Visionary, The

<SPAN name="startofbook"></SPAN> <h2>THE VISIONARY.</h2> <p>Silent is the house: all are laid asleep:<br/> One alone looks out o'er the snow-wreaths deep,<br/> Watching every cloud, dreading every breeze<br/> That whirls the wildering drift, and bends the groaning trees.<br/> <br/> Cheerful is the hearth, soft the matted floor;<br/> Not one shivering gust creeps through pane or door;<br/> The little lamp burns straight, its rays shoot strong and far:<br/> I trim it well, to be the wanderer's guiding-star.<br/> <br/> Frown, my haughty sire! chide, my angry dame!<br/> Set your slaves to spy; threaten me with shame:<br/> But neither sire nor dame, nor prying serf shall know,<br/> What angel nightly tracks that waste of frozen snow.<br/> <br/> What I love shall come like visitant of air,<br/> Safe in secret power from lurking human snare;<br/> What loves me, no word of mine shall e'er betray,<br/> Though for faith unstained my life must forfeit pay<br/> <br/> Burn, then, little lamp; glimmer straight and clear&mdash;<br/> Hush! a rustling wing stirs, methinks, the air:<br/> He for whom I wait, thus ever comes to me;<br/> Strange Power! I trust thy might; trust thou my constancy.<br/></p> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />