Classic Poem

Then startled from her sleep, she spoke, all tears and deeply moved —
" My sister — my Eurydice, whom most our father loved!
O listen! for I feel as though no life were in my frame —
Methought while dreaming that a man, a graceful Being came,
And bore me onward through the banks where pleasant willows grew,
Then left me, and I seemed alone in places strange and new:
I sought for thee, my sister, I sought thee far and near,
And yet no path my feet could find — my heart was full of fear;
And then I heard our father's voice — these were his words to me —
" O daughter, there is wretchedness and toil in store for thee,
Ere Fortune from the River rise, then shalt thou be released. "
These, sister, were my father's words, and suddenly he ceased.
Nor did his stately form appear to greet my longing eyes;
Though eagerly I stretched my hands to the temples of the skies;
Nor did I cease to weep aloud, and earnestly implore,
Until my sleep departed — and, oh! my heart was sore!"

Then startled from her sleep, she spoke, all tears and deeply moved —
" My sister — my Eurydice, whom most our father loved!
O listen! for I feel as though no life were in my frame —
Methought while dreaming that a man, a graceful Being came,
And bore me onward through the banks where pleasant willows grew,
Then left me, and I seemed alone in places strange and new:
I sought for thee, my sister, I sought thee far and near,
And yet no path my feet could find — my heart was full of fear;
And then I heard our father's voice — these were his words to me —
" O daughter, there is wretchedness and toil in store for thee,
Ere Fortune from the River rise, then shalt thou be released. "
These, sister, were my father's words, and suddenly he ceased.
Nor did his stately form appear to greet my longing eyes;
Though eagerly I stretched my hands to the temples of the skies;
Nor did I cease to weep aloud, and earnestly implore,
Until my sleep departed — and, oh! my heart was sore!"