Marguerite; or, The Isle of Demons and Other Poems

Chapter 39: DESPONDENT.

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About This Book

A varied collection of lyric and narrative verse centered on a long romantic legend about a woman’s ordeal on a haunted island and its personal and moral aftermath, accompanied by shorter sonnets, ballads, and occasional pieces. Many poems draw on Canadian history and local scenes, offering meditative nature writing, urban sketches of Montreal and Ottawa life, winter and carnival scenes, elegies and civic tributes, and moral or humorous vignettes about everyday people. Themes of love, exile, faith, memory, and social concern recur across diverse forms and voices, blending personal reflection with regional colour and historic atmosphere.

DESPONDENT.

(Occasioned by hearing a pathetic air played on the Flute.)

Oh! cease, sweet Minstrel, cease to play, My eyes with tears are filling fast; I see life’s pleasures fade away, I feel misfortune’s coldest blast.

Thy witching strain is sad and sweet, I cannot bear its melting sound; It tells of joys that passed too fleet, And early loves in sorrow drowned.

I see the ranks of early years Like awful spectres pass along; I see a dismal lake of tears, I hear lost Hope’s expiring song.

Then cease, Musician! cease to play, My heavy heart is filled with grief; And every note but seems to say— The world for me has no relief.