The Davenport gazette. [volume] (Davenport, Scott Co., Iowa) 1841-185?, 1851-06-05
tn B SINGER.

Before the loud acclaim that rose
To greet her a. she came,
She bent with lowly grace that seemed
Such tribute to disclaim;
With arms meek folded on her breast
And dropping head, she stood;
Then raised glance that seemed to plead
For youth and womsnhood;
A soft beseeching smile, look,
As il all silently
Tire kindness 10 her heart she took,
And put tie homage BY.
She stood detected then, methought,
A captive, though Queen,
Before the throng, when sudden passed
A change across her mien;
Until her full dilating eye,
Unto her slender hand,
There came light Of sovereignty,
A gesture Of command:
And 10 her lip an eager Aow
or song, that seemed 10 bear
Her soul away on rushing wings
Unto its native air.
Her ives was fixed, her cheek flushed bright
With power she seemed 10 call
On spirits d,teons 10 her voice
At every rise and tall.
There was no triumph on her brow,
No tumult in her breast,
Her soaring soul had won its home
And smiled there as al rest.
She felt no more those countless eyes
Upon her; she had gained
A region where they troubled not
The JOY she had attained.
Now, now, she spoke her native speech,
An uiterance fraught with spells,
The echoes OF the heart to reach
Within their slamber cells:
And many quick nnbidden sigh,
And starting tear revealed
How surely at her touch the springs
OF feeling were unseaied.
The Present seemed unto the Past
For one sweet moment bound,
With all its broken ties made fast,
And all its lost ones found.
They who were always loved, seemed now
Yet more than ever dear:
Yet closer 10 the heart they came,
That always were so near:
And trembling back unto the lips
As if they ne'er had changed,
Old names returned that had been thence
Long severed, long estranged;
For in the strain, like those that fall
Va wanderers as they roam,
The excited spirit found once more
Its country and its home!
She ceased, yet on her parted lips
A happy smile abode,
As il the sweetness OF her song
Yet fingered whence il flowed;
But Tor q while-her bosom heaved,
She was The same no more:
The lsh, and spirit fed, she stood
As she had stood before;
Unheard, unheeded TO her ear
The shouts Of rapture Game:
A voice had once more power 10 thrill
That only spoke her name.
Unseen. unheeded at her feet
Fell many bright bouqaet;
A single flower, in silence given,
Was once more sweet than hey:
For lux by link, her own wild strain
HID drawn her spirit back,
By wndings Of a silver chain
Upon long iosi-trach;
And with her song her heart returned,
To days forever gone.
Ere woman's gilt OF Fame was hers
The Many Tor the One!
Fen th1., O Earth! before thee still
TIE Poe'-Singers stand,
Aid bear the soul upon their songs
Unto its native land;
And even thus, with loud acclaim,
The praise Of skill, OF art,
Is dealt 10 those who only speak
The langnag. Of the heart!
VIII lie they who love and listen best
Can It'le guess or know,
Tpe wounds that from the Singers breast
Have let such sweetness flow;
They guess no, whence its gushing starts
The clear and piercing tone,
That wins its way 10 other hearts
Through anguish Of its own!
They knew hot mastery must spring
From conflict and from strife;
These are not only songs they sing,
They ale the Singers hep