Poems - Fanny Kemble

Oh, thou surpassing beauty! that dost live
Shrined in yon silent stream of glorious light!
Spirit of harmony! that through the vast
And cloud-embroidered canopy art spreading
Thy wings, that oer our shadowy earth hang brooding,
Like a pale silver haze, betwixt the moon
And the worlds darker orb: beautiful, hail!
Hail to thee! from her midnight throne of ether,
Night looks upon the slumbering universe.
There is no breeze on silver-crownëd tree,
There is no breath on dew-bespangled flower,
There is no wind sighs on the sleepy wave,
There is no sound hangs in the solemn air.
All, all are silent, all are dreaming, all,
Save those eternal eyes, that now shine forth
Winking the slumberers destinies.  The moon
Sails on the horizons verge, a moving glory,
Pure, and unrivalled; for no paler orb
Approaches, to invade the sea of light
That lives around her; save yon little star,
That sparkles on her robe of fleecy clouds,
Like a bright gem, fallen from her radiant brow.

Night in her dark array
   Steals oer the ocean,
And with departed day
   Hushed seems its motion.
Slowly oer yon blue coast
   Onward shes treading,
Till its dark line is lost,
   Neath her veil spreading.
The bark on the rippling deep
   Hath found a pillow,
And the pale moonbeams sleep
   On the green billow.
Bound by her emerald zone
   Venice is lying,
And round her marble crown
   Night winds are sighing.
From the high lattice now
   Bright eyes are gleaming,
That seem on nights dark brow
   Brighter stars beaming.
Now oer the bright lagune
   Light barks are dancing,
And neath the silver moon
   Swift oars are glancing.
Strains from the mandolin
   Steal oer the water,
Echo replies between
   To mirth and laughter.
Oer the wave seen afar
   Brilliantly shining,
Gleams like a fallen star
   Venice reclining.

Time beckons on the hours: the expiring year
   Already feels old Winters icy breath;
As with cold hands, he scatters on her bier
   The faded glories of her Autumn wreath.
As fleetly as the Summers sunshine past,
   The Winters snow must melt; and the young Spring,
Strewing the earth with flowers, will come at last,
   And in her train the hour of parting bring.
But, though I leave the harbour, where my heart
   Sometime had found a peaceful resting-place,
Where it lay calmly moored; though I depart,
   Yet, let not time my memory quite efface.
Tis true, I leave no void, the happy home
   To which you welcomed me, will be as gay,
As bright, as cheerful, when Ive turned to roam,
   Once more, upon lifes weary onward way.
But oh! if ever by the warm hearths blaze,
   Where beaming eyes and kindred souls are met,
Your fancy wanders back to former days,
   Let my remembrance hover round you yet.
Then, while before you glides times shadowy train,
   Of forms long vanished, days and hours long gone,
Perchance my name will be pronounced again,
   In that dear circle where I once was one.
Think of me then, nor break kind memorys spell,
   By reasons censure coldly oer me cast,
Think only, that I loved ye passing well!
   And let my follies slumber with the past.

Night comes upon the earth; and fearfully
Arise the mighty winds, and sweep along
In the full chorus of their midnight song.
The waste of heavy clouds, that veil the sky,
Roll like a murky scroll before them driven,
And show faint glimpses of a darker heaven.
No ray is there of moon, or pale-eyed star,
Darkness is on the universe; save where
The western sky lies glimmering, faint and far,
With days red embers dimly glowing there.
Hark! how the wind comes gathering in its course,
And sweeping onward, with resistless force,
Howls through the silent space of starless skies,
And on the breast of the swoln ocean dies.
Oh, though art terrible, thou viewless power!
That ridst destroying at the midnight hour!
We hear thy mighty pinion, but the eye
Knows nothing of thine awful majesty.
We see all mute creation bow before
Thy viewless wings, as thou careerest oer
This rocking world; that in the boundless sky
Suspended, vibrates, as thou rushest by.
There is no terror in the lightnings glare,
That breaks its red track through the trackless air;
There is no terror in the voice that speaks
From out the clouds when the loud thunder breaks
Over the earth, like that which dwells in thee,
Thou unseen tenant of immensity.

Tis only the nightingales warbled strain,
   That floats through the evening sky:
With his note of love, he replies again,
   To the muezzins holy cry;
As it sweetly sounds on the rosy air,
Allah, il allah! come to prayer!
Warm oer the waters the red sun is glowing,
Tis the last parting glance of his splendour and might,
While each rippling wave on the bright shore is throwing
Its white crest, that breaks into showers of light.
Each distant mosque and minaret
Is shining in the setting sun,
Whose farewell look is brighter yet,
Than that with which his course begun.
On the dark blue mountains his smile is bright,
It glows on the orange groves waving height,
And breaks through its shade in long lines of light.
No sound on the earth, and no sound in the sky,
Save murmuring fountains that sparkle nigh,
And the rustling flight of the evening breeze,
Who steals from his nest in the cypress trees,
And a thousand dewy odours fling,
As he shakes their white buds from his gossamer wing,
And flutters away through the spicy air,
At sound of a footstep drawing near.

Farewell awhile, beautiful Italy!
My lonely bark is launched upon the sea
That clasps thy shore, and the soft evening gale
Breathes from thy coast, and fills my parting sail.
Ere morning dawn, a colder breeze will come,
And bear me onward to my northern home;
That home, where the pale sun is not so bright,
So glorious, at his noondays fiercest height,
As when he throws his last glance oer the sea,
And fires the heavens, that glow farewell on thee.
Fair Italy! perchance some future day
Upon thy coast again will see me stray;
Meantime, farewell!  I sorrow, as I leave
Thy lovely shore behind me, as men grieve
When bending oer a form, around whose charms,
Unconquered yet, Death winds his icy arms:
While leaving the last kiss on some dear cheek,
Where beauty sheds her last autumnal streak,
Lifes rosy flower just mantling into bloom,
Before it fades for ever in the tomb.
So I leave thee, oh! thou art lovely still!
Despite the clouds of infamy and ill
That gather thickly round thy fading form:
Still glow thy glorious skies, as bright and warm,
Still memory lingers fondly on thy strand,
And Genius hails thee still her native land.
Land of my souls adoption! oer the sea,
Thy sunny shore is fading rapidly:
Fainter and fainter, from my gaze it dies,
Till like a line of distant light it lies,
A melting boundary twixt earth and sky,
And now tis gone;farewell, fair Italy!

Rest, warrior, rest! thine hour is past,
Thy longest war-whoop, and thy last,
Still rings upon the rushing blast,
   That oer thy grave sweeps drearily.

Rest, warrior, rest! thy haughty brow,
Beneath the hand of death bends low,
Thy fiery glance is quenchëd now,
   In the cold graves obscurity.

Rest, warrior, rest! thy rising sun
Is set in blood, thy day is done;
Like lightning flash thy race is run,
   And thou art sleeping peacefully.

Rest, warrior, rest! thy foot no more
The boundless forest shall explore,
Or trackless cross the sandy shore,
   Or chase the red deer rapidly.

Rest, warrior, rest! thy light canoe,
Like thy choice arrow, swift and true,
Shall part no more the waters blue,
   That sparkle round it brilliantly.

Rest, warrior, rest! thine hour is past,
Yon sinking sunbeam is thy last,
And all is silent, save the blast,
   That oer thy grave sweeps drearily.

Oh, turn those eyes away from me!
   Though sweet, yet fearful are their rays;
And though they beam so tenderly,
   I feel, I tremble neath their gaze.
Oh, turn those eyes away! for though
   To meet their glance I may not dare,
I know their light is on my brow,
   By the warm blood that mantles there.

Yet once again, but once, before we sever,
   Fill we one brimming cup,it is the last!
And let those lips, now parting, and for ever,
   Breathe oer this pledge, the memory of the past!

Joys fleeting sun is set; and no to-morrow
   Smiles on the gloomy path we tread so fast,
Yet, in the bitter cup, oerfilled with sorrow,
   Lives one sweet drop,the memory of the past.

But one more look from those dear eyes, now shining
   Through their warm tears, their loveliest and their last;
But one more strain of hands, in friendship twining,
   Now farewell all, save memory of the past.

Where is thy home in thy promised land?
   Desolate and forsaken!
The strangers arm hath seized thy brand,
Thou art bowed beneath the strangers hand,
   And the stranger thy birthright hath taken.

Where is the mark of thy chosen race?
   Infamous and degraded!
It hath fallen on thee, on thy dwelling-place,
And that heaven-stamped sign to a foul disgrace
   And the scoff of the world, has faded.

First-born of nations! upon thy brow,
   Resistless and revenging,
The fiery finger of God hath now
Written the sentence of thy wo,
   The innocent blood avenging!

Lion of Judah! thy glory is past,
   Vanished and fled for ever.
Homeless and scattered, thy race is cast
Like chaff in the breath of the sweeping blast,
   To rally or rise again, never!

Let me not die for ever, when Im gone
   To the cold earth! but let my memory
Live like the gorgeous western light that shone
   Over the clouds where sank days majesty.
Let me not be forgotten! though the grave
   Has clasped its hideous arms around my brow.
Let me not be forgotten! though the wave
   Of times dark current rolls above me now.
Yet not in tears remembered be my name;
   Weep over those ye loved; for me, for me,
Give me the wreath of glory, and let fame
   Over my tomb spread immortality!

The moment must come, when the hands that unite
   In the firm clasp of friendship, will sever;
When the eyes that have beamed oer us brightly to-night,
   Will have ceased to shine oer us, for ever.
      Yet wreathe again the goblets brim
         With pleasures roseate crown!
      What though the future hour be dim
         The present is our own!

The moment is come, and again we are parting,
   To roam through the world, each our separate way;
In the bright eye of beauty the pearl-drop is starting,
   But hope, sunny hope, through the tear sheds its ray.
      Then wreathe again the goblets brim
         With pleasures roseate crown!
      What though the present hour be dim
         The futures yet our own!

The moment is past, and the bright throng that round us
   So lately was gathered, has fled like a dream;
And time has untwisted the fond links that bound us,
   Like frost wreaths that melt in the mornings first beam.
      Still wreathe once more the goblets brim!
         With pleasures roseate crown!
      What though all else beside be dim
         The past has been our own!

Oh lady! thou, who in the olden time
Hadst been the star of many a poets dream!
Thou, who unto a mind of mould sublime,
Weddest the gentle graces that beseem
Fair womans best! forgive the darling line
That falters forth thy praise! nor let thine eye
Glance oer the vain attempt too scornfully;
But, as thou readst, think what a love was mine,
That made me venture on a theme, that none
Can know thee, and not feel a hopeless one.
Thou art most fair, though sorrows chastening wing
Hath past, and left its shadow on thy brow,
And solemn thoughts are gently mellowing
The splendour of thy beautys summer now.
Thou art most fair! but thine is loveliness
That dwells not only on the lip, or eye;
Thy beauty, is thy pure hearts holiness;
Thy grace, thy lofty spirits majesty.
While thus I gaze on thee, and watch thee glide,
Like some calm spirit oer lifes troubled stream,
With thy twin buds of beauty by thy side
Together blossoming; I almost deem
That I behold the loveliness and truth,
That like fair visions hovered round my youth,
Long soughtand then forgotten as a dream.

Let me not die for ever when Im laid
   In the cold earth! but let my memory
Live still among ye, like the evening shade,
   That oer the sinking day steals placidly.
Let me not be forgotten! though the knell
   Has tolled for me its solemn lullaby;
Let me not be forgotten! though I dwell
   For ever now in deaths obscurity.
Yet oh! upon the emblazoned leaf of fame,
   Trace not a record, not a line for me,
But let the lips I loved oft breathe my name,
   And in your hearts enshrine my memory!

It is the dawn! the rosy day awakes;
From her bright hair pale showers of dew she shakes,
And through the heavens her early pathway takes;
   Why art thou sleeping?

It is the noon! the sun looks laughing down
On hamlet still, on busy shore, and town,
On forest glade, and deep dark waters lone;
   Why art thou sleeping?

It is the sunset! daylights crimson veil
Floats oer the mountain tops, while twilight pale
Calls up her vaporous shrouds from every vale;
   Why art thou sleeping?

It is the night! oer the moons livid brow,
Like shadowy locks, the clouds their darkness throw,
All evil spirits wake to wander now;
   Why art thou sleeping?