Like sunbeams of an angry day,
Which seem to weep their warmth away;
Like waves which winds at midnight make,
Chasing the moonbeams o'er the lake;
Waves of a breath, which tremble forth,
In hidden beauty, but to die
The moment they would cling to earth,
Are your hearts doom'd to love and sigh.
A flower of hope -- and hope so brief!
Which, shaken, sheds the seeds of grief;
A beam of peace, which passes by
Before the mourner's cheek is dry;
A beauteous dream of sweet distress
Is all the happiest here possess!
Then, think ye, if so fleet and vain
The most which Fortune's favourites gain --
Oh! think ye, what must be the fate
Of the despised and desolate,
O'er whom the blight of love is hurl'd,
Left withering in a smiling world.
First published in Australasian Chronicle, 12 September 1840;
and later in
Launceston Advertiser, 8 October 1840; and
Stolen Moments: A Short Series of Poems by Henry Parkes, 1842.
Author reference sites: Austlit, Australian Dictionary of Biography, Australian Poetry Library
See also.
Which seem to weep their warmth away;
Like waves which winds at midnight make,
Chasing the moonbeams o'er the lake;
Waves of a breath, which tremble forth,
In hidden beauty, but to die
The moment they would cling to earth,
Are your hearts doom'd to love and sigh.
A flower of hope -- and hope so brief!
Which, shaken, sheds the seeds of grief;
A beam of peace, which passes by
Before the mourner's cheek is dry;
A beauteous dream of sweet distress
Is all the happiest here possess!
Then, think ye, if so fleet and vain
The most which Fortune's favourites gain --
Oh! think ye, what must be the fate
Of the despised and desolate,
O'er whom the blight of love is hurl'd,
Left withering in a smiling world.
First published in Australasian Chronicle, 12 September 1840;
and later in
Launceston Advertiser, 8 October 1840; and
Stolen Moments: A Short Series of Poems by Henry Parkes, 1842.
Author reference sites: Austlit, Australian Dictionary of Biography, Australian Poetry Library
See also.
