THE broken moon lay in the autumn sky, And I lay at thy feet; You bent above me; in the silence I Could hear my wild heart beat. I spoke; my soul was full of trembling fears At what my words would bring: You rais'd your face, your eyes were full of tears, As the sweet eyes of Spring. You kiss'd me then, I worshipp'd at thy feet Upon the shadowy sod. Oh, fool, I lov'd thee! lov'd thee, lovely cheat! Better than Fame or God. My soul leap'd up beneath thy timid kiss; What then to me were groans, Or pain, or death? Earth was a round of bliss, I seem'd to walk on thrones. And you were with me 'mong the rushing wheels, 'Mid Trade's tumultuous jars; And where to awe-struck wilds the Night reveals Her hollow gulfs of stars. Before your window, as before a shrine, I've knelt 'mong dew-soak'd flowers, While distant music-bells, with voices fine, Measur'd the midnight hours. There came a fearful moment: I was pale, You wept, and never spoke, But clung around me as the woodbine frail Clings, pleading, round an oak. Upon my wrong I steadied up my soul, And flung thee from myself; I spurn'd thy love as 't were a rich man's dole, -- It was my only wealth. I spurn'd thee! I, who lov'd thee, could have died, That hop'd to call thee "wife," And bear thee, gently-smiling at my side, Through all the shocks of life! Too late, thy fatal beauty and thy tears, Thy vows, thy passionate breath; I'll meet thee not in Life, nor in the spheres Made visible by Death. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...APPELLATE JURISDICTION by MARIANNE MOORE THE SLAVE MOTHER by FRANCES ELLEN WATKINS HARPER DIFFERENT MINDS by RICHARD CHENEVIX TRENCH CONCLUDING VERSES, AFTER RETURNING HOME FROM AN AUTUMNAL MORNING WALK by BERNARD BARTON BRIEF LIFE by KATHARINE LEE BATES PHILEMON by MATILDA BARBARA BETHAM-EDWARDS LI HUA'S MESSENGER by PETER BETHANIS ON THE LOSS OF A PIOUS FRIEND by JOHN GARDINER CALKINS BRAINARD |