The Complete Poems of Emily Brontë, In the same place, when nature wore

XLVIII

In the same place, when nature wore
The same celestial glow,
I'm sure I've seen these forms before
But many springs ago;

But only he had locks of light
And she had raven hair;
While now, his curls are dark as night
And hers as morning fair.

Besides, I've dreamt of tears whose traces
Will never more depart;
Of agony that fast effaces
The verdure of the heart.

I dreamt one sunny day like this,
In this peerless month of May,
I saw her give th' unanswered kiss
As his spirit passed away.

Those young eyes that so sweetly shine
Then looked their last adieu,
And pale death changed that cheek divine
To his unchanging hue.

And earth was cast above the breast
That once beat warm and true,
Where her heart found a living rest
That moved responsively.

Then she, upon the covered grave,
The grass-grown grave, did lie,
A tomb not girt by English wave
Nor arched by English sky.

The sod was sparkling bright with dew,
But brighter still with tears;
That welled from mortal grief, I knew
Which never heals with years.

And if he came not for her woe,
He would not now return;
He would not leave his sleep below,
When she had ceased to mourn.

O Innocence, that cannot live
With heart-wrung anguish long,
Dear childhood's innocence forgive,
For I have done thee wrong!

The bright rosebuds, those hawthorn shrouds
Within their perfumed bower,
Have never closed beneath a cloud,
Nor bent beneath a shower.

Had darkness once obscured their sun
Or kind dew turned to rain,
No storm-cleared sky that ever shone
Could win such bliss again.

May 17, 1842.

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