Classic Poem

O! why did I devote to thee
That heart which once no trouble knew;
Why chain it down to slavery, —
O! why let love my soul subdue.
The lustre of that diamond eye
Has proved to me a subtle snare; —
I felt the shaft of rapture fly, —
It pierc'd my heart, and rankled there!

I've heard — but dare not deem it true —
That some there are, who never yet
Affliction's racking torture knew, —
Whose eyes no streaming tears have wet.
Such souls as these to all may seem
More envied than a seraph's bliss; —
But they can ne'er enjoy life's stream,
Who have not known its bitterness!

I've tasted both, — for I have drank
Full deep of joy's pellucid tide;
But wormwood, now — whose dregs are rank
As sea-weeds cast on ocean's side —
Has been my draught, awake or 'sleep,
And still shall be for ever now;
I grieve, — but, O! I cannot weep,
The tears are scorch'd beneath my brow!

Despair has smote my burning brain,
A thousand visions fly before me,
For thee alone I grasp at pain, —
My life, my soul, I still adore thee!
But what of this? — Thou lov'st not me, —
Affection never warm'd thy breast; —
O, may it not! and thou wilt be
Of woman kind the happiest!

From hence I'll bid each tie depart,
That bound my stubborn soul to thee;
I'll dash the fetters from my heart,
And give it instant liberty!
E'en thus the finch, neglected by
The maid who bore him from his nest,
Breaks thro' his cage, ascends the sky,
And seeks the regions of the blest!