A PRESENCE both by night and day, That made my life seem just begun, Yet scarce a presence, rather say The warning aureole of one. And yet I felt it everywhere; Walked I the woodland's aisles along, It seemed to brush me with its hair; Bathed I, I heard a mermaid's song. How sweet it was! A buttercup Could hold for me a day's delight, A bird could lift my fancy up To ether free from cloud or blight. Who was the nymph? Nay, I will see, Methought, and I will know her near; If such, divined, her charm can be, Seen and possessed, how triply dear! So every magic art I tried, And spells as numberless as sand, Until, one evening, by my side I saw her glowing fulness stand. I turned to clasp her, but "Farewell," Parting she sighed, "we meet no more; Not by my hand the curtain fell That leaves you conscious, wise, and poor. "Since you have found me out, I go; Another lover I must find, Content his happiness to know, Nor strive its secret to unwind." | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...PETITION OF A SCHOOLBOY TO HIS FATHER by ANNA LETITIA BARBAULD MR. PETER'S STORY: THE BAGMAN'S DOG by RICHARD HARRIS BARHAM THE SHEPHERD'S CONTENT by RICHARD BARNFIELD BEYOND THE ATOM by JANICE BLANCHARD HINC LACHRIMAE; OR THE AUTHOR TO AURORA: 2 by WILLIAM BOSWORTH THE PATH by RICHARD EUGENE BURTON LINES [WRITTEN] IN THE TRAVELLER'S BOOK AT ORCHOMENUS by GEORGE GORDON BYRON |