Saturday Evening Gazette/June 7, 1856/Once
Once.
Written for the Evening Gazette.
By Ivar.
Once a sweet vision of a stranger maid
Came to me in a throng—her face most fair,
Glowed with transparent smiles, for still a shade
Of mournful tenderness showed deepest there,
E’en as a lake, in the still summer air,
Gleams with the sunshine, yet reveals how deep
The gentle waters lie, so her heart’s care
Lay neath her smile in a half conscious sleep—
Such care as dreams of love, but often wakes to weep.
I gazed on her as one who reads new truth,
With pain and pleasure blent in his surprise,
From the mind’s hunger that is felt in youth,
Less pleased to learn than vexed at that which lies
Beyond the reach—so when my eager eyes
Drank in her beauty, less was my delight
Than the strange sadness that did then arise
That the world’s custom gave to me no right
To break the spell that made her history my night.
I read the modest welcome in her eye;
The spirit glance of recognition knew.
Ah, fatal code! I did not dare defy,
But held my speech the while my step she drew—
Your prohibition kept asunder two
With souls accordant. Passed she out, and then,
I knew that I had looked my last adieu,
For never more in all the haunts of men
Would she and I, foiled friends, cross mutual paths again.
I keep her looks—her name I never learned,
And yet she smiled on me, and came so near
That once her garments touched me as she turned;
I could have breathed a whisper in her ear,
I could have touched her hand but for my fear!
How oft that night in memory I repeat,
And wonder whether she’s in Heaven or here;
Muse as I may the thought of her is sweet—
I do not mourn, yet hope we may hereafter meet.
