COULDST THOU BUT KNOW. BY LADY CAROLINE LAMB, COULDST thou but know what 'tis to weep- Thou wouldst not do what I have done. Couldst thou but know what 'tis to smile, And, oh! if thou couldst think how drear, If thou, like me, to none wert dear, Thou wouldst not do what I have done. ABJURATION. BY MISS BOWLES. THERE was a time-sweet time of youthful folly !- And like a lover, like a jealous lover, I hid mine idol with a miser's art (Lest vulgar eyes her sweetness should discover), Close in the inmost chambers of mine heart. LYRE. L 218 ABJURATION. And there I sought her-oft in secret sought her, From merry mates withdrawn, and mirthful play, To wear away, by some deep stilly water, In greenwood lone, the livelong summer day, Watching the flitting clouds, the fading flowers, And then, mine idle tears (ab, silly maiden!) And then I loved to haunt lone burial-places, To think of passing bells-of death and dying— Methought 'twere sweet in early youth to die, So loved, lamented-in such sweet sleep lying, The white shroud all with flowers and rosemary Strew'd o'er by loving hands!—But then 'twould grieve me Too sore, forsooth! the scene my fancy drew ;— I could not bear the thought, to die and leave ye; And I have lived, dear friends! to weep for you. And I have lived to prove that fading flowers Are life's best joys, and all we love and prizeWhat chilling rains succeed the summer showers, What bitter drops, wrung slow from elder eyes. And I have lived to look on Death and dying, To stoop to start to be alone with-Death. And I have lived to wear the smiles of gladness, When all within was cheerless, dark, and coldWhen all earth's joys seem'd mockery and madness, And life more tedious than "a tale twice told." And now-and now, pale pining Melancholy! Away-avaunt! No longer now I call ye Give me the voice of mirth, the sound of laughter- So, in his desperate mood, the fool hath spoken- But for the stricken heart, the spirit broken, If we but kiss it, as the stroke descendeth, Mine be that holy, humble tribulation— No longer feign'd distress-fantastic woe,— I know my griefs,—but then my consolation— My trust, and my immortal hopes I know. THE END OF TIME. "And I saw another mighty Angel come down from Heaven, clothed with a cloud; and a rainbow was upon his head; and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot upon the earth, and cried with a loud voice. And the Angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to Heaven; and sware by Him that liveth for ever and ever, who created Heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things that therein are, that there should be time no longer! REVELATIONS, Chap. x. I SAW an Angel on a cloud, Come floating through the air; The Heavens look'd like the world's dark shroud, And eke the middle clime; Earth reel'd beneath his ponderous weight, Tumultuous and sublime. A garb of light he round him cast, Heaven's radiant arch entwined his brow Of majesty divine), Seal of the Covenant firm and sure, The Heavens drew back to let him pass,— The mountains skipped to and fro, Upon a mountain's rugged height With arms uplifted to the sky, And who created earth and sea That-Time should be no more! Earth quaked at the fatal sound, He stretch'd his arm up to the sun, The moon grew pale with wild affright, The stars withdrew their glimmering light,— For light no more could be! |