Oh! had I ne'er beheld thee <br /> How calm my life had flown! <br />As cold, as pure and tranquil <br /> As some fair vale unknown; <br /> <br />Where never yet the footsteps <br /> Of wand'ring man has stray'd; <br />That smiles in lonely beauty <br /> Unheeded—unsurve'd. <br /> <br />How cheerfully the moments <br /> In sweet content went by, <br />When sorrow's cloud pass'd swiftly <br /> Across a placid sky: <br /> <br />The charm of peace is broken— <br /> Can nought its dream restore? <br />That sky, obscured by sadness, <br /> Shall ne'er be cloudless more.<br /><br />Louisa Stuart Costello<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/song-oh-had-i-ne-er-beheld-thee/
