Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, POOR, BUT HAPPY, by EMMA CATHERINE (MANLY) EMBURY


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

POOR, BUT HAPPY, by                    
First Line: We'll have a cot
Last Line: My heart would break from very happiness.
Alternate Author Name(s): Ianthe


WE'LL have a cot
Upon the banks of some meandering stream,
Whose ripple, like the murmur of a dream,
Shall be our music: roses there shall twine
Around the casement, with the jessamine,
Whose starry blossoms shine out from beneath
Their veiling leaves, like hope, and whose faint breath
Is sweet as memory's perfume. All the flowers
That nature in her richest bounty showers
Shall deck our home: fresh violets, that, like light,
And love, and hope, dwell everywhere; the bright
And fragrant honeysuckle, too; our feet
Shall press the daisy's bloom. Oh! 't will be sweet
To sit within the porch at eventide,
And drink the breath of heaven at thy dear side.
The sky will wear a smile unseen before,
The sun for me more genial light will pour,
Earth will give out its treasures rich and rare,
New health will come in every balmy air.

Then thou wilt ope to me great nature's book,
And nightly on the star-gemmed heavens we'll look;
Thou, with the pride of knowledge, wilt unfold
The mighty chart where science is enrolled,
And gaily smile when I recount to thee
My wild and wayward flights of fantasy;
For the frail beings of my dreamy heaven
Shrink from the light by scholiast wisdom given.
Wilt thou not joy to see the vivid glow
Of my expanded mind, when I shall owe
Its treasures all to thee?
Methinks it would be grief for me to bear
E'en bliss, beloved, unless thou too might share;
But oh! were joy poured forth in such excess,
My heart would break from very happiness.





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