THE RESURRECTION.I thought I had forever lost,Alas, though still so young,The tender joys and sorrows all,That unto youth belong;The sufferings sweet, the impulsesOur inmost hearts that warm;Whatever gives this life of oursIts value and its charm.What sore laments, what bitter tearsO’er my sad state I shed,When first I felt from my cold heartIts gentle pains had fled!Its throbs I felt no more; my loveWithin me seemed to die;Nor from my frozen, senseless breastEscaped a single sigh!I wept o’er my sad, hapless lot;The life of life seemed lost;The earth an arid wilderness,Locked in eternal frost;The day how dreary, and the nightHow dull, and dark, and lone!The moon for me no brightness had,No star in heaven shone.And yet the old love was the causeOf all the tears I shed;Still in my inmost breast I feltThe heart was not yet dead.My weary fancy still would craveThe images it loved,And its capricious longings stillA source of sorrow proved.But e’en that lingering spark of griefWas soon within me spent,And I the strength no longer hadTo utter a lament.And there I lay, stunned, stupefied,Nor asked for comfort more;My heart to hopeless, blank despairItself had given o’er.How changed, alas, was I from himWho once with passion thrilled,Whose ardent soul was ever, once,With sweet illusions filled!The swallow to my window, still,Would come, to greet the dawn;But his sweet song no echo foundIn my poor heart, forlorn.Nor pleased me more, in autumn gray,Upon the hill-side lone,The cheerful vesper-bell, or lightOf the departing sun.In vain the evening star I sawAbove the silent vale,And vainly warbled in the groveThe plaintive nightingale.And you, ye furtive glances, bright,From gentle eyes that rove,The sweet, the gracious messagesOf first immortal Love;The soft, white hand, that tenderlyMy own hand seemed to woo;All, all your magic spells were vain,My torpor to subdue.Of every pleasure quite bereft,Sad but of tranquil mien;A state of perfect littleness,Yet with a face serene;Save for the lingering wish, indeed,In death to sink to rest,The force of all desire was spentIn my exhausted breast.As some poor, feeble wanderer,With age and sorrow bent,The April of my years, alas,Thus listlessly I spent;Thus listlessly, thus wearily,Didst thou consume, O heart,Those golden days, ineffable,So swiftly that depart.Who, from this heavy, heedless restAwakens me again?What new, what magic power is this,I feel within me reign?Ye motions sweet, ye images,Ye throbs, illusions blest,Ah, no,—ye are not then shut outForever from this breast?The glorious light of golden daysDo ye again unfold?The old affections that I lost,Do I once more behold?Now, as I gaze upon the sky,Or on the verdant fields,Each thing with sorrow me inspires,And each a pleasure yields.The mountain, forest, and the shoreOnce more my heart rejoice;The fountain speaks to me once more,The sea hath found a voice.Who, after all this apathy,Restores to me my tears?Each moment, as I look around,How changed the world appears!Hath hope, perchance, O my poor heart,Beguiled thee of thy pain?Ah, no, the gracious smile of hopeI ne’er shall see again.Nature bestowed these impulses,And these illusions blest;Their inborn influence, in me,By suffering was suppressed;But not annulled, not overcomeBy cruel blows of Fate;Nor by the inauspicious frownOf Truth, importunate!I know she has no sympathyFor fond imaginings;I know that Nature, too, is deaf,Nor heeds our sufferings;That for ourgoodshe nothing cares,Ourbeing, only heeds;And with the sight of our distressHer wild caprices feeds.I know the poor man pleads in vain,For others’ sympathy;That scornfully, or heedlessly,All from his presence flee;That both for genius and for worth,This age has no respect;That all who cherish lofty aimsAre left to cold neglect.And you, ye eyes so tremulousWith lustre all divine,I know how false your splendors are,Where no true love doth shine.No love mysterious and profoundIllumes you with its glow;Nor gleams one spark of genial fireBeneath that breast of snow.Nay, it is wont to laugh to scornAnother’s tender pain;The fervent flame of heavenly loveTo treat with cold disdain.Yet I with thankfulness once moreThe old illusions greet,And feel, with shock of pleased surprise,The heart within me beat.To thee alone this force renewed,This vital power I owe;From thee alone, my faithful heart,My only comforts flow.I feel it is the destinyOf every noble mind,In Fate, in Fortune, Beauty, and the World,An enemy to find:But while thou liv’st, nor yield’st to Fate,Contending without fear,I will not tax with crueltyThe power that placed me here.
I thought I had forever lost,Alas, though still so young,The tender joys and sorrows all,That unto youth belong;
The sufferings sweet, the impulsesOur inmost hearts that warm;Whatever gives this life of oursIts value and its charm.
What sore laments, what bitter tearsO’er my sad state I shed,When first I felt from my cold heartIts gentle pains had fled!
Its throbs I felt no more; my loveWithin me seemed to die;Nor from my frozen, senseless breastEscaped a single sigh!
I wept o’er my sad, hapless lot;The life of life seemed lost;The earth an arid wilderness,Locked in eternal frost;
The day how dreary, and the nightHow dull, and dark, and lone!The moon for me no brightness had,No star in heaven shone.
And yet the old love was the causeOf all the tears I shed;Still in my inmost breast I feltThe heart was not yet dead.
My weary fancy still would craveThe images it loved,And its capricious longings stillA source of sorrow proved.
But e’en that lingering spark of griefWas soon within me spent,And I the strength no longer hadTo utter a lament.
And there I lay, stunned, stupefied,Nor asked for comfort more;My heart to hopeless, blank despairItself had given o’er.
How changed, alas, was I from himWho once with passion thrilled,Whose ardent soul was ever, once,With sweet illusions filled!
The swallow to my window, still,Would come, to greet the dawn;But his sweet song no echo foundIn my poor heart, forlorn.
Nor pleased me more, in autumn gray,Upon the hill-side lone,The cheerful vesper-bell, or lightOf the departing sun.
In vain the evening star I sawAbove the silent vale,And vainly warbled in the groveThe plaintive nightingale.
And you, ye furtive glances, bright,From gentle eyes that rove,The sweet, the gracious messagesOf first immortal Love;
The soft, white hand, that tenderlyMy own hand seemed to woo;All, all your magic spells were vain,My torpor to subdue.
Of every pleasure quite bereft,Sad but of tranquil mien;A state of perfect littleness,Yet with a face serene;
Save for the lingering wish, indeed,In death to sink to rest,The force of all desire was spentIn my exhausted breast.
As some poor, feeble wanderer,With age and sorrow bent,The April of my years, alas,Thus listlessly I spent;
Thus listlessly, thus wearily,Didst thou consume, O heart,Those golden days, ineffable,So swiftly that depart.
Who, from this heavy, heedless restAwakens me again?What new, what magic power is this,I feel within me reign?
Ye motions sweet, ye images,Ye throbs, illusions blest,Ah, no,—ye are not then shut outForever from this breast?
The glorious light of golden daysDo ye again unfold?The old affections that I lost,Do I once more behold?
Now, as I gaze upon the sky,Or on the verdant fields,Each thing with sorrow me inspires,And each a pleasure yields.
The mountain, forest, and the shoreOnce more my heart rejoice;The fountain speaks to me once more,The sea hath found a voice.
Who, after all this apathy,Restores to me my tears?Each moment, as I look around,How changed the world appears!
Hath hope, perchance, O my poor heart,Beguiled thee of thy pain?Ah, no, the gracious smile of hopeI ne’er shall see again.
Nature bestowed these impulses,And these illusions blest;Their inborn influence, in me,By suffering was suppressed;
But not annulled, not overcomeBy cruel blows of Fate;Nor by the inauspicious frownOf Truth, importunate!
I know she has no sympathyFor fond imaginings;I know that Nature, too, is deaf,Nor heeds our sufferings;
That for ourgoodshe nothing cares,Ourbeing, only heeds;And with the sight of our distressHer wild caprices feeds.
I know the poor man pleads in vain,For others’ sympathy;That scornfully, or heedlessly,All from his presence flee;
That both for genius and for worth,This age has no respect;That all who cherish lofty aimsAre left to cold neglect.
And you, ye eyes so tremulousWith lustre all divine,I know how false your splendors are,Where no true love doth shine.
No love mysterious and profoundIllumes you with its glow;Nor gleams one spark of genial fireBeneath that breast of snow.
Nay, it is wont to laugh to scornAnother’s tender pain;The fervent flame of heavenly loveTo treat with cold disdain.
Yet I with thankfulness once moreThe old illusions greet,And feel, with shock of pleased surprise,The heart within me beat.
To thee alone this force renewed,This vital power I owe;From thee alone, my faithful heart,My only comforts flow.
I feel it is the destinyOf every noble mind,In Fate, in Fortune, Beauty, and the World,An enemy to find:
But while thou liv’st, nor yield’st to Fate,Contending without fear,I will not tax with crueltyThe power that placed me here.