TO
MRS. NORTON.*
[At Lady Palmerston’s Soiree.]
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Lady,
how eagerly I thread the maze
Of rank and beauty, ’till thy noble form
Stands full before me—’till at last
I gaze,
In joy and thankfulness, to find the storm
That shook the fruit profusely, spared the tree;
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To realize
my dreams of time and thee— [Page
143]
To find the eye still bright, the cheek still warm,
The regal outlines swelling, soft and free,
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lit by luminous thoughts, as I would have them be. |
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Unconscious thou, how, far beyond the wave, |
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The
lowest murmur of thy softest strain
In early life articulate music gave
To thousands, who, when agony and pain
Shook every tremulous string, yet sigh’d again,
That ever sorrow should the notes prolong.
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Unconscious
thou, that ’midst the light and vain,
The Stranger turns him from the glittering throng,
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Mem’ry’s stores to hoard the graceful
Child of Song. |
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How oft, in weariness, we turn away
From what we’ve sought, from picture, fane,
or stream;
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But
well dost thou the ling’ring glance repay
With full fruition of the fondest dream;
The light that o’er the billows used to beam,
Lodged in a stately tower. The minstrel’s
smile
Is sweeter than her Song—the playful theme
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Of early
genius, even less versatile |
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are the matron charms that Soul and Sense beguile. |
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The Maple, in our Woods, the frost doth crown
With more resplendent beauty than it wears
In early Spring. Its sweetness cometh down
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But
when the Woodman’s stroke its bosom tears.
And thus, in spite of all my doubts and fears,
I joy to see thy ripened beauties glow [Page
144]
’Neath sorrow’s gentle touch that more
endears;
To feel thy strains will all the sweeter flow
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| From
that deep wound that did not lay thee low. [Page
145] |
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*
Mrs. Norton was a Granddaughter of Richard Brinsley
Sheridan and Aunt to the present Earl Dufferin.
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