Fincastle Mirror

POETRY.

"It is the gift of POETRY
to hallow every place in which it moves; to
breathe round nature an odour more exquisite
than the perfume of the rose, and to
shed over it a tint more magical than the
blush of morning."

From the Baltimore Patriot.

THE LAST LOOK.

I rose with the dawn to prepare to depart
From the roof of my childhood, to climes far away;
But some monitor whispered in sighs from my heart,

"Thou departest from scenes of thy childhood for aye."

Then walk thro' the grove—through the fields—by the brook.
And enjoy for the last time, a last look.

The flowers in the garden were sweeter and fairer;
The fields were more green, and more placid the river;
The grove was more pleasant, the thrush's song rarer—
The whole more delightful and dearer than ever:
How deep the impression my heart from them took,
On the morning I gave them a last—last look.

Yet a feeling, near kindred—twin sister of madness,
Pervaded my soul as those scenes met my view:
Before I had viewed them and heard them with gladness.
But then I approached them to bid them adieu—
To gaze on those pastures, the grove and brook—
On the scene of my childhood, a last last look.

But the bell of old Brindle forget shall I never.
That bell—which so oft I with pleasure had heard
In the pasture, the grove, on the banks of the river,
While seeking at even the flock and the herd—
Now seemed to return with a knell as I took
Of the barn yard and Brindle, my last last look.

What head shall dictate, then, what pen shall indite—
What pen shall portray the emotion's excess,
As, with tears falling fast and with voice faltering low,
My mother approached with her last—last kiss?

This heart vibrates yet with the emotions that shook
My soul, as she gave me the last—last look.

O sorrow fraught theme, I dare not pursue thee;
This lamp, which at bed gives a fire-fly light.
Will be quenched with grief, if I further review thee,
And wrap my poor soul in one dark mental night.—

I'll talk of the theme, as that morning I took
Of my friends, home, and pastures, a last —last look.