FRAGMENTS. Fifth Series.
Literary Gazette, 31st January, 1824, Page 74
THE SWAN.[1]
I pass'd by a lake in its darkness:
It was dark, for upon its breast,
In rolling clouds and in shadow,
The face of the sky was imprest.
The air was thick and heavy,
And the mist hung round like a blight,
And the boughs of the trees on the banks
Closed round with the closing of night.
But amid the blackening waters
Was one bright and beautiful thing,—
A swan, which, sailing in beauty,
Spread ruffled each snow-white wing.
A sunbeam rested upon her
From the only red cloud in the sky,
And a flush of crimson glory
Lit the waves where that swan sailed by.
Then turned my heart, my beloved one!
To sweet thoughts of thine and thee:
Such, in the hour of my darkness,
Thy beauty has been unto me.
My white Swan, lovely and lonely,
Brightening life's sullen tide,
Bland light and hope of the bosom
Which had nor light nor hope beside!
- ↑ Signature after next poem
