Classic and Contemporary Poetry
TO INEZ; IN ABSENCE, by DAVID MACBETH MOIR Poet's Biography First Line: Oh! Sweetly o'er th' atlantic sea Last Line: Has still a charm in having thee! Alternate Author Name(s): Delta Subject(s): Absence; Separation; Isolation | ||||||||
I. OH! sweetly o'er th' Atlantic sea, The moon, with melancholy smile, Looks down as I, beloved, on thee Am fondly musing all the while: And as, along the silver tide, Its silent course the vessel steers, I dream of days when, side by side, We roam'd on eves of other years! II. Though many a land, though many a wave, Between us rise, between us roll, Still, like a beacon, bright to save, Thou sheddest light upon my soul. And though the mist of years hath pass'd, Since first I bless'd its glorious shine, Yet thoughts, and woes, and days amass'd, Have only made it doubly thine! III. How sweetly to the pensive mind The dreams of other days awake, And all the joys we left behind, No more on earth to overtake! Our wanderings by the sandy shore, Our walks along the twilight plain, The raptures that we felt of yore, And ne'er on earth shall feel again! IV. Unclouded Moon! o'er rippling seas Thou lookest down in placid grace; With sails, expanded by the breeze, Alert, our onward path we trace; To foreign isles and lands unknown We steer, where every sigh shall tell, 'Mid thousands as I walk alone, My thoughts with those far distant dwell. V. Unclouded Moon! 'tis sweet to mark Thine aspect, so serene and calm, Dispersing, vanquishing the dark, And o'er our sorrows shedding balm. Departed days like visions pass Across the hot and fever'd brow, Blest years, and vanish'd eves, alas! When thou didst shine as thou dost now! VI. Oh! brightly as of yesterday The dreams of vanish'd years awake, The hopes that flatter'd to betray, And left the joyless heart to break. I see thee, as I saw thee then, Endow'd by youth with magic charm; I hear thee, as I heard thee, when We roam'd together, arm in arm. VII. It were a soothing thought, that thou Mayhap, now pondering, takest delight To raise thy white, angelic brow, And gaze upon the lovely night; And that the very scenes might rise Upon thy mind's reverted eye, That draw from me a thousand sighs, In starting upand passing by. VIII. 'Twere nothing did we die'twere nought From life at once to pass away; But thus to wither thought by thought, And inch by inch, and day by day, To mark the lingering tints of light, As twilight o'er the sky expands, To mark the wave's receding flight, That leaves the bleak and barren sands, IX. To see the stars that gem the sky Fade one by one,to note the leaves Drop from the boughs all witheringly, Thro' which the wintry tempest grieves 'Tis this that chills the drooping heart, That still we breathe, and feel, and live, When all the flowers of earth depart, And life hath not a joy to give! X. Not parted yetnot parted yet Though oceans roll and roar between; A star that glitters ne'er to set, Thou smilest bright, and shin'st serene, Fair Inez! and the waste of life, All bleak and barren though it be, Although a scene of care and strife, Has still a charm in having thee! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE EVENING OF THE MIND by DONALD JUSTICE CHRISTMAS AWAY FROM HOME by JANE KENYON THE PROBLEM by CHARLOTTE FISKE BATES WHEN A WOMAN LOVES A MAN by DAVID LEHMAN THIS UNMENTIONABLE FEELING by DAVID LEHMAN THE RUSTIC LAD'S LAMENT IN THE TOWN by DAVID MACBETH MOIR |
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