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Poems
and Essays
by
Joseph Howe
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THE
BEACH.
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The
Moonbeams slept upon the Wave
Which scarce a wand’ring
zephyr curl’d,
And with their silvery brightness gave
Dreams of a fairer, holier
world.
The distant Isles their shadows threw,
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Dark’ning
the water’s fair expanse,
While Nature’s placid stillness drew
By witchery forth the Soul’s
romance.
A rapture o’er our spirits broke
Till that still hour unknown
before,
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And
many a thought which love awoke
Was utter’d on that
lovely shore.
For wild and lonely was the scene
On which the sacred beams
descended,
Rock, Isle and Wave, and Forest green,
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In
lights and shades were softly blended. [Page
106]
Along the pebbly Beach we stray’d,
And gazed upon the shining
Sea,
And rais’d our eyes to Heaven, and pray’d
As bright and calm our lives
might be.
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The drowsy world has sought repose,
No wandering footstep lingered
near
To check thy song, which sweetly rose
Like fairy music on the
ear.
Your cheek was pillow’d on my breast,
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My
arm around you fondly clung,
And, as the Bird bend’s o’er its nest,
In hope and joy o’er
thee I hung.
And from the glorious bright array
Which Nature spread before
the sight,
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Turn’d,
half unconsciously away,
To watch your eye’s
unsullied light.
The Pilgrim, thus, ’midst fairest bowers,
One cherish’d, deep
sensation feels,
Nor heeds the rich and fragrant flowers,
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While
to his guardian Saint he kneels.
1827. [Page 107]
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