Lines [poem by Louisa Lawson]

[Editor: This poem by Louisa Lawson was published in “The Lonely Crossing” and Other Poems (1905).]

Lines.

Oh, there is a being that haunteth my dreams
When night sendeth slumber to me,
So like thee that often in waking it seems
It cannot be other than thee.

But the eyes of the one in dreams I behold
Beam lovingly ever on me,
With tenderness touching, and pathos untold,
So therefore it cannot be thee.

The hand like the hand of an angel of light
Is minist’ring ever to me;
I wake with a sigh from my trance of delight
And murmur, “Love, would it were thee!”

But could that sweet voice to another belong,
That does o’er my dreaming ear sweep?
As soft as the sound of the oak’s evensong,
While lulling the lilies to sleep.

Yes, yes, thy bright eyes have the same sunny beam
Ne’er held by another than thee.
And thou, the bright being that haunteth my dreams,
Will make earth an Eden for me.

Source:
Louisa Lawson, “The Lonely Crossing” and Other Poems, Sydney: Dawn Office, [1905], pp. 67-68

Editor’s notes:
haunteth = (archaic) haunts

minist’ring = (vernacular) ministering

ne’er = (vernacular) an archaic contraction of “never”

o’er = (archaic) over (pronounced the same as “oar”, “or”, and “ore”)

pathos = compassion or pity; or an experience, or a work of art, that evokes feelings of compassion or pity

sendeth = (archaic) sends

thee = (archaic) you

thou = (archaic) you

thy = (archaic) your