Classic Poem

A stillness in the lonely hall,
A shadow on the vacant wall,
A broken hearth, an incense flown,
And dust upon the altar-stone;
What deeper gloom to match the shade
That wraps the lonely Colonnade?

White roses round the columns cling,
White moonbeams in the flow'r may fling
A mingled shadow, when appear
The lost of many a lonely year,
In phantom forms, that meet and fade
Along the lonely Colonnade.

No more beneath the moonlit leaves
The evening star its song receives;
For many golden chords are riven
That sent that twilight song to heaven,
And scattered far the feet that strayed
Along the lonely Colonnade.

No more in murmured tones rehearse
The Hero's tale, the Lover's verse,
Nor voice of song, nor sigh of flute,
Where lips of sweeter tone are mute;
Oh, lips that loving hands have laid
Far from the lonely Colonnade.

Oh, Sister! if the Past imparts
But dreams of sadness to our hearts,
Why ask we of the coming years
A better blessedness than tears
Amid the pale white flowers arrayed
Along life's lonely Colonnade?