| Samuel Kettell, ed. Specimens of American Poetry. 1829. | | | | The Queen of the Mist | | By Charles J. Locke |
| | | BEAUTIFUL Spirit! that glidest away, | |
| Light o’er the mountain, I pray thee stay! | |
| Stay but a moment, for I would know, | |
| Whence thou hast come, and whither dost go! | |
| Beautiful Spirit! bound by my spell! | 5 |
| Oh! tell, oh! tell, | |
| Murmuring echo, too, bids thee tell. | |
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| Why didst thou sail o’er the calm blue lake | |
| All the dark night, and at morning take | |
| Gently thy shadowy robes and fly | 10 |
| Softly away to the glowing sky?— | |
| Sometimes I fancy thee bride of the Sun; | |
| The Sun, the Sun, | |
| Yes, echo calls thee the bride of the Sun. | |
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| Flowerets are weeping, because thou art cold, | 15 |
| While in thy presence they sweetly fold | |
| Closer their beauties, so blooming bright, | |
| Striving to keep thee, thou child of light:— | |
| When thou art vanish’d they dry their tears, | |
| Their tears, their tears, | 20 |
| Echo repeats it, they dry their tears. | |
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| Oh! for a bride that would haste to me, | |
| Lovely as thou art—in ecstacy— | |
| Melting away in each fond embrace.— | |
| Now thou hast vanish’d, nor left a trace, | 25 |
| Faintly to answer my broken spell;— | |
| Farewell, farewell, | |
| Murmuring echo, now bids farewell. | | | | |
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