Poems (Edwards)/On Reading the Works of Mrs. Hemans

by Matilda Caroline Smiley Edwards

LINES ON READING THE WORKS OF MRS. HEMANS.

Bright gifted spirit! Thy dream is past,
 Thy harp has ceased to thrill,
But the music of its minstrelsy
 Is lingering round us still;
Thou art gone to the beautiful spirit-land,
 That dwelt in thy thoughts so long;
Thou art gone, thou art gone, thou gifted one!
 Where thy being is steeped in song.

The laurel was fresh on thy lucid brow,
 And the praise of the world was thine,
The purest thoughts of the earnest soul,
 Were offered at thy shrine;
But thy spirit turned from the worldly throng
 To the smiles of that glorious band,
Who sing sweet anthems of endless joy,
 Far off in a better land.

Thou art gone, thou art gone, to thy long-sought rest,
 Thou art gone to thy home above,
Thou art gone where thy spirit can feel the might,
 The fulness of perfect love;
Thy broken lyre shall never breathe
 Its numbers on earth again;
But many a grateful heart still feels,
 That thy life was not spent in vain.

Thy spirit longed for a happier clime,
 For a holier home than ours,
Where thy joys and hopes had vanished all,
 Like hue from the drooping flowers;
Thy life is o'er, and thy dreams are fled,
 And thy lyre has ceased to thrill,
But the music of its minstrelsy
 Is lingering round us still.