XXX.

"What" (cried the tyrant) shall reward thy deed "Of glory? Upstart! murderer! haste, begone! "The turret in yon gateway be thy meed,

"And for the bridal sigh, the imprison'd moan! "Bear, bear him hence! nor let his plaints alone "O'er vanish'd hopes or broken visions brood!

“Bear Marian, too! That tower she deems her own "Shall bid her languish all in amorous mood,

Sigh o'er her pencil'd forms, and hug her solitude !"

XXXI.

And is it thus man tramples upon man?

Shall tyranny break down, or fraud betray That spirit which far beyond life's little span Soars where high genius points the empyreal way? Shall treachery mar its course, or blot its ray? No! can aught human quench the heavenly flame? No! tho' immur'd where faints unheard the lay, Young Edwin in disdain suppress'd the claim

Of lordly birth, and grasp'd the Minstrel's nobler name.

XXXII.

III. BUT that ethereal spirit could ought sustain
Unwavering, when, sweet sufferer for his sake,
He pictur'd Marian, torn by every pain,

And imag'd her through night's drear gloom awake,
And pining still at every pale day-break?

Full oft was Edwin tempted to disclose

His birth, at her idea only weak:

But yet the day declin'd, the morning rose,
And yet could they perceive no period to their woes.

XXXIII.

One morn, had Edwin from his prisoning grate
Mus'd on the still grey light that, gleam on gleam,
Touch'd the green hills; and soften'd was his fate,
As fancy wander'd o'er the vapour's stream
That, tinctur'd by the horizontal beam,
Fill'd all the distant vale, one glowing surge!
'Twas like the portrait of some faery dream!
When a wild burst of sound bade echo urge
It's echo, lingering yet along the forest-verge.

XXXIV.

Oft through the openings of the steepy wood
Ere at his heels their horns the huntsmen wound,
The stag peep'd forth and quak'd, then listening stood
As if he lov'd the music of the hound!

And then each murmur, sinking all around,
Died fast away, then rose in one full swell—
The whole troop tramping over nearer ground,
While, down the impending craggs they reach'd the dell,
Where fronting the proud dome the village shadow fell.

XXXV.

Now shouts redoubled; all in wide array

Steeds smok'd; hounds struggled through the brook below!

The stag turn'd round infuriate; and at bay
To many a beagle dealt a deadly blow,

And, at his throat as hung the deep-mouth'd foe,
Sprang desperate through the gateway at one dash!
Down fell the prong'd portcullis! Then, I trow,
A hern-plum'd horseman midst the horrid crash
Was torn asunder, quick as forked lightnings flash.

XXXVI.

'Twas Oscar! if a thought of dire revenge

Ere brush'd, ('tis thus the shadow fleets away) The Minstrel's mind; how glorious was the change! As in pale death his foeman gasping lay!

It was a sight of pity and dismay!

But, O! what feelings tortur'd Edwin's heart!

He would have run with kindness to repay

Each wrong; to bind each wound; to heal each smart! His irons smote his soul! each enter'd like a dart.

XXXVII.

Dread was the pause of silence; dread the din
Of dissonant doors and bars, and dread the shriek,
The hideous laugh, and murmurs far within!

Hark, other bolts! hark! nearer hinges creak!
Behold the castle heiress! all too weak

Her utterance:-lo! she swoons in Edwin's arms!
Pale the rose quivers on her lip her cheek!

But, as new life awakes, how wild the alarms

Throb in her flushing breast, and light up all her charms!

XXXVIII.

The various feelings of the trembling pair

Who, who could picture? Speechless, long they cast Unutterable looks ;-when the shrill'd air

Some messenger announc'd, approaching fast:
The banner'd herald to the drawbridge pass'd,
And there aloud claim'd Edwin's liberty;
His lineage, and his rightful heirship trac❜d,
And now to all the crowding tenantry

Spoke, with imperious voice, his lordly high degree.

Conscious her glance met his!-She thought and sigh'd,
His dumb reserve had prov'd a twofold bane:
Then, like a blaze of light, his mystic pride

She saw unveil'd, and own'd its generous strain;
And joy'd, that mantled e'en in throngs profane,
Tho' for a while obscur'd, baronial blood;

Yet, (not of her ancestral honours vain)
View'd genius, first of every earthly good,
Rise paramount o'er birth, in its own hardihood!

XL.

And Edwin! where, where lurks the peasant lad?
Clans, earldoms, wealth, and beauty, all thine own!
Born the low peasant of the uncultur'd shade,
"Thy proud inheritance"-thy harp alone!
But, from the cot evolving to the throne,
As, nature, men, and manners meet thy views,
Shall not the sister-arts in loftier tone
Through life, delight and dignity diffuse;

And, feeling well their worth, the million bless thy Muse?

MADRIGAL.

FROM THE FRENCH OF COCQUARD.

I

FEEL when I see you a joy past expressing;
When no longer I see you, in anguish I fall!

Ah, to see you for ever would mine were the blessing;
Ór would that I never had seen you at all!

R. A. D.

STANZAS

ON A FAVOURITE PLANTATION IN THE GROUNDS OF C. W. ESQ. ADDRESSED TO MISS W.

BY DR. RUSSELL.

I.

FOLLY, or Fancy, what they will,

Let fools your sweet plantation call; No matter if the sound be ill,

Since what we see is beauteous all.

II.

The Cyprian shades, as bards have sung,
Were sacred to the Queen of Love;
There, on the myrtles, Cupid hung
His bow, there sat the fav'rite dove.

But she, who makes these trees her care,
The Nymph that haunts this lovely shade,
Tho' as the Cyprian goddess fair,

Is chaster than the Delian Maid.

IV.

To friendship sacred be this place;
Keep, wanton Cupid, far away;
These walks shall Dora's presence grace,
While I to friendship tune my lay.