Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, TO INEZ; IN LAMENT, by DAVID MACBETH MOIR


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

TO INEZ; IN LAMENT, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Oh thou! Who in my happier days
Last Line: Oh! Teach me humbly to resign!
Alternate Author Name(s): Delta
Subject(s): Absence; Thought; Separation; Isolation; Thinking


I.

OH thou! who in my happier days
Wert all to me that earth could hold,
And dearer to my youthful gaze
And yearning heart, than words have told,
Now, far from me, unmark'd and cold,
Thine ashes rest—thy relics lie;
And mouldering in earth's common mould
The frame that seem'd too fair to die!

II.

The stranger treads my haunts at morn,
And stops to scan upon the tree
Letters by Time's rude finger worn,
That bore the earthly name of thee.
To him 'tis all unknown; and he
Strays on amid the woodland scene;
And thou, to all alive but me,
Art now as thou hadst never been.

III.

Ah! little didst thou think, when I
With thee have roam'd at eventide,
Mark'd setting sun, and purpling sky,
And saunter'd by the river's side,
And gazed on thee, my destined bride,
How soon thou shouldst from hence depart,
And leave me here without a guide—
With ruin'd hopes, and broken heart.

IV.

Oh, Inez! Inez! I have seen,
Above this spot where thou art laid,
Wild flowers and weeds all rankly green,
As if in mockery wild display'd!
In sombre twilight's purple shade,
Oft by thy grave have I sojourn'd;
And as I mused o'er hopes decay'd,
Mine eyes have stream'd, my heart hath burn'd.

V.

I thought of days for ever fled,
When thou wert being's Morning Star;
I thought of feelings nourishèd
In secret, 'mid the world's loud jar;
I thought how, from the crowd afar,
I loved to stray, and for thee sigh;
Nor deem'd, when winds and waves a bar
Between us placed, that thou shouldst die.

VI.

I saw thee not in thy distress,
Nor ever knew that pale disease
Was preying on that loveliness,
Whose smiles all earthly ills could ease;
But, when afar upon the seas,
I call'd thy magic form to mind,
I little dreamt that charms like these
Were to Death's icy arms resign'd.

VII.

Now years have pass'd—and years may pass—
Earth not a fear or charm can have;
Ah! no—I could not view the grass,
That waves and rustles o'er thy grave!
My day is one long ruffled wave;
The night is not a lake of rest;
I dream, and nought is with me, save
A troubled scene—Despair my guest!

VIII.

Or if, mayhap, my slumbering hour
Should paint thee to mine arms restored,
Then, then, the passing dream has power
A moment's rapture to afford;
Mirth cheers the heart, and crowns the board;
My bosom's burden finds relief;
I breathe thy name—but at that word
I wake to darkness and to grief!

IX.

Well—be it so—I would not lose
The thoughts to thee that madly cleave,
For all the vacant mirth of those,
Who, heartless, think it wrong to grieve;
No—nought on earth can now retrieve
The loss my soul hath felt in thee;
Such hours of foolish joy would leave
More darkness in my misery!

X.

Inez, to me the light of life
Wert thou, when youth's fond pulse beat high,
And free from care, and far from strife,
Day follow'd day without a sigh;
All that could bless a mortal eye,
All that could charm th' immortal mind,
And wean from frail variety,
Were in thy form and soul combin'd.

XI.

Though angel now, thou yet may'st deign
To bend thy radiant look on me,
And view the breast where thou didst reign,
Still pining in its love for thee:
Then let me bend to Heaven's decree,
Support this drooping soul of mine;
And, since to thine it may not flee,
Oh! teach me humbly to resign!





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