Stedman and Hutchinson, comps. A Library of American Literature:
An Anthology in Eleven Volumes. 1891.
Vols. IX–XI: Literature of the Republic, Part IV., 1861–1889
Lines to a Lady
By George Denison Prentice (1802–1870)[Born in Preston, Conn., 1802. Died at Louisville, Ky., 1870. From Poems. Edited by John James Piatt. 1876.]
L
And thou art now a vision of the Past,
A spirit-star, whose holy light is cast
On memory’s voiceless sea.
As beautiful as ’twere a dewy flower,
Soft-wafted down from Eden’s glorious bower,
And floating in mid-air.
The day-star of my destiny—the first
I e’er could worship as the Persian erst
Worshipped his own loved sun.
The shadow of the tempest, their dark flow
Be wild and drear, but that dear star will glow
Still beautiful on high.