| |
| MY sight is blank, my heart is lorn; | |
| My tropic trance of joy I mourn,— | |
| That stolen summer of delight, | |
| Dreamed on the breast of wintry night, | |
| When sad, true souls abide the North, | 5 |
| And we, love-truants, issued forth | |
| To find, with steady sail unfurled, | |
| The glowing centre of the world. | |
| |
| The glorious sights went fleeting by; | |
| I had no hold on earth or sky: | 10 |
| Two little hands, one helpless heart, | |
| Could claim and keep so small a part. | |
| A shadow of the stately palm; | |
| A burnish of the noontide calm; | |
| A dream of faces new and strange, | 15 |
| Darkened and lit with sudden change; | |
| A joy of flowers unearthly fair | |
| In giant Nature’s tangled hair; | |
| A joy of fruits of other hue | |
| And savor than my childhood knew; | 20 |
| A sorrow, as the vista grew, | |
| Longer and lesser, cherished too; | |
| A pang of parting, heart-bereft | |
| Of all I had,—is all I ’ve left. | |
| |
| To cheer my journey what remains | 25 |
| Towards the rude heights where Winter reigns, | |
| What love-nursed thought shall shield my breast | |
| Warmer than cloak or sable vest? | |
| One hope serene all comfort brings,— | |
| Who made thy bonds did lend thy wings; | 30 |
| Who sends thee from this faery reign | |
| Once brought thee here, and may again. | |
| |
