Marietta Holley
Marietta Holley Poems
Lift up your brown eyes, darling,
Not timidly and shy,
As in the fair, lost past, not thus
I'd have you meet my eye.
...
What though upon a wintry sea our life bark sails,
What though we tremble 'neath its cruel gales,
Its icy blast;
...
The years go by, but they little seem
Like those within our dream;
The years that stood in such luring guise,
Beckoning us into Paradise,
...
Now while the crimson light fades in the west,
And twilight drops her purple shadows low--
We stand with Memory on the mountain's crest,
...
Is his form hidden by some cliff or crag,
Or does he loiter on the shelving shore?
We know not, though we know he waits for us,
...
I know not where you wait for me in all your maiden sweetness,
Sweet soul in whom my life will find its rest, its full completeness;
...
When enwrapped in rosy pleasure,
Our careless pulses beat,
With a rhythm sweet, sweet,
...
Clear shone the moon, my mansion walls
Towered white above the wood,
Near, down the dark oak avenue
An humble cottage stood.
...
Clasp your arms round her neck to-night,
Little Nell,
Arms so delicate, soft and white,
And yet so strong in love's strange might;
...
Who falsely called thee destroyer, still white Angel of Death?
Oh not a destroyer here, but a kind restorer, thou,
...
I said that I would see
Her once, to curse her fair, deceitful grace,
To curse her for my life-long agony;
...
Last night she came unto me,
And kneeling by my side,
Laid her head upon my bosom,
My beautiful, my bride;
...
Soft o'er the meadow, and murmuring mere,
Falleth a shadow, near and more near;
Day like a white dove floats down the sky,
...
She lay asleep, and her face shone white
As under a snowy veil,
And the waxen hands clasped on her breast
Were full of snowdrops pale;
...
She sat in the cottage door, and the fair June moon looked down
On a face as pure as its own, an innocent face and sweet
...
Come to me soft-eyed sleep,
With your ermine sandalled feet;
Press the pain from my troubled brow
With your kisses cool and sweet;
...
On the shore I sit and gaze
Out on the twilight sea,
For my ship may come, though many days
I have waited patiently;
...
The sides of the hill were brown, but violet buds had started
In gray and hidden nooks o'erhung by feathery ferns and heather,
...
Oh, the days are growing longer;
So rang the jubilant song of the swallow;
I come a-bringing beauty into the land,
...
The Squire was none of your common men
Whose ancestors nobody knows,
But visible was his lineage
...
Marietta Holley Biography
Marietta Holley (1836-1926), was an American humorist who used satire to comment on U.S. society and politics. Her successful series of "Samantha" books feature the character of Samantha Allen, a wise small-town woman, or "crackerbox philosopher," who goes on adventures in urban America and Europe, and her foolish husband, Josiah Allen. Holley was so skilled with satire and so popular that she was often compared to Mark Twain and Edgar Nye. Holley was born on July 16, 1836 to John Milton and Mary Tabor Holley, the youngest of seven children. They lived on a small farm in the town of Bear Creek, now called Pierrepont Manor. At the age of 14, she ended her formal education to help support her family by giving piano lessons. When she was 17, she converted to Baptism and joined the Adams Village Baptist Church. Her father died when she was 25, and Holley took charge of the farm and care of her sick mother and sister. After she became successful as a writer, she built a Mansion called "Bonnie View" near her family's home in Pierrepont. Holley never married. She died on March 1, 1926 at the age of 89. Holley enjoyed a prolific writing career, and was a bestselling author in the late 19th-century, though she was widely forgotten by the time of her death. Her first poems were published locally in the Adams Journal, which lead to later successes in more prominent periodicals, such as Peterson's Magazine. In 1872, her first novel, My Opinions and Betsey Bobbet's, was released by the American Publishing Company. Her most popular novel was probably Samantha at Saratoga, though sales statistics for this period are unreliable. Holley was known to be shy, and spent most of her life close to her family's farm, often writing her novels using maps and travel guides as resources. Despite her fear of travel, she did visit New York City periodically in her later life. She was well regarded by many contemporary writers and suffragists. Her famous friends included Susan B. Anthony, Twain and Clara Barton. Anthony frequently asked Holley to give speeches at suffrage conventions due to the strong stand Holley took in support of women's suffrage, though Holley refused public appearances.)
The Best Poem Of Marietta Holley
Farewell
Lift up your brown eyes, darling,
Not timidly and shy,
As in the fair, lost past, not thus
I'd have you meet my eye.
But grave, and calm, and earnest,
Thus bravely should we part,
Not sorrowfully, not lightly,
And so farewell, dear heart.
Yes, fare thee well, farewell,
Whate'er shall me betide
May gentlest angels comfort thee,
And peace with thee abide;
Our love was but a stormy love,
'Tis your will we should part--
So smile upon me once, darling,
And then farewell, dear heart.
But lay your hand once on my brow,
Set like a saintly crown,
It will shield me, it will help me
To hurl temptations down.
God give thee better love than mine--
Nay, dear, no tears must start,
See, I am quiet, thou must be,
And now farewell, dear heart.
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