Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, MELANIE, by NATHANIEL PARKER WILLIS


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

MELANIE, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: I stood on yonder rocky brow
Last Line: Peace to the broken-hearted dead!
Subject(s): Death; Grief; Sisters; Dead, The; Sorrow; Sadness


I.

I STOOD on yonder rocky brow,
And marvell'd at the Sibyl's fane,
When I was not what I am now.
My life was then untouch'd of pain;
And, as the breeze that stirr'd my hair,
My spirit freshen'd in the sky,
And all things that were true and fair
Lay closely to my loving eye,
With nothing shadowy between --
I was a boy of seventeen.
Yon wondrous temple crests the rock --
As light upon its giddy base,
As stirless with the torrent's shock,
As pure in its proportion'd grace,
And seems a thing of air -- as then,
Afloat above this fairy glen;
But though mine eye will kindle still
In looking on the shapes of art,
The link is lost that sent the thrill,
Like lightning instant to my heart.
And thus may break, before we die,
Th' electric chain 'twixt soul and eye!

Ten years -- like yon bright valley, sown
Alternately with weeds and flowers --
Had swiftly, if not gaily, flown,
And still I loved the rosy Hours;
And if there lurk'd within my breast
Some nerve that had been overstrung
And quiver'd in my hours of rest,
Like bells by their own echo rung,
I was with Hope a masquer yet,
And well could hide the look of sadness;
And, if my heart would not forget,
I knew, at least, the trick of gladness;
And when another sang the strain,
I mingled in the old refrain.

'Twere idle to remember now,
Had I the heart, my thwarted schemes.
I bear beneath this alter'd brow
The ashes of a thousand dreams --
Some wrought of wild Ambition's fingers,
Some color'd of Love's pencil well --
But none of which a shadow lingers,
And none whose story I could tell.
Enough, that when I climb'd again
To Tivoli's romantic steep,
Life had no joy, and scarce a pain,
Whose wells I had not tasted deep;
And from my lips the thirst had pass'd
For every fount save one -- the sweetest -- and the last.

The last -- the last! My friends were dead,
Or false; my mother in her grave;
Above my father's honor'd head
The sea had lock'd its hiding wave;
Ambition had but foil'd my grasp,
And love had perish'd in my clasp;
And still, I say, I did not slack
My love of life, and hope of pleasure,
But gather'd my affections back;
And, as the miser hugs his treasure
When plague and ruin bid him flee,
I closer clung to mine -- my loved, lost Melanie!

The last of the De Brevern race,
My sister claim'd no kinsman's care;
And, looking from each other's face,
The eye stole upward unaware --
For there was naught whereon to lean
Each other's heart and heaven between --
Yet that was world enough for me;
And, for a brief but blessed while,
There seem'd no care for Melanie
If she could see her brother smile!
But life with her was at the flow,
And every wave went sparkling higher,
While mine was ebbing, fast and low,
From the same shore of vain desire;
And knew I, with prophetic heart,
That we were wearing, aye, insensibly apart.

II.

We came to Italy. I felt
A yearning for its sunny sky;
My very spirit seem'd to melt
As swept its first warm breezes by.
From lip and cheek a chilling mist,
From life and soul a frozen rime,
By every breath seem'd softly kiss'd --
God's blessing on its radiant clime!
It was an endless joy to me
To see my sister's new delight;
From Venice in its golden sea
To Poestum in its purple light --
By sweet Val d'Arno's tinted hills --
In Vallombrosa's convent gloom --
'Mid Terni's vale of singing rills --
By deathless lairs in solemn Rome --
In gay Palermo's "Golden Shell" --
At Arethusa's hidden well --
We loiter'd like th' impassion'd sun
That slept so lovingly on all,
And made a home of every one --
Ruin, and fane, and waterfall --
And crown'd the dying day with glory
If we had seen, since morn, but one old haunt of story.

We came with Spring to Tivoli.
My sister loved its laughing air
And merry waters, though, for me,
My heart was in another key;
And sometimes I could scarcely bear
The mirth of their eternal play,
And, like a child that longs for home
When weary of its holiday,
I sigh'd for melancholy Rome.
Perhaps -- the fancy haunts me still --
'Twas but a boding sense of ill.

It was a morn, of such a day
As might have dawn'd on Eden first,
Early in the Italian May.
Vine-leaf and flower had newly burst,
And on the burthen of the air
The breath of buds came faint and rare;
And far in the transparent sky
The small, earth-keeping birds were seen
Soaring deliriously high;
And through the clefts of newer green
Yon waters dash'd their living pearls;
And with a gayer smile and bow
Troop'd on the merry village-girls;
And from the Contadino's brow
The low-slouch'd hat was backward thrown,
With air that scarcely seem'd his own;
And Melanie, with lips apart,
And clasped hands upon my arm,
Flung open her impassion'd heart,
And bless'd life's mere and breathing charm;
And sang old songs, and gather'd flowers,
And passionately bless'd once more life's thrilling hours.

In happiness and idleness
We wander'd down yon sunny vale --
Oh mocking eyes! -- a golden tress
Floats back upon this summer gale!
A foot is tripping on the grass!
A laugh rings merry in mine ear!
I see a bounding shadow pass! --
O God! my sister once was here!
Come with me, friend! -- We rested yon!
There grew a flower she pluck'd and wore!
She sat upon this mossy stone --
That broken fountain running o'er
With the same ring, like silver bells.
She listen'd to its babbling flow,
And said, "Perhaps the gossip tells
Some fountain-nymph's love-story now!"
And as her laugh rang clear and wild,
A youth -- a painter -- pass'd and smiled.

He gave the greeting of the morn
With voice that linger'd in mine ear.
I knew him sad and gentle born
By those two words -- so calm and clear.
His frame was slight, his forehead high
And swept by threads of raven hair,
The fire of thought was in his eye,
And he was pale and marble fair,
And Grecian chisel never caught
The soul in those slight features wrought.
I watch'd his graceful step of pride,
Till hidden by yon leaning tree,
And loved him ere the echo died;
And so, alas! did Melanie!

We sat and watch'd the fount awhile
In silence, but our thoughts were one;
And then arose, and, with a smile
Of sympathy, we saunter'd on;
And she by sudden fits was gay,
And then her laughter died away,
And in this changefulness of mood,
(Forgotten now those May-day spells,)
We turn'd where Varro's villa stood,
And gazing on the Cascatelles,
(Whose hurrying waters wild and white
Seem madden'd as they burst to light,)
I chanced to turn my eyes away,
And lo! upon a bank, alone,
The youthful painter, sleeping, lay!
His pencils on the grass were thrown,
And by his side a sketch was flung,
And near him as I lightly crept,
To see the picture as he slept,
Upon his feet he lightly sprung;
And, gazing with a wild surprise,
Upon the face of Melanie,
He said -- and dropp'd his earnest eyes --
"Forgive me! but I dream'd of thee!"
His sketch, the while, was in my hand,
And, for the lines I look'd to trace --
A torrent by a palace spann'd,
Half classic and half fairy-land --
I only found -- my sister's face!

III.

Our life was changed. Another love
In its lone woof began to twine;
But ah! the golden thread was wove
Between my sister's heart and mine!
She who had lived for me before --
She who had smiled for me alone --
Would live and smile for me no more!
The echo to my heart was gone!
It seem'd to me the very skies
Had shone through those averted eyes;
The air had breathed of balm -- the flower
Of radiant beauty seem'd to be --
But as she loved them, hour by hour,
And murmur'd of that love to me!
Oh, though it be so heavenly high
The selfishness of earth above,
That, of the watchers in the sky,
He sleeps who guards a brother's love --
Though to a sister's present weal
The deep devotion far transcends
The utmost that the soul can feel
For even its own higher ends --
Though next to God, and more than heaven
For his own sake, he loves her, even --
'Tis difficult to see another,
A passing stranger of a day,
Who never hath been friend or brother,
Pluck with a look her heart away --
To see the fair, unsullied brow,
Ne'er kiss'd before without a prayer,
Upon a stranger's bosom now,
Who for the boon took little care --
Who is enrich'd, he knows not why --
Who suddenly hath found a treasure
Golconda were too poor to buy,
And he, perhaps, too cold to measure --
(Albeit, in her forgetful dream,
Th' unconscious idol happier seem,)
'Tis difficult at once to crush
The rebel mourner in the breast,
To press the heart to earth, and hush
Its bitter jealousy to rest --
And difficult -- the eye gets dim,
The lip wants power -- to smile on him!

I thank sweet Mary Mother now,
Who gave me strength those pangs to hide --
And touch'd mine eyes and lit my brow
With sunshine that my heart belied.
I never spoke of wealth or race
To one who ask'd so much from me --
I look'd but in my sister's face,
And mused if she would happier be;
And hour by hour, and day by day,
I loved the gentle painter more,
And, in the same soft measure, wore
My selfish jealousy away;
And I began to watch his mood,
And feel, with her, love's trembling care,
And bade God bless him as he woo'd
That loving girl so fond and fair.
And on my mind would sometimes press
A fear that she might love him less.

But Melanie -- I little dream'd
What spells the stirring heart may move --
Pygmalion's statue never seem'd
More changed with life, than she with love!
The pearl-tint of the early dawn
Flush'd into day-spring's rosy hue --
The meek, moss-folded bud of morn
Flung open to the light and dew --
The first and half-seen star of even
Wax'd clear amid the deepening heaven --
Similitudes perchance may be!
But these are changes oftener seen,
And do not image half to me
My sister's change of face and mien.
'Twas written in her very air
That Love had pass'd and enter'd there.

IV.

A calm and lovely paradise
Is Italy, for minds at ease.
The sadness of its sunny skies
Weighs not upon the lives of these.
The ruin'd aisle, the crumbling fane,
The broken column, vast and prone --
It may be joy -- it may be pain --
Amid such wrecks to walk alone!
The saddest man will sadder be,
The gentlest lover gentler there --
As if, whate'er the spirit's key,
It strengthen'd in that solemn air.

The heart soon grows to mournful things,
And Italy has not a breeze
But comes on melancholy wings;
And even her majestic trees
Stand ghostlike in the Caesars' home,
As if their conscious roots were set
In the old graves of giant Rome,
And drew their sap all kingly yet!
And every stone your feet beneath
Is broken from some mighty thought;
And sculptures in the dust still breathe
The fire with which their lines were wrought;
And sunder'd arch, and plunder'd tomb
Still thunder back the echo, "Rome!"

Yet, gaily o'er Egeria's fount
The ivy flings its emerald veil,
And flowers grow fair on Numa's mount,
And light-sprung arches span the dale;
And soft, from Caracalla's baths,
The herdsman's song comes down the breeze,
While climb his goats the giddy paths
To grass-grown architrave and frieze;
And gracefully Albano's hill
Curves into the horizon's line;
And sweetly sings that classic rill;
And fairly stands that nameless shrine;
And here, oh, many a sultry noon
And starry eve, that happy June,
Came Angelo and Melanie!
And earth for us was all in tune --
For while Love talk'd with them, Hope walk'd apart with me!

V.

I shrink from the embitter'd close
Of my own melancholy tale.
'Tis long since I have waked my woes --
And nerve and voice together fail!
The throb beats faster at my brow,
My brain feels warm with starting tears,
And I shall weep -- but heed not thou!
'Twill soothe awhile the ache of years!
The heart transfix'd -- worn out with grief --
Will turn the arrow for relief.

The painter was a child of shame!
It stirr'd my pride to know it first,
For I had question'd but his name,
And thought, alas! I knew the worst,
Believing him unknown and poor.
His blood, indeed, was not obscure;
A high-born Conti was his mother,
But, though he knew one parent's face,
He never had beheld the other,
Nor knew his country or his race.
The Roman hid his daughter's shame
Within St. Mona's convent wall,
And gave the boy a painter's name --
And little else to live withal!
And, with a noble's high desires
Forever mounting in his heart,
The boy consumed with hidden fires,
But wrought in silence at his art;
And sometimes at St. Mona's shrine,
Worn thin with penance harsh and long,
He saw his mother's form divine,
And loved her for their mutual wrong.
I said my pride was stirr'd -- but no!
The voice that told its bitter tale
Was touch'd so mournfully with wo,
And, as he ceased, all deathly pale,
He loosed the hand of Melanie,
And gazed so gaspingly on me --
The demon in my bosom died!
"Not thine," I said, "another's guilt;
I break no hearts for silly pride;
So, kiss you weeper if thou wilt!"

VI.

St. Mona's morning mass was done,
The shrine-lamps struggled with the day;
And rising slowly, one by one,
Stole the last worshippers away.
The organist play'd out the hymn,
The incense, to St. Mary swung,
Had mounted to the cherubim,
Or to the pillars thinly clung;
And boyish chorister replaced
The missal that was read no more,
And closed, with half irreverent haste,
Confessional and chancel door;
And as, through aisle and oriel pane,
The sun wore round his slanting beam,
The dying martyr stirr'd again,
And warriors battled in its gleam;
And costly tomb and sculptured knight
Show'd warm and wondrous in the light.
I have not said that Melanie
Was radiantly fair --
This earth again may never see
A loveliness so rare!
She glided up St. Mona's aisle
That morning as a bride,
And, full as was my heart the while,
I bless'd her in my pride!
The fountain may not fail the less
Whose sands are golden ore,
And a sister for her loveliness,
May not be loved the more;
But as, the fount's full heart beneath,
Those golden sparkles shine,
My sister's beauty seem'd to breathe
Its brightness over mine!

St. Mona has a chapel dim
Within the altar's fretted pale,
Where faintly comes the swelling hymn,
And dies, half lost, the anthem's wail.
And here, in twilight meet for prayer,
A single lamp hangs o'er the shrine,
And Raphael's Mary, soft and fair,
Looks down with sweetness half divine,
And here St. Mona's nuns alway
Through latticed bars are seen to pray.

Ave and sacrament were o'er,
And Angelo and Melanie
Still knelt the holy shrine before;
But prayer that morn was not for me!
My heart was lock'd! The lip might stir,
The frame might agonize -- and yet,
Oh God! I could not pray for her!
A seal upon my brow was set --
My brow was hot -- my brain oppress'd --
And fiends seem'd muttering round, "Your bridal is unblest!"

With forehead to the lattice laid,
And thin, white fingers straining through,
A nun the while had softly pray'd.
Oh, even in prayer that voice I knew!
Each faltering word -- each mournful tone --
Each pleading cadence, half suppress'd --
Such music had its like alone
On lips that stole it at her breast!
And ere the orison was done
I loved the mother as the son!

And now, the marriage vows to hear,
The nun unveil'd her brow --
When, sudden, to my startled ear,
There crept a whisper, hoarse like fear,
"De Brevern! is it thou!"
The priest let fall the golden ring,
The bridegroom stood aghast,
While, like some weird and frantic thing,
The nun was muttering fast;
And as, in dread, I nearer drew,
She thrust her arms the lattice through,
And held me to her straining view --
But suddenly begun
To steal upon her brain a light
That stagger'd soul, and sense, and sight,
And, with a mouth all ashy white,
She shriek'd, "It is his son!
The bridegroom is thy blood -- thy brother!
Rodolph de Brevern wrong'd his mother!"
And, as that doom of love was heard,
My sister sunk -- and died -- without a sign or word!

* * * * * * * * *

I shed no tear for her. She died
With her last sunshine in her eyes.
Earth held for her no joy beside
The hope just shatter'd -- and she lies
In a green nook of yonder dell;
And near her, in a newer bed,
Her lover -- brother -- sleeps as well!
Peace to the broken-hearted dead!





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