# A Poem of Letitia Elizabeth Landon (L. E. L.) in Forget Me Not, 1839/Alice Lee

* ALICE LEE
* Painted by F. NashEngraved by L. Stocks
ALICE LEE.
Through the dim and lonely forest  Comes a low sweet sound, Like the whispering of angels  To the greenwood round, Bearing through the hours of midnight,  On their viewless wings, Music in its measure telling  High and holy things.
Through the forest lone and dim Swelleth soft the twilight hymn Of the old knight's lovely daughter.  The gentle Alice Lee.
On the grass the dews unbroken  In their silver lie, And the stars are out in thousands  On the deep blue sky; Bright as when the old Chaldeans  Held them as the shrine Where was kept the varying fortune  Of our human line.
Would that o'er their mystic scroll Better hours may have to roll For the old knight's lovely daughter.  The gentle Alice Lee!
Time was, coming forth together,  She and Spring might seem Like the beautiful creations  Of a morning dream; Each went through the quiet greenwood  Wandering alone, With the green leaves and wild flowers  O'er their pathway strown.
Of the seasons in the year Spring seemed fittest to be near The old knight's lovely daughter,  The gentle Alice Lee.
Round her head the locks are golden,  So the sun in June Pours his glory o'er the summer  At his crystal noon; From that shining hair, when parted,  Came the pure high brow, With the carving of a statue,  With the mountain's snow.
Blue her eyes as yon blue heaven, Nature every charm had given To the old knight's lovely daughter,  The gentle Alice Lee.
But it was the inward beauty  Breathing from her face, That gave every look and motion  Its diviner grace;
Thought was on the high white forehead,  In the deep blue eyes, And it was the quick warm feeling  Bade the blushes rise,
Which could such sweet light impart, Writing on the cheek, the heart, Of the old knight's lovely daughter,  The gentle Alice Lee.
Lovely was the highborn maiden,  Happy were the hours Gathering in the oak-tree's shelter  Mosses and wild flowers; When the deer from each green coppice  Fled, a startled band, Save when some familiar favourite  Fed from her small hand.
Danger now, and fear, and wrath, Are around the woodland path Of the old knight's lovely daughter,  The gentle Alice Lee.
Nobly doth she meet the trial,  She who hath but known Till the present time of trouble  Life's smooth path alone. Though her smile be somewhat sadder,  And her eye subdued, Such are lovelier as the token  Of a higher mood.
Like an angel's is the face, In its meek and pensive grace, Of the old knight's lovely daughter,  The gentle Alice Lee.
Not an hour of calm and quiet  Hath his old age found, There are foes and strangers haunting  His ancestral ground. Of his ancient halls and woodlands  Is the old man reft, But they have not quite bereaved him,  For his child is left.
Others evil fortunes move, Deeper, dearer, is the love Of the old knight's lovely daughter,  The gentle Alice Lee.
’T is her voice that now is raising  Words of praise and prayer, Heaven will consecrate the worship  Of this hour of care. Earthly care and earthly sorrow  Only purify; Such a heart as that uplifting  Its best hopes on high.
Heaven will bless the faithful maid, Heaven will bless the duty paid By the old knight's lovely daughter,  The gentle Alice Lee.L. E. L.