Poems (Truesdell)/Stanzas
For works with similar titles, see Stanzas.
STANZAS.
"But ties around this heart were spun, That could not, would not, be undone."
Oh! it is but a little while Since thou and I first met, And yet thy image on my soul Is deeply, firmly set.
'Tis but a little while since thou Wert all unknown to me, And now thou art the guiding star That rules my destiny.
I knew it—felt it—ere I stood One moment by thy side; And with rebuking sternness sought The feeling back to chide.
But vain—it gathered o'er my heart, Like waters o'er the deep; A feeling in my soul was roused That would not, could not, sleep.
I stood amid the young, the proud, The gallant and the gay,With not a thought for those around, And not a word to say.
I looked in those dark eyes of thine, With strange and timid fear,And turned away with pallid cheek And scarcely hidden tear;
For, though thy voice was ever kind As friendship's voice could be,Others had shared those gentle tones, Breathed not alone for me.
I think of thee at early morn, And dream of thee at night,—A day-star set within my soul, For ever pure and bright.
All other hopes may fade away,— Life's earliest dreams depart,—But thou are graved on memory, Enshrined within my heart.