Martinsburg gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1833-1855, 1841-10-07
THE FoRsAKEN GIRL.
By JOHN g. WHITTIER.

Bounds like the captive from bis chain,
Ard willfully believing she
Hath found her liberty agsins'---L. E. L.
lfthere IS any act which deserves dec
and bitter condemnation, il is that oftrIfiini
with the inestimable gift Of woman's az
lection. The female heart may be com
pared to delicate harp--over which th,
breathngs Of early ELECTION wander, unit
each tender chord is awakened 10 tones o
ineffable sweetness. 1t is the music of thu
soul which is thus called forth-a music
sweeter than the fall Of fountains or The
song of Hour in tho Moslem's Paradise
But wo for the delicate fashioning of thai
harp ifa change pass over the love which
first called forth its hidden harmonies.-
Let neglect and cold unkindncss sweer
over its delicate strings, and they will
break one after another-slowly perhaps
but surely. Unvisited and unrequited
by the light Of love, the soul like melody
will bo hushed in the stricken bosom
like the mysterious harmony OF the Egyp.
tian statue, before coming Of the sunrise.
have been wandering among the
graves--the lonely and solemn graves
| love at times to do so. feel melan.
choly not unallied to pleasure in commun-
ing with the resting-pace Of those who
have gone before mc-to 60 forth alone
among the thronged tombstones, rising
from every grassy undulation like the
ghostly sentinels of the departed. And
when kneel above the narrow mansion
of one whom have known and loved in
life, feel strange assurance that the
spirit OF the sleeper is near me--R viewless
and ministoring angel. 1t is beautiful
philosophy which has found its vay un-
sought for and mysteriously into the ST..
lence of my heart--and il it be only a
dream-the unreal imagery Of fancy-l
pray God that may never awaken lfom
the beautiful delusion.
have been this evening by the grave
of Emily. |! has plain white tomb
stone, half hidden by flowers, and you
may read its mournful eptaph in tho clear
moonlight, which falls upon il like the
smile of an angel, through an opening
into the dropping branches. Emily was
beautiful girl-the fairest Of our village
madens. think see her now, as she
looked when the loved one--the idol of
her affections-was near her with his
smile of conscious triumph and exulting
love. She had then seen but eighteen
summers. and her whole being seemed
woven Of the dream Of her first passion.
| The object Of her love was proud and
hayward being-whose naughty spirit
never relaxed from its habltual sternness,
save when he found himself in the pre-
sence of the young and beautiful creature
who had trusted her all upon the overture
of her VOW" and who loved him with the
confiding earnestness Of pure and devot-
ed heart. Nature had deprived him Of
the advantages of outward grace and
beauty, and it was the abiding conscious
ness of this which gave TO his intercourse
with society character of pride and
sternness. He felt himself in some degree
remote from his fellow men by the partial
fashioning Of nature, and he scorned to
seek nearer affinity. His mind was OF
an exalted bearing, and prodigal Of beau
ty. The flowers of poetry wore in his
Imagination a perpetual poisoning, and
it was to his intellectual beauty that EN-
lily bent down-bearing to the altar OF
her idol the fair flower of her affection,
even as the dark.eyed daughters of the
ancient Gheber spread out their offerings
from the gardens Of the East upon the al
tar of the Sun.
There is surprising strength in love
like that of Emily 's-it has nothing gross,
nor low, nor earthly liz its yearning--it
has its source in the deeper fountains Of
the human heart, and it is such the re-
deemed and sancti6ed from earth might
feel for one another in the fair land o
spirits. Alas, that such love should be
unrequ!ted, or turned back in GOODNESS anC
darkness upon the heart Of its giyer.
They parted--Emily and her lover
but not before they had vowed eterna
cons,ancy to each other. The one retlr
ed to the quiet of her home, to dream Owe
again the scenes of her early passion--tt
count with untiriIg eagerness the hours o
separation, and to weep over the long in
;erval Of hope deferred" The oihe
went with strong heart to mingle will
the world, girded with pride and impelle'
forward by ambition. He found the worlt
cold and callous, and his own spirit insen
f sibly took the hue Of those around him
He shut his eyes upon the past--it wa
too pure and mildly beautiful and holy a
it was-he turned not back to the youn:
and lovely and devoted girl, who ha'
poured out TO him in the conliding earn
estness of woman's confidence the wealtl
, of her affection. He came not back t
t fulfil the vow which he had plghted.
, Slowly and painfully the knowledge O
her lovers infdelity came over the sensl
tive heart of Emily. She sought for
time to shut out the horrible suspicion
f from her mind-she half doubted the eyi
q dence OF her own sense-she could not be
, lleve that he was n traitor-for her mem
DRY had treasured every token of his al
1 fection-every impassoned word and eve
. ry endearing smile Of his tenderness. Blu
tho truth came at last--the doubtful spec
tire which had long haunted her, and fror
which she turned away, as it were sin t
look upon il, now stood before her
dreadful and unacceptable vision of reality
, There was one burst of passionate tear
; the overflow Of that fountain Of afTlic
ton which quenches the last ray of hop
in the desolate bosom, and she was calm
for the struggle was over, and she gaze
.,ooJ;t,, O,J ,y;,h tho auv(ili confidance r