Matilda Betham Poems

AT an open window sitting,
On this day of mirth and glee,
'Cross a flow'ry vista flitting,
Many passing forms I see.
...

Marie, as if upon the brink
Of some abyss, had paus'd to think;
And seem'd from her sad task to shrink.
One hand was on her forehead prest,
...

Some, fearing Marie's tale was o'er,
Lamented that they heard no more;
While Brehan, from her broken lay,
Portended what she yet might say.
...

'Careless alike who went or came,
I seldom ask'd the stranger's name,
When such a being came in view
...

To W. S. B.
WHEN the grey evening spreads a calm around,
Tell me, has thy bewilder'd fancy sought,
Retir'd in some sequestered spot of ground,
...

'And beats my heart again with joy!
And dances now my spirit light!
The skiff that holds my darling boy
This moment burst upon my sight!
...

'My bosom is chill'd with the cold,
My limbs their lost vigour deplore!
Alas! to the lonely and old,
Hope warbles her promise no more!
...

Urge me no more! nor think, because I seem
Tame and unsorrowing in the world's rude strife,
That anguish and resentment have not life
...

To A. R. C.
AS, musing, late I sat reclin'd,
And waking dreams absorb'd my mind,
A damsel came, of various dyes,
...

'Come, mournful lute! dear echo of my woe!
No stranger's tread in this lone spot I fear,
Sweeter thy notes in such wild places flow,
...