OH! fair as heaven and chaste as light! Did Nature mould thee all so bright, That thou shouldst ever learn to weep O'er languid virtue's fatal sleep, O'er shame extinguish'd, honour fled, Peace lost, heart wither'd, feeling dead? No, no! a star was born with thee, Which sheds eternal purity! Thou hast, within those sainted eyes, So fair a transcript of the skies, In lines of fire such heavenly lore, That man should read them and adore! Yet have I known a gentle maid Whose early charms were just array'd In Nature's loveliness like thine, And wore that clear, celestial sign, Which seems to mark the brow that's fair For destiny's peculiar care! Whose bosom, too, was once a zone, Where the bright gem of virtue shone; Whose eyes were talismans of fire Against the spell of man's desire! Yet, hapless girl, in one sad hour, Her charms have shed their radiant flower; The gem has been beguiled away; Her eyes have lost their chastening ray; The simple fear, the guiltless shame, The smiles that from reflection came, All, all have fled, and left her mind A faded monument behind! Like some wave-beaten, mouldering stone, To memory raised by hands unknown, Which, many a wintry hour, has stood Beside the ford of Tyra's flood, To tell the traveller, as he cross'd, That there some loved friend was lost! Oh! 'twas a sight I wept to see -- Heaven keep the lost one's fate from thee! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...IF HE SHOULD COME by EDWIN MARKHAM I AM BORNE ONWARD by SARA TEASDALE ON FIRST ENTERING WESTMINSTER ABBEY by LOUISE IMOGEN GUINEY SONNET: 60 by WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE THE INDIAN'S WELCOME TO THE PILGRIM FATHERS by LYDIA HUNTLEY SIGOURNEY ELEGIAC SONNET: 2. WRITTEN AT THE CLOSE OF SPRING by CHARLOTTE SMITH TO THE FOUR COURTS, PLEASE by JAMES STEPHENS |