  1. MEETING Again I see my bliss at hand, The town, the lake are here; My Marguerite smiles upon the strand, Unalter'd with the year. I know that graceful figure fair, That cheek of languid hue; I know that soft, enkerchief'd hair, And those sweet eyes of blue. Again I spring to make my choice; Again in tones of ire I hear a God's tremendous voice: "Be counsell'd, and retire." Ye guiding Powers who join and part, What would ye have with me? Ah, warn some more ambitious heart, And let the peaceful be! 2. PARTING Ye storm-winds of Autumn! Who rush by, who shake The gleam-lighted lake; Who cross to the hill-side Thin-sprinkled with farms, Where the high woods strip sadly Their yellowing arms— Ye are bound for the mountains! Ah! with you let me go Where your cold, distant barrier, The vast range of snow, Through the loose clouds lifts dimly Its white peaks in air— How deep is their stillness! Ah, would I were there! But on the stairs what voice is this I hear, Buoyant as morning, and as morning clear? Say, has some wet bird-haunted English lawn Lent it the music of its trees at dawn? Or was it from some sun-fleck'd mountain-brook That the sweet voice its upland clearness took? Ah! it comes nearer— Sweet notes, this way! Hark! fast by the window The rushing winds go, To the ice-cumber'd gorges, The vast seas of snow! There the torrents drive upward Their rock-strangled hum; There the avalanche thunders The hoarse torrent dumb. —I come, O ye mountains! Ye torrents, I come! But who is this, by the half-open'd door, Whose figure casts a shadow on the floor? The sweet blue eyes—the soft, ash-colour'd hair— The cheeks that still their gentle paleness wear— The lovely lips, with their arch smile that tells The unconquer'd joy in which her spirit dwells— Ah! they bend nearer— Sweet lips, this way! Hark! the wind rushes past us! Ah! with that let me go To the clear, waning hill-side, Unspotted by snow, There to watch, o'er the sunk vale, The frore mountain-wall, Where the niched snow-bed sprays down Its powdery fall. There its dusky blue clusters The aconite spreads; There the pines slope, the cloud-strips Hung soft in their heads. No life but, at moments, The mountain-bee's hum. —I come, O ye mountains! Ye pine-woods, I come! Forgive me! forgive me! Ah, Marguerite, fain Would these arms reach to clasp thee! But see! 'tis in vain. In the void air, towards thee, My stretch'd arms are cast; But a sea rolls between us— Our different past! To the lips, ah! of others Those lips have been prest, And others, ere I was, Were strain'd to that breast; Far, far from each other Our spirits have grown; And what heart knows another? Ah! who knows his own? Blow, ye winds! lift me with you! I come to the wild. Fold closely, O Nature! Thine arms round thy child. To thee only God granted A heart ever new— To all always open, To all always true. Ah! calm me, restore me; And dry up my tears On thy high mountain-platforms, Where morn first appears; Where the white mists, for ever, Are spread and upfurl'd— In the stir of the forces Whence issued the world. 3. A FAREWELL My horse's feet beside the lake, Where sweet the unbroken moonbeams lay, Sent echoes through the night to wake Each glistening strand, each heath-fringed bay. The poplar avenue was pass'd, And the roof'd bridge that spans the stream; Up the steep street I hurried fast, Led by thy taper's starlike beam. I came! I saw thee rise!—the blood Pour'd flushing to thy languid cheek. Lock'd in each other's arms we stood, In tears, with hearts too full to speak. Days flew;—ah, soon I could discern A trouble in thine alter'd air! Thy hand lay languidly in mine, Thy cheek was grave, thy speech grew rare. I blame thee not!—this heart, I know, To be long loved was never framed; For something in its depths doth glow Too strange, too restless, too untamed. |
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