Like a lone Arab, old and blind, Some caravan had left behind, Who sits beside a ruin'd well, Where the shy sand-asps bask and swell; And now he hangs his aged head aslant, And listens for a human sound -- in vain! And now the aid, which Heaven alone can grant, Upturns his eyeless face from Heaven to gain; -- Even thus, in vacant mood, one sultry hour, Resting my eye upon a drooping plant, With brow low-bent, within my garden-bower, I sate upon the couch of camomile; And -- whether 'twas a transient sleep, perchance, Flitted across the idle brain, the while I watch'd the sickly calm with aimless scope, In my own heart; or that, indeed a trance, Turn'd my eye inward -- thee, O genial Hope, Love's elder sister! thee did I behold Drest as a bridesmaid, but all pale and cold, With roseless cheek, all pale and cold and dim, Lie lifeless at my feet! And then came Love, a sylph in bridal trim, And stood beside my seat; She bent, and kiss'd her sister's lips, As she was wont to do; -- Alas! 'twas but a chilling breath Woke just enough of life in death To make Hope die anew. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THIRD BOOK OF AIRS: SONG 23 by THOMAS CAMPION IF by EDWARD JAMES MORTIMER COLLINS MONNA INNOMINATA, A SONNET OF SONNETS: 5 by CHRISTINA GEORGINA ROSSETTI LITTLE JESUS by FRANCIS THOMPSON A SOUL'S SOLILOQUY by WENONAH STEVENS ABBOTT ONE WOMAN by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH NIGHTFALL (1) by WYSTAN HUGH AUDEN TO MRS -- RETURNING FINE HYACINTH PLANT AFTER BLOOM IS OVER by ANNA LETITIA BARBAULD |