To Emmeline: A Threnodia

Sister! for as such I loved thee,
May I not the privilege claim
As thy brother to lament thee,
Though not mine that sacred name?
For though not indeed thy brother,
Yet fraternal is the grief,
That in tears no solace meeting,
Now in words would find relief.
Who did watch thy final conflict?
Who did weep when it was o'er?
Whose the voice which then consoled
One by thee beloved more?
Lips that kiss'd thy cold white forehead,
Sure may sing thy requiem;
Hands that closed thy stiffening eyelids,
Should it not be writ by them?
To perform those death-bed honours
Soften'd much my deep regret;
But to celebrate thy virtues
Is a task more soothing yet.
O'er thy features death-composed,
As the life-like smile that play'd,
By its beauty so familiar
Tears drew forth which soon it stay'd.
So the memory of thy goodness
Calms the grief that from it springs:
That which makes our loss the greatest,
Sweetest consolation brings.
n.
When the Christian maiden findeth
In the grave a maiden's rest,
We mourn not as did the heathen
Over beauty unpossess'd.
As the tender Meleageh,
In that sweetly mournful strain,
Sung the fate of Cleahista
Borne to nuptial couch in vain:
How her virgin zone unloosed,
She in Death's embraces slept;
As for vainly-woo'd Antibia
Pure White hopeless wept.
For the soul to Christ united
Need regret no human bliss,
And there yet remains a marriage
Better than the earthly is.
Wedded love is but the symbol
Of a holier mystery,
Which unto the stainless only
Ever shall unfolded be.
Life and Hope, when they embracing
Seem like one, are Love on earth;
Death and Hope, so reuniting,
Are the Love of heavenly birth.
Was it haply this foreknowing
That thou so wouldst ever be? —
From pursuing ardours shrinking
In thy saintly chastity.
In thy fairy-like proportions
Woman's dignity was yet,
And in all thy winning actions
With the grace of childhood met.
With what light and airy motion
Wert thou wont to glide or spring?
As if were that shape elastic
Lifted by an unseen wing.
In what sweet and lively accents
Flow'd or gush'd thy talk or song!
What pure thoughts and gentle feelings
Did that current bear along!
But affliction prematurely
On thy tender graces breathed,
And in sweet decay about thee
Were the faded flowerets wreathed.
Blasts that smite with death the flower,
Cull for use the ripen'd fruit;
Suns the plant that overpower,
Cannot kill the buried root:
So the grief that dimm'd thy beauty
Shower'd gifts of higher worth,
And the germ of both is hidden
Safely now within the earth.
Nature, eldest, truest sybil,
Writes upon her wither'd leaves,
Words of joy restored prophetic
To the heart her law bereaves.
Greenly swell the clustering mountains
Whence thy passing spirit went;
Clear the waters they embosom;
Blue the skies above them bent.
Pass'd away the spirit wholly
From the haunts to us so dear?
Or at will their forms assuming,
In them doth it reappear?
For there is a new expression
Now pervading all the place;
Rock and stream do look with meanings
Such as wore thy living face.
Nor alone the face of Nature;
Human features show it too;
Chiefly those by love illumin'd
Of the heart-united few.
We upon each other gazing,
Mystic shadows come and go,
Over each loved visage flitting,
Why and whence we do not know.
In the old familiar dances
Mingle thy accustom'd feet;
Blending with the song familiar
Still are heard thy concords sweet.
Hence we know the world of spirits
Is not far from each of us;
Scarce that veil forbids our entrance
Which thou hast half lifted us.