The Southern Literary Messenger, Vol. I., No. 5, January, 1835Various
History
The Southern Literary Messenger, Vol. I., No. 5, January, 1835
Various
American literature -- 19th century -- Periodicals
Here no _fierce_ Passions agitate the breast,
But Rage is quelled, and Hate forgets his foe:
Pride stoops; Ambition vails his haughty crest;
And Envy covets nought that kings bestow.
But Love still feeds the never dying flame,
Whose cold pale light scarce breaks the settled gloom,
Like the Sepulchral lamp, whose livid gleam
Watches above the Silence of the Tomb.
That light no more the dazzled sense beguiles;
That flame no more the frozen bosom warms;
Yet dear, as when, all bright in rosy smiles,
It led my faithful Laura to my arms.
But she is lost; and now this calm abode
Affords a refuge to my weary breast;
And Care, at length resigns his weary load;
And wasted Sorrow sighs herself to rest.
For the Southern Literary Messenger.
My grandfather who had died at the age of eighty-six, was the first
object I examined; his snowy locks had become, through the influence of
the leaden mantle which enveloped him, of a blood color, &c.
&c.--_Prince Puckler Muskau's visit to the vault of his ancestors_.
"Have ye torn away the fun'ral pall?--
Did ye strip each corpse to sight?--
Then leave me, in my ancestral hall,
I visit the dead to-night--"
The clock struck twelve and I took the lamp
With a solemn step and slow--
Down--down I went, and my echoing tramp
Rang deep in the vault below.
I saw the dust of centuries round;
And I felt my courage droop;--
My eyes were rivetted--strained--spell-bound--
By three of that awful group.
I stood in the charnel house of those,
Whose blood in my veins now ran;
My current of life seem'd nearly froze
As I strove the scene to scan.
An aged man with his "_gory locks_"
And sightless sockets was there,--
And _staring_ seem'd from his leaden box
With a stern--reproachful air.
Wrapp'd in embroider'd cloth of gold,
Lay a noble knight and tall--
And I knew at once the warrior bold,
Who hung in my castle hall.
At head of his Cuirassiers,--there he
Was charging the flying Swede;
But here--oh pitiful sight to see!
The victor lay low indeed.
In a gorgeous robe of silk, here lay
The finest of female forms;
I did but touch her--she pass'd away--
My hand was alive with worms.
I sunk on my knees in fervent prayer;
Tears fell--and my bosom thaw'd;
Horror gave place to the feeling, there
Of trust in the mighty God.
I rose without or shudder or dread,
And I kiss'd that aged face;
I took a lock from the sightless head,
And calmly quitted the place.
But never again till I drink the cup
Of death--will I enter there--
The power of prayer, might bear me up--
But God, he hath said--forbear!!!
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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