OH thou, whose pure, exalted mind Lives in this record, fair and bright, Oh thou, whose blameless life combined Soft female charms and grace refined With science and with light. Celestial maid! whose spirit soared Beyond this vale of tears; Whose clear, enlightened eye explored The lore of years! Daughter of heaven! if @3here@1, e'en @3here@1, The wing of towering thought was thine; If, on @3this@1 dim and mundane sphere, Fair truth illumed thy bright career With morning star divine; How must thy blest, ethereal soul, @3Now@1 kindle in her noon-tide ray; And hail, unfettered by control, The fount of day. E'en @3now@1, perhaps, thy seraph-eyes, Undimmed by doubt, nor veiled by fear Behold a chain of wonders rise, Gaze on the noonbeam of the skies, Transcendent, pure, and clear. E'en @3now@1 the fair, the good, the true, From mortal sight concealed, Bless in one blaze thy raptured view, In light revealed! If @3here@1, the lore of distant time, And learning's flowers were all thine own; How must thy mind ascend, sublime, Matured in heaven's empyreal clime, To light's unclouded throne, Perhaps, e'en @3now@1, thy kindling glance Each orb of living fire explores; Darts o'er creation's wide expanse, Admires -- adores. Oh! if that lightning-eye surveys This dark and sublunary plain; How must the wreath of human praise, Fade, wither, vanish, in thy gaze, So dim, so pale, so vain. How like a faint and shadowy dream, Must quiver learning's brightest ray; While on thy eyes, with lucid stream, The sun of glory pours his beam. Perfection's day. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A WOMAN'S LAST WORD by ROBERT BROWNING MARIA WENTWORTH by THOMAS CAREW THE BROWN THRUSH by LUCY LARCOM FOR CHARLIE'S SAKE by JOHN WILLIAMSON PALMER THE TROOPS by SIEGFRIED SASSOON SHADOWS IN THE WATER by THOMAS TRAHERNE MAN FRAIL AND GOD ETERNAL by ISAAC WATTS |