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FLIGHT THE THIRD Contained in the volume entitled Aftermath, 1873. FATA MORGANA. Written May 21, 1870. 0 SWEET illusions of Song, That tempt me everywhere, In the lonely fields, and the throng Of the crowded thoroughfare ! 1 approach, and ye vanish away, I grasp you, and ye are gone ; But ever by night and by day, The melody soundeth on. As the weary traveller sees In desert or prairie vast, Blue lakes, overhung with trees, That a pleasant shadow cast; Fair towns with turrets high, And shining roofs of gold, That vanish as he draws nigh, Like mists together rolled, — So I wander and wander along, And forever before me gleams The shining city of song, In the beautiful land of dreams. But when I would enter the gate Of that golden atmosphere, It is gone, and I wonder and wait For the vision to reappear. THE HAUNTED CHAMBER. Each heart has its haunted chamber, Where the silent moonlight falls! On the floor are mysterious footsteps, There are whispers along the walls! And mine at times is haunted By phantoms of the Past, As motionless as shadows By the silent moonlight cast. A form sits by the window, That is not seen by day, For as soon as the dawn approaches It vanishes away. It sits there in the moonlight, Itself as pale and still, And points with its airy fmger Across the window-sill. Without, before the window, There stands a gloomy pine, Whose boughs wave upward and downward As wave these thoughts of mine. And underneath its branches Is the grave of a little child, Who died upon life's threshold, And never wept nor smiled. What are ye, O pallid phantoms ! That haunt my troubled brain ? That vanish when day approaches, And at night return again ? What are y...
