VISIONS OF ROMANCE. WHEY dark-brow'd midnight o'er the slumbering world Mysterious shadows and bewildering throws, [walls, The steel-clad champion on his vaulting steed, Sink into dust, when reason's searching glance Like lightning hurtled o'er the lurid skies, AN EVENING SONG OF PIEDMONT. AVE MARIA! 'tis the midnight hour, The starlight wedding of the earth and heaven, When music breathes its perfume from the flower, And high revealings to the heart are given; Soft o'er the meadows steals the dewy airLike dreams of bliss; the deep-blue ether glows, And the stream murmurs round its islets fair The tender night-song of a charm'd repose. Ave Maria! 't is the hour of love, The kiss of rapture, and the link'd embrace, The hallow'd converse in the dim, still grove, The elysium of a heart-revealing face, When all is beautiful-for we are bless'd, When all is lovely-for we are beloved, When all is silent-for our passions rest, When all is faithful-for our hopes are proved. Ave Maria! 't is the hour of prayer, Of hush'd communion with ourselves and Heaven, When our waked hearts their inmost thoughts declare, High, pure, far-searching, like the light of even; That bids our pride before the Omniscient kneel, Ave Maria! soft the vesper hymn Floats through the cloisters of yon holy pile, And, mid the stillness of the night-watch dim, Attendant spirits seem to hear and smile! Hark! hath it ceased? The vestal seeks her cell, And reads her heart-a melancholy tale! A song of happier years, whose echoes swell O'er her lost love, like pale bereavement's wail. Ave Maria! let our prayers ascend From them whose holy oflices afford No joy in heaven-on earth without a friendThat true, though faded image of the LORD! For them in vain the face of nature glows, For them in vain the sun in glory burns, The hollow breast consumes in fiery woes, And meets despair and death where'er it turns. Ave Maria! in the deep pine wood, On the clear stream, and o'er the azure sky As bright, as pure, as gentle, Heaven! as this! setts. RUFUS DAWES. [Born, 1803.] THE family of the author of "Geraldine" is one of the most ancient and respectable in MassachuHis ancestors were among the earliest settlers of Boston; and his grandfather, as president of the Council, was for a time acting governor of the state, on the death of the elected chief magistrate. His father, THOMAS DAWES, was for ten years one of the associate judges of the Supreme Court of Massachusetts, and was distinguished among the advocates of the Federal Constitution, in the state convention called for its consideration. He was a sound lawyer, a man of great independence of character, and was distinguished for the brilliancy of his wit, and for many useful qualities.* RUFUS DAWES was born in Boston, on the twenty-sixth of January, 1803, and was the youngest but one of sixteen children. He entered Harvard College in 1820; but in consequence of class disturbances, and insubordination, of which it was afterward shown he was falsely accused, he was compelled to leave that institution without a degree. This indignity he retaliated by a severe satire on the most prominent members of the faculty-the first poem he ever published. He then entered the office of General WILLIAM SULLIVAN, as a law-student, and was subsequently admitted a member of the Suffolk county bar. He has however never pursued the practice of the legal profession, having been attracted by other pursuits more congenial with his feelings. In 1829 he was married to the third daughter of Chief Justice CRANCH, of Washington. In 1830 he published "The Valley of the Nashaway, and other Poems," some of which had appeared originally in the Cambridge “ United States Literary Gazette ;" and in 1839, "Athenia of Damas cus,” «Geraldine,” and his miscellaneous poetical writings. His last work, "Nix's Mate," an historical romance, appeared in the following year. With Mr. DAWES poetry seems to have been a passion, which is fast subsiding and giving place to a love of philosophy. He has been said to be a disciple of COLERIDGE, but in reality is a devoted follower of SWEDENBORG; and to this influence must be ascribed the air of mysticism which pervades his later productions. He has from time to time edited several legal, literary, and political works, and in the last has shown himself to be an adherent to the principles of the old Federal party. As a poet, his standing is yet unsettled, there being a wide difference of opinion respecting his writings. His versification is generally easy and correct, and in some pieces he exhibits considerable imagination. In the winter of 1840-41, he delivered a course of lectures in the city of New York, before the American Institute, in which he combated the principles of the French eclectics and the Transcendentalists, contending that their philosophy is only a sublimated natural one, and very far removed from the true system of causes, and genuine spirituality. LANCASTER. THE Queen of May has bound her virgin brow, And hung with blossoms every fruit-tree bough; The sweet Southwest, among the early flowers, Whispers the coming of delighted hours, While birds within the heaping foliage, sing Their music-welcome to returning Spring. O, Nature! loveliest in thy green attireDear mother of the passion-kindling lyre; Thou who, in early days, upled'st me where The mountains freeze above the summer air; Or luredst my wandering way beside the streams, To watch the bubbles as they mock'd my dreams, Lead me again thy flowery paths among, To sing of native scenes as yet unsung! Dear Lancaster! thy fond remembrance brings Thoughts, like the music of Eolian strings, * He is classed by Mr. KETTELL among the American poets; and in the Book of "Specimens" published by him are given some passages of his "Law given on Sinai," published in Boston in 1777. When the hush'd wind breathes only as it sleeps, In life's dull dream, when want of sordid gain Clings to our being with its cankering chain, When lofty thoughts are cramp'd to stoop below The vile, rank weeds that in their pathway grow, Who would not turn amidst the darken'd scene, To memoried spots where sunbeams intervene; And dwell with fondness on the joyous hours, When youth built up his pleasure-dome of flowers! Now, while the music of the feather'd choir Rings where the sheltering blossoms wake desire, Win dew-eyed Love looks tenderness, and speaks A lent language with his mantling cheeks; Iink of those delicious moments past, Which joyless age shall dream of to the last; As now, though far removed, the Muse would tell, Though few may listen, what she loved so well. Dear hours of childhood, youth's propitious spring, When Time fann'd only roses with his wing, When dreams, that mock reality, could move To yield an endless holiday to Love, How do ye crowd upon my fever'd brain, And, in imagination, live again! Lo! I am with you now, the sloping green, Of many a sunny hill is freshly seen; Once more the purple clover bends to meet, And shower their dew-drops on the pilgrim's feet; Once more he breathes the fragrance of your fields, Oace more the orchard tree its harvest yields, Again he hails the morning from your hills, And drinks the cooling water of your rills, While, with a heart subdued, he feels the power Of every humble shrub and modest flower. O thou who journeyest through that Eden-clime, The wood-nymphs sport and naiads plash thy wave, Far down the silent stream, where arching trees 'Tis night! the stars are kindled in the sky, And hunger wakes the famished she-wolf's cry, While, o'er the crusted snow, the careful tread Betrays the heart whose pulses throb with dread; Yon flickering light, kind beacon of repose! The weary wanderer's homely dwelling shows, Where, by the blazing fire, his bosom's joy Holds to her heart a slumbering infant boy; While every sound her anxious bosom moves, She starts and listens for the one she loves ;Hark! was 't the night-bird's cry that met her ear, Curdling the blood that thickens with cold fear? Again, O God! that voice,-'tis his! 'tis his!" She hears the death-shriek and the arrow's whiz, When, as she turns, she sees the bursting door Roll her dead husband bleeding.on the floor. Loud as the burst of sudden thunder, rose The maddening war-cry of the ambush'd foes; Startling in sleep, the dreamless infant wakes, Like morning's smile when daylight's slumber breaks; For mercy! spare my child, forbear the blow!" In vain the warm blood crimsons on the snow. O'er the cold earth the captive mother sighs, Her ears still tortured by her infant's cries; She cannot weep, but deep resolve, unmoved, Plots vengeance for the victims so beloved; Lo! by their fire the glutted warriors lie, Locked in the death-sleep of ebriety, When from her bed of snow, whence slumber flew, The frenzied woman rose the deed to do;Firmly beside the senseless men of blood, With vengeful arm, the wretched mother stood; She hears her groaning, dying lord expire, Her woman's heart nerves up with maddening fire, She sees her infant dashed against the tree,"Tis done!-the red men sleep eternally. [now, Such were thy wrongs, sweet Lancaster! but No spot so peaceful and serene as thou; Thy hills and fields in checker'd richness stand, The glory and the beauty of the land. From calm repose, while glow'd the eastern sky, And the fresh breeze went fraught with fragrance by, Waked by the noisy woodbird, free from care, What joy was mine to drink the morning air! Not all the bliss maturer life can bring, When ripen'd manhood soars with strengthen'd wing, Not all the rapture Fancy ever wove, Nor less than that which springs from mutual love, Ye who can slumber when the starlight fades, And clouds break purpling through the eastern shades, Whose care-worn spirits cannot wake at morn, And see reviving Spring, and Summer's gloom, And high above the mountain's crest of snow, Grew black, as fell the shadows of the night, Hard by yon giant elm, whose branches spread A rustling robe of leaves above your head; Where weary travellers, from noonday heat, Beneath the hospitable shade retreat, The school-house met the stranger's busy eye, While Genius warms beneath thy cloudless sky, And can I e'er forget that hallowed spot, The oaken bucket-where I stoop'd to drink The crystal water, trembling at the brink, Which through the solid rock in coldness flow'd, While creaked the ponderous lever with its load; The dairy-where so many moments flew, With half the dainties of the soil in view; [care, Where the broad pans spread out the milkmaid's To feed the busy churn that labour'd there; The garden-where such neatness met the eye, A stranger could not pass unheeding by; The orchard-and the yellow-mantled fields, Each in its turn some dear remembrance yields. Ye who can mingle with the glittering crowd, Where Mammon struts in rival splendour proud; Who pass your days in heartless fashion's round, And bow with hatred, where ye fear to wound; Away! no flatterer's voice, nor coward's sneer, Can find a welcome, or an altar here. But ye who look beyond the common ken, Self-unexalted when ye judge of men, Who, conscious of defects, can hurry by Faults that lay claim upon your charity; Who feel that thrilling vision of the soul When silence hung upon the Sabbath's smile, Sweet hour of holy rest, to mortals given, Lo! where yon cottage whitens through the green. The loveliest feature of a matchless scene; Beside yon grassless mound, a mourner kneels, [seal'd Turn there your eyes, ye cold, malignant crew, Whose vile ambition dims your reason's view, Ye faithless ones, who preach religion vain, And, childlike, chase the phantoms of your brain; Think not to crush the heart whose truth has Its confidence in heavenly love reveal'd. Let not the atheist deem that Fate decrees The lot of man to misery or ease, While to the contrite spirit faith is given, To find a hope on earth, a rest in heaven. Unrivall'd Nashaway! where the willows throw Their frosted beauty on thy path below, Beneath the verdant drapery of the trees, Luxuriant Fancy woos the sighing breeze. The redbreast singing where the fruit-tree weaves Its silken canopy of mulb'ry leaves; Enamell'd fields of green, where herding kine I turn where, glancing down, the eye surveys Grasps the glad soil where freemen plant their feet; No ruin'd castle here with ivy waves, She owes her mountain-breath of Liberty; A patriot mask, to compass what they dare, But thou shalt rend the virtuous-seeming guise, ANNE BOLEYN. I WEEP While gazing on thy modest face, The beautiful and young, that while their path SUNRISE, FROM MOUNT WASHINGTON. THE laughing hours have chased away the night, Plucking the stars out from her diadem:And now the blue-eyed Morn, with modest grace, Looks through her half-drawn curtains in the east, Blushing in smiles and glad as infancy. And see, the foolish Moon, but now so vain Of borrow'd beauty, how she yields her charms, And, pale with envy, steals herself away! The clouds have put their gorgeous livery on, Attendant on the day-the mountain-tops Have lit their beacons, and the vales below Send up a welcoming;-no song of birds, Warbling to charm the air with melody, Floats on the frosty breeze; yet Nature hath The very soul of music in her looks! The sunshine and the shade of poetry. I stand upon thy lofty pinnacle, Temple of Nature! and look down with awe On the wide world beneath me, dimly seen; Around me crowd the giant sons of earth, Fixed on their old foundations, unsubdued; Firm as when first rebellion bade them rise Unrifted to the Thunderer-now they seem A family of mountains, clustering round Their hoary patriarch, emulously watching To meet the partial glances of the day. Far in the glowing east the flickering light, Mellow'd by distance, with the blue sky blending, Questions the eye with ever-varying forms. The sun comes up! away the shadows fling From the broad hills-and, hurrying to the west, Sport in the sunshine, till they die away. The many beauteous mountain-streams leap down, Out-welling from the clouds, and sparkling light Dances along with their perennial flow. And there is beauty in yon river's path, The glad Connecticut! I know her well, By the white veil she mantles o'er her charms: At times, she loiters by a ridge of hills, Sportfully hiding-then again with glee Out-rushes from her wild-wood lurking-place. Far as the eye can bound, the ocean-waves, And hills and rivers, mountains, lakes and woods, And all that hold the faculty entranced, |