Poetry Archives

The gloomy hours of silence wake
  Remembrance and her train,
And phantoms through the fancies chase
  The mem’ries that remain;
And hidden in the dark embrace
  Of days that now are gone,
I see a form, a fairy form,
  And fancy hurries on!

I see the old familiar smile,
  I hear the tender tone,
I greet the softness of the glance
  That cheered me when alone;
The ruby chains of rich romance
  That bound our bosoms o’er,
I still can know, I still can feel,
  As they were felt before.

I name the vows, the fresh young vows,
  That we together said;
What matters it? She can not know;
  She slumbers with the dead!
Again the fields of fate I sow,
  As she and I have sown;
I dream again the same old dreams,
  But I am left alone!

The twining grasses verdant wreathe
  Above her silent grave;
The rose and violet over all
  Their purest blossoms wave;
Unbidden from their fountains fall
  The tender tides of tears;
A sorrow winds among the days,
  And chains the passing years.

My life commingles shine with shade,
  The lily with the rose,
And in my heart a loathsome weed
  Beside each lily grows;
Through every thought, through every deed,
  The somber shadows play;
And I am sad, alone and sad,
  And life is never gay.