To One in Paradise

TO ONE IN PARADISE.

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THOU wast that all to me, love,
For which my soul did pine —

A green isle in the sea, love,

A fountain and a shrine,

All wreathed with fairy fruits and flowers,

And all the flowers were mine.
Ah, dream too bright to last!

Ah, starry Hope! that didst arist
But to be overcast!

A voice from out the Future cries,

"On! on!" — but o'er the Past

(Dim gulf!) my spirit hovering lies

Mute, motionless, aghast !

For, alas! alas! with me

The light of Life is o'er!

No more — no more — no more —

(Such language holds the solemn sea

To the sands upon the shore)

Shall bloom the thunder-blasted tree,

Or the stricken eagle soar!

And all my days are trances,

And all my nightly dreams

Are where thy grey eye glances,

And where thy footstep gleams —

In what ethereal dances,

By what eternal streams.

"Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before.”