Page:Poems of Sentiment and Imagination.djvu/210

206 Then the shadow and the whisper
 * Thrill my soul with mystery!

When the summer day is breaking, And the earth is slowly waking— When I throw the shutter open
 * To the morning fresh and fair,

And the spray doth bend before me, Dashing shining dew-drops o'er me, While the little leaves a-laughing,
 * Clap their bright hands in the air,

As the perfumed shower of jewels
 * Sparkles in my unbound hair.

Oh! I know no monarch olden Wore a crown so brightly golden Nor a robe so richly crimson
 * As the tree that loves me wore,

When the air was bright and dreaming, And the heavens were blue and gleaming In the glorious days of autumn,
 * That, alas, are now no more!

Then its murmur grew so mournful
 * As the sunny hours passed o'er.

Therefore, as my wayward spirit Is forever blessed when near it, As it seems to know and love me,
 * And is so beloved by me—

As its every whisper thrills me And its midnight shadow fills me
 * With a thought of mystery—

Do I think some angel mission
 * Hovers ever in that tree!