81
They now impart a sharper sting
To sore affliction's train;
Thoughts of past health and pleasure bring,
And prospects that were vain.
To sore affliction's train;
Thoughts of past health and pleasure bring,
And prospects that were vain.
THE VOICE OF THE WIND.
[The most striking images in these poems are peculiar to the authoress, being derived from her peculiar afflictions. Except her earnest invocations to sleep, that "balm of sweet forgetfulness" (p. 94), no longing of her heart is more apparent, than her intense desire for sympathy. But while the loneliness and obscurity of her situation on the sea-shore deprive her of the sympathy of man, they open her ears to the "voice of the Lord in majesty," which she hears in the storm as it rushes by her casement. Perhaps, in such circumstances, she may be forgiven for imagining that even the drops of rain that fall against her little window are the tears which Heaven itself sheds over human sufferings. Thus, in the commencement of the following poem, her mind seems to be turning from her disappointed hope in man, to sympathy from a higher source.]
1829.
But list! O list! the mighty Harp,
Devoid of frame or strings,
Touched by a hand omnipotent,
With tones celestial rings;
Devoid of frame or strings,
Touched by a hand omnipotent,
With tones celestial rings;
