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ONE OF LIFE'S MISTAKES.
And beneath the silver light of the stars
We heard the tinkle of soft guitars;
Oh, the royal midnights! the calm, sweet days!
Oh, the languorous noons and the twilight haze!
And the waves rippled lightly of that south sea,
And life was an Eden to him and to me!
We heard the tinkle of soft guitars;
Oh, the royal midnights! the calm, sweet days!
Oh, the languorous noons and the twilight haze!
And the waves rippled lightly of that south sea,
And life was an Eden to him and to me!
Ah! it is over! this world is so cold!
The sunsets are sable! I miss the red gold!
The airs that sweep o'er me are chilly and damp,
The winds o'er the dead leaves relentlessly tramp!
The universe holds, for me, only a grave,
Where the pale lilies bloom, and the green willows wave!
I care not for southlands, or orange, or palm,
I am heedless of Italy's breezes of balm;
For me all the light of this earth is so dim!
Heaven would not be Heaven if absent from him.
The sunsets are sable! I miss the red gold!
The airs that sweep o'er me are chilly and damp,
The winds o'er the dead leaves relentlessly tramp!
The universe holds, for me, only a grave,
Where the pale lilies bloom, and the green willows wave!
I care not for southlands, or orange, or palm,
I am heedless of Italy's breezes of balm;
For me all the light of this earth is so dim!
Heaven would not be Heaven if absent from him.
ONE OF LIFE'S MISTAKES.
I take the truth home to my heart, and stand
Helpless, like one the tide bears from the land,
The happy land, where dwell his household band.
Helpless, like one the tide bears from the land,
The happy land, where dwell his household band.
Self-blinded I have been; no cruel blame
Shall fall on her who nobly bears my name;
No thought of mine shall stain her spotless fame.
Shall fall on her who nobly bears my name;
No thought of mine shall stain her spotless fame.
