Page:Poems of Sentiment and Imagination.djvu/197

---

And the bright, haughty crimson in her cheek
Burnt clear and beautiful; and her rich lip
Curled outward in resentment, sweet and full.
And when he ceased, she stood and gazed on him
In silent scorn, most deep and withering.
Never a star looked on a petty flame
With clearer luster than her steady eye
Answered the mock disdain that quailed in his!
Never a queen so wore her regal crown
As she her conscious purity and pride!
The tumult in his breast lay hushed and shamed
Before that peerless majesty of mien—
The lip that breathed of pity paled with awe
Of the bright being that before him stood,
So lofty in her beauty and her scorn!
But still pride struggled with a sense of shame,
And with a husky voice he would have spoke
Still further his unmanly bitterness;
But with a matchless wave of her white hand
And flashing eye, she uttered, clear and quick—

"No more! no more! the spell is broke
Which held me in its dizzy sway—
My dream of thee at last lias woke
To see thee in revealing day!
I can not mourn the spell is past
Which held my spirit's powers fast—
I can not mourn the real light—
I scorn thee from my waking sight—
Away! away

Obedient to that gesture of command.
From her proud, glorious presence, with no word,
No sigh, and no farewell, young Clarence turned.
The souls once blent in seeming perfectness
Were riven apart forever—evermore!
Earth—earth! thy mystery—thy agony!

17