Poems (Eckley)/Leonore

by Sophia May Eckley

LEONORE.

EONORE, Leonore, come back to me,
 My heart is shivering in death for thee,
Wind, bear my anguish over the sea,
 And bring, O bring back my life to me!

Wildly the billows rake up the sands,
 Stormy and dark, with no light for me,
Though faintly struggles the beacon's flame,
 E'en as my life that has died in thee.

O for a flower that thou hast kissed,
 And worn in thy bosom till faint and dead
It languished for air, so near thy heart,
 It died from warmth, and its sweet life fled.

For I am that flower thou hast kissed,
 I have laid near thy heart and felt it beat,
Till I languished for air, and prayed to die,
 Breathing thy soul through eternity.

Leonore, Leonore, come back to me,
 My heart is shivering in death for thee,
Wind, bear my anguish far over the sea,
 And bring, O bring back my life to me!

Funeral night hangs over the sea,
 Low moans the wave her secret to me,
But she laughs because she is happier, free
 To lose her strength in the boundless sea.

But funeral night has darkened my soul,
 No moon-light of love may shine for me,
Earth is all dead, and no flowers breathe,
 To lighten my heart in its grief for thee.

Outward we steer to that ocean unseen,
 From the stormy coast to the open sea;
Hush! hush! the last billow has lifted life's bark,
 And we strike on the shores of eternity.