The Complete Poems of Emily Brontë/A Serenade

by Emily Brontë

LII

A SERENADE

Thy Guardians are asleep,
So I'm come to bid thee rise;
Thou hast a holy vow to keep,
Ere yon crescent quit the skies.

Though clouds careering wide
Will hardly let her gleam,
She's bright enough to be our guide
Across the mountain stream.

O waken, dearest, wake!
What means this long delay?
Say, wilt thou not for true love's sake
Chase idol fears away?

Think not of future grief
Entailed on present joy;
An age of woe were only brief
Its memory to destroy.

And neither Hell nor Heaven,
Though both conspire at last,
Can take the bliss that has been given,
Can rob us of the past.

Then waken, Mary, wake,
How canst thou linger now?
For true love's and for honour's sake
Arise and keep thy vow.

May 4, 1843.