Maryland, my Maryland, and other poems/The Damsel of Mobile
THE DAMSEL OF MOBILE
I met thee in the Summer time,
The Summer of my youth—
In days of my melodious prime
And thine unsullied truth.
I met thee when the jasmine buds,
Their velvet locks reveal;
’Til I loved thee, ’til I loved thee,
Darling Damsel of Mobile!
O shining tresses of the sun!
O eyes of ocean blue!
O dainty feet to nimbly run
Upon the glittering dew!
The cypress breathes its gloomy buds
On all I felt and feel—
Still I love thee! Still I love thee!
Darling Damsel of Mobile!
And now the Summer time no more,
The vikings of the rain
Thunder their turf-steeds on the shore
And prowl the jasmine plain;
The night shade blackens on my brow,
The lightnings gash like steel—
But a Summer heart still throbs for thee,
Darling Damsel of Mobile!
I know, I know that Summer goes,
Like some divine disguise;
I know that Summer rapture flows
By ringlets and blue eyes—
But thou, my Psyche and my soul!
To thee alone I kneel,
With the Summer sunshine in thy hair,
Darling Damsel of Mobile!