I. YES! there from out the gallery gloom, Retaining still a flush of bloom, I mark our bright ancestress glow -- The maiden Rose of long ago. She lived in times of sumptuous dress, And rich colonial stateliness; But through the strong restraints of art I seem to view her heaving heart, As if a protest warm it made 'Gainst that stiff bodice of brocade, While in her fair cheeks' deepening dyes, Her lifted brows and roguish eyes, Her swan-like neck and dimpled chin -- Cleft for small Loves to ambush in -- I can not fail (who could?) to see All potent charms of coquetry -- The wiles whose glamour, swift and sure, Smote hapless victims by the score; And even now (although they be Discerned in pictured phantasy) Not all innocuous, but possessed Of power to pierce the manly breast, If frosted to its shivering core By forty arctic years or more. II. Ah! many a gallant loved her well In those old days! Her features tell The world-wide story o'er again, Of @3others@1' passion, @3her@1 disdain; Of hearts that spent their best to make Her own more tender for love's sake, Only in time to find, perchance, Dull ending to a life's romance, Since trivial natures are not stirred Save by the lightly trivial word; And much I fear, despite the fine Rare beauty of each faultless line -- Her face, of gay @3insouciance@1, shows No golden gulfs of pure repose Deep in her inmost being shrined -- But shallow thoughts and purpose blind. And yet who knows? My erring sight May not have read its meanings right, And something of ethereal grace May lurk beneath that careless face, Which masks with inconsiderate mirth A soul not wholly wed to earth! III. Therefore, sweet flesh and blood, I trust That, ere ye passed to senseless dust, Your beauty played a worthier part -- The love-@3role@1 of the loyal heart. . . . . . No answer comes; for time doth mar Our records. Only, like a star Scarce touched by vapors vague and chill, Your gracious image haunts us still. But none, alas! may truly guess What fate befell your loveliness. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...AMERICA TO GREAT BRITAIN by WASHINGTON ALLSTON COMPLAINT OF THE ABSENCE OF HER LOVER BEING UPON THE SEA by HENRY HOWARD AT A SOLEMN MUSIC by JOHN MILTON THE MOON by ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON MEMORY by AMANDA LUELLA BARLOW |