Bells and Other Poems

<h2><SPAN name="TO_HELEN2"></SPAN>TO HELEN</h2> <p class="quotc">["Helen" was Mrs. Stannard, whose death also inspired Lenore.]</p> <p class="poem"> Helen, thy beauty is to me<br/> <span class="ind1">Like those Nicean barks of yore,</span><br/> That gently, o'er a perfumed sea,<br/> <span class="ind1">The weary, wayworn wanderer bore</span><br/> <span class="ind1">To his own native shore.</span><br/> <br/> On desperate seas long wont to roam,<br/> <span class="ind1">Thy hyacinth hair, thy classic face,</span><br/> Thy Naiad airs have brought me home<br/> <span class="ind1">To the glory that was Greece,</span><br/> <span class="ind1">And the grandeur that was Rome.</span><br/> <br/> Lo! in yon brilliant window-niche<br/> <span class="ind1">How statue-like I see thee stand,</span><br/> The agate lamp within thy hand!<br/> <span class="ind1">Ah, Psyche, from the regions which</span><br/> <span class="ind1">Are Holy Land!</span><br/></p> <hr class="r15" /> <div class="plate"> <SPAN name="pl20"></SPAN><SPAN href="images/large/pl20.jpg"><ANTIMG src="images/pl20.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN></div> <p class="caption">To Helen</p> <hr class="r65" /> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />