsey [1845-1905] LOVE AND DEATH IN the wild autumn weather, when the rain was on the sea, And the boughs sobbed together, Death came and spake to me: "Those red drops of thy heart I have come to take from thee; As the storm sheds the rose, so thy love shall broken be," Said Death to me. Then I stood straight and fearless while the rain was in the wave, And I spake low and tearless: "When thou hast made my grave, Those red drops from my heart then thou shalt surely have; But the rose keeps its bloom, as I my love will save All for my grave." In the wild autumn weather a dread sword slipped from its sheath; While the boughs sobbed together, I fought a fight with Death, And I vanquished him with prayer, and I vanquished him by faith: Now the summer air is sweet with the rose's fragrant breath That conquered Death. Rosa Mulholland [18 Annabel Lee 1105 TO ONE IN PARADISE THOU wast all that to me, love, For which my soul did pine: A fountain and a shrine All wreathed with fairy fruits and flowers, And all the flowers were mine. Ah, dream too bright to last! Ah, starry Hope, that didst arise A voice from out of the Future cries, (Dim gulf!) my spirit hovering lies Mute, motionless, aghast. For, alas! alas! with me The light of Life is o'er! No more no more-no more- And all my days are trances, And where thy footstep gleams In what ethereal dances, By what eternal streams. Edgar Allan Poe [1809-1849] ANNABEL LEE It was many and many a year ago, In a kingdom by the sea, That a maiden there lived whom you may know By the name of Annabel Lee; And this maiden she lived with no other thought I was a child and she was a child, In this kingdom by the sea, But we loved with a love that was more than love, I and my Annabel Lee; With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven And this was the reason that, long ago, To shut her up in a sepulcher In this kingdom by the sea. The angels, not half so happy in heaven, Yes! that was the reason (as all men know, That the wind came out of the cloud by night, But our love it was stronger by far than the love Of many far wiser than we; And neither the angels in heaven above, For the moon never beams, without bringing me dreams And the stars never rise, but I feel the bright eyes And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side Edgar Allan Poe [1809-1849] |