And wave the curtain canopy So fitfully--so fearfully— Above the closed and fringed lid 'Neath which thy slumb'ring soul lies hid, Why and what art thou dreaming here? The lady sleeps! Oh, may her sleep, This chamber changed for one more holy, I pray to God that she may lie Forever with unopened eye, While the dim sheeted ghosts go by! My love, she sleeps! Oh, may her sleep, As it is lasting, so be deep! Soft may the worms about her creep! Far in the forest, dim and old, For her may some tall vault unfold— Against whose portal she hath thrown, SILENCE. THERE are some qualities—some incorporate things, From matter and light, evinced in solid and shade There is a two-fold Silence-sea and shore Body and soul. One dwells in lonely places, Newly with grass o'ergrown; some solemn graces, Some human memories and tearful lore, Render him terrorless: his name's "No More." No power hath he of evil in himself; Bring thee to meet his shadow (nameless elf, A DREAM WITHIN A DREAM. TAKE this kiss upon the brow! In a vision, or in none, Is it therefore the less gone? All that we see or seem Is but a dream within a dream. I stand amid the roar |