The sun, sometimes in summer, enters The casements, with reviving ray;But the long rains of many winters Moulder the very walls away.
And outside all is ivy, clinging To chimney, lattice, gable grey;Scarcely one little red rose springing Through the green moss can force its way.
Unscared, the daw and starling nestle, Where the tall turret rises high, And winds alone come near to rustle The thick leaves where their cradles lie, I sometimes think, when late at even I climb the stair reluctantly, Some shape that should be well in heaven, Or ill elsewhere, will pass by me.
I fear to see the very faces, Familiar thirty years ago, Even in the old accustomed places Which look so cold and gloomy now, I've come, to close the window, hither, At twilight, when the sun was down, And Fear my very soul would wither, Lest something should be dimly shown, Too much the buried form resembling, Of her who once was mistress here;Lest doubtful shade, or moonbeam trembling, Might take her aspect, once so dear.
Hers was this chamber; in her time It seemed to me a pleasant room, For then no cloud of grief or crime Had cursed it with a settled gloom;I had not seen death's image laid In shroud and sheet, on yonder bed.
Before she married, she was blest--
Blest in her youth, blest in her worth;Her mind was calm, its sunny rest Shone in her eyes more clear than mirth.
And when attired in rich array, Light, lustrous hair about her brow, She yonder sat, a kind of day Lit up what seems so gloomy now.
These grim oak walls even then were grim;That old carved chair was then antique;But what around looked dusk and dim Served as a foil to her fresh cheek;Her neck and arms, of hue so fair, Eyes of unclouded, smiling light;Her soft, and curled, and floating hair, Gems and attire, as rainbow bright.
Reclined in yonder deep recess, Ofttimes she would, at evening, lie Watching the sun; she seemed to bless With happy glance the glorious sky.
She loved such scenes, and as she gazed, Her face evinced her spirit's mood;Beauty or grandeur ever raised In her, a deep-felt gratitude.