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Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell
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Год написания книги: 2017
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FRANCES
She will not sleep, for fear of dreams, But, rising, quits her restless bed, And walks where some beclouded beams Of moonlight through the hall are shed. Obedient to the goad of grief, Her steps, now fast, now lingering slow, In varying motion seek relief From the Eumenides of woe. Wringing her hands, at intervals — But long as mute as phantom dim — She glides along the dusky walls, Under the black oak rafters grim. The close air of the grated tower Stifles a heart that scarce can beat, And, though so late and lone the hour, Forth pass her wandering, faltering feet; And on the pavement spread before The long front of the mansion grey, Her steps imprint the night-frost hoar, Which pale on grass and granite lay. Not long she stayed where misty moon And shimmering stars could on her look, But through the garden archway soon Her strange and gloomy path she took. Some firs, coeval with the tower, Their straight black boughs stretched o'er her head; Unseen, beneath this sable bower, Rustled her dress and rapid tread. There was an alcove in that shade, Screening a rustic seat and stand; Weary she sat her down, and laid Her hot brow on her burning hand. To solitude and to the night, Some words she now, in murmurs, said; And trickling through her fingers white, Some tears of misery she shed. "God help me in my grievous need, God help me in my inward pain; Which cannot ask for pity's meed, Which has no licence to complain, "Which must be borne; yet who can bear, Hours long, days long, a constant weight — The yoke of absolute despair, A suffering wholly desolate? "Who can for ever crush the heart, Restrain its throbbing, curb its life? Dissemble truth with ceaseless art, With outward calm mask inward strife?" She waited – as for some reply; The still and cloudy night gave none; Ere long, with deep-drawn, trembling sigh, Her heavy plaint again begun. "Unloved – I love; unwept – I weep; Grief I restrain – hope I repress: Vain is this anguish – fixed and deep; Vainer, desires and dreams of bliss. "My love awakes no love again, My tears collect, and fall unfelt; My sorrow touches none with pain, My humble hopes to nothing melt. "For me the universe is dumb, Stone-deaf, and blank, and wholly blind; Life I must bound, existence sum In the strait limits of one mind; "That mind my own. Oh! narrow cell; Dark – imageless – a living tomb! There must I sleep, there wake and dwell Content, with palsy, pain, and gloom." Again she paused; a moan of pain, A stifled sob, alone was heard; Long silence followed – then again Her voice the stagnant midnight stirred. "Must it be so? Is this my fate? Can I nor struggle, nor contend? And am I doomed for years to wait, Watching death's lingering axe descend? "And when it falls, and when I die, What follows? Vacant nothingness? The blank of lost identity? Erasure both of pain and bliss? "I've heard of heaven – I would believe; For if this earth indeed be all, Who longest lives may deepest grieve; Most blest, whom sorrows soonest call. "Oh! leaving disappointment here, Will man find hope on yonder coast? Hope, which, on earth, shines never clear, And oft in clouds is wholly lost. "Will he hope's source of light behold, Fruition's spring, where doubts expire, And drink, in waves of living gold, Contentment, full, for long desire? "Will he find bliss, which here he dreamed? Rest, which was weariness on earth? Knowledge, which, if o'er life it beamed, Served but to prove it void of worth? "Will he find love without lust's leaven, Love fearless, tearless, perfect, pure, To all with equal bounty given; In all, unfeigned, unfailing, sure? "Will he, from penal sufferings free, Released from shroud and wormy clod, All calm and glorious, rise and see Creation's Sire – Existence' God? "Then, glancing back on Time's brief woes, Will he behold them, fading, fly; Swept from Eternity's repose, Like sullying cloud from pure blue sky? "If so, endure, my weary frame; And when thy anguish strikes too deep, And when all troubled burns life's flame, Think of the quiet, final sleep; "Think of the glorious waking-hour, Which will not dawn on grief and tears, But on a ransomed spirit's power, Certain, and free from mortal fears. "Seek now thy couch, and lie till morn, Then from thy chamber, calm, descend, With mind nor tossed, nor anguish-torn, But tranquil, fixed, to wait the end. "And when thy opening eyes shall see Mementos, on the chamber wall, Of one who has forgotten thee, Shed not the tear of acrid gall. "The tear which, welling from the heart, Burns where its drop corrosive falls, And makes each nerve, in torture, start, At feelings it too well recalls: "When the sweet hope of being loved Threw Eden sunshine on life's way: When every sense and feeling proved Expectancy of brightest day. "When the hand trembled to receive A thrilling clasp, which seemed so near, And the heart ventured to believe Another heart esteemed it dear. "When words, half love, all tenderness, Were hourly heard, as hourly spoken, When the long, sunny days of bliss Only by moonlight nights were broken. "Till, drop by drop, the cup of joy Filled full, with purple light was glowing, And Faith, which watched it, sparkling high Still never dreamt the overflowing. "It fell not with a sudden crashing, It poured not out like open sluice; No, sparkling still, and redly flashing, Drained, drop by drop, the generous juice. "I saw it sink, and strove to taste it, My eager lips approached the brim; The movement only seemed to waste it; It sank to dregs, all harsh and dim. "These I have drunk, and they for ever Have poisoned life and love for me; A draught from Sodom's lake could never More fiery, salt, and bitter, be. "Oh! Love was all a thin illusion Joy, but the desert's flying stream; And glancing back on long delusion, My memory grasps a hollow dream. "Yet whence that wondrous change of feeling, I never knew, and cannot learn; Nor why my lover's eye, congealing, Grew cold and clouded, proud and stern. "Nor wherefore, friendship's forms forgetting, He careless left, and cool withdrew; Nor spoke of grief, nor fond regretting, Nor ev'n one glance of comfort threw. "And neither word nor token sending, Of kindness, since the parting day, His course, for distant regions bending, Went, self-contained and calm, away. "Oh, bitter, blighting, keen sensation, Which will not weaken, cannot die, Hasten thy work of desolation, And let my tortured spirit fly! "Vain as the passing gale, my crying; Though lightning-struck, I must live on; I know, at heart, there is no dying Of love, and ruined hope, alone. "Still strong and young, and warm with vigour, Though scathed, I long shall greenly grow; And many a storm of wildest rigour Shall yet break o'er my shivered bough. "Rebellious now to blank inertion, My unused strength demands a task; Travel, and toil, and full exertion, Are the last, only boon I ask. "Whence, then, this vain and barren dreaming Of death, and dubious life to come? I see a nearer beacon gleaming Over dejection's sea of gloom. "The very wildness of my sorrow Tells me I yet have innate force; My track of life has been too narrow, Effort shall trace a broader course. "The world is not in yonder tower, Earth is not prisoned in that room, 'Mid whose dark panels, hour by hour, I've sat, the slave and prey of gloom. "One feeling – turned to utter anguish, Is not my being's only aim; When, lorn and loveless, life will languish, But courage can revive the flame. "He, when he left me, went a roving To sunny climes, beyond the sea; And I, the weight of woe removing, Am free and fetterless as he. "New scenes, new language, skies less clouded, May once more wake the wish to live; Strange, foreign towns, astir, and crowded, New pictures to the mind may give. "New forms and faces, passing ever, May hide the one I still retain, Defined, and fixed, and fading never, Stamped deep on vision, heart, and brain. "And we might meet – time may have changed him; Chance may reveal the mystery, The secret influence which estranged him; Love may restore him yet to me. "False thought – false hope – in scorn be banished! I am not loved – nor loved have been; Recall not, then, the dreams scarce vanished; Traitors! mislead me not again! "To words like yours I bid defiance, 'Tis such my mental wreck have made; Of God alone, and self-reliance, I ask for solace – hope for aid. "Morn comes – and ere meridian glory O'er these, my natal woods, shall smile, Both lonely wood and mansion hoary I'll leave behind, full many a mile."GILBERT
I. THE GARDEN Above the city hung the moon, Right o'er a plot of ground Where flowers and orchard-trees were fenced With lofty walls around: 'Twas Gilbert's garden – there to-night Awhile he walked alone; And, tired with sedentary toil, Mused where the moonlight shone. This garden, in a city-heart, Lay still as houseless wild, Though many-windowed mansion fronts Were round it; closely piled; But thick their walls, and those within Lived lives by noise unstirred; Like wafting of an angel's wing, Time's flight by them was heard. Some soft piano-notes alone Were sweet as faintly given, Where ladies, doubtless, cheered the hearth With song that winter-even. The city's many-mingled sounds Rose like the hum of ocean; They rather lulled the heart than roused Its pulse to faster motion. Gilbert has paced the single walk An hour, yet is not weary; And, though it be a winter night He feels nor cold nor dreary. The prime of life is in his veins, And sends his blood fast flowing, And Fancy's fervour warms the thoughts Now in his bosom glowing. Those thoughts recur to early love, Or what he love would name, Though haply Gilbert's secret deeds Might other title claim. Such theme not oft his mind absorbs, He to the world clings fast, And too much for the present lives, To linger o'er the past. But now the evening's deep repose Has glided to his soul; That moonlight falls on Memory, And shows her fading scroll. One name appears in every line The gentle rays shine o'er, And still he smiles and still repeats That one name – Elinor. There is no sorrow in his smile, No kindness in his tone; The triumph of a selfish heart Speaks coldly there alone; He says: "She loved me more than life; And truly it was sweet To see so fair a woman kneel, In bondage, at my feet. "There was a sort of quiet bliss To be so deeply loved, To gaze on trembling eagerness And sit myself unmoved. And when it pleased my pride to grant At last some rare caress, To feel the fever of that hand My fingers deigned to press. "'Twas sweet to see her strive to hide What every glance revealed; Endowed, the while, with despot-might Her destiny to wield. I knew myself no perfect man, Nor, as she deemed, divine; I knew that I was glorious – but By her reflected shine; "Her youth, her native energy, Her powers new-born and fresh, 'Twas these with Godhead sanctified My sensual frame of flesh. Yet, like a god did I descend At last, to meet her love; And, like a god, I then withdrew To my own heaven above. "And never more could she invoke My presence to her sphere; No prayer, no plaint, no cry of hers Could win my awful ear. I knew her blinded constancy Would ne'er my deeds betray, And, calm in conscience, whole in heart. I went my tranquil way. "Yet, sometimes, I still feel a wish, The fond and flattering pain Of passion's anguish to create In her young breast again. Bright was the lustre of her eyes, When they caught fire from mine; If I had power – this very hour, Again I'd light their shine. "But where she is, or how she lives, I have no clue to know; I've heard she long my absence pined, And left her home in woe. But busied, then, in gathering gold, As I am busied now, I could not turn from such pursuit, To weep a broken vow. "Nor could I give to fatal risk The fame I ever prized; Even now, I fear, that precious fame Is too much compromised." An inward trouble dims his eye, Some riddle he would solve; Some method to unloose a knot, His anxious thoughts revolve. He, pensive, leans against a tree, A leafy evergreen, The boughs, the moonlight, intercept, And hide him like a screen He starts – the tree shakes with his tremor, Yet nothing near him pass'd; He hurries up the garden alley, In strangely sudden haste. With shaking hand, he lifts the latchet, Steps o'er the threshold stone; The heavy door slips from his fingers — It shuts, and he is gone. What touched, transfixed, appalled, his soul? — A nervous thought, no more; 'Twill sink like stone in placid pool, And calm close smoothly o'er.II. THE PARLOUR Warm is the parlour atmosphere, Serene the lamp's soft light; The vivid embers, red and clear, Proclaim a frosty night. Books, varied, on the table lie, Three children o'er them bend, And all, with curious, eager eye, The turning leaf attend. Picture and tale alternately Their simple hearts delight, And interest deep, and tempered glee, Illume their aspects bright. The parents, from their fireside place, Behold that pleasant scene, And joy is on the mother's face, Pride in the father's mien. As Gilbert sees his blooming wife, Beholds his children fair, No thought has he of transient strife, Or past, though piercing fear. The voice of happy infancy Lisps sweetly in his ear, His wife, with pleased and peaceful eye, Sits, kindly smiling, near. The fire glows on her silken dress, And shows its ample grace, And warmly tints each hazel tress, Curled soft around her face. The beauty that in youth he wooed, Is beauty still, unfaded; The brow of ever placid mood No churlish grief has shaded. Prosperity, in Gilbert's home, Abides the guest of years; There Want or Discord never come, And seldom Toil or Tears. The carpets bear the peaceful print Of comfort's velvet tread, And golden gleams, from plenty sent, In every nook are shed. The very silken spaniel seems Of quiet ease to tell, As near its mistress' feet it dreams, Sunk in a cushion's swell And smiles seem native to the eyes Of those sweet children, three; They have but looked on tranquil skies, And know not misery. Alas! that Misery should come In such an hour as this; Why could she not so calm a home A little longer miss? But she is now within the door, Her steps advancing glide; Her sullen shade has crossed the floor, She stands at Gilbert's side. She lays her hand upon his heart, It bounds with agony; His fireside chair shakes with the start That shook the garden tree. His wife towards the children looks, She does not mark his mien; The children, bending o'er their books, His terror have not seen. In his own home, by his own hearth, He sits in solitude, And circled round with light and mirth, Cold horror chills his blood. His mind would hold with desperate clutch The scene that round him lies; No – changed, as by some wizard's touch, The present prospect flies. A tumult vague – a viewless strife His futile struggles crush; 'Twixt him and his an unknown life And unknown feelings rush. He sees – but scarce can language paint The tissue fancy weaves; For words oft give but echo faint Of thoughts the mind conceives. Noise, tumult strange, and darkness dim, Efface both light and quiet; No shape is in those shadows grim, No voice in that wild riot. Sustain'd and strong, a wondrous blast Above and round him blows; A greenish gloom, dense overcast, Each moment denser grows. He nothing knows – nor clearly sees, Resistance checks his breath, The high, impetuous, ceaseless breeze Blows on him cold as death. And still the undulating gloom Mocks sight with formless motion: Was such sensation Jonah's doom, Gulphed in the depths of ocean? Streaking the air, the nameless vision, Fast-driven, deep-sounding, flows; Oh! whence its source, and what its mission? How will its terrors close? Long-sweeping, rushing, vast and void, The universe it swallows; And still the dark, devouring tide A typhoon tempest follows. More slow it rolls; its furious race Sinks to its solemn gliding; The stunning roar, the wind's wild chase, To stillness are subsiding. And, slowly borne along, a form The shapeless chaos varies; Poised in the eddy to the storm, Before the eye it tarries. A woman drowned – sunk in the deep, On a long wave reclining; The circling waters' crystal sweep, Like glass, her shape enshrining. Her pale dead face, to Gilbert turned, Seems as in sleep reposing; A feeble light, now first discerned, The features well disclosing. No effort from the haunted air The ghastly scene could banish, That hovering wave, arrested there, Rolled – throbbed – but did not vanish. If Gilbert upward turned his gaze, He saw the ocean-shadow; If he looked down, the endless seas Lay green as summer meadow. And straight before, the pale corpse lay, Upborne by air or billow, So near, he could have touched the spray That churned around its pillow. The hollow anguish of the face Had moved a fiend to sorrow; Not death's fixed calm could rase the trace Of suffering's deep-worn furrow. All moved; a strong returning blast, The mass of waters raising, Bore wave and passive carcase past, While Gilbert yet was gazing. Deep in her isle-conceiving womb, It seemed the ocean thundered, And soon, by realms of rushing gloom, Were seer and phantom sundered. Then swept some timbers from a wreck. On following surges riding; Then sea-weed, in the turbid rack Uptorn, went slowly gliding. The horrid shade, by slow degrees, A beam of light defeated, And then the roar of raving seas, Fast, far, and faint, retreated. And all was gone – gone like a mist, Corse, billows, tempest, wreck; Three children close to Gilbert prest And clung around his neck. Good night! good night! the prattlers said, And kissed their father's cheek; 'Twas now the hour their quiet bed And placid rest to seek. The mother with her offspring goes To hear their evening prayer; She nought of Gilbert's vision knows, And nought of his despair. Yet, pitying God, abridge the time Of anguish, now his fate! Though, haply, great has been his crime: Thy mercy, too, is great. Gilbert, at length, uplifts his head, Bent for some moments low, And there is neither grief nor dread Upon his subtle brow. For well can he his feelings task, And well his looks command; His features well his heart can mask, With smiles and smoothness bland. Gilbert has reasoned with his mind — He says 'twas all a dream; He strives his inward sight to blind Against truth's inward beam. He pitied not that shadowy thing, When it was flesh and blood; Nor now can pity's balmy spring Refresh his arid mood. "And if that dream has spoken truth," Thus musingly he says; "If Elinor be dead, in sooth, Such chance the shock repays: A net was woven round my feet, I scarce could further go; Ere shame had forced a fast retreat, Dishonour brought me low. "Conceal her, then, deep, silent sea, Give her a secret grave! She sleeps in peace, and I am free, No longer terror's slave: And homage still, from all the world, Shall greet my spotless name, Since surges break and waves are curled Above its threatened shame."III. THE WELCOME HOME Above the city hangs the moon, Some clouds are boding rain; Gilbert, erewhile on journey gone, To-night comes home again. Ten years have passed above his head, Each year has brought him gain; His prosperous life has smoothly sped, Without or tear or stain. 'Tis somewhat late – the city clocks Twelve deep vibrations toll, As Gilbert at the portal knocks, Which is his journey's goal. The street is still and desolate, The moon hid by a cloud; Gilbert, impatient, will not wait, — His second knock peals loud. The clocks are hushed – there's not a light In any window nigh, And not a single planet bright Looks from the clouded sky; The air is raw, the rain descends, A bitter north-wind blows; His cloak the traveller scarce defends — Will not the door unclose? He knocks the third time, and the last His summons now they hear, Within, a footstep, hurrying fast, Is heard approaching near. The bolt is drawn, the clanking chain Falls to the floor of stone; And Gilbert to his heart will strain His wife and children soon. The hand that lifts the latchet, holds A candle to his sight, And Gilbert, on the step, beholds A woman, clad in white. Lo! water from her dripping dress Runs on the streaming floor; From every dark and clinging tress The drops incessant pour. There's none but her to welcome him; She holds the candle high, And, motionless in form and limb, Stands cold and silent nigh; There's sand and sea-weed on her robe, Her hollow eyes are blind; No pulse in such a frame can throb, No life is there defined. Gilbert turned ashy-white, but still His lips vouchsafed no cry; He spurred his strength and master-will To pass the figure by, — But, moving slow, it faced him straight, It would not flinch nor quail: Then first did Gilbert's strength abate, His stony firmness quail. He sank upon his knees and prayed The shape stood rigid there; He called aloud for human aid, No human aid was near. An accent strange did thus repeat Heaven's stern but just decree: "The measure thou to her didst mete, To thee shall measured be!" Gilbert sprang from his bended knees, By the pale spectre pushed, And, wild as one whom demons seize, Up the hall-staircase rushed; Entered his chamber – near the bed Sheathed steel and fire-arms hung — Impelled by maniac purpose dread He chose those stores among. Across his throat a keen-edged knife With vigorous hand he drew; The wound was wide – his outraged life Rushed rash and redly through. And thus died, by a shameful death, A wise and worldly man, Who never drew but selfish breath Since first his life began.LIFE
Life, believe, is not a dream So dark as sages say; Oft a little morning rain Foretells a pleasant day. Sometimes there are clouds of gloom, But these are transient all; If the shower will make the roses bloom, O why lament its fall? Rapidly, merrily, Life's sunny hours flit by, Gratefully, cheerily Enjoy them as they fly! What though Death at times steps in, And calls our Best away? What though sorrow seems to win, O'er hope, a heavy sway? Yet Hope again elastic springs, Unconquered, though she fell; Still buoyant are her golden wings, Still strong to bear us well. Manfully, fearlessly, The day of trial bear, For gloriously, victoriously, Can courage quell despair!THE LETTER
What is she writing? Watch her now, How fast her fingers move! How eagerly her youthful brow Is bent in thought above! Her long curls, drooping, shade the light, She puts them quick aside, Nor knows that band of crystals bright, Her hasty touch untied. It slips adown her silken dress, Falls glittering at her feet; Unmarked it falls, for she no less Pursues her labour sweet. The very loveliest hour that shines, Is in that deep blue sky; The golden sun of June declines, It has not caught her eye. The cheerful lawn, and unclosed gate, The white road, far away, In vain for her light footsteps wait, She comes not forth to-day. There is an open door of glass Close by that lady's chair, From thence, to slopes of messy grass, Descends a marble stair. Tall plants of bright and spicy bloom Around the threshold grow; Their leaves and blossoms shade the room From that sun's deepening glow. Why does she not a moment glance Between the clustering flowers, And mark in heaven the radiant dance Of evening's rosy hours? O look again! Still fixed her eye, Unsmiling, earnest, still, And fast her pen and fingers fly, Urged by her eager will. Her soul is in th'absorbing task; To whom, then, doth she write? Nay, watch her still more closely, ask Her own eyes' serious light; Where do they turn, as now her pen Hangs o'er th'unfinished line? Whence fell the tearful gleam that then Did in their dark spheres shine? The summer-parlour looks so dark, When from that sky you turn, And from th'expanse of that green park, You scarce may aught discern. Yet, o'er the piles of porcelain rare, O'er flower-stand, couch, and vase, Sloped, as if leaning on the air, One picture meets the gaze. 'Tis there she turns; you may not see Distinct, what form defines The clouded mass of mystery Yon broad gold frame confines. But look again; inured to shade Your eyes now faintly trace A stalwart form, a massive head, A firm, determined face. Black Spanish locks, a sunburnt cheek A brow high, broad, and white, Where every furrow seems to speak Of mind and moral might. Is that her god? I cannot tell; Her eye a moment met Th'impending picture, then it fell Darkened and dimmed and wet. A moment more, her task is done, And sealed the letter lies; And now, towards the setting sun She turns her tearful eyes. Those tears flow over, wonder not, For by the inscription see In what a strange and distant spot Her heart of hearts must be! Three seas and many a league of land That letter must pass o'er, Ere read by him to whose loved hand 'Tis sent from England's shore. Remote colonial wilds detain Her husband, loved though stern; She, 'mid that smiling English scene, Weeps for his wished return.
