A BEAM of tranquillity smiled in the west, The storms of the morning pursued us no more, And the wave, while it welcomed the moment of rest, Still heaved, as remembering ills that were o'er! Serenely my heart took the hue of the hour. Its passions were sleeping, were mute as the dead, And the spirit becalm'd but remember'd their power, As the billow the force of the gale that was fled! I thought of the days, when to pleasure alone My heart ever granted a wish or a sigh; When the saddest emotion my bosom had known, Was pity for those who were wiser than I! I felt how the pure, intellectual fire In luxury loses its heavenly ray; How soon, in the lavishing cup of desire, The pearl of the soul may be melted away! And I pray'd of that Spirit who lighted the flame, That pleasure no more might its purity dim; And that sullied but little, or brightly the same, I might give back the gem I had borrow'd from Him! The thought was ecstatic! I felt as if Heaven Had already the wreath of eternity shown; As if, passion all chasten'd and error forgiven, My heart had begun to be purely its own! I look'd to the west, and the beautiful sky Which morning had clouded, was clouded no more: "Oh! thus," I exclaim'd, "can a heavenly eye Shed light on the soul that was darken'd before!" | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...IN THE STREETS by LOUIS UNTERMEYER SONNETS FROM THE PORTUGUESE: 26 by ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING TO THE NIGHTINGALE by ANNE FINCH PRO PATRIA MORI by THOMAS MOORE THE INDIAN'S WELCOME TO THE PILGRIM FATHERS by LYDIA HUNTLEY SIGOURNEY GREAT BELL ROLAND; SUGGESTED BY PRESIDENT'S CALL VOLUNTEERS by THEODORE TILTON |