TO ELLA.

Ofttimes I gaze upon thine eyes, fair child,

Till sense forgets all but the beautiful,

And my entranced and raptured heart is full

Of blissful visions, pure, and bland, and mild

In their o'erstealing, as the rosy sleep

That falls upon an infant, wafting it

In balmy dreams to heaven. Within the deep

The thrilling sea of their blue loveliness,

By sun-reflected gleams of heaven uplit,

My spirit bathes in sweet unconsciousness

Of aught material, and oft doth drink

Of beauty there, whose freshness never dies,

Till, pleasure-lapt, it feels as it could sink

Beneath the waves, and enter paradise.