Page:Songs of the Affections.pdf/21

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Gave to remembrance back each burning trace Within:—Yet something awfully serene, Pure,—sculpture-like,—on the pale brow, that wore Of the once beating heart no token more; And stillness on the lip—and o'er the hair A gleam, that trembled through the breathless air; And an unfathom'd calm, that seem'd to lie In the grave sweetness of the illumined eye; Told of the gulfs between our being set, And, as that unsheathed spirit-glance I met, Made my soul faint:—with fear?—Oh! not with fear! With the sick feeling that in his far sphere My love could be as nothing!—But he spoke— How shall I tell thee of the startling thrill In that low voice, whose breezy tones could fill My bosom's infinite?—O Friend, I woke Then first to heavenly life!—Soft, solemn, clear, Breathed the mysterious accents on mine ear, Yet strangely seem'd as if the while they rose From depths of distance, o'er the wide repose