Poem by Henry Timrod

Lines (I Stooped from Star-Bright Regions)

I stooped from star-bright regions, where
Thou canst not enter even in prayer;
And thought to light thy heart and hearth
With all the poesy of earth.

Oh, foolish hope! those mystic gleams
To thee were unsubstantial dreams;
The paltry world had made thee blind,
And shut thy heart and dulled thy mind.

I was a vassal at thy feet,
And cringed more meanly than was meet,
And since I dared not to be free,
Was scouted as a slave should be.

I gave thee all—my truth, my trust—
I bowed my spirit in the dust,
I put a crown upon thy brow,
And am its proper victim now.

1. On Pressing Some Flowers
2. Hymn Sung at the Consecration of Magnolia Cemetery, Charleston, S.C.
3. A Common Thought
4. The Two Armies
5. Sonnets. 14. Are These Wild Thoughts, Thus Fettered in My Rhymes

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