Behold the Dreamer Cometh [pp. 711-713]

SOUTHERN LITERARY MESSENGER.
My heart had felt the tihrob of one as warm.
But now, there was an aching void within.
Methought, if I could gaze again
In Beauty's eye, and catch the faintest twinkle there,
Of Love's electric spark, each languid pulse
Would thrill with life anew.
'Twas night. I lay, and mused on mortal life.
My eyes were fixed on vacancy.
My mind was dwelling on the past.
I knew not that I dreamed.
A little girl was on my knee,
Tile image of my child:
She looked upon my faice
With her soft eye and sweetest smile!
Her gentle hands culled from my locks
The silvery hairs, a few short years
Had prematurely sprinkled thereAnd as she pluck'd, she gave them to the breeze.
I bowed my head to press upon the seraph's lip
A tender kiss-when lo! the vision changed.
Her mother sat beside me, and her arms
Were lock'd about my neck:
She too was gazing in my face;
And in the depths of her mild eyes,
I read, "there's happiness in store for you."
And then, she smooth'd my furrow'd cheek,
And made my brow serene.
She was as well, and looked as sweet
As she was wont to look before our bridal day,
When we would sit for hours
And drink each other's thoughts,
And deprecate the chance that broke the spell.
I reached my hand to touch her blooming cheek But, oh! again, the vision changed.
My eyes were fix'd upon the fire,
And in it, there a maiden stood,
Robedl in a dazzling blaze
Which wantoned round her form.
Her features, circled by the whitest flame,
Expressed a spirit's grace.
Upon my little daughter's head
Who stood beside her, she had fondly tied
A gipsy bonnet, wove of silk and straw,
In open lattice work, which seemed
Of burnished gold the flame had blanch'd.
And then, she gave to me a look
That kindled all my soul to love;
But, startled by a noise, I turned,
And there the maiden stood behind my chair.
She pressed my cheeks with both her hands
And printed on my lips a burning kiss.
I caught her in my arms and held her to my heart,
But suddenly, a raging flame did burn
Between and sunder us forever.
Another change-another vision came:
I saw a wide and verdant lawn,
As thickly set with little yellow flowers,
As th' vault of Heaven with the gems of night.
And by a brook, o'er which a willow flung
Its cooling shade, a maiden sat
And angled in the stream.
A simple silken band of lemon hue
Was bound about her head,
And, neatly fasten'd with a single bow,
Confined her black and glossy curls,
Which hung profusely o'er her rosy cheek.
The hook, without a bait or lure,
She cast into the streamrn, and gazed
Intently there. Soon, forth there came
From underneath the bank, close by,
A timid fish, which seemed to play
About her shadow with delight:
But ever as the naked hook it spied,
'Twould dart aifrighted to its close retreat.
And then, it seemed that I became that fislh,
And that I shyly played about the hook
And longed to see it baited, with a smile
Or blush; but while I dallied there,
A greedy pike with sudden dart,
Did spring upon the barbed point,
And fluttering, panted by the maiden's side.
[ dreamed'twas early dawn.
As up my garden walk I strolled
The balmy breath of spring
Infused its healthful spirit through my limbs.
The morning air was fresh upon my check.
I looked upon the eastern sky,
Expecting there to see the mellow blush
That tinges first the wide horizon's verge;
But night, her sombrc curtains yet undrawn,
In undisturbed dominion slept.
The whole pavilion of the sky
With countless constellations glowed
The morning star, more bright than all the rest,
A steady gleam of glory shed.
I turned me to the west. The laws
Which heretofore had ruled the universe,
Now seemed reversed. The morn
Arrayed in robes of light, came forthl
To chase the lingering shadows home
And o'er the waning stars to spread
Her blue etherial veil.
The sun illumed the west: his form too changed:
The dazzling disk, around whose single ring
Eternal blazes flew, now seemed
Two burning rings of liquid fire,
The one encircling half the other's disk;
As when the moon comes o'er the sun in half eclipse,
And yet, each circle uneclipsed, appeared distinct.
Then came thin clouds, all silvered o'er with light
Which tipp'd their feath'ry wings with crimson and
with gold:
They ran from south to north
And spread their fleecy veil
Athwart that double sun;
They hid his blinding blaze,
But left the glory of his disk revealed;
And as that light and transient veil
Before the wind was rolled away,
The double circle glided into one.
The vision changed!
And I was seated by a girl
Intently gazing on her placid eyes,
Which, black and glistening as the raven's plume,
Were cast upon the floor.
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