[Editor: This poem, by “L. L.”, was published in The Sun, and New South Wales Independent Press (Sydney, NSW), 11 February 1843.]
The Ill-Fated.
Oh, let me gaze on the beauteous dead:
The spell of life hath broken,
For brighter joys which around us shed,
Deeper sorrows betoken:
Thus spake a youth as he looked on his fair,
As the sunbeams streamed through her golden hair.
Oh, let me gaze on the dead, and weep,
And then depart for ever,
For ambition’s pinions now may sleep,
In thy mausoleum — ever
Away! — brightest hopes are changed to sadness;
Each scene around is a source of madness.
He passes forth, with a hurried tread;
There’s a wild gleam in his eye:
He heedeth not when the pathway led,
From the home of infancy:
And oft now is seen in the stranger’s land,
In cities, deserts, or ocean’s strand.
Where dangers are he is sure to be,
Still he seeks not glory — rest —
For fame is to him a mockery,
The quiet grave is his guest.
E’en it when thus sought, is sought out in vain,
And he wanders earth ’neath the spell of Cain.
L. L.
Sydney, February 8, 1843.
Source:
The Sun, and New South Wales Independent Press (Sydney, NSW), 11 February 1843, p. 4
Editor’s notes:
Cain = the oldest of the two sons of Adam and Eve (according to the Bible, in the Book of Genesis, Cain murdered Abel, and thus the word Cain became associated with murder)
e’en = (archaic) a contraction of “even”
fair = (archaic) a reference to a beautiful woman, e.g. “fair beauty”, “fair lady”, “fair love”
hath = (archaic) has
heedeth = (archaic) heeds
’neath = (vernacular) beneath
oft = (archaic) often
pinion = a bird’s wing; in more specific usage, the outer section of a bird’s wing; in broader usage, “pinions” refers to the wings of a bird (“pinion” may also refer specifically to a feather, especially a flight feather, or a quill)
spake = (archaic) spoke
strand = land bordering a body of water, such as a beach or shore adjoining the sea; less commonly, may also refer to a beach or shore adjoining a lake or river (can also refer to a small brook or rivulet)
thy = (archaic) your
[Editor: Changed “his fair.” to “his fair,” (replaced the full stop with a comma).]
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