Poems (Dodd)/To Calista
TO CALISTA.
"If, until this, no lay of mine, Hath been to thee devoted,It is not that such love as thine, Has idly passed unnoted."
I take my harp, and wake the silent strings To one whose name I ne'er have sung before;But worthless is the music which it brings, It shadows forth my inmost soul no more:I bid it pour its sweetest melody,But still the strains are all unworthy thee.
How shall I sing thy praise? can numbers tell All that thy friendship dear has been to me?Or paint the hours which deep in memory dwell, Bright hours, that passed in happiness with thee?Vainly, with willing hand I touch the chords,My warm emotions will not flow in words.
Thou knowest all my moods; thy kindly heart Can sympathize in every changing dream,Which to my spirit doth its hue impart, Leaving a sunny, or a troubled gleam;And when, in sorrow's hour, I turn to thee,Thy words are sweet to cheer and comfort me.
Within the depths of thy soft, heaven-blue eyes, I read the feelings which respond to mine;If I am sad, a cloud will o'er them rise, If I am gay, with answering smiles they shineAnd ever when their brightness beams on me,The light of sweet affection there I see.
Thou lovest well the Muse; thy gentle eye Looks on the fair scenes that before thee smile,And kindles with the fire of poesy That plays around thy sweet-toned lute the while,Which gives to virtue and to truth the strain,Seeking the lost and wandering to regain.
Thy song is not for fame; thy woman's heart Could ne'er be satisfied with sounding praise,Nor wouldst thou in the pageantry take part, Where proud ambition doth her altar raise.The tones of one loved voice would sweeter be,Affection's smile is dearer far to thee.
Our love dates not from childhood's sunny hours, Or the bright scenes which early youth endears;But still we walk among life's fading flowers, With the tried friendship of maturer years;No idle word our hearts can e'er estrange;The love we cherish time shall never change.
The world's temptations will beset our way, And clouds may gather round us, dark and wild,Still let us seek in virtue's path to stay, And strive to keep our spirits undefiled.Whate'er the fortune of my life shall be,I pray that Heaven may ever smile on thee.