HESTERHESTER
HESTERHESTER
HESTER
XXV
Whenmaidens such as Hester die,Their place ye may not well supply,Though ye among a thousand tryWith vain endeavour.A month or more hath she been dead,Yet cannot I by force be ledTo think upon the wormy bed,And her together.A springy motion in her gait,A rising step, did indicateOf pride and joy no common rate,That flush’d her spirit.I know not by what name besideIt may be call’d; if ’twas not pride,It was a joy to that alliedShe did inherit.
Whenmaidens such as Hester die,Their place ye may not well supply,Though ye among a thousand tryWith vain endeavour.A month or more hath she been dead,Yet cannot I by force be ledTo think upon the wormy bed,And her together.A springy motion in her gait,A rising step, did indicateOf pride and joy no common rate,That flush’d her spirit.I know not by what name besideIt may be call’d; if ’twas not pride,It was a joy to that alliedShe did inherit.
Whenmaidens such as Hester die,Their place ye may not well supply,Though ye among a thousand tryWith vain endeavour.A month or more hath she been dead,Yet cannot I by force be ledTo think upon the wormy bed,And her together.
Whenmaidens such as Hester die,
Their place ye may not well supply,
Though ye among a thousand try
With vain endeavour.
A month or more hath she been dead,
Yet cannot I by force be led
To think upon the wormy bed,
And her together.
A springy motion in her gait,A rising step, did indicateOf pride and joy no common rate,That flush’d her spirit.I know not by what name besideIt may be call’d; if ’twas not pride,It was a joy to that alliedShe did inherit.
A springy motion in her gait,
A rising step, did indicate
Of pride and joy no common rate,
That flush’d her spirit.
I know not by what name beside
It may be call’d; if ’twas not pride,
It was a joy to that allied
She did inherit.
(Illustration)
Her parents held the Quaker rule,Which doth the human feeling cool,But she was train’d in Nature’s school,Nature had blest her.A waking eye, a prying mind,A heart that stirs is hard to bind,A hawk’s keen sight ye cannot blind,Ye could not Hester.My sprightly neighbour, gone beforeTo that unknown and silent shore,Shall we not meet, as heretofore,Some summer morning,When from thy cheerful eyes a rayHath struck a bliss upon the day,A bliss that would not go away,A sweet forewarning?
Her parents held the Quaker rule,Which doth the human feeling cool,But she was train’d in Nature’s school,Nature had blest her.A waking eye, a prying mind,A heart that stirs is hard to bind,A hawk’s keen sight ye cannot blind,Ye could not Hester.My sprightly neighbour, gone beforeTo that unknown and silent shore,Shall we not meet, as heretofore,Some summer morning,When from thy cheerful eyes a rayHath struck a bliss upon the day,A bliss that would not go away,A sweet forewarning?
Her parents held the Quaker rule,Which doth the human feeling cool,But she was train’d in Nature’s school,Nature had blest her.A waking eye, a prying mind,A heart that stirs is hard to bind,A hawk’s keen sight ye cannot blind,Ye could not Hester.
Her parents held the Quaker rule,
Which doth the human feeling cool,
But she was train’d in Nature’s school,
Nature had blest her.
A waking eye, a prying mind,
A heart that stirs is hard to bind,
A hawk’s keen sight ye cannot blind,
Ye could not Hester.
My sprightly neighbour, gone beforeTo that unknown and silent shore,Shall we not meet, as heretofore,Some summer morning,When from thy cheerful eyes a rayHath struck a bliss upon the day,A bliss that would not go away,A sweet forewarning?
My sprightly neighbour, gone before
To that unknown and silent shore,
Shall we not meet, as heretofore,
Some summer morning,
When from thy cheerful eyes a ray
Hath struck a bliss upon the day,
A bliss that would not go away,
A sweet forewarning?
(Illustration)