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James Russell Lowell - Self-Study
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A presence both by night and day,
  That made my life seem just begun,
Yet scarce a presence, rather say
  The warning aureole of one.

And yet I felt it everywhere;
  Walked I the woodland`s aisles along,
It seemed to brush me with its hair;
  Bathed I, I heard a mermaid`s song.

How sweet it was! A buttercup
  Could hold for me a day`s delight,
A bird could lift my fancy up
  To ether free from cloud or blight.

Who was the nymph? Nay, I will see,
  Methought, and I will know her near;
If such, divined, her charm can be,
  Seen and possessed, how triply dear!

So every magic art I tried,
  And spells as numberless as sand,
Until, one evening, by my side
  I saw her glowing fulness stand.

I turned to clasp her, but `Farewell,`
  Parting she sighed, `we meet no more;
Not by my hand the curtain fell
  That leaves you conscious, wise, and poor.

`Since you nave found me out, I go;
  Another lover I must find,
Content his happiness to know,
  Nor strive its secret to unwind.`
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