Seraph! thy memory is to me Like some enchanted far-off isle In some tumultuous sea - Some ocean vexed as it may be With storms; but where, meanwhile, Serenest skies continually Just o'er that one bright island smile. For 'mid the earnest cares and woes That crowd around my earthly path, (Sad path, alas, where grows Not even one lonely rose!) My...Learn More

Elizabeth—it surely is most fit (Logic and common usage so commanding) In thy own book that first thy name be writ, Zeno and other sages notwithstanding; And I have other reasons for so doing Besides my innate love of contradiction; Each poet—if a poet—in pursuing The muses thro' their bowers of Truth or Fiction, Has studied very little of his...Learn More

At midnight, in the month of June, I stand beneath the mystic moon. An opiate vapor, dewy, dim, Exhales from out her golden rim, And, softly dripping, drop by drop, Upon the quiet mountain top, Steals drowsily and musically Into the universal valley. The rosemary nods upon the grave; The lily lolls upon the wave; Wrapping the fog about its...Learn More

I'll tell you a plan for gaining wealth,         Better than banking, trade or leases— Take a bank note and fold it up, And then you will find your money in creases! This wonderful plan, without danger or loss, Keeps your cash in your hands, where nothing can trouble it; And every time that you fold it across,         'Tis as plain as the light of...Learn More

Oh! that my young life were a lasting dream! My spirit not awakening, till the beam Of an Eternity should bring the morrow: Yes! tho' that long dream were of hopeless sorrow, 'Twere better than the cold reality Of waking life, to him whose heart must be, And hath been still, upon the lovely earth, A chaos of deep passion, from his birth! But...Learn More

                I dwelt alone                 In a world of moan, And my soul was a stagnant tide, Till the fair and gentle Eulalie became my blushing bride— Till the yellow-haired young Eulalie became my smiling bride.                 Ah, less, less bright                 The stars of the night Than the eyes of the radiant...Learn More

Thank Heaven! the crisis- The danger is past, And the lingering illness Is over at last- And the fever called "Living" Is conquered at last. Sadly, I know I am shorn of my strength, And no muscle I move As I lie at full length- But no matter!-I feel I am better at length. And I rest so composedly, Now, in my bed That any beholder Might fancy me...Learn More

Sancta Maria! turn thine eyes - Upon the sinner's sacrifice, Of fervent prayer and humble love, From thy holy throne above. At morn - at noon - at twilight dim - Maria! thou hast heard my hymn! In joy and wo - in good and ill - Mother of God, be with me still! When the Hours flew brightly by, And not a cloud obscured the sky, My soul, lest it...Learn More

Type of the antique Rome! Rich reliquary Of lofty contemplation left to Time By buried centuries of pomp and power! At length—at length—after so many days Of weary pilgrimage and burning thirst, (Thirst for the springs of lore that in thee lie,) I kneel, an altered and an humble man, Amid thy shadows, and so drink within My very soul thy grandeur,...Learn More

1 I saw thee on thy bridal day—         When a burning blush came o'er thee, Though happiness around thee lay,         The world all love before thee: 2 And in thine eye a kindling light         (Whatever it might be) Was all on Earth my aching sight         Of Loveliness could see. 3 That blush, perhaps, was maiden shame—         As such it...Learn More

The happiest day—the happiest hour         My sear'd and blighted heart hath                 known, The highest hope of pride and power,         I feel hath flown. Of power! said I? yes! such I ween         But they have vanish'd long, alas! The visions of my youth have been—         But let them pass. And, pride, what have I now with...Learn More

Fair river! in thy bright, clear flow Of crystal, wandering water, Thou art an emblem of the glow Of beauty — the unhidden heart — The playful maziness of art In old Alberto's daughter; But when within thy wave she looks — Which glistens then, and trembles — Why, then, the prettiest of brooks Her worshipper resembles; For in his heart, as in thy...Learn More