Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE ANCESTRAL SONG, by FELICIA DOROTHEA HEMANS Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: There were faint sounds of weeping Last Line: She passed, as twilight melts to night, away! Alternate Author Name(s): Browne, Felicia Dorothea Subject(s): Death; Dead, The | ||||||||
THERE were faint sounds of weeping; -- fear and gloom And midnight vigil in a stately room Of Lusignan's old halls; -- rich odours there Filled the proud chamber as with Indian air, And soft light fell, from lamps of silver thrown, On jewels that with rainbow lustre shone Over a gorgeous couch: -- There emeralds gleamed, And deeper crimson from the ruby streamed Than in the heart-leaf of the rose is set Hiding from sunshine. -- Many a carcanet Starry with diamonds, many a burning chain Of the red gold, sent forth a radiance wain, And sad, and strange, the canopy beneath Whose shadowy curtains, round a bed of death, Hung drooping solemnly; -- for there one lay, Passing from all Earth's glories fast away, Amidst those queenly treasures: They had been Gifts of her lord, from far-off Paynim lands, And for his sake, upon their orient sheen She had gazed fondly, and with faint, cold hands Had pressed them to her languid heart once more, Melting in childlike tears. But this was o'er -- Love's last vain clinging unto life; and now -- A mist of dreams was hovering o'er her brow, Her eye was fixed, her spirit seemed removed, Though not from Earth, from all it knew or loved, Far, far away! her handmaids watched around, In awe, that lent to each low midnight sound A might, a mystery; and the quivering light Of wind-swayed lamps, made spectral in their sight The forms of buried beauty, sad, yet fair, Gleaming along the walls with braided hair, Long in the dust grown dim; and she, too, saw, But with the spirit's eye of raptured awe, Those pictured shapes! -- a bright, yet solemn train, Beckoning, they floated o'er her dreamy brain, Clothed in diviner hues; while on her ear Strange voices fell, which none besides might hear, Sweet, yet profoundly mournful, as the sigh Of winds o'er harp-strings through a midnight sky; And thus it seemed, in that low thrilling tone, Th' ancestral shadows called away their own. Come, come, come! Long thy fainting soul hath yearned For the step that ne'er returned; Long thine anxious ear hath listened, And thy watchful eye hath glistened With the hope, whose parting strife Shook the flower-leaves from thy life -- Now the heavy day is done, Home awaits thee, wearied one! Come, come, come. From the quenchless thoughts that burn In the sealed heart's lonely urn; From the coil of memory's chain Wound about the throbbing brain; From the veins of sorrow deep, Winding through the world of sleep; From the haunted halls and bowers, Thronged with ghosts of happier hours! Come, come, come! On our dim and distant shore Aching love is felt no more! We have loved with earth's excess -- Past is now that weariness! We have wept, that weep not now -- Calm is each once beating brow! We have known the dreamer's woes -- All is now one bright repose! Come, come, come! Weary heart that long hast bled, Languid spirit, drooping head, Restless memory, vain regret, Pining love whose light is set, Come away! -- 'tis hushed, 'tis well! Where by shadowy founts we dwell, All the fever-thirst is stilled, All the air with peace is filled, -- Come, come, come! And with her spirit rapt in that wild lay, She passed, as twilight melts to night, away! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A FRIEND KILLED IN THE WAR by ANTHONY HECHT FOR JAMES MERRILL: AN ADIEU by ANTHONY HECHT TARANTULA: OR THE DANCE OF DEATH by ANTHONY HECHT CHAMPS D?ÇÖHONNEUR by ERNEST HEMINGWAY NOTE TO REALITY by TONY HOAGLAND A DIRGE (1) by FELICIA DOROTHEA HEMANS |
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