THERE is a word in every breast,
That finds a sure response,
Howe’er by present bliss caress’d,
A sigh, that may not be repress’d,
Shall vibrate still for Once!
Once! Once! What visions of the past
That little spell can raise,
As back our tearful eyes we cast
Upon the dim and length’ning waste
Of ne’er returning days!
Oh! who so prosperous or so gay,
So reckless or so dull,
That feels not, on his brightest day,
The thought of things long past away
Against his heart-strings pull?
Once tells of frolic forms that rang’d
At morning by our side,
Of these, some, time and sorrow chang’d,
Some has the fickle world estrang’d,
Some early droop’d and died!
Once hints of hopes too fondly nurs’d,
That long have ceas’d to cheat;
Of phantoms fled, and bubbles burst,
And gay chimeras, wide dispers’d,
Or laid at reason’s feet!
Once, with thy dim and mournful train,
I’ll muse no more with thee;
The Present calls me home again,
And bring it joy, or bring it pain,
I’ll seize it ere it flee!
(Margaret Holford)
More Poetry from Margaret Holford:
Margaret Holford Poems based on Topics: Mind, Joy & Excitement, Time, Pain, Thought & Thinking, Morning, Past, Reasoning, Present- The Past (Margaret Holford Poems)
- Ode To Time (Margaret Holford Poems)
- Experience To The Poet (Margaret Holford Poems)
- Dedication. To my Mother (Margaret Holford Poems)
- Ode To Genius (Margaret Holford Poems)
- To Miss Gertrude Louisa Allen (Margaret Holford Poems)
Readers Who Like This Poem Also Like:
Based on Topics: Mind Poems, Time Poems, Joy & Excitement Poems, Thought & Thinking Poems, Pain Poems, Past Poems, Morning Poems, Reasoning Poems, Present PoemsBased on Keywords: chimeras, estrang