Vernantem in campum mecum descende, novique
Videris, ut surgat primula, veris honos.
Dum populus circum cantat pennatus, amori
Quam mecum ad Tuedam lenta vacare potes!
Quo minuit studio, quo longas decipit horas ?
Nonne aliquot teneras lux mea servat oves?
Nullus eas felix, nullus brevis abstrahit error,
Dum furtim somnus lumina claudit heræ ?
Murmure jucundo mollemn suadere soporem
Si possit votis Tueda secunda meis ;
Ambrosiam labiis, animum quæ mulceat ægrum,
Lætusque et tacitus, surripuisse velim.
Vulgares inter flammas meus emicat ignis,
Ut nusquam forma nympha sit ulla pari :
Pluribus a pulchris, a mille et mille venustis,
Distinguunt vitam gratia multa meam.
Suaviolum, quin fare, meum ; quæ pascua malunt,
Aut ubi, sub medio sole, vagantur oves?
Ad Tavæ errantes quæram sinuosa fluenta ?
Quæramve ad Tueda candidioris aquam ?
OF Leinster, fam'd for maidens fair,
Bright Lucy was the grace;
Nor e'er did Liffy's limpid stream
Reflect so fair a face.
Till luckless love, and pining care,
Impair'd her rosy hue,
Her coral lips, and damask cheeks,
And eyes of glossy blue.
Oh, have you seen a lily pale,
When beating rains descend!
So droop'd the slow-consuming maid,
Her life now near its end.
By Lucy warn'd, of flattering swains
Take heed, ye easy fair:
Of vengeance due to broken vows,
Ye perjur'd swains, beware.
Three times, all in the dead of night,
A bell was heard to ring;
And shrieking at her window thrice,
The raven flapp'd his wing.
QUAS, venerum fœcunda parens, Lagenia novit,
Lucia formarum gloria, flosque fuit :
Ora nec aspectu tam læta et pulchra Modoni
Flumine de liquido pura reflexit aqua,
Sed dolor, et curæ, lætabile quicquid edentes
Egregium sensim diminuere decus,
Sed deceptus amor carptim privavit ocellos
Gemmis, coraliis labra, rosisque genas.
Vidistin' (quin sæpe vides!) ut languida marcent Lilia, quæ subitæ prægravat imber aquæ ! Lento sic periit tabo, sic palluit illa,
Ad finem extremo jam properante die.
Hoc monitæ exemplo, blandos fallacis amantis,
Credula vos nymphæ corda, timete dolos :
Discite, vos juvenes, læsam quam certa deorum
Vindicta insequitur, quam gravis ira, fidem.
Tinnitu sonuit terno campanula, cuncta
Nocte intempesta cum siluere loca.
Terque ala increpitans cornix, rostroque fenestram
Pulsans, lethales edidit ore sonos.
Too well the love-lorn maiden knew
The solemn boding sound,
And thus, in dying words, bespoke
The virgins weeping round.
I hear a voice you cannot hear,
Which says, I must not stay;
I see a hand you cannot see,
Which beckons me away.
By a false heart, and broken vows,
In early youth I die :
Am I to blame, because his bride
Is thrice as rich as I?
Ah, Colin! give not her thy vows,
Vows due to me alone;
Nor thou, fond maid, receive his kiss,
Nor think him all thy own.
To-morrow in the church to wed,
Impatient, both prepare ;
But know, fond maid, and know, false inan, That Lucy will be there.
There bear my corse, ye comrades, bear
The bridegroom blithe to meet;
He in his wedding-trim so gay,
I in my winding -sheet.
She spoke, she died her corse was borne,
The bridegroom blith to meet ;
He in his wedding-trim so gay,
She in her winding-sheet.
Accepit, novitque omen, bene conscia virgo
Fati, feralis quod recinebat avis;
Et moriens nymphis circum lacrymantibus infit,
Sic super exequiis illacrymata suis.
Vocem ego, quam vobis non est audire, jubentem
Audio, maturem præcipitemque fugam.
Dextram ego, quam vobis non est spectare, vetantem
Specto, ne fingam quid mediterve moræ.
In primæ morior succisa heu ! flore juventæ,
Pectoris infidi capta puella dolo.
Idne æquum et fas est vitio mihi vertere, sponsæ
Quod minor est longe dos mea dote novæ ?
Vota mihi, Juvenis, soli mihi credita, nulla
Oh! alienari conditione sinas.
At neque tu, virgo, blande nunc oscula dantem,
Quod tuus est hodie, dixeris esse tuum.
Jungere cras dextræ dextram properatis uterque,
Et tarde interea creditis ire diem.
Credula quin virgo, juvenis quin perfide, uterque
Scite, quod et pacti Lucia testis erit.
Exangue oh! illuc, comites, deferte cadaver,
Qua semel oh! iterum congrediamur, ait;
Vestibus ornatus sponsalibus ille, caputque
Ipsa sepulchrali vincta pedesque stola.
Dixit, et occubuit-delatum exangue cadaver,
Qua semel in longum congrederentur, erat :
Vestibus ornatus sponsalibus ille, caputque
Illa sepulchrali vincta pedesque stola.
|