Page:The Spirit of the Nation.djvu/162

66

"How changed art thou since last we met!

Thy brow is wan—thy smile is cold;

Stern grief her seal has on thee set—

Thou art not what thou wert of old!

"No joy now flashes from that eye,

Which once around shed charms of light;

That voice once sweet can now but sigh:

Oh, Heavens! whence came this sudden blight?

"Say wilt thou tell?—great God! how strange

That beauty thus could pass away,

And mirth to deepest sorrow change

More quickly than the tomb's decay!

"Yes; tell me if the memory lives

Of early loves and sun-bright years—

If thought but one faint flickering gives—

Whence all these woes and burning tears?"

"Nay, do not ask—to tell were vain—

My grief not Heaven itself can 'suage;

Nor seraph's breath could cool my pain,

Nor quench my bosom's burning rage.