I. GONE art thou, in youthful sweetness, Time's short changeful voyage o'er; Now thy beauty in completeness Blooms on Heaven's unfading shore: What to us is life behind thee? Darkness and despair alone! When with sighs we seek to find thee, Echo answers moan for moan! II. Not in winter's stormy bluster Didst thou droop in pale decay, But 'mid summer light and lustre Pass to Paradise away, Yes! when toned to rapture only, Sang the birds among the bowers, Rapt from earth to leave us lonely, Bliss was thine and sorrow ours! III. Mourners, solemn vigil keeping, Knelt in silence round thy bed; Could they deem thee only sleeping, When to Heaven thy spirit fled? Yes! that spirit then was winging Upwards from its shell of clay, Guardian angels round it singing— "Welcome to the realms of day!" IV. Less when Eve's low shadows darkling Shut the wild flowers on the lea, Than when Dawn's last star is sparkling, Silence draws our thoughts to thee— Thee—who, robed in light excelling, Stood'st a seraph by the hearth— Far too bright for mortal dwelling, Far—by far too good for earth! V. Fare-thee-well! a track of glory Shows where'er thy steps have been, Making Life a lovely story, Earth a rich, romantic scene: Dim when Duty's way before us, As the magnet charts the sea, May thy pure star glowing o'er us Point the path to Heaven and Thee! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE EVENING WIND by WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT THE SISTER'S TRAGEDY by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH THE FAKENHAM GHOST by ROBERT BLOOMFIELD THE WANDERER: 5. IN HOLLAND: AUTUMN by EDWARD ROBERT BULWER-LYTTON GLIMPSES OF ITALY: 2. THE CLOISTER GARDEN AT CERTOSA by RICHARD EUGENE BURTON CONFESSION by CHARLES D'ORLEANS |