網頁圖片
PDF

The little cloud—it floats away, Away it goes; away so soon! . Alas! it has no power to stay: Its hues are dim, its hues are grey— Away it passes from the moon! How mournfully it seems to fly, Ever fading more and more, To joyless regions of the sky— And now "t is whiter than before" As white as my poor cheek will be, When, Lewti' on my couch I lie, A dying man for love of thee. Nay, treacherous image! leave my mind– | And yet thou didst not look unkind.

I saw a vapour in the sky, Thin, and white, and very high; I ne'er beheld so thin a cloud : Perhaps the breezes that can fly Now below and now above, Have snatch'd aloft the lawny shroud Of Lady fair—that died for love. For maids, as well as youths, have perish'd From fruitless love too fondly cherish'd. Nay, treacherous image! leave my mind— For Lewti never will be kind.

Hush' my heedless feet from under
Slip the crumbling banks for ever:
Like echoes to a distant thunder,
They plunge into the gentle river.
The river-swans have heard my tread,
And startle from their reedy bed.
O beauteous Birds' methinks ye measure
Your movements to some heavenly tune!
O beauteous Birds!'t is such a pleasure
To see you move beneath the moon,
I would it were your true delight
To sleep by day and wake all night.

I know the place where Lewti lies,

When silent night has closed her eyes:
It is a breezy jasmine-bower,

The nightingale sings o'er her head:
Voice of the Night had I the power

That leafy labyrinth to thread,

And creep, like thee, with soundless tread,

I then might view her bosom white

Heaving lovely to my sight,

As these two swans together heave

On the gently swelling wave.

|

t

|

|

|

|

|

Oh! that she saw me in a dream,

And dreamt that I had died for care; All pale and wasted I would seem,

Yet fair withal, as spirits are: I 'd die indeed, if I might see Her bosom heave, and heave for me! Soothe, gentle image 'soothe my mind! To-morrow Lewti may be kind.

1795.

The Picturf, on THE LovER's RESOLUTION.

Thaough weeds and thorns, and matted underwood I force my way; now climb, and now descend

[ocr errors]

O'er rocks, or bare or mossy, with wild foot
Crushing the purple whorts; while oft unseen,
Hurrying along the drifted forest-leaves,
The scared snake rustles. Onward still I toil,
I know not, ask not whither A new joy,
Lovely as light, sudden as summer gust,
And gladsome as the first-born of the spring,
Beckons me on, or follows from behind,
Playmate, or guide! The master-passion quell'd,
I feel that I am free. With dun-red bark
The fir-trees, and the unfrequent slender oak,
Forth from this tangle wild of bush and brake
Soar up, and form a melancholy vault
High o'er me, murmuring like a distant sea.

Here Wisdom might resort, and here Remorse;
Here too the love-lorn man who, sick in soul,
And of this busy human heart aweary,
Worships the spirit of unconscious life
In tree or wild-flower.—Gentle Lunatic'
If so he might not wholly cease to be,
He would far rather not be that, he is ;
But would be something, that he knows not of,
In winds or waters, or among the rocks!

But hence, fond wretch! breathe not contagion here No myrtle-walks are these: these are no groves Where Love dare loiter. If in sullen mood He should stray hither, the low stumps shall gore His dainty feet, the briar and the thorn Make his plumes haggard. Like a wounded bird Easily caught, ensnare him, O ye Nymphs, Ye Oreads chaste, ye dusky Dryades! And you, ye Earth-winds' you that make at morn The dew-drops quiver on the spiders' webs! You, O ye wingless Airs' that creep between The rigid stems of heath and bitten furze, Within whose scanty shade, at summer-noon, The mother-sheep hath worn a hollow bed— Ye, that now cool her fleece with dropless damp, Now pant and murmur with her feeding lamb. Chase, chase him, all ye Fays, and elfin Gnomes' With prickles sharper than his darts bemock His little Godship, making him perforce Creep through a thorn-bush on yon hedgehog's back.

This is my hour of triumph! I can now With my own fancies play the merry fool, And laugh away worse folly, being free. Here will I seat myself, beside this old, Hollow, and weedy oak, which ivy-twine Clothes as with net-work: here will I couch my limbs, Close by this river, in this silent shade, As safe and sacred from the step of man As an invisible world—unheard, unseen, And list'ning only to the pebbly brook That murmurs with a dead, yet tinkling sound; Or to the bees, that in the neighbouring trunk Make honey-hoards. The breeze, that visits me, Was never Love's accomplice, never raised The tendril ringlets from the maiden's brow, And the blue, delicate veins above her cheek; Ne'er play'd the wanton—never half disclosed The maiden's snowy bosom, scattering thence Eye-poisons for some love-distemper'd youth, Who ne'er henceforth may see an aspen-grove

Sliver in sunshine, but his feeble heart Shall flow away like a dissolving thing.

Sweet breeze' thou only, if I guess aright, Liftest the feathers of the robin's breast, That swells its little breast, so full of song, Singing above me, on the mountain-ash. And thou too, desert Stream' no pool of thine, Though clear as lake in latest summer-eve, Did cer reflect the stately virgin's robe, The face, the form divine, the downcast look Contemplative! Behold! her open palm Presses her cheek and brow! her elbow rests on the bare branch of half-uprooted tree, That leans towards its mirror! Who erewhile Had from her countenance turn'd, or look'd by stealth (For fear is true love's cruel nurse), he now With steadfast gaze and unoffending eye, Worships the watery idol, dreaming hopes Delicious to the soul, but fleeting, vain, Een as that phantom-world on which he gazed, But not unheeded gated: for see, ah! see, The sportive tyrant with her left hand plucks The heads of tall towers that behind her grow, Lychnis, and willow-herb, and fox-glove bells: And suddenly, as one that toys with time, Scatters them on the pool! Then all the charm is broken—all that phantom-world so fair Vanishes, and a thousand circlets spread, And each mis-shapes the other. Stay awhile, Poor youth, who scarcely darest lift up thine eyes! The stream will soon renew its smoothness, soon The visions will return' And lo! he stays: And soon the fragments dim of lovely forms Cone trembling back, unite, and now once more The pool becomes a mirror; and behold Each wild-flower on the marge inverted there, And there the half-uprooted tree–but where, 0 where the virgin's snowy arm, that lean'd On its bare brancho Ile turns, and she is gone! Homeward she steals through many a woodland maze which he shall seek in vain. Ill-fated youth' Go, day by day, and waste thy manly prime In mad love-yearning by the vacant brook, Till sickly thoughts bewitch thine eyes, and thou Beholdst her shadow still abiding there, The Naiad of the Mirror'

Not to thee, 0 wild and desert Stream! belongs this tale: Gloomy and dark art thou—the crowded firs Spire from thy shores, and stretch across thy bed, Making thee doleful as a cavern-well: Save when the shy king-fishers build their nest On thy steep banks, no loves hast thou, wild stream!

This be my chosen haunt—emancipate From passion's dreams, a freeman, and alone, i rise and trace its devious course. O lead, Lead me to deeper shades and lonelier glooms. lo! stealing through the canopy of firs, How fair the sunshine spots that mossy rock, l,le of the river, whose disparted waves Dart off asunder with an angry sound, How soon to re-unite! And see! they meet, Each in the other lost and found; and see

Placeless, as spirits, one soft water-sun
Throbbing within them, Heart at once and Eye
With its soft neighbourhood of filmy clouds,
The stains and shadings of forgotten tears,
Dimness o'erswum with lustre! Such the hour
Of deep enjoyment, following love's brief feuds;
And hark, the noise of a near waterfall !
I pass forth into light—I find myself
Beneath a weeping birch (most beautiful
Of forest-trees, the Lady of the woods),
Hard by the brink of a tall weedy rock
That overbrows the cataract. How bursts
The landscape on my sight! Two crescent hills
Fold in behind each other, and so make
A circular vale, and land-lock'd, as might seem,
With brook and bridge, and grey stone cottages,
Half hid by rocks and fruit-trees. At my feet,
The whortle-berries are bedev'd with spray,
Dash’d upwards by the furious waterfall.
How solemnly the pendent ivy mass
Swings in its winnow : All the air is calm.
The smoke from cottage-chimneys, tinged with light,
Rises in columns; from this house alone,
Close by the waterfall, the column slants,
And feels its ceaseless breeze. But what is this?
That cottage, with its slanting chimney-smoke,
And close beside its porch a sleeping child,
His dear head pillow'd on a sleeping dog—
One arm between its fore-legs, and the hand
Holds loosely its small handful of wild-flowers,
Unfilleted, and of unequal lengths.
A curious picture, with a master's haste
Sketch'd on a strip of pinky-silver skin,
Peel'd from the birchen bark! Divinest maid!
Yon bark her canvas, and those purple berries
Her pencil' See, the juice is scarcely dried
On the fine skin' She has been newly here;
And lo! yon patch of heath has been her couch—
The pressure still remains! O blessed couch
For this mayst thou slower early, and the Sun,
Slanting at eve, rest bright, and linger long
Upon thy purple bells! O Isabel!
Daughter of genius' stateliest of our maids!
More beautiful than whom Alcaeus wooed,
The Lesbian woman of immortal song!
O child of genius! stately, beautiful,
And full of love to all, save only me,
And not ungentle e'en to me! My heart,
Why beats it thus? Through yonder coppice-wood
Needs must the pathway turn, that leads straightway
On to her father's house. She is alone !
The night draws on—such ways are hard to hit—
And fit it is I should restore this sketch,
Dropt unawares, no doubt. Why should I yearn
To keep the relique? 't will but idly feed
The passion that consumes ine. Let me haste!
The picture in my hand which she has left,
She cannot blame me that I follow'd her;
And I may be her guide the long wood through.

The NIGHT-SCENE. A DRAMAtic Fita GMENT.

sAN dow.A. L. You loved the daughter of Don Manrique?

[merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors]

EARL H Enny.

Blessings gather round her! Within this wood there winds a secret passage, Beneath the walls, which opens out at length Into the gloomiest covert of the garden— The night ere my departure to the army, She, nothing trembling, led me through that gloom, And to that covert by a silent stream, Which, with one star reflected near its marge, Was the sole object visible around me. No leaflet stirr'd; the air was almost sultry; So deep, so dark, so close, the umbrage o'er us! No leaflet stirr'd;—yet pleasure hung upon The gloom and stillness of the balmy night-air. A little further on an arbour stood, Fragrant with flowering trees—I well remember What an uncertain glimmer in the darkness Their snow-white blossoms made—thither she led me, To that sweet bower! Then Oropeza trembled— I heard her heart beat—if 't were not my own.

SAndow A L. A rude and scaring note, my friend!

EARL henny.

Oh! no! I have small memory of aught but pleasure. The inquietudes of fear, like lesser streams Still flowing, still were lost in those of love: So love grew mightier from the fear, and Nature, Fleeing from Pain, shelter'd herself in Joy. The stars above our heads were dim and steady, Like eyes suffused with rapture. Life was in us: We were all life, each atom of our frames A living soul—I vow'd to die for her: With the faint voice of one who, having spoken,

[ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]

EARL henny. Ah! was that bliss Fear'd as an alien, and too vast for man? For suddenly, impatient of its silence, Did Oropeza, starting, grasp my forehead. I caught her arms; the veins were swelling on them. Through the dark bower she sent a hollow voice, Oh! what if all betray me? what if thou? I swore, and with an inward thought that seem'd The purpose and the substance of my being, I swore to her, that were she red with tsuilt, I would exchange my unblench'd state with hers.Friend! by that winding passage, to that bower I now will go—all objects there will teach me Unwavering love, and singleness of heart. Go, Sandoval! I am prepared to meet her— Say nothing of me—I myself will seek her— Nay, leave me, friend! I cannot bear the torment And keen inquiry of that scanning eye – - [EARL HENRY retires into the wood.

sAndoval (alone). O Henry' always strivest thou to be great By thine own act—yet art thou never great But by the inspiration of great passion. The whirl-blast comes, the desert-sands rise up And shape themselves: from Earth to Heaven they stand. As though they were the pillars of a temple, Built by Omnipotence in its own honour! But the blast pauses, and their shaping spirit Is fled : the mighty columns were but sand, And lazy snakes trail o'er the level ruins!

TO AN UNFORTUNATE woMAN,

whom THE AUTHon HAD KNowN IN THE DAYs of men in Nocence.

Myntle-lear that, ill besped,
Pinest in the gladsome ray,

Soil'd beneath the common tread,
Far from thy protecting spray!

When the Partridge o'er the sheaf Whirr'd along the yellow vale,

Sad I saw thee, heedless leaf. Love the dalliance of the gale.

Lightly didst thou, foolish thing !
Heave and flutter to his sighs,

While the flatterer, on his wing,
Woo'd and whisper'd thee to rise.

Gaily from thy mother-stalk
Wert thou danced and wafted high-

Soon on this unshelter'd walk
Flung to fade, to rot and die.

TO AN UNFORTUNATE WOMAN AT THE THEATRE.

MAnnex, that with sullen brow
Sittest behind those virgins gay,

Like a scorched and mildew'd bough,
Leafless 'mid the blooms of May !

Him who lured thee and forsook, oft I watch'd with angry gaze,

Fearful saw his pleading look, Anxious heard his fervid phrase.

Soft the Blances of the youth,
Soft his speech, and soft his sigh;

But no sound like simple truth,
But no true love in his eye.

Loathing thy polluted lot,
iiie thee, Maiden, hie thee hence!

Seek thy weeping Mother's cot,
With a wiser innocence.

Thou hast known deceit and folly,
Thou hast felt that vice is woe:
With a musing melancholy
Inly arm'd, go, Maiden! go.

Mother sage of Self-dominion,
Firm thy steps, O Melancholy!

The strongest plume in wisdom's pinion is the memory of past folly.

Mute the sky-lark and forlorn,
While she moults the firstling plumes,

That had skimm'd the tender corn,
Or the bean-field's odorous blooms :

Soon with renovated wing
Shall she dare a loftier flight,

Upward to the day-star spring,
And embathe iyoeavenly light.

LINES COMPOSPM) IN A CONCERT-ROOM.

Noa cold, nor stern, my soul! yet I detest
These scented Rooms, where, to a gaudy throng,

Ileaves the proud Harlot her distended breast,
In intricacies of laborious song.

These feel not Music's genuine power, nor deign To melt at Nature's passion-warbled plaint;

But when the long-breathed singer's uptrill'd strain Bursts in a squall—they gape for wonderment.

Hark! the deep buzz of Vanity and slate! Scornful, yet envious, with self-torturing succr

My lady eyes sounc maid of humbler state, while the pert Captain, or the primmer Priest, Prattles accordant scandal in her car.

O (;ive me, from this heartless scene released,
To hear our old musician, blind and grey
(Whom stretching from my nurse's arms I kissed),
His Scottish tunes and warlike marches play,
By moonshine, on the balmy summer-night,
The while I dance amid the tedded hay
With merry maids, whose ringlets toss in light.

Or lies the purple evening on the bay
Of the calm glossy lake, O let me hide
Unheard, unseen, behind the alder-trees,
For round their roots the fisher's boat is tied,
On whose trim seat doth Edmund stretch at ease,
And while the lazy boat sways to and fro,
Breathes in his flute sad airs, so wild and slow,
That his own cheek is wet with quiet tears.

But 0, dear Anne! when midnight wind careers,
And the gust pelting on the out-house shed
Makes the cock shrilly on the rain-storm crow,
To hear thee sing some ballad full of woe,
Ballad of ship-wreck'd sailor floating dead,
Whom his own true-love buried in the sands !
Thee, gentle woman, for thy voice remeasures
Whatever tones and melancholy pleasures
The things of Nature utter; birds or trees,
Or moan of ocean-gale in weedy caves,
Or where the stiff grass 'mid the heath-plant waves,
Murmur and music thin of sudden breeze.

The KEEPSARE.

The tedded hay, the first fruits of the soil,
The tedded hay and corn-sheaves in one field,
Show summer gone, ere come. The foxglove tall
Sheds its loose purple bells, or in the gust,
Or when it bends beneath the up-springing lark,
Or mountain-finch alighting. And the rose
(In vain the darling of successful love)
Stands, like some boasted beauty of past years,
The thorns remaining, and the flowers all gone.
Nor can I find, amid my lonely walk

By rivulet, or spring, or wet road-side,
That blue and bright-eyed floweret of the brook,
Hope's gentle gem, the sweet Forget-me-not!”
So will not fade the slowers which Enneline
With delicate fingers on the snow-white silk
Has work'd (the flowers which most she knew I loved),
And, more beloved than they, her auburn hair.

In the cool morning twilight, early waked By her full bosom's joyous restlessness, Softly she rose, and lightly stole along, Down the slope coppice to the woodbine bower, Whose rich flowers, swinging in the morning breeze, Over their dim fast-moving shadows hung, Making a quiet image of disquiet In the smooth, scarcely moving river-pool. There, in that bower where first she own'd her love, And let me kiss my own warm tear of joy From off her glowing cheek, she sate and stretch'd

one of the names (and meriting to be the only one) of the Myosotis Scorpioides Patostris, a flower from six to twelve inclues high, with blue Llossom and bright yellow eye. It has the some name over the whole Empire of Germany (Vergisame a nicht) and, we believe, in Denmark and Sweden.

[merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]
« 上一頁繼續 »