Self-Raised; Or, From the Depths

I tell thee, friend, I have not seen So likely an ambassador of love; A day in April never came so sweet, To show that costly summer was at hand. --_Shakespeare._

He threw his sting into a poisonous libel And on the honor of--oh God!--his wife, The nearest, dearest part of all men's honor, Left a base slur to pass from month to mouth, Of...

Ishmael went to the door and admitted Katie. The old woman made an impulsive rush towards her master, but stopped and burst into a passion of tears so violent that she was scarc...

The beauteous woe that charms like faded light, The cheek so pure that knows no youthful bloom, Well suiteth her dark brow and forehead white, And in the sad endurance of her ey...

There Lord Vincent finally dismissed it, sending it home to the castle, and instructing Cuthbert to pack up some changes of clothing and his dressing-case and a few books and to...

Death--even the most serene and beautiful death, coming to a good old man at the close of a long, beneficent life--is awful. Sudden and violent death, falling upon a strong youn...

How deep, how thorough felt the glow Of rapture, kindling out of woe; How exquisite one single drop Of bliss, that sparkling to the top Of misery's cup, is keenly quaffed Though...

For who knew, she thought, what the amazement, The irruption of clatter and blaze meant. And if, in this minute of wonder, No outlet 'mid lightning and thunder, Lay broad and he...

Why stand ye thus amazed? me thinks your eyes Are fixed in meditation; and all here Seem like so many senseless statues, As if your souls had suffered an eclipse Betwixt your ju...

If we had heard that she was dead We hastily had cried, "She was so richly favored God will forgive her pride!" But now to see her living death-- Power, glory, arts, all gone--...

And coldly from that noble heart, In all its glowing youth, His lore had turned and spurned apart Its tenderness and truth-- Let him alone to live, or die-- Alone!--Yet, who is...

One sole desire, one passion now remains, To keep life's fever still within his veins,-- Vengeance! Dire vengeance on the wretch who cast On him and all he loved that ruinous bl...

Our plots fall short like darts that rash hands throw With an ill aim that have so far to go, Nor can we long discovery prevent, We deal too much among the innocent. --_Howard_.

She struck where the white and fleecy waves Looked soft as carded wool, But the cruel rocks, they gored her sides, Like the horns of an angry bull. --_Wreck of the "Hesperus."_

Oh, vanity of youthful blood, So by misuse to poison good. Reason awakes and views unbarred The sacred gates she wished to guard, Sees approach the harpy law, And Nemesis behold...

Ay, think upon the cause-- Forget it not: when you lie down to rest, Let it be black among your dreams; and when The morn returns, so let it stand between The sun and you, as an...

Cameron Court, the favorite seat of Berenice, Countess of Hurstmonceux, was situated about seven miles south of Edinboro', on the north banks of the Esk. It was an elegant moder...

Who can describe the sweets of country life But those blest men that do enjoy and taste them? Plain husbandmen, though far below our pitch Of fortune placed, enjoy a wealth abov...

St. Agnes' Eve--ah, bitter chill it was! The owl, for all his feathers, was acold, The hare limped trembling thro' the frozen grass; And silent was the flock in woolly fold! --_...

It was a formidable-looking letter, with a black border an inch wide running around the envelope, and sealed with a great round of black wax, impressed with an earl's coronet. T...

It had been decided in consultation between Judge Merlin and Ishmael that, under existing circumstances, it would be proper for their party to shorten their visit to Cameron Cou...

For she is wise, if I can judge of her; And fair she is, if that mine eyes be true; And true she is as she hath proved herself; And therefore like herself, wise, fair, and true...

The folds of her wine-dark violet dress Glow over the sofa fall on fall. As she sits in the light of her loveliness, With a smile for each and for all.

It was more dark and lone, that vault, Than the worst dungeon cell, A hermit built it for his fault, In penitence to dwell: This den, which chilling every sense Of feeling, hear...

It was broad daylight when the viscount was again awakened, and this time by the solemn tolling of the prison bell. He sprang out of bed and looked out of the window and recoile...

The tide has ebbed away; No more wild surging 'gainst the adamant rocks, No swayings of the sea-weed false that mocks The hues of gardens gay; No laugh of little wavelets at the...

Ever charming, ever new, When will the landscape tire the view? The fountains fall, the rivers flow, The woody valleys, warm and low, The windy summit, wild and high, Roughly ru...

Ishmael's aspect was not altogether that of a happy lover going to see his beloved; for his countenance was thoughtful, grave, and sad. How could it be otherwise with him, after...

To be sure he was sorry for Claudia; and he proved it by consenting, at a great sacrifice of his personal interests, to cross the ocean and go to her assistance. But he had fait...

December's sky is chill and drear, December's leaf is dun and sere; No longer Autumn's glowing red Upon our forest hills is shed; No more beneath the evening beam The wave refle...

Love, hope, and joy, fair pleasure's smiling train; Hate, fear, and grief, the family of pain; These mixed with art and to due bounds confined, Make and maintain the balance of...

While Ishmael and Judge Merlin still conversed the carriage was announced. A message was dispatched to Mr. Brudenell; but the messenger returned with the news that the gentleman...

Is she saved by pangs that pained her? Is there comfort in all it cost her? Before the world had gained her, Before the Lord had lost her, Or her soul had quite disdained her?

Alas! a thought of saddest weight Presses and will have vent: Had she not scorned his love, her fate Had been so different! Had her heart bent its haughty will To take him for i...

Ishmael had been violently shaken. It was with much effort that he controlled his own emotions in order to administer consolation to one who was suffering even more than he hims...

Her heart is sick with thinking Of the misery she must find. Her mind is almost sinking-- That once so buoyant mind-- She cannot look before her, On the evil-haunted way. Redeem...

And when her footman had retired Claudia gave herself up to severe and painful thought upon what she had just heard. And the more she reflected on the circumstances the more fir...

The viscount ordered his carriage to be in readiness to convey him to the magistrate's office. Old Cuthbert was punctual. And accordingly on the morning in question Lord Vincent...

Ishmael remained upon the quarterdeck, gazing out upon the stormy glory of the sea and sky until he was interrupted by the most prosaic, though the most welcome of sounds--that...

My lady here alone May think till her heart is broken Of the love that is dead and done, Of the day that with no token For evermore hath gone. --_Owen Meredith._

Ishmael approached it from behind and walked around to the front. He opened the little wooden gate of the front yard and saw seated in the front door, enjoying that early autumn...

Early the next morning Ishmael went over to the prison to see the governor relative to the removal of the body of the unhappy Vincent. But he was told that the old Earl of Hurst...

Something I know. Oft, shall it come about When every heart is full of hope for man, The horizon straight is darkened, and a doubt Clouds all. The work the youth so well began W...

The morn is tip again, the dewy morn, With breath all incense and with cheek all bloom, Laughing the night away with playful scorn, Rejoicing as if earth contained no tomb And g...

It was a splendid winter morning, and Boston harbor, with its shipping, presented a magnificent appearance, lighted up by the rising sun, as the "Oceana" steamed out towards the...

The maiden loved the young man well, And pined for many a day, Because that star-eyed, queenly belle Had won his heart away. But now the young man chooses well Between the beaut...

She had heard nothing of the fate of her negroes. She learned by a second letter from Jean Murdock that Mrs. Dugald still remained at Castle Cragg, "lording it o'er a'," as the...

Ishmael stood transfixed to the spot--for a moment, and then, breaking the spell with which the sound of Claudia's voice had bound him, he passed into the hall, took his hat fro...

Ha! like a kind hand on my brow Comes this fresh breeze. Cooling its dull and feverish glow, While through my being seems to flow She breath of a new life--the healing of the seas.

How saidst thou!-Labor:-why his work is pleasure; His days are pleasantness, his nights are peace; He drinks of joys that neither cloy, nor cease, A well that gushes blessings w...

Nor are my mother's wrongs forgot; Her slighted love and ruined name, Her offspring's heritage of shame, Shall witness for thee from the dead How trusty and how tender were Thy...

Are not the forests, waves and skies, a part Of me and of my soul as I of them? Is not the love of these deep in my heart With a pure passion? Should I not contemn All objects i...

The wildest scene, but this, can show Some touch of nature's genial glow; But here, above, around, below, On mountain or in glen, Nor tree, nor shrub, nor plant, nor flower. Nor...

It was a long day's ride from the Beacon to Brudenell Hall. The greater length of the road lay through the forest. It was, in fact, the very same route traversed, five years bef...

It was a saloon of magnificent proportions and splendid decorations. And Claudia was sailing across it with majestic gait, in the full consciousness of being the Viscountess Vin...