HOPE , heavenly maid! to thee I sing,
Who hovering round the anguish’d heart,
Dost steep in dewy balm thy wing,
To lenify affliction’s dart;
And to this dismal vale of care,
Cam’st down to chase away despair.
Ah! why unceasing breathe the sigh?
Celestial bliss may yet be nigh–
So whispers Hope, our bosom’s pang to cheer,
She on the present smiles, and checks the starting tear.
Hope throws o’er gloom a cheering veil,
And is in mis’ry’s darkest hour
More gentle than the morning gale,
That fans with health each beauteous flow’r;
For in this chequer’d scene of woe,
Where streams of anguish ceaseless flow,
Thy rays benign can give relief,
And stay the pearly fount of grief:
Pale sorrow at thy gentle voice will fly,
Quick as yon twinkling stars when the bright dawn is nigh.
‘Tis thine to cheer the midnight gloom,
And bring composure to the breast;
Though near we view the narrow tomb,
The mossy turf where all must rest!
And wilt thou not, with placid smile,
Our unknown journey still beguile,
And give support to that blest shore,
Where never care can reach us more?
For Nature smil’d when thou wert plac’d on earth,
And through her gloomiest vales resounded mirth.
The miser tells his gold, and sighs
That Nature’s doom he must obey,
But ere death seals his sordid eyes,
He calls on thee to cheer his way.
The parent at thy shrine is found,
With all his lisping treasure round;
For thou canst stay each rending tear
Of mortals, as they traverse here;
“With sweet delusion real joys inspire,
“And kindle in the gloom unwonted fire.”
Youth lives on thee, nor heeds the wound
Of stern despair, whose gloomy eye
Ne’er rests on what is cheerful found,
In nought delighting but a sigh.
She wanders o’er the paths of woe,
With bosom cold as ?tna’s snow;
But Hope divine, to whom I sing,
For whom I touch th’ harmonious string,
Shall ever thrill upon my trembling lyre,
With all the blazing warmth of ?tna’s glowing fire.
Though care within the bosom dwell,
To robe in darkness happiest days,
We must not bid sweet Hope farewel,
Or hide us from her cheering gaze;
If sought, she glorious will appear,
As after storms heaven’s beauteous sphere,
Or as the moon, immerging bright
From passing clouds, gleams on our sight.
For thine, celestial Maid’s the tranquil form,
Which floats on sable care, and braves life’s roughest storm.
Why then, bow’d down at sorrow’s shrine,
With tearful eyes our fate deplore?
Lo! placid hope and peace is thine,
She points where joy is evermore.
Hope, mercy’s child, alone restrains
The sigh that dreads approaching pains;
She whispers, “Soon thy cares shall cease,”
And waves in air celestial peace;
From clime to clime on her bright anchor rides,
And in the battle’s rage with heavenly calm presides.
The flatt’ring Muse may lure awhile,
And shield us with her airy wing;
We gladly hail her pleasing smile,
She gives the lyre, Hope bids us sing.
The tuneful queen, the magic train,
Had bid me touch the harp in vain,
Nor had these wand’ring fingers stray’d,
Unless by thee at first betray’d:
The glowing Muse, when deck’d in varied flow’rs,
Assum’d thy form serene, and stole my pensive hours.
Hope cheers the sailor in the storm,
And triumphs o’er th’ ensanguin’d field,
She gives the bold undaunted form,
And bids the vanquish’d scorn to yield;
She breathes the soul-reviving gale,
On mortals plung’d in misery’s vale,
Where oft among the wand’ring crowd,
Full many a plaint I warble loud;
Where still deluded in the weary way,
My Muse, sweet Hope, implores thy vital ray!
(Emma Lyon)
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Based on Topics: Sadness Poems, War & Peace Poems, Joy & Excitement Poems, Youth Poems, Heaven Poems, Sense & Perception Poems, Kings & Queens Poems, Fire Poems, Hope Poems, Happiness Poems, Smiling PoemsBased on Keywords: presides, implores, restrains, ensanguin, composure, assum, gloomiest, tna, soul-reviving, immerging, lenify