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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
INCOGNITA, by JAMES MONTGOMERY Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: Image of one, who lived of yore! Last Line: Once, and for ever, fare thee well. Alternate Author Name(s): The Common Lot | |||
IMAGE of one, who lived of yore! Hail to that lovely mien, Once quick and conscious; -- now no more On land or ocean seen! Were all earth's breathing forms to pass Before me in Agrippa's glass, Many as fair as thou might be, But oh! not one, -- not one like thee. Thou art no child of fancy; -- thou The very look dost wear, That gave enchantment to a brow Wreath'd with luxuriant hair; Lips of morn embathed in dew, And eyes of evening's starry blue; Of all who e'er enjoy'd the sun, Thou art the image of but one. And who was she, in virgin prime, And May of womanhood, Whose roses here, unpluck'd by time, In shadowy tints have stood; While many a winter's withering blast Hath o'er the dark cold chamber pass'd, In which her once-resplendent form Slumber'd to dust beneath the storm? Of gentle blood; -- upon her birth Consenting planets smiled, And she had seen those days of mirth, That frolic round the child; To bridal bloom her strength had sprung, Behold her beautiful and young! Lives there a record, which hath told, That she was wedded, widow'd, old? How long her date, 't were vain to guess: The pencil's cunning art Can but a single glance express, One motion of the heart; A smile, a blush, -- a transient grace Of air, and attitude, and face -- One passion's changing colour mix; One moment's flight for ages fix. Her joys and griefs, alike in vain, Would fancy here recall; Her throbs of ecstasy or pain Lull'd in oblivion all; With her, methinks, life's little hour Pass'd like the fragrance of a flower, That leaves upon the vernal wind Sweetness we ne'er again may find. Where dwelt she? -- Ask yon aged tree, Whose boughs embower the lawn, Whether the birds' wild minstrelsy Awoke her here at dawn; Whether beneath its youthful shade, At noon, in infancy she play'd: -- If from the oak no answer come, Of her all oracles are dumb. The dead are like the stars by day; -- Withdrawn from mortal eye, But not extinct, they hold their way, In glory through the sky: Spirits, from bondage thus set free, Vanish amidst immensity, Where human thought, like human sight, Fails to pursue their trackless flight. Somewhere within created space, Could I explore that round, In bliss, or wo, there is a place, Where she might still be found; And oh! unless those eyes deceive, I may, I must, I will believe, That she, whose charms so meekly glow, In what she only seem'd below -- An angel in that glorious realm, Where God himself is king; -- But awe and fear, that overwhelm Presumption, check my wing; Nor dare imagination look Upon the symbols of that book, Wherein eternity enrolls The judgment on departed souls. Of her of whom these pictured lines A faint resemblance form; -- Fair as the second rainbow shines Aloof amid the storm; Of her this "shadow of a shade" Like its original must fade, And she, forgotten when unseen, Shall be as if she ne'er had been. Ah! then, perchance, this dreaming strain, Of all that e'er I sung, A lorn memorial may remain, When silent lies my tongue, When shot the meteor of my fame, Lost the vain echo of my name, This leaf, this fallen leaf, may be The only trace of her and me. With one who lived of old, my song In lowly cadence rose; To one who is unborn, belong The accents of its close: Ages to come, with courteous ear, Some youth my warning voice may hear; And voices from the dead should be The warnings of eternity. When these weak lines thy presence greet, Reader! if I am blest, Again, as spirits, may we meet In glory and in rest: If not, -- and I have lost my way, -- Here part we; -- go not thou astray; No tomb, no verse my story tell! Once, and for ever, fare thee well. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...ARNOLD [VON] WINKELRIED by JAMES MONTGOMERY AT HOME IN HEAVEN by JAMES MONTGOMERY PARTED FRIENDS by JAMES MONTGOMERY THE COMMON LOT by JAMES MONTGOMERY THE MEANING OF PRAYER by JAMES MONTGOMERY BATTLE OF UNTERWALDEN by JAMES MONTGOMERY DISCOVERY AND CONQUEST OF AMERICA by JAMES MONTGOMERY |
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