Fragment Found in the Hermitage

Miss Vardill

1

’Tis true: the rose has left thy cheek
 Thine eyes no longer shine;
And vulgar soul in vain may seek
 The charm so priz’d by mine:
But there is one which loves to trace
 Amidst the ruins of thy face,
 Departed Beauty’s shrine:
There is an eye that could not bear
To lose the light still living there!

2

Yet it is sad to think those eyes
 Now dim and sightless grown,
Had once the beam which love supplies
 And shone on me alone:
But sweeter ’tis to mourn thee blind
Than from unclouded eyes to find
 The ray of kindness flown
O! it had been a pang too dire
To see that cherish’d ray retire!

3

And thou art blest; — for life’s decay
 Thine eye shall never see;
Nor mark the cold and blighted sway
 Of envious Time in me:
Thou canst not watch my transient sleep
Nor grieve while by thy side I weep
 For joys withheld from thee; — 
Thou seest not how I hate the light
Which brings no blessing to thy sight!

4

Yet those dim eyes a speech possess
 Which Beauty’s voice excels;
The pow’r of brightest eyes is less
 Than in thy darkness dwells.
A light which asks no sunbeam’s aid,
Like stars that reign in midnight shade,
 Thy earthly gloom dispels; — 
Fate may thy mortal sight remove
But gives thee still the eye of love!