HAST thou beheld a landscape dull and bare, On which, at times, a flying gleam was shed From some shy sunbeam shifting overhead, That made the scene for one brief moment fair? Such is the light, so transient, flickering, rare, Which, from fate's sullen heavens above me spread, Hath flushed the path my weary footsteps tread, And lent to darkness glimpses of sweet cheer. Alas! alas! that I, whose soul doth burn With such deep passion for a steadfast bliss, Must bend forever o'er hope's burial urn, And greet even love with a halfmournful kiss! In sooth, what stern, malignant doom is this? Joy! delicate Ariel! ah! return! return! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...DOWN THE MISSISSIPPI: 2. HEAT by JOHN GOULD FLETCHER LAMENT by EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY ON IMAGINATION by PHILLIS WHEATLEY THE SEVEN AGAINST THEBES: NEWS OF WAR by AESCHYLUS PEBBLES by KENNETH SLADE ALLING |