Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THOUGHTS OF THE PAST, by SARAH HELEN POWER WHITMAN


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THOUGHTS OF THE PAST, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: In the soft gloom of summer's balmy eve
Last Line: By the still waters of eternal life!
Subject(s): Past


IN the soft gloom of summer's balmy eve,
When from the lingering glances of the sun
The sad earth turns away her blushing cheek,
Mantling its glow in twilight's shadowy veil, --
Oft 'mid the falling dews I love to stray;
Onward and onward through the pleasant fields,
Far up the lilied borders of the stream,
To this "green silent spot among the hills,"
Endeared by thronging memories of the past.

Oft have I lingered on this rustic bridge,
To view the limpid waters, winding on
Under dim-vaulted woods, whose woven boughs
Of beach, and maple, and broad sycamore,
Throw their soft moving shadows o'er the wave,
While blossomed vines, dropt to the water's brim,
Hang idly swaying in the summer wind.

The birds that wander thro' the twilight heaven
Are mirror'd far beneath me; -- and young leaves
That tremble on the birch tree's silver boughs,
In the cool wave reflected, gleam below
Like twinkling stars athwart the verdant gloom.

A sound of rippling water rises sweet
Amid the silence; and the western breeze
Sighing through sedges, and low meadow blooms,
Comes wafting gentle thoughts from Memory's land,
And wakes the long hushed music of the heart.

Oft dewy spring hath brimmed the brook with showers,
Oft hath the long, bright summer fringed its banks
With fragrant blossoms, and the autumn sere
Shed mellow hues on all its wooded shores,
Since first I trod these paths in youth's sweet prime,
With loved ones whom time's desolating wave
Hath wafted now for ever from my side.

The living stream still lingers on its way
In idle dalliance with the dew-lipped flowers,
That toss their fairy heads at its caress,
Or trembling listen to its silver voice;
While through yon rifted boughs, the evening star
Is seen above the hill-top, beautiful
As when on many a balmy summer night,
Lapp'd in sweet dreams, "in holy passion hush'd,"
I saw its ray slant through the dusky pines.

Long years have passed, and by the unchanging stream,
Bereft and sorrow-taught, alone I stand
Listening the hollow music of the winds.
Alone, -- alone; -- the stars are far away,
And frequent clouds shut out the summer heaven,
But still the calm earth keeps her constant course,
And whispers -- "Hope," thro' all her breathing bowers!
Not all in vain the vision of our youth,
The apocalypse of beauty and of love,
The stag-like heart of hope; -- life's mystic dream
The soul shall yet interpret, to our prayer
The Isis veil be lifted! Though we pine
E'en 'mid the ungather'd roses of our youth,
Pierced with strange pangs, and longings vague yet sweet,
As if earth's fairest flowers served but to wake
Sad haunting memories of our Eden home; --
Not all in vain!
Meantime in patient trust
Rest we on Nature's bosom; from her eye
Serene and still, drinking in faith and love;
To her calm pulse attempering the heart
That throbs too wildly for ideal bliss.
Oh! holy mother, heal me, for I faint
Upon life's arid pathway, and "my feet
On the dark mountains stumble!" Near thy heart
Close nestling let me lie, and let thy breath,
Fragrant and cool, fall on my fever'd cheek,
As in those unworn ages ere pale thought
Forestall'd life's patient harvest. Give me strength
In generous abandonment of heart,
To follow wheresoe'er o'er the world's waste
The cloudy pillar moveth, till at last
It guides to pleasant vales and pastures green,
By the still waters of eternal life!





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net