The Complete Poems of Emily Brontë, A Serenade

LII

A SERENADE

Thy Guardians are asleep,
So I'm come to bid thee rise;
Thou hast a holy vow to keep,
Ere yon crescent quit the skies.

Though clouds careering wide
Will hardly let her gleam,
She's bright enough to be our guide
Across the mountain stream.

O waken, dearest, wake!
What means this long delay?
Say, wilt thou not for true love's sake
Chase idol fears away?

Think not of future grief
Entailed on present joy;
An age of woe were only brief
Its memory to destroy.

And neither Hell nor Heaven,
Though both conspire at last,
Can take the bliss that has been given,
Can rob us of the past.

Then waken, Mary, wake,
How canst thou linger now?
For true love's and for honour's sake
Arise and keep thy vow.

May 4, 1843.

Where this page came from

This page was imported from Wikisource. “The Complete Poems of Emily Brontë” by Emily Brontë (1908) is in the public domain; the text is as transcribed and proofread by Wikisource's volunteers.

Nobody has written it yet — it is the source material at a new address, which is why search engines are asked to skip it and why no one earns from it. It is up for grabs: take it on, and it is yours to rewrite and to earn from.