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EYES, calm beside thee, (Lady, could’st thou know!) May turn away thick with fast-gathering tears: I glance not where all gaze: thrilling and low Their passionate praises reach thee—my cheek wears Alone no wonder when thou passest by; Thy tremulous lids bent and suffused reply To the irrepressible homage which doth glow On every lip but mine: if in thine ears Their accents linger—and thou dost recall Me as I stood, still, guarded, very pale, Beside each votarist whose lighted brow Wore worship like an aureole, “O’er them all My beauty,” thou wilt murmur, “did prevail Save that one only:”—Lady, could’st thou know!
Was written on August 17th, 1834, and published in
“The Monthly Repository,” 1834. |