Eliza Acton

1799-1859 / England

Where, Oh ! Where, On His Restless Wing.......

Where, oh! where, on his restless wing,
Hath the spirit of Love been wandering?-

I have been where passionate hearts beat high
Beneath the glow of an Eastern heav'n,
And break with the wild intensity,
Of governless feelings, which I have giv'n;-
Where glances, bright as the star-beams, flash
From under the shade of the fringing lash,
Which mellows the light of the lustrous eyes,
Within the depth of whose darkness lies,
-'With pow'r to soften-subdue-and bless,-'
The soul of eloquent tenderness;-
Where lips, which even in silence speak,
Are only match'd by the rose-touch'd cheek,

And the pure, white brow, where the softest blue
Of the delicate veins is shining through.
And I linger'd o'er isles of beauty, set
Like gems, in old Ocean's coronet,
Peopled by forms, which seem'd but wrought,
From the fairest dreams of a poet's thought,
They were so lovely !-
Young spirit! still
Chainless rove over the world at will,
But ne'er again in thy roamings come
To make my bosom thy passing home:
Though rapture dwell in thy sunny smile
Despair comes fast on thy steps the while!
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