To Emma
I look within those deep, dark, lustrous eyes,
And there I read thy heart's sweet mysteries;
There, like those lakes that mirror earth and sky,
The lights and shadows of the future lie.
For thee ambition has no clarion call;
Thou 'lt seek no home in court, or princely hall,
Where folly reigns, and the world's votaries throng
To wile the hours with mirth, and dance, and song.
Nor wilt thou seek to blazon high thy name,
As woman may, upon the scroll of Fame.
But there 's an empire o'er which thou wouldst reign,
Yet should thy subjects wear no despot's chain.
It is the empire of the Heart. It shall be thine,
And o'er it thou shalt reign by "right divine."
poem by Anne Lynch Botta from Poems (1848)
Added by Veronica Serbanoiu
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Little Red Riding Hood
"Heaven lies about us in our infancy."
Sweet child of fairy land! since first
I dwelt, with tearful eye,
Upon the page that tells thy tale,
Long years have glided by.
Then, in thy fabled history,
No marvel could I see;
For then the worlds of thought and sense
Were fairy lands to me.
The fields and meadows were as bright
As those where thou didst stray; --
And gaily through their tangled flowers,
Like thee I took my way.
And while I walked that sunny path,
Nor doubt nor fear was mine;
For childhood's trustfulness and faith
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poem by Anne Lynch Botta from Poems (1848)
Added by Veronica Serbanoiu
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To Charles Butler
Thus, one by one, dear friend, the years flow by,
That bear us onward to the silent land.
And one by one, around us falling lie,
The loved ones we have walked with, hand in hand.
And thus, the hour comes swiftly, surely on;
I see its shadow darkly toward us creep,
When one shall go, and one be left alone,
To bear life's chain, alone to wait and weep.
How sad, how dark, did not the heavenly stars,
Twin stars of Faith, and Hope, rise on our way,
To shed their luster through our prison-bars,
To light our path on to eternal day!
That day that knows no cloud, no change, no night,
Where tears, and pain, and sorrow, enter never,
Where the beloved on earth again unite,
Where one in God, they part no more forever.
poem by Anne Lynch Botta from Poems (1848)
Added by Veronica Serbanoiu
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Washington. On Huntington's picture of Washington crossing the Alleghany in early life
More proudly on thy winding course,
Dark Alleghany! flow;
The noblest burden thou couldst bear
Is on thy waters now.
But calm be every turbid wave,
And hushed be wind and storm:
There lies a Nation's destiny
Within that gallant form.
A spirit that shall stem a tide
More deep and dark than thine;
That on a night of War shall bid
The star of Victory shine.
A spirit that through coming time
Shall bear a hallowed name;
The glory of old conquerors
Shall pale before his fame.
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poem by Anne Lynch Botta from Poems (1848)
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To ----, with flowers
Go, ye sweet messengers,
To that dim-lighted room,
Where lettered wisdom from the walls
Sheds a delightful gloom;
Where sits in thought profound,
One in the noon of life,
Whose flashing eye and fevered brow
Tell of the inward strife;
Who in those wells of lore,
Seeks for the pearls of truth,
And to Ambition's fever dream
Gives his repose and youth.
To him, sweet ministers,
Ye shall a lesson teach, --
Go in your fleeting loveliness
More eloquent than speech.
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poem by Anne Lynch Botta from Poems (1848)
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Ode for the Fourth of July
A glorious vision burst
On Europe's dazzled sight,
Upon that day when first
Columbia sprang to light; --
When our NEW WORLD, till then concealed,
In virgin beauty stood revealed.
But more sublime that day
When the young nation rose,
And cast her chains away,
And dared her tyrant foes:
Thrones quaked, and despots trembled then,
For bonds were rent and slaves were men.
The torch of Liberty,
Relighted on that day,
Streamed over land and sea
With brighter, holier ray.
Hail to our Country! hail to thee,
Auspicious day that saw her free!
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poem by Anne Lynch Botta from Poems (1848)
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Teaching the scriptures
Child of the thoughtful brow,
The speaking eye and the confiding look!
List to those teachings now,
And make thy guiding star that Blessed Book.
If bright thy course of life,
'Twill shed around thy path a holier ray;
If dark with storms and strife,
'Twill beam like sunlight on thy dreary way.
Come while around thee clings
The joyousness and innocence of birth;
Come, ere thy spirit's wings
Are wet with tears and stained with hues of earth.
Like tendrils of the vine,
Those deep affections with thy heart inwove,
Must round some prop entwine;
They ask some object for their wealth of love.
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poem by Anne Lynch Botta from Poems (1848)
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To Elizabeth Barrett Browning
I have not met thee in this outward world,
Bounded by time and space; but in that realm,
O'er which imagination holds her reign,
There have I seen thy spirit face to face,
Majestic, and yet lovely. There have I
Sat at thy feet to listen to thy voice,
And as the symphony sublimely rose,
Reverence and awe had held me spell-bound there,
But that there fell upon my listening ear
Low breathing sighs, the sound of falling tears,
The under-tone of human love and woe,
That touched the trembling chords of sympathy,
And drew me near to thy great woman's heart.
Thou crownéd queen of Song! from this free land
That owes allegiance only unto God
And Genius, his anointed, o'er the sea
I send my vows of homage, and my heart
Sends love and blessings unto thee and thine.
poem by Anne Lynch Botta from Poems (1848)
Added by Veronica Serbanoiu
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To Captain West, of the Steamer Atlantic
The gathering clouds around us lower,
The tempest wildly raves,
But fearlessly our noble ship
The angry ocean braves,
And buoyant as a sea-bird rides
The crested mountain waves.
The gale, the storm, the night may come,
No fear disturbs the breast;
Our ship is strong,---our Captain brave,---
And we securely rest.
Long life to him and all his Line!
Health to the gallant West!
Pilgrims to many lands are we,
And now our travel o'er
Once more beneath the Stars and Stripes
We near our native shore;
And since we parted from it last
Who does not love it more?
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poem by Anne Lynch Botta from Poems (1848)
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Thoughts in a library
Speak low---tread softly through these halls;
Here genius lives enshrined,---
Here reign, in silent majesty,
The monarchs of the mind.
A mighty spirit-host they come,
From every age and clime;
Above the buried wrecks of years,
They breast the tide of Time.
And in their presence-chamber here,
They hold their regal state,
And round them throng a noble train,
The gifted and the great.
Oh, child of Earth! when round thy path
The storms of life arise,
And when thy brothers pass thee by,
With stern, unloving eyes,---
Here shall the Poets chant for thee
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poem by Anne Lynch Botta from Poems (1848)
Added by Veronica Serbanoiu
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