Rosalie (Washington Allston)

by Washington Allston

O, pour upon my soul again
    That sad, unearthly strain,
That seems from other worlds to plain;
Thus falling, falling from afar,
As if some melancholy star
Had mingled with her light her sighs,
    And dropped them from the skies.

No - never came from aught below
    This melody of wo,
That makes my heart to overflow
As from a thousand gushing springs
Unknown before; that with it brings
This nameless light - if light it be -
    That veils the world I see.

For all I see around me wears
    The hue of other spheres;
And something blent of smiles and tears
Comes from the very air I breathe.
O, nothing, sure, the stars beneath,
Can mould a sadness like to this -
    So like angelic bliss.

So, at that dreamy hour of day
    When the last lingering ray
Stops on the highest loud to play -
So thought the gentle Rosalie
As on her maiden revery
First fell the strain of him who stole
    In music to her soul.