Classic Poem

VI.

One eve within a tangled wood
I roam'd ere sunset; pine and oak
And young acacia stemm'd the flood
Of tidal gold that else had broke
In dazzling glory o'er my course;
Now, glancing through the leafy shade,
It struck the boughs with softening force,
Or, wavering round the stems, it play'd.

VII.

The woodbine quiver'd in its glow;
The wild bee, with transfigured wing,
Shone as it rose; the runnel's flow,
When welling from its darksome spring,
Surprised, grew bright; my spirit, too,
Issuing from depths of sombre thought,
Met the mild splendour as it flew,
And sudden gleams of youth recaught.

VIII.

And saw I, by that magic beam,
The thicket's vista widening yield,
And frame a picture like a dream,
A moving scene — an English field,
An elm-fringed lane, a gabled roof,
A watching face the casement nigh,
Whose smiles were wrought into the woof
And warp of all my destiny.

IX.

Through my tranced brain a voice long hush'd
In subtle music gently wound,
Within my breast old feelings gush'd,
Responsive to th' invoking sound;
And as a sand-lock'd bark once more
Rocks 'neath the tide's advancing leap,
My stranded hopes and aims of yore
Rose buoyant on love's surging deep.

X.

The twilight fell, an amber rain
Of moonlight steep'd the holy spot —
Did sense deceive? did fancy feign? —
Methought a Presence unforgot
Sail'd from the shadow. Never, sooth,
Did lovelier mien the sight engage —
Fair as a poet's dream in youth,
Sweet as its memory in his age.