BY G. W. VAX WEIGHS. Thou art not dead, thou art not gone to dust, To formless ruin, smote by time and thrust Thou canst not perish. Tho' the sod Tho' by the feet of generations trod The marvel of thy beauty cannot die; Earth gave not all the glory of thine eye; It was not thine, that marble forehead pale and cold. Thy heart would throb beneath that passive fold; But thou hast gone. Gone from this dreary land; Lured by the sweet persuasion of a band Where e'er thou art, I know thou wearest yet By calmer joy, and touched with soft regret I keep for thee the living love of old, Whose hand is parted from its playmate's hold When, in the watches of my heart, I hear The footsteps of thy spirit lingering near, Canst thou not bid the empty realms restore Or in the barren fields of silence pour Oh, once—once bending to my warm and eager lips, Or let thy kisses cloud with swift eclipse |