Poems by Caroline Elizabeth Sarah Norton

All Poems Original Poems Translations

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I Was Not False To Thee

I WAS not false to thee, and yet

My cheek alone looked pale;

My weary eye was dim and wet,

My strength began to fail.

Thou wert the same; thy looks were gay,

Thy step was light and free;

And yet, with truth, my heart can say,

I was not false to thee!

by Caroline Elizabeth Sarah Norton

Ifs

OH! if the winds could whisper what they hear,

When murmuring round at sunset through the grove;

If words were written on the streamlet clear,

So often spoken fearlessly above:

If tell-tale stars, descending from on high,

Could image forth the thoughts of all that gaze,

Entranced upon that deep cerulean sky,

And count how few think only of their rays!

by Caroline Elizabeth Sarah Norton

Picture of Twilight

Oh, Twilight! Spirit that dost render birth

To dim enchantments; melting heaven with earth,

Leaving on craggy hills and running streams

A softness like the atmosphere of dreams;

Thy hour to all is welcome! Faint and sweet

Thy light falls round the peasant's homeward feet,

Who, slow returning from his task of toil,

Sees the low sunset gild the cultured soil,

by Caroline Elizabeth Sarah Norton

Love Not

LOVE not, love not! ye hapless sons of clay!

Hope’s gayest wreaths are made of earthly flowers—

Things that are made to fade and fall away

Ere they have blossom’d for a few short hours.

Love not!

Love not! the thing ye love may change:

The rosy lip may cease to smile on you,

Caroline Elizabeth Sarah Norton

The Future

I WAS a laughing child, and gaily dwelt

Where murmuring brooks, and dark blue rivers roll'd,

And shadowy trees outspread their silent arms,

To welcome all the weary to their rest.

And there an antique castle rais'd its head,

Where dwelt a fair and fairy girl: perchance

Two summers she had seen beyond my years;

And all she said or did, was said and done

by Caroline Elizabeth Sarah Norton

My Childhood's Home

I HAVE tasted each varied pleasure,

And drunk of the cup of delight;

I have danced to the gayest measure

In the halls of dazzling light.

I have dwelt in a blaze of splendour,

And stood in the courts of kings;

I have snatched at each toy that could render

More rapid the flight of Time's wings.

by Caroline Elizabeth Sarah Norton

The Cold Change

In the cold change which time hath wrought on love

(The snowy winter of his summer prime),

Should a chance sigh or sudden tear-drop move

Thy heart to memory of the olden time;

Turn not to gaze on me with pitying eyes,

Nor mock me with a withered hope renewed;

But from the bower we both have loved, arise

And leave me to my barren solitude!

by Caroline Elizabeth Sarah Norton

The Pilgrim of Life

PILGRIM, who toilest up life's weary steep,

To reach the summit still with pleasure crowned;

Born but to sigh and smile; to sin and weep,

Dost mark the busy multitudes around?

Dost mourn, with those who tread with fainting feet,

And blighted worn-out heart, the self same road?

Dost laugh with those who think their travel sweet,

And deem existence no unwelcome load?—

by Caroline Elizabeth Sarah Norton

Escape From The Snares Of Love

YOUNG LOVE has chains of metal rare,

Heavy as gold—yet light as air:

It chanced he caught a heart one day

Which struggled hard, as loth to stay.

Prudence, poor thing, was lingering near—

She whispered in the captive's ear,

"Cease, little flutterer; bear thy chain,

And soon thou shalt be free again!"

by Caroline Elizabeth Sarah Norton

The Captive Pirate

THE captive pirate sate alone,

Musing over triumphs gone,

Gazing on the clear blue sky

From his dungeon window high.

Dreamingly he sate, and thought

Of battles he had seen and fought;

And fancy o'er him threw her spell.

He deemed he had not bid farewell

by Caroline Elizabeth Sarah Norton

When Poor In All But Hope And Love

WHEN, poor in all but hope and love,

I clasped thee to my faithful heart;

For wealth and fame I vowed to rove,

That we might meet no more to part!

Years have gone by—long weary years

Of toil, to win thee comfort now—

Of ardent hopes—of sickening fears—

And wealth is mine—but where art thou?

by Caroline Elizabeth Sarah Norton

An Emblem of Life

Oh! Life is like the summer rill, where weary daylight dies;

We long for morn to rise again, and blush along the skies:

For dull and dark that stream appears, whose waters in the day,

All glad, in conscious sunniness, went dancing on their way.

But when the glorious sun hath 'woke, and look'd upon the earth,

And over hill and dale there float the sounds of human mirth;

We sigh to see day hath not brought its perfect light to all,

For with the sunshine on those waves, the silent shadows fall.

by Caroline Elizabeth Sarah Norton