THE PROPHECY
by: Lucretia Davidson (1808-1825)
- (Written in her sixteenth year.)
- ET me gaze awhile on that marble
brow,
- On that full, dark eye, on that check's warm glow;
- Let me gaze for a moment, that, ere I die,
- I may read thee, maiden, a prophecy.
- That brow may beam in glory awhile;
- That cheek may bloom, and that lip may smile;
- That full, dark eye may brightly beam
- In life's gay morn, in hope's young dream;
- But clouds shall darken that brow of snow,
- And sorrow blight thy bosom's glow.
- I know by that spirit so haughty and high,
- I know by that brightly-flashing eye,
- That, maiden, there's that within thy breast,
- Which hath marked thee out for a soul unblest:
- The strife of love, with pride shall wring
- Thy youthful bosom's tenderest string;
- And the cup of sorrow, mingled for thee,
- Shall be drained to the dregs in agony.
- Yes, maiden, yes, I read in thine eye,
- A dark, and a doubtful prophecy.
- Thou shalt love, and that love shall be thy curse;
- Thou wilt need no heavier, thou shalt feel no worse.
- I see the cloud and the tempest near;
- The voice of the troubled tide I hear;
- The torrent of sorrow, the sea of grief,
- The rushing waves of a wretched life;
- Thy bosom's bark on the surge I see,
- And, maiden, thy loved one is there with thee.
- Not a star in the heavens, not a light on the wave!
- Maiden, I've gazed on thine early grave.
- When I am cold, and the hand of Death
- Hath crowned my brow with an icy wreath;
- When the dew hangs damp on this motionless lip;
- When this eye is closed in its long, last sleep,
- Then, maiden, pause, when thy heart beats high,
- And think on my last sad prophecy.
"The Prophecy" is reprinted
from Poetical Remains of the Late Lucretia Maria Davidson,
Collected and Arranged by Her Mother. Lucretia Maria Davidson.
Philadelphia: Lea and Blanchard, 1841. |
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