And I dared to think that there might be
In the future's unseen treasury
A long-craved boon reserved for me,
The blessed boon of love!
But the past came up before mine eyes,
And I saw in dim succession rise
A thousand older memories,
Each one with sadness wove.
And a shadow o'er my spirit come,
And darker grew the midnight gloom,
And wilder, busier grew the hum
Of voices from the past;
Till I yielded up my hope in fear,
And shuddered in the darkness drear,
Too wildly sad to weep a tear—
To hope it might not last.
And still I sat when hope was dead.
And did not dare to raise my head,
For fear the vision was not fled,
Until a single star
Burst from the night-clouds' gloomy maze,
And broke on my bewildered gaze
In one intense and glorious blaze,
And darkness fled afar.
BEAUTY.
I have seen a gay, young, volatile creature,
With a form graceful as Hebe's, and a smile
Full of all winning witcheries; and features
Blended to such pure symmetry, that while
You strove to tell where most of beauty laid,
The delicate whole mingled in one soft shade,
With violet eyes, and drooping lids that looked
