Alaric Watts (Volume 1); A Narrative of His Life

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated.1884 Excerpt: ... CHAPTER XXIX. SELECTIONS FROM POEMS OF EARLIER LIFE. The following selection from some of the poems written by my father in earlier life, to which allusion is made in the foregoing narrative and illustrative correspondence, is subjoined for convenience of reference. TO OCTAVIA, THE INFANT DAUGHTER OF THE LATE JOHN LARKING, ESQ. (Written in his twentieth year.) Full many a gloomy month hath passed, On flagging wing, regardless by, Unmarked by aught, save grief, since last I gazed upon thy bright blue eye, And bade my lyre pour forth for thee Its strain of wildest minstrelsy? For all my joys are withered now, The hopes I most relied on thwarted, And sorrow hath o'erspread my brow With many a shade since last we parted: Yet, 'mid this murkiness of lot, Young Peri, thou art unforgot! There are who love to trace the smile That dimples upon Childhood's cheek, And hear from lips devoid of guile The dictates of the bosom break: Ah, who of such could look on thee Without a wish to rival me! He must be of a stubborn heart, And strange to every gentler feeling, Who from thy glance could bear to part Cold and unmoved, without revealing Some portion of the fond regret That dimmed my eyes when last we met! Sweet Bud of Beauty! 'mid the thrill, The sickening thrill of hope delayed, Peril, and almost every ill That can the breast of man invade, No tender thought of thine and thee Hath faded from my memory: For I have dwelt on each dear form Till woe, awhile, gave place to gladness, And that remembrance seemed to charm, Almost to peace, my bosom's sadness; And now, again, I breathe a lay To hail thee on thy natal day! Oh, might my fervent prayers prevail For blessings on thy future years, Or innocence, like thine, avail To save thee from affliction's tears, Each moment of t...