Poems (Dodd)/Moonlight
For works with similar titles, see Moonlight.
MOONLIGHT.
"My thoughts are with the absent—The beloved—the far away."
I sit and muse the hours away, Till night seems changed to noon,So brilliant smiles the scene around, Beneath the moon of June.
The leaves hang silent on the trees, There is no voice or sound,For every bird that breathed a note, Its sheltered nest has found.
The pearly dew with sparkling wreaths Bedecks each leaf and flower,And forms of light seem bending near, To bless this charméd hour.
Upon yon bright, unruffled stream, The skies are pictured fair,And the sweet moon looks down to see Her image shining there.
And as beneath her silent spell, The waters upward roll,So does the tide of memory swell Within my restless soul.
They come—the thoughts I tried to hush— Like billows in their might,Till the "seventh wave" outspeeds them all, And shrouds my heart in night.
Why wake ye thus, O gentle moon! Sad memories of the past?Why do the eyes that look on thee, With tear-drops fill so fast?
Thou hast a spell of tenderness Over this heart of mineThe absent and the loved are bound With every ray of thine.
Calista, in the "stilly night," My thoughts go forth to thee;The moon which lit thy bridal hour, Is shining now on me.
But little has that fair orb changed, Since at the altar's side,I saw thee in thy beauty stand, A loved and happy bride.
I did not weep for thou wert blest, And tears were not for thee;I could not smile, for then I felt, How great my loss would be.
I gave thee up, with one fond prayer, That all his promised love,Through many long and happy years, Changeless as mine might prove.
We still are friends, but not the same, New hopes and ties are thine,While lonely and bereft remains, This wakeful heart of mine.
I sigh to meet thy loving glance, Thy gentle voice to hear;But sadly steal the hours away, Thou art no longer near.
While many a moon has come and waned, And many a year gone by,Short have our partings been; but now Long miles between us lie.
And when I saw thee last, sweet friend, A sad foreboding came,To chill my spirit with a fear We ne'er might meet again.
For in the silent hours of night, Dark dreams have troubled me,Dreams of the coffin and the grave, But dearest, not for thee.
No, bright thy future lot appears, Before my dreaming eye,And hope points out the many joys, Which round thy pathway lie.
O, ever, may those visioned joys, On thee and thine attend!I leave thee to the care of heaven, Mine own beloved friend!
Pale moon! what seest thou in the space Thy silvery light doth fill?The songs of revelry are hushed, The viol's voice is still.
Thou lookest on the waning lamp, Which weary watchers trim,On cheeks where tears have left their trace, And eyes with sorrow dim.
Yet all untroubled is thy smile; No searching glance can traceA shadow from the ills of earth, Upon thy placid face.
Would that thy light, serene and mild, With peace my soul might fill;Would I could walk my path like thee, And bid my heart be still.