SHE CAME AND WENT
by: James Russell Lowell
(1819-1891)
- S a twig
trembles, which a bird
- Lights on to sing, then leaves unbent,
- So is my memory thrilled and stirred;--
- I only know she came and went.
-
- As clasps some lake, by gusts unriven,
- The blue dome's measureless content,
- So my soul held that moment's heaven;--
- I only know she came and went.
-
- As, at one bound, our swift spring heaps
- The orchards full of bloom and scent,
- So clove her May my wintry sleeps;--
- I only know she came and went.
-
- An angel stood and met my gaze,
- Through the low doorway of my tent;
- The tent is struck, the vision stays;--
- I only know she came and went.
-
- Oh, when the room grows slowly dim,
- And life's last oil is nearly spent,
- One gush of light these eyes will brim,
- Only to think she came and went.
"She Came and Went" is
reprinted from The Little Book of American Poets: 1787-1900.
Ed. Jessie B. Rittenhouse. Cambridge: Riverside Press, 1915. |
MORE POEMS BY JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL |
|