diff options
| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 05:14:45 -0700 |
|---|---|---|
| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 05:14:45 -0700 |
| commit | c3ffd8b2da805cbcf7a26ff987a70ffb59e0737e (patch) | |
| tree | 2bc079fb5ef6c1fa4fe93493a48c69b7cb5bda8a /317-h | |
Diffstat (limited to '317-h')
| -rw-r--r-- | 317-h/317-h.htm | 2249 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 317-h/images/p0.jpg | bin | 0 -> 80282 bytes |
2 files changed, 2249 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/317-h/317-h.htm b/317-h/317-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..91c2636 --- /dev/null +++ b/317-h/317-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,2249 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=US-ASCII" /> +<title>The Culprit Fay</title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + P { margin-top: .75em; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + H1, H2 { + text-align: center; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + } + H3, H4 { + text-align: left; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; + } + BODY{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + TD { vertical-align: top; } + .blkquot {margin-left: 4em; margin-right: 4em;} /* block indent */ + + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + + .pagenum {position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; + color: gray;} + + .citation {vertical-align: super; + font-size: .8em; + text-decoration: none;} + // --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> +</head> +<body> +<h2> +<a href="#startoftext">The Culprit Fay, by Joseph Rodman Drake</a> +</h2> +<pre> +The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Culprit Fay, by Joseph Rodman Drake + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: The Culprit Fay + and Other Poems + + +Author: Joseph Rodman Drake + + + +Release Date: January 18, 2007 [eBook #317] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CULPRIT FAY*** +</pre> +<p><a name="startoftext"></a></p> +<p>Transcribed from the 1836 George Dearborn edition by David +Price, email ccx074@pglaf.org</p> +<h1><span class="smcap">the</span><br /> +CULPRIT FAY,<br /> +<span class="smcap">and</span><br /> +OTHER POEMS</h1> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">by joseph +rodman drake</span>.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p0.jpg"> +<img alt="Cro’ Nest, from above West Point, on the Hudson +River" src="images/p0.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p style="text-align: center">New York:<br /> +<span class="smcap">george dearborn</span>, <span +class="smcap">publisher</span>.<br /> +1836.</p> +<p style="text-align: center">[Entered according to the Act of +Congress of the United States of America, October 31, 1835, by +George Dearborn, in the Clerk’s Office of the Southern +District of New-York.]</p> +<p style="text-align: center">SCATCHERD AND ADAMS,<br /> +PRINTERS,<br /> +No. 38 Gold-street.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">To</span><br /> +<span class="smcap">her father’s friend</span>,<br /> +FITZ-GREENE HALLECK,<br /> +<span class="smcap">these poems are</span><br /> +<span class="smcap">respectfully inscribed</span>,<br /> +<span class="smcap">by the author’s daughter</span>.</p> +<h2>Index.</h2> +<p>The Culprit Fay<br /> +To a Friend<br /> +Leon<br /> +Niagara<br /> +Song<br /> +Song<br /> +Lines written in a Lady’s Album<br /> +Lines to a Lady<br /> +Lines on leaving New Rochelle<br /> +Hope<br /> +Fragment<br /> +To ---<br /> +Lines<br /> +To Eva<br /> +To a Lady with a Violet<br /> +Bronx<br /> +Song<br /> +To Sarah<br /> +The American Flag</p> +<h2>THE CULPRIT FAY.</h2> +<blockquote><p>“My visual orbs are purged from film, and +lo!<br /> + “Instead of Anster’s turnip-bearing +vales<br /> +“I see old fairy land’s miraculous show!<br /> + “Her trees of tinsel kissed by freakish +gales,<br /> +“Her Ouphs that, cloaked in leaf-gold, skim the breeze,<br +/> + “And fairies, swarming—”</p> +<p style="text-align: right"><span class="smcap">Tennant’s +Anster Fair</span>.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>I.</p> +<p>’Tis the middle watch of a summer’s +night—<br /> +The earth is dark, but the heavens are bright;<br /> +Nought is seen in the vault on high<br /> +But the moon, and the stars, and the cloudless sky,<br /> +And the flood which rolls its milky hue,<br /> +A river of light on the welkin blue.<br /> +The moon looks down on old Cronest,<br /> +She mellows the shades on his shaggy breast,<br /> +And seems his huge gray form to throw<br /> +In a sliver cone on the wave below;<br /> +His sides are broken by spots of shade,<br /> +By the walnut bough and the cedar made,<br /> +And through their clustering branches dark<br /> +Glimmers and dies the fire-fly’s spark—<br /> +Like starry twinkles that momently break<br /> +Through the rifts of the gathering tempest’s rack.</p> +<p>II.</p> +<p>The stars are on the moving stream,<br /> + And fling, as its ripples gently flow,<br /> +A burnished length of wavy beam<br /> + In an eel-like, spiral line below;<br /> +The winds are whist, and the owl is still,<br /> + The bat in the shelvy rock is hid,<br /> +And nought is heard on the lonely hill<br /> +But the cricket’s chirp, and the answer shrill<br /> + Of the gauze-winged katy-did;<br /> +And the plaint of the wailing whip-poor-will,<br /> + Who moans unseen, and ceaseless sings,<br /> +Ever a note of wail and wo,<br /> + Till morning spreads her rosy wings,<br /> +And earth and sky in her glances glow.</p> +<p>III.</p> +<p>’Tis the hour of fairy ban and spell:<br /> +The wood-tick has kept the minutes well;<br /> +He has counted them all with click and stroke,<br /> +Deep in the heart of the mountain oak,<br /> +And he has awakened the sentry elve<br /> + Who sleeps with him in the haunted tree,<br /> +To bid him ring the hour of twelve,<br /> + And call the fays to their revelry;<br /> +Twelve small strokes on his tinkling bell—<br /> +(’Twas made of the white snail’s pearly +shell:—)<br /> +“Midnight comes, and all is well!<br /> +Hither, hither, wing your way!<br /> +’Tis the dawn of the fairy day.”</p> +<p>IV.</p> +<p>They come from beds of lichen green,<br /> +They creep from the mullen’s velvet screen;<br /> + Some on the backs of beetles fly<br /> +From the silver tops of moon-touched trees,<br /> + Where they swung in their cobweb hammocks high,<br +/> +And rock’d about in the evening breeze;<br /> + Some from the hum-bird’s downy nest—<br +/> +They had driven him out by elfin power,<br /> + And pillowed on plumes of his rainbow breast,<br /> +Had slumbered there till the charmed hour;<br /> + Some had lain in the scoop of the rock,<br /> +With glittering ising-stars inlaid;<br /> + And some had opened the four-o’clock,<br /> +And stole within its purple shade.<br /> + And now they throng the moonlight glade,<br /> +Above—below—on every side,<br /> + Their little minim forms arrayed<br /> +In the tricksy pomp of fairy pride!</p> +<p>V.</p> +<p>They come not now to print the lea,<br /> +In freak and dance around the tree,<br /> +Or at the mushroom board to sup,<br /> +And drink the dew from the buttercup;—<br /> +A scene of sorrow waits them now,<br /> +For an Ouphe has broken his vestal vow;<br /> +He has loved an earthly maid,<br /> +And left for her his woodland shade;<br /> +He has lain upon her lip of dew,<br /> +And sunned him in her eye of blue,<br /> +Fann’d her cheek with his wing of air,<br /> +Played in the ringlets of her hair,<br /> +And, nestling on her snowy breast,<br /> +Forgot the lily-king’s behest.<br /> +For this the shadowy tribes of air<br /> + To the elfin court must haste away:—<br /> +And now they stand expectant there,<br /> + To hear the doom of the Culprit Fay.</p> +<p>VI.</p> +<p>The throne was reared upon the grass<br /> +Of spice-wood and of sassafras;<br /> +On pillars of mottled tortoise-shell<br /> + Hung the burnished canopy—<br /> +And o’er it gorgeous curtains fell<br /> + Of the tulip’s crimson drapery.<br /> +The monarch sat on his judgment-seat,<br /> + On his brow the crown imperial shone,<br /> +The prisoner Fay was at his feet,<br /> + And his peers were ranged around the throne.<br /> +He waved his sceptre in the air,<br /> + He looked around and calmly spoke;<br /> +His brow was grave and his eye severe,<br /> + But his voice in a softened accent broke:</p> +<p>VII.</p> +<p>“Fairy! Fairy! list and mark,<br /> + Thou hast broke thine elfin chain,<br /> +Thy flame-wood lamp is quenched and dark,<br /> + And thy wings are dyed with a deadly stain—<br +/> +Thou hast sullied thine elfin purity<br /> +In the glance of a mortal maiden’s eye,<br /> +Thou hast scorned our dread decree,<br /> +And thou shouldst pay the forfeit high,<br /> +But well I know her sinless mind<br /> +Is pure as the angel forms above,<br /> +Gentle and meek, and chaste and kind,<br /> +Such as a spirit well might love;<br /> +Fairy! had she spot or taint,<br /> +Bitter had been thy punishment.<br /> +Tied to the hornet’s shardy wings;<br /> +Tossed on the pricks of nettles’ stings;<br /> +Or seven long ages doomed to dwell<br /> +With the lazy worm in the walnut-shell;<br /> +Or every night to writhe and bleed<br /> +Beneath the tread of the centipede;<br /> +Or bound in a cobweb dungeon dim,<br /> +Your jailer a spider huge and grim,<br /> +Amid the carrion bodies to lie,<br /> +Of the worm, and the bug, and the murdered fly:<br /> +These it had been your lot to bear,<br /> +Had a stain been found on the earthly fair.<br /> +Now list, and mark our mild decree—<br /> +Fairy, this your doom must be:</p> +<p>VIII.</p> +<p>“Thou shalt seek the beach of sand<br /> +Where the water bounds the elfin land,<br /> +Thou shalt watch the oozy brine<br /> +Till the sturgeon leaps in the bright moonshine,<br /> +Then dart the glistening arch below,<br /> +And catch a drop from his silver bow.<br /> +The water-sprites will wield their arms<br /> + And dash around, with roar and rave,<br /> +And vain are the woodland spirits’ charms,<br /> + They are the imps that rule the wave.<br /> +Yet trust thee in thy single might,<br /> +If thy heart be pure and thy spirit right,<br /> +Thou shalt win the warlock fight.</p> +<p>IX.</p> +<p>“If the spray-bead gem be won,<br /> + The stain of thy wing is washed away,<br /> +But another errand must be done<br /> + Ere thy crime be lost for aye;<br /> +Thy flame-wood lamp is quenched and dark,<br /> +Thou must re-illume its spark.<br /> +Mount thy steed and spur him high<br /> +To the heaven’s blue canopy;<br /> +And when thou seest a shooting star,<br /> +Follow it fast, and follow it far—<br /> +The last faint spark of its burning train<br /> +Shall light the elfin lamp again.<br /> +Thou hast heard our sentence, Fay;<br /> +Hence! to the water-side, away!”</p> +<p>X.</p> +<p>The goblin marked his monarch well;<br /> + He spake not, but he bowed him low,<br /> +Then plucked a crimson colen-bell,<br /> + And turned him round in act to go.<br /> +The way is long, he cannot fly,<br /> + His soiled wing has lost its power,<br /> +And he winds adown the mountain high,<br /> + For many a sore and weary hour.<br /> +Through dreary beds of tangled fern,<br /> +Through groves of nightshade dark and dern,<br /> +Over the grass and through the brake,<br /> +Where toils the ant and sleeps the snake;<br /> + Now o’er the violet’s azure flush<br /> +He skips along in lightsome mood;<br /> + And now he thrids the bramble bush,<br /> +Till its points are dyed in fairy blood.<br /> +He has leapt the bog, he has pierced the briar,<br /> +He has swum the brook, and waded the mire,<br /> +Till his spirits sank, and his limbs grew weak,<br /> +And the red waxed fainter in his cheek.<br /> +He had fallen to the ground outright,<br /> + For rugged and dim was his onward track,<br /> +But there came a spotted toad in sight,<br /> + And he laughed as he jumped upon her back;<br /> +He bridled her mouth with a silk-weed twist;<br /> + He lashed her sides with an osier thong;<br /> +And now through evening’s dewy mist,<br /> + With leap and spring they bound along,<br /> +Till the mountain’s magic verge is past,<br /> +And the beach of sand is reached at last.</p> +<p>XI.</p> +<p>Soft and pale is the moony beam,<br /> +Moveless still the glassy stream,<br /> +The wave is clear, the beach is bright<br /> + With snowy shells and sparkling stones;<br /> +The shore-surge comes in ripples light,<br /> + In murmurings faint and distant moans;<br /> +And ever afar in the silence deep<br /> +Is heard the splash of the sturgeon’s leap,<br /> +And the bend of his graceful bow is seen—<br /> +A glittering arch of silver sheen,<br /> +Spanning the wave of burnished blue,<br /> +And dripping with gems of the river dew.</p> +<p>XII.</p> +<p>The elfin cast a glance around,<br /> + As he lighted down from his courser toad,<br /> +Then round his breast his wings he wound,<br /> + And close to the river’s brink he strode;<br +/> +He sprang on a rock, he breathed a prayer,<br /> + Above his head his arms he threw,<br /> +Then tossed a tiny curve in air,<br /> + And headlong plunged in the waters blue.</p> +<p>XIII.</p> +<p>Up sprung the spirits of the waves,<br /> +From sea-silk beds in their coral caves,<br /> +With snail-plate armour snatched in haste,<br /> +They speed their way through the liquid waste;<br /> +Some are rapidly borne along<br /> +On the mailed shrimp or the prickly prong,<br /> +Some on the blood-red leeches glide,<br /> +Some on the stony star-fish ride,<br /> +Some on the back of the lancing squab,<br /> +Some on the sidelong soldier-crab;<br /> +And some on the jellied quarl, that flings<br /> +At once a thousand streamy stings—<br /> +They cut the wave with the living oar<br /> +And hurry on to the moonlight shore,<br /> +To guard their realms and chase away<br /> +The footsteps of the invading Fay.</p> +<p>XIV.</p> +<p>Fearlessly he skims along,<br /> +His hope is high, and his limbs are strong,<br /> +He spreads his arms like the swallow’s wing,<br /> +And throws his feet with a frog-like fling;<br /> +His locks of gold on the waters shine,<br /> + At his breast the tiny foam-beads rise,<br /> +His back gleams bright above the brine,<br /> + And the wake-line foam behind him lies.<br /> +But the water-sprites are gathering near<br /> +To check his course along the tide;<br /> +Their warriors come in swift career<br /> + And hem him round on every side;<br /> +On his thigh the leech has fixed his hold,<br /> +The quarl’s long arms are round him roll’d,<br /> +The prickly prong has pierced his skin,<br /> +And the squab has thrown his javelin,<br /> +The gritty star has rubbed him raw,<br /> +And the crab has struck with his giant claw;<br /> +He howls with rage, and he shrieks with pain,<br /> +He strikes around, but his blows are vain;<br /> +Hopeless is the unequal fight,<br /> +Fairy! nought is left but flight.</p> +<p>XV.</p> +<p>He turned him round and fled amain<br /> +With hurry and dash to the beach again;<br /> +He twisted over from side to side,<br /> +And laid his cheek to the cleaving tide.<br /> +The strokes of his plunging arms are fleet,<br /> +And with all his might he flings his feet,<br /> +But the water-sprites are round him still,<br /> +To cross his path and work him ill.<br /> +They bade the wave before him rise;<br /> +They flung the sea-fire in his eyes,<br /> +And they stunned his ears with the scallop stroke,<br /> +With the porpoise heave and the drum-fish croak.<br /> +Oh! but a weary wight was he<br /> +When he reached the foot of the dog-wood tree;<br /> +—Gashed and wounded, and stiff and sore,<br /> +He laid him down on the sandy shore;<br /> +He blessed the force of the charmed line,<br /> + And he banned the water-goblin’s spite,<br /> +For he saw around in the sweet moonshine,<br /> +Their little wee faces above the brine,<br /> +Giggling and laughing with all their might<br /> +At the piteous hap of the Fairy wight.</p> +<p>XVI.</p> +<p>Soon he gathered the balsam dew<br /> + From the sorrel leaf and the henbane bud;<br /> +Over each wound the balm he drew,<br /> + And with cobweb lint he stanched the blood.<br /> +The mild west wind was soft and low,<br /> +It cooled the heat of his burning brow,<br /> +And he felt new life in his sinews shoot,<br /> +As he drank the juice of the cal’mus root;<br /> +And now he treads the fatal shore,<br /> +As fresh and vigorous as before.</p> +<p>XVII.</p> +<p>Wrapped in musing stands the sprite:<br /> +’Tis the middle wane of night,<br /> + His task is hard, his way is far,<br /> +But he must do his errand right<br /> + Ere dawning mounts her beamy car,<br /> +And rolls her chariot wheels of light;<br /> +And vain are the spells of fairy-land,<br /> +He must work with a human hand.</p> +<p>XVIII.</p> +<p>He cast a saddened look around,<br /> + But he felt new joy his bosom swell,<br /> +When, glittering on the shadowed ground,<br /> + He saw a purple muscle shell;<br /> +Thither he ran, and he bent him low,<br /> +He heaved at the stern and he heaved at the bow,<br /> +And he pushed her over the yielding sand,<br /> +Till he came to the verge of the haunted land.<br /> +She was as lovely a pleasure boat<br /> + As ever fairy had paddled in,<br /> +For she glowed with purple paint without,<br /> + And shone with silvery pearl within;<br /> +A sculler’s notch in the stern he made,<br /> +An oar he shaped of the bootle blade;<br /> +Then spung to his seat with a lightsome leap,<br /> +And launched afar on the calm blue deep.</p> +<p>XIX.</p> +<p>The imps of the river yell and rave;<br /> +They had no power above the wave,<br /> +But they heaved the billow before the prow,<br /> + And they dashed the surge against her side,<br /> +And they struck her keel with jerk and blow,<br /> + Till the gunwale bent to the rocking tide.<br /> +She wimpled about in the pale moonbeam,<br /> +Like a feather that floats on a wind tossed-stream;<br /> +And momently athwart her track<br /> +The quarl upreared his island back,<br /> +And the fluttering scallop behind would float,<br /> +And patter the water about the boat;<br /> +But he bailed her out with his colen-bell,<br /> + And he kept her trimmed with a wary tread,<br /> +While on every side like lightening fell<br /> + The heavy strokes of his bootle-blade.</p> +<p>XX.</p> +<p>Onward still he held his way,<br /> +Till he came where the column of moonshine lay,<br /> +And saw beneath the surface dim<br /> +The brown-backed sturgeon slowly swim:<br /> +Around him were the goblin train—<br /> +But he sculled with all his might and main,<br /> +And followed wherever the sturgeon led,<br /> +Till he saw him upward point his head;<br /> +Then he dropped his paddle blade,<br /> +And held his colen goblet up<br /> +To catch the drop in its crimson cup.</p> +<p>XXI.</p> +<p>With sweeping tail and quivering fin,<br /> + Through the wave the sturgeon flew,<br /> +And, like the heaven-shot javelin,<br /> + He sprung above the waters blue.<br /> +Instant as the star-fall light,<br /> + He plunged him in the deep again,<br /> +But left an arch of silver bright<br /> + The rainbow of the moony main.<br /> +It was a strange and lovely sight<br /> + To see the puny goblin there;<br /> +He seemed an angel form of light,<br /> + With azure wing and sunny hair,<br /> +Throned on a cloud of purple fair,<br /> +Circled with blue and edged with white,<br /> +And sitting at the fall of even<br /> +Beneath the bow of summer heaven.</p> +<p>XXII.</p> +<p>A moment and its lustre fell,<br /> + But ere it met the billow blue,<br /> +He caught within his crimson bell,<br /> + A droplet of its sparkling dew—<br /> +Joy to thee, Fay! thy task is done,<br /> +Thy wings are pure, for the gem is won—<br /> +Cheerly ply thy dripping oar,<br /> +And haste away to the elfin shore.</p> +<p>XXIII.</p> +<p>He turns, and lo! on either side<br /> +The ripples on his path divide;<br /> +And the track o’er which his boat must pass<br /> +Is smooth as a sheet of polished glass.<br /> +Around, their limbs the sea-nymphs lave,<br /> + With snowy arms half swelling out,<br /> +While on the glossed and gleamy wave<br /> + Their sea-green ringlets loosely float;<br /> +They swim around with smile and song;<br /> + They press the bark with pearly hand,<br /> +And gently urge her course along,<br /> + Toward the beach of speckled sand;<br /> + And, as he lightly leapt to land,<br /> +They bade adieu with nod and bow,<br /> +Then gayly kissed each little hand,<br /> +And dropped in the crystal deep below.</p> +<p>XXIV.</p> +<p>A moment staied the fairy there;<br /> +He kissed the beach and breathed a prayer,<br /> +Then spread his wings of gilded blue,<br /> +And on to the elfin court he flew;<br /> +As ever ye saw a bubble rise,<br /> +And shine with a thousand changing dyes,<br /> +Till lessening far through ether driven,<br /> +It mingles with the hues of heaven:<br /> +As, at the glimpse of morning pale,<br /> +The lance-fly spreads his silken sail,<br /> +And gleams with blendings soft and bright,<br /> +Till lost in the shades of fading night;<br /> +So rose from earth the lovely Fay—<br /> +So vanished, far in heaven away!</p> +<p style="text-align: center">* * * * *</p> +<p>Up, Fairy! quit thy chick-weed bower,<br /> +The cricket has called the second hour,<br /> +Twice again, and the lark will rise<br /> +To kiss the streaking of the skies—<br /> +Up! thy charmed armour don,<br /> +Thou’lt need it ere the night be gone.</p> +<p>XXV.</p> +<p>He put his acorn helmet on;<br /> +It was plumed of the silk of the thistle down:<br /> +The corslet plate that guarded his breast<br /> +Was once the wild bee’s golden vest;<br /> +His cloak, of a thousand mingled dyes,<br /> +Was formed of the wings of butterflies;<br /> +His shield was the shell of a lady-bug queen,<br /> +Studs of gold on a ground of green;<br /> +And the quivering lance which he brandished bright,<br /> +Was the sting of a wasp he had slain in fight.<br /> + Swift he bestrode his fire-fly steed;<br /> +He bared his blade of the bent grass blue;<br /> +He drove his spurs of the cockle seed,<br /> + And away like a glance of thought he flew,<br /> +To skim the heavens and follow far<br /> +The fiery trail of the rocket-star.</p> +<p>XXVI.</p> +<p>The moth-fly, as he shot in air,<br /> +Crept under the leaf, and hid her there;<br /> +The katy-did forgot its lay,<br /> +The prowling gnat fled fast away,<br /> +The fell mosqueto checked his drone<br /> +And folded his wings till the Fay was gone,<br /> +And the wily beetle dropped his head,<br /> +And fell on the ground as if he were dead;<br /> +They crouched them close in the darksome shade,<br /> + They quaked all o’er with awe and fear,<br /> +For they had felt the blue-bent blade,<br /> + And writhed at the prick of the elfin spear;<br /> +Many a time on a summer’s night,<br /> +When the sky was clear and the moon was bright,<br /> +They had been roused from the haunted ground,<br /> +By the yelp and bay of the fairy hound;<br /> +They had heard the tiny bugle horn,<br /> +They had heard of twang of the maize-silk string,<br /> +When the vine-twig bows were tightly drawn,<br /> +And the nettle-shaft through the air was borne,<br /> +Feathered with down the hum-bird’s wing.<br /> +And now they deemed the courier ouphe,<br /> + Some hunter sprite of the elfin ground;<br /> +And they watched till they saw him mount the roof<br /> + That canopies the world around;<br /> +Then glad they left their covert lair,<br /> +And freaked about in the midnight air.</p> +<p>XXVII.</p> +<p>Up to the vaulted firmament<br /> +His path the fire-fly courser bent,<br /> +And at every gallop on the wind,<br /> +He flung a glittering spark behind;<br /> +He flies like a feather in the blast<br /> +Till the first light cloud in heaven is past,<br /> + But the shapes of air have begun their work,<br /> +And a drizzly mist is round him cast,<br /> + He cannot see through the mantle murk,<br /> +He shivers with cold, but he urges fast,<br /> + Through storm and darkness, sleet and shade,<br /> +He lashes his steed and spurs amain,<br /> +For shadowy hands have twitched the rein,<br /> + And flame-shot tongues around him played,<br /> +And near him many a fiendish eye<br /> +Glared with a fell malignity,<br /> +And yells of rage, and shrieks of fear,<br /> +Came screaming on his startled ear.</p> +<p>XXVIII.</p> +<p>His wings are wet around his breast,<br /> +The plume hangs dripping from his crest,<br /> +His eyes are blur’d with the lightning’s glare,<br /> +And his ears are stunned with the thunder’s blare,<br /> +But he gave a shout, and his blade he drew,<br /> + He thrust before and he struck behind,<br /> +Till he pierced their cloudy bodies through,<br /> + And gashed their shadowy limbs of wind;<br /> +Howling the misty spectres flew,<br /> + They rend the air with frightful cries,<br /> +For he has gained the welkin blue,<br /> + And the land of clouds beneath him lies.</p> +<p>XXIX.</p> +<p>Up to the cope careering swift<br /> + In breathless motion fast,<br /> +Fleet as the swallow cuts the drift,<br /> + Or the sea-roc rides the blast,<br /> +The sapphire sheet of eve is shot,<br /> + The sphered moon is past,<br /> +The earth but seems a tiny blot<br /> + On a sheet of azure cast.<br /> +O! it was sweet in the clear moonlight,<br /> + To tread the starry plain of even,<br /> +To meet the thousand eyes of night,<br /> + And feel the cooling breath of heaven!<br /> +But the Elfin made no stop or stay<br /> +Till he came to the bank of the milky-way,<br /> +Then he checked his courser’s foot,<br /> +And watched for the glimpse of the planet-shoot.</p> +<p>XXX.</p> +<p>Sudden along the snowy tide<br /> + That swelled to meet their footstep’s fall,<br +/> +The sylphs of heaven were seen to glide,<br /> + Attired in sunset’s crimson pall;<br /> +Around the Fay they weave the dance,<br /> + They skip before him on the plain,<br /> +And one has taken his wasp-sting lance,<br /> + And one upholds his bridle rein;<br /> +With warblings wild they lead him on<br /> + To where through clouds of amber seen,<br /> +Studded with stars, resplendent shone<br /> + The palace of the sylphid queen.<br /> +Its spiral columns gleaming bright<br /> +Were streamers of the northern light;<br /> +Its curtain’s light and lovely flush<br /> +Was of the morning’s rosy blush,<br /> +And the ceiling fair that rose aboon<br /> +The white and feathery fleece of noon.</p> +<p>XXXI.</p> +<p>But oh! how fair the shape that lay<br /> + Beneath a rainbow bending bright,<br /> +She seemed to the entranced Fay<br /> + The loveliest of the forms of light;<br /> +Her mantle was the purple rolled<br /> + At twilight in the west afar;<br /> +’Twas tied with threads of dawning gold,<br /> + And buttoned with a sparkling star.<br /> +Her face was like the lily roon<br /> + That veils the vestal planet’s hue;<br /> +Her eyes, two beamlets from the moon,<br /> + Set floating in the welkin blue.<br /> +Her hair is like the sunny beam,<br /> +And the diamond gems which round it gleam<br /> +Are the pure drops of dewy even<br /> +That ne’er have left their native heaven.</p> +<p>XXXII.</p> +<p>She raised her eyes to the wondering sprite,<br /> + And they leapt with smiles, for well I ween<br /> +Never before in the bowers of light<br /> + Had the form of an earthly Fay been seen.<br /> +Long she looked in his tiny face;<br /> + Long with his butterfly cloak she played;<br /> +She smoothed his wings of azure lace,<br /> + And handled the tassel of his blade;<br /> +And as he told in accents low<br /> +The story of his love and wo,<br /> +She felt new pains in her bosom rise,<br /> + And the tear-drop started in her eyes.<br /> +And ‘O sweet spirit of earth,’ she cried,<br /> + ‘Return no more to your woodland height,<br /> +But ever here with me abide<br /> + In the land of everlasting light!<br /> +Within the fleecy drift we’ll lie,<br /> + We’ll hang upon the rainbow’s rim;<br /> +And all the jewels of the sky<br /> +Around thy brow shall brightly beam!<br /> +And thou shalt bathe thee in the stream<br /> + That rolls its whitening foam aboon,<br /> +And ride upon the lightning’s gleam,<br /> + And dance upon the orbed moon!<br /> +We’ll sit within the Pleiad ring,<br /> + We’ll rest on Orion’s starry belt,<br /> +And I will bid my sylphs to sing<br /> + The song that makes the dew-mist melt;<br /> +Their harps are of the umber shade,<br /> + That hides the blush of waking day,<br /> +And every gleamy string is made<br /> + Of silvery moonshine’s lengthened ray;<br /> +And thou shalt pillow on my breast,<br /> + While heavenly breathings float around,<br /> +And, with the sylphs of ether blest,<br /> + Forget the joys of fairy ground.’</p> +<p>XXXIII.</p> +<p>She was lovely and fair to see<br /> +And the elfin’s heart beat fitfully;<br /> +But lovelier far, and still more fair,<br /> +The earthly form imprinted there;<br /> +Nought he saw in the heavens above<br /> +Was half so dear as his mortal love,<br /> +For he thought upon her looks so meek,<br /> +And he thought of the light flush on her cheek;<br /> +Never again might he bask and lie<br /> +On that sweet cheek and moonlight eye,<br /> +But in his dreams her form to see,<br /> +To clasp her in his reverie,<br /> +To think upon his virgin bride,<br /> +Was worth all heaven and earth beside.</p> +<p>XXXIV.</p> +<p>‘Lady,’ he cried, ‘I have sworn to-night,<br +/> +On the word of a fairy knight,<br /> +To do my sentence-task aright;<br /> +My honour scarce is free from stain,<br /> +I may not soil its snows again;<br /> +Betide me weal, betide me wo,<br /> +Its mandate must be answered now.’<br /> +Her bosom heaved with many a sigh,<br /> +The tear was in her drooping eye;<br /> + But she led him to the palace gate,<br /> +And called the sylphs who hovered there,<br /> + And bade them fly and bring him straight<br /> +Of clouds condensed a sable car.<br /> +With charm and spell she blessed it there,<br /> +From all the fiends of upper air;<br /> +Then round him cast the shadowy shroud,<br /> +And tied his steed behind the cloud;<br /> +And pressed his hand as she bade him fly<br /> +Far to the verge of the northern sky,<br /> +For by its wane and wavering light<br /> +There was a star would fall to-night.</p> +<p>XXXV.</p> +<p>Borne after on the wings of the blast,<br /> +Northward away, he speeds him fast,<br /> +And his courser follows the cloudy wain<br /> +Till the hoof-strokes fall like pattering rain.<br /> +The clouds roll backward as he flies,<br /> +Each flickering star behind him lies,<br /> +And he has reached the northern plain,<br /> +And backed his fire-fly steed again,<br /> +Ready to follow in its flight<br /> +The streaming of the rocket-light.</p> +<p>XXXVI.</p> +<p>The star is yet in the vault of heaven,<br /> + But its rocks in the summer gale;<br /> +And now ’tis fitful and uneven,<br /> + And now ’tis deadly pale;<br /> +And now ’tis wrapp’d in sulphur smoke,<br /> + And quenched is its rayless beam,<br /> +And now with a rattling thunder-stroke<br /> + It bursts in flash and flame.<br /> +As swift as the glance of the arrowy lance<br /> + That the storm-spirit flings from high,<br /> +The star-shot flew o’er the welkin blue,<br /> + As it fell from the sheeted sky.<br /> +As swift as the wind in its trail behind<br /> + The elfin gallops along,<br /> +The fiends of the clouds are bellowing loud,<br /> + But the sylphid charm is strong;<br /> +He gallops unhurt in the shower of fire,<br /> + While the cloud-fiends fly from the blaze;<br /> +He watches each flake till its sparks expire,<br /> + And rides in the light of its rays.<br /> +But he drove his steed to the lightning’s speed,<br /> + And caught a glimmering spark;<br /> +Then wheeled around to the fairy ground,<br /> + And sped through the midnight dark.</p> +<p style="text-align: center">* * * * *</p> +<p>Ouphe and goblin! imp and sprite!<br /> + Elf of eve! and starry Fay!<br /> +Ye that love the moon’s soft light,<br /> + Hither—hither wend your way;<br /> +Twine ye in the jocund ring,<br /> + Sing and trip it merrily,<br /> +Hand to hand, and wing to wing,<br /> + Round the wild witch-hazel tree.</p> +<p>Hail the wanderer again,<br /> + With dance and song, and lute and lyre,<br /> +Pure his wing and strong his chain,<br /> + And doubly bright his fairy fire.<br /> +Twine ye in an airy round,<br /> + Brush the dew and print the lea;<br /> +Skip and gambol, hop and bound,<br /> + Round the wild witch-hazel tree.</p> +<p>The beetle guards our holy ground,<br /> + He flies about the haunted place,<br /> +And if mortal there be found,<br /> + He hums in his ears and flaps his face;<br /> +The leaf-harp sounds our roundelay,<br /> + The owlet’s eyes our lanterns be;<br /> +Thus we sing, and dance and play,<br /> + Round the wild witch-hazel tree.</p> +<p>But hark! from tower on tree-top high,<br /> + The sentry elf his call has made,<br /> +A streak is in the eastern sky,<br /> + Shapes of moonlight! flit and fade!<br /> +The hill-tops gleam in morning’s spring,<br /> +The sky-lark shakes his dappled wing,<br /> +The day-glimpse glimmers on the lawn,<br /> +The cock has crowed, the Fays are gone.</p> +<h2>TO A FRIEND.</h2> +<blockquote><p>“You damn me with faint praise.”</p> +</blockquote> +<p>I.</p> +<p> Yes, faint was my applause and cold my +praise,<br /> + Though soul was glowing in each polished line;<br /> + But nobler subjects claim the poet’s lays,<br +/> + A brighter glory waits a muse like thine.<br /> + Let amorous fools in love-sick measure pine;<br /> + Let Strangford whimper on, in fancied pain,<br /> + And leave to Moore his rose leaves and his vine;<br +/> + Be thine the task a higher crown to gain,<br /> +The envied wreath that decks the patriot’s holy strain.</p> +<p>II.</p> +<p> Yet not in proud triumphal song alone,<br /> + Or martial ode, or sad sepulchral dirge,<br /> + There needs no voice to make our glories known;<br +/> + There needs no voice the warrior’s soul to +urge<br /> + To tread the bounds of nature’s stormy +verge;<br /> + Columbia still shall win the battle’s +prize;<br /> + But be it thine to bid her mind emerge<br /> + To strike her harp, until its soul arise<br /> +From the neglected shade, where low in dust it lies.</p> +<p>III.</p> +<p> Are there no scenes to touch the +poet’s soul?<br /> + No deeds of arms to wake the lordly strain?<br /> + Shall Hudson’s billows unregarded roll?<br /> + Has Warren fought, Montgomery died in vain?<br /> + Shame! that while every mountain stream and plain<br +/> + Hath theme for truth’s proud voice or +fancy’s wand,<br /> + No native bard the patriot harp hath ta’en,<br +/> + But left to minstrels of a foreign strand<br /> +To sing the beauteous scenes of nature’s loveliest +land.</p> +<p>IV.</p> +<p> Oh! for a seat on Appalachia’s +brow,<br /> + That I might scan the glorious prospect round,<br /> + Wild waving woods, and rolling floods below,<br /> + Smooth level glades and fields with grain +embrown’d,<br /> + High heaving hills, with tufted forests +crown’d,<br /> + Rearing their tall tops to the heaven’s blue +dome,<br /> + And emerald isles, like banners green unwound,<br /> + Floating along the lake, while round them roam<br /> +Bright helms of billowy blue and plumes of dancing foam.</p> +<p>V.</p> +<p> ’Tis true no fairies haunt our verdant +meads,<br /> + No grinning imps deform our blazing hearth;<br /> + Beneath the kelpie’s fang no traveller +bleeds,<br /> + Nor gory vampyre taints our holy earth,<br /> + Nor spectres stalk to frighten harmless mirth,<br /> + Nor tortured demon howls adown the gale;<br /> + Fair reason checks these monsters in their birth.<br +/> + Yet have we lay of love and horrid tale<br /> +Would dim the manliest eye and make the bravest pale.</p> +<p>VI.</p> +<p> Where is the stony eye that hath not shed<br +/> + Compassion’s heart-drops o’er the sweet +Mc Rea?<br /> + Through midnight’s wilds by savage bandits +led,<br /> + “Her heart is sad—her love is far +away!”<br /> + Elate that lover waits the promised day<br /> + When he shall clasp his blooming bride +again—<br /> + Shine on, sweet visions! dreams of rapture, play!<br +/> + Soon the cold corse of her he loved in vain<br /> +Shall blight his withered heart and fire his frenzied brain.</p> +<p>VII.</p> +<p> Romantic Wyoming! could none be found<br /> + Of all that rove thy Eden groves among,<br /> + To wake a native harp’s untutored sound,<br /> + And give thy tale of wo the voice of song?<br /> + Oh! if description’s cold and nerveless +tongue<br /> + From stranger harps such hallowed strains could +call,<br /> + How doubly sweet the descant wild had rung,<br /> + From one who, lingering round thy ruined wall,<br /> +Had plucked thy mourning flowers and wept thy timeless fall.</p> +<p>VIII.</p> +<p> The Huron chief escaped from foemen nigh,<br +/> + His frail bark launches on Niagara’s tides,<br +/> + “Pride in his port, defiance in his +eye,”<br /> + Singing his song of death the warrior glides;<br /> + In vain they yell along the river sides,<br /> + In vain the arrow from its sheaf is torn,<br /> + Calm to his doom the willing victim rides,<br /> + And, till adown the roaring torrent borne,<br /> +Mocks them with gesture proud, and laughs their rage to +scorn.</p> +<p>IX.</p> +<p> But if the charms of daisied hill and +vale,<br /> + And rolling flood, and towering rock sublime,<br /> + If warrior deed or peasant’s lowly tale<br /> + Of love or wo should fail to wake the rhyme,<br /> + If to the wildest heights of song you climb,<br /> + (Tho’ some who know you less, might cry, +beware!)<br /> + Onward! I say—your strains shall conquer +time;<br /> + Give your bright genius wing, and hope to share<br +/> +Imagination’s worlds—the ocean, earth, and air.</p> +<p>X.</p> +<p> Arouse, my friend—let vivid fancy +soar,<br /> + Look with creative eye on nature’s face,<br /> + Bid airy sprites in wild Niagara roar,<br /> + And view in every field a fairy race.<br /> + Spur thy good Pacolet to speed apace,<br /> + And spread a train of nymphs on every shore;<br /> + Or if thy muse would woo a ruder grace,<br /> + The Indian’s evil Manitou’s explore,<br +/> +And rear the wondrous tale of legendary lore.</p> +<p>XI.</p> +<p> Away! to Susquehannah’s utmost +springs,<br /> + Where, throned in mountain mist, Areouski reigns,<br +/> + Shrouding in lurid clouds his plumeless wings,<br /> + And sternly sorrowing o’er his tribes +remains;<br /> + His was the arm, like comet ere it wanes<br /> + That tore the streamy lightnings from the skies,<br +/> + And smote the mammoth of the southern plains;<br /> + Wild with dismay the Creek affrighted flies,<br /> +While in triumphant pride Kanawa’s eagles rise.</p> +<p>XII.</p> +<p> Or westward far, where dark Miami wends,<br +/> + Seek that fair spot as yet to fame unknown;<br /> + Where, when the vesper dew of heaven descends,<br /> + Soft music breathes in many a melting tone,<br /> + At times so sadly sweet it seems the moan<br /> + Of some poor Ariel penanced in the rock;<br /> + Anon a louder burst—a scream! a groan!<br /> + And now amid the tempest’s reeling shock,<br +/> +Gibber, and shriek, and wail—and fiend-like laugh and +mock.</p> +<p>XIII.</p> +<p> Or climb the Pallisado’s lofty +brows,<br /> + Were dark Omana waged the war of hell,<br /> + Till, waked to wrath, the mighty spirit rose<br /> + And pent the demons in their prison cell;<br /> + Full on their head the uprooted mountain fell,<br /> + Enclosing all within its horrid womb<br /> + Straight from the teeming earth the waters swell,<br +/> + And pillared rocks arise in cheerless gloom<br /> +Around the drear abode—their last eternal tomb!</p> +<p>XIV.</p> +<p> Be these your future themes—no more +resign<br /> + The soul of song to laud your lady’s eyes;<br +/> + Go! kneel a worshipper at nature’s shrine!<br +/> + For you her fields are green, and fair her skies!<br +/> + For you her rivers flow, her hills arise!<br /> + And will you scorn them all, to pour forth tame<br +/> + And heartless lays of feigned or fancied sighs?<br +/> + Still will you cloud the muse? nor blush for +shame<br /> +To cast away renown, and hide your head from fame?</p> +<h2>EXTRACTS FROM<br /> +LEON.<br /> +AN UNFINISHED POEM.</h2> +<p style="text-align: center">* * * * *</p> +<p>It is a summer evening, calm and fair,<br /> +A warm, yet freshening glow is in the air;<br /> +Along its bank, the cool stream wanders slow,<br /> +Like parting friends that linger as they go.<br /> +The willows, as its waters meekly glide,<br /> +Bend their dishevelled tresses to the tide,<br /> +And seem to give it, with a moaning sigh,<br /> +A farewell touch of tearful sympathy.<br /> +Each dusky copse is clad in darkest green:<br /> +A blackening mass, just edged with silver sheen<br /> +From yon clear moon, who in her glassy face<br /> +Seems to reflect the risings of the place.<br /> +For on her still, pale orb, the eye may see<br /> +Dim spots of shadowy brown, like distant tree<br /> +Or far-off hillocks on a moonlight lea.<br /> +The stars have lit in heaven their lamps of gold,<br /> +The viewless dew falls lightly on the wold,<br /> +The gentle air, that softly sweeps the leaves,<br /> +A strain of faint, unearthly music weaves;<br /> +As when the harp of heaven remotely plays,<br /> +Or cygnet’s wail—or song of sorrowing fays<br /> +That float amid the moonshine glimmerings pale,<br /> +On wings of woven air in some enchanted vale.</p> +<p>It is an eve that drops a heavenly balm,<br /> +To lull the feelings to a sober calm,<br /> +To bid wild passion’s fiery flush depart;<br /> +And smooth the troubled waters of the heart;<br /> +To give a tranquil fixedness to grief,<br /> +A cherished gloom, that wishes not relief.</p> +<p>Torn is that heart, and bitter are its throes,<br /> +That cannot feel on such a night, repose;<br /> +And yet one breast there is that breathes this air,<br /> +An eye that wanders o’er the prospect fair,<br /> +That sees yon placid moon, and the pure sky<br /> +Of mild, unclouded blue; and still that eye<br /> +Is thrown in restless vacancy around,<br /> +Or cast, in gloomy trance, on the cold ground;<br /> +And still, that breast with maddening passion burns,<br /> +And hatred, love, and sorrow, rule by turns.</p> +<p>A lovely figure! and in happier hour,<br /> +When pleasure laugh’d abroad from hall and bower,<br /> +The general eye had deem’d her smiling face<br /> +The brightest jewel in the courtly place:<br /> +So glossy is her hair’s ensabled wreath,<br /> +So glowing warm the eye that burns beneath<br /> +With so much graceful sweetness of address,<br /> +And such a form of rounded slenderness;<br /> +Ah! where is he on whom these beauties shine,<br /> +But deems a spotless soul inhabits such a shrine?</p> +<p>And yet a keen observer might espy<br /> +Strange passions lurking in her deep black eye,<br /> +And in the lines of her fine lip, a soul<br /> +That in its every feeling spurned control.<br /> +They passed unnoted—who will stop to trace<br /> +A sullying spot on beauty’s sparkling face?<br /> +And no one deemed, amid her glances sweet,<br /> +Hers was a bosom of impetuous heat;<br /> +A heart too wildly in its joys elate,<br /> +Formed but to madly love—or madly hate;<br /> +A spirit of strong throbs, and steadfast will;<br /> +To doat, detest, to die for, or to kill;<br /> +Which, like the Arab chief, would fiercely dare<br /> +To stab the heart she might no longer share;<br /> +And yet so tender, if he loved again,<br /> +Would die to save his breast one moment’s pain.</p> +<p>But he who cast his gaze upon her now,<br /> +And read the traces written on her brow,<br /> +Had scarce believed hers was that form of light<br /> +That beamed like fabled wonder on the sight;<br /> +Her raven hair hung down in loosen’d tress<br /> +Before her wan cheek’s pallid ghastliness;<br /> +And, thro’ its thick locks, showed the deadly white,<br /> +Like marble glimpses of a tomb, at night.<br /> +In fixed and horrid musings now she stands,<br /> +Her eyes now bent to earth, and her cold hands,<br /> +Prest to her heart, now wildly thrown on high,<br /> +They wander o’er her brow—and now a sigh<br /> +Breaks deep and full—and, more composedly,<br /> +She half exclaims—“No! no!—it cannot be;<br /> +“He loves not, never loved— not even when<br /> +“He pressed my wedded hand—I knew it then;<br /> +“And yet—fool that I was—I saw he strove<br /> +“In vain to kindle pity into love.<br /> +“But Florence! she so loved—a sister too!<br /> +“My earliest, dearest playmate—one who grew<br /> +“Upon my very heart—to rend it so!<br /> +“His falsehood I could bear—but hers! ah! no.<br /> +“She is not false—I feel she loves me yet,<br /> +“And if my boding bosom could forget<br /> +“Its wild imaginings, with what sweet pain<br /> +“I’d clasp my Florence to my breast again.”<br +/> +With that came many a thought of days gone by,<br /> +Remembered joys of mirthful infancy;<br /> +And youth’s gay frolic, and the short-lived flow<br /> +Of showering tears, in childhood’s fleeting wo,<br /> +And life’s maturer friendship—and the sense<br /> +Of heart-warm, open, fearless confidence;<br /> +All these came thronging with a tender call,<br /> +And her own Florence mingled with them all.<br /> +And softened feelings rose amid her pain,<br /> +While from her eyes, the clouds, melted in gentle rain.</p> +<p>A hectic pleasure flushed her faded face;<br /> +It fled—and deeper paleness took its place;<br /> +Then a cold shudder thrill’d her—and, at last,<br /> +Her lip a smile of bitter sarcasm cast,<br /> +As if she scorned herself, that she could be<br /> +A moment lulled by that sweet sophistry;<br /> +For in that little minute memory’s sting<br /> +Gave word and look, sigh, gesture—every thing,<br /> +To bid these dear delusive phantoms fly,<br /> +And fix her fears in dreadful certainty.</p> +<p> It traced the very progress of their +love,<br /> +From the first meeting in the locust grove;<br /> +When from the chase Leon came bounding there,<br /> +Backing his courser with a noble air;<br /> +His brown cheek flushed with healthful exercise,<br /> +And his warm spirits leaping in his eyes;<br /> +It told how lovely looked her sister then,<br /> +To long-lost friends, and home just come again;<br /> +How on her cheek the tears of meeting lay,<br /> +That tear which only feeling hearts can pay;<br /> +While the quick pleasure glistened in her eye,<br /> +Like clouds and sunshine in an April sky;<br /> +And then it told, as their acquaintance grew,<br /> +How close the unseen bonds of union drew<br /> +Their souls together, and how pleased they were<br /> +The same blythe pastimes and delights to share;<br /> +How the same chord in each at once would strike,<br /> +Their taste, their wishes, and their joys alike.</p> +<p> All this was innocent, but soon there +came<br /> +Blushes and starts of consciousness and shame;<br /> +That, when she entered, upon either cheek<br /> +The hasty blood in guilty red would speak<br /> +Of something that should not be known—and still<br /> +Sighs half suppressed seemed struggling with the will.<br /> +It told how oft at eve was Leon gone<br /> +In moody wandering to the wood alone;<br /> +And in the night, how many a broken dream<br /> +Of bliss, or terror, seemed to shake his frame.<br /> +How Florence too, in long abstracted fit<br /> +Of soul-wrapt musing, for whole hours would sit;<br /> +Nor even the power of music, friend, or book,<br /> +Could chase her deep forgetfulness of look;<br /> +And how, when questioned—with an indrawn sigh,<br /> +In vague and far-off phrase, she made reply,<br /> +And smiled and struggled to be gay and free,<br /> +And then relapsed in dreaming reverie.<br /> +How when of Leon she was forced to speak,<br /> +Unbidden crimson mantled in her cheek;<br /> +And when he entered, how her eye would swim,<br /> +And strive to look on every one but him;<br /> +Yet, by unconscious fascination led,<br /> +In quick short glance each moment tow’rds him fled.<br /> +How he, too, seemed to shun her speech and gaze,<br /> +And yet he always lingered where she was;<br /> +Though nothing in his aspect or his air<br /> +Told that he knew she was in presence there;<br /> +But an appearance of constrained distress,<br /> +And a dull tongue of moveless silentness,<br /> +And a down drooping eye of gloom and sadness,<br /> +Oh! how unlike his former face of gladness.<br /> +“’Tis plain! too plain! and I am lost,” she +cried;<br /> +And in that thought her last good feeling died.</p> +<p> That thought of hopeless sorrow seemed to +dart<br /> +A thousand stings at once into her heart;<br /> +But a strong effort quelled it, and she gave<br /> +The next to hatred, vengeance, and the grave.<br /> +Her face was calmly stern, and but a glare<br /> +Within her eyes—there was no feature there<br /> +That told what lashing fiends her inmates were;<br /> +Within—there was no thought to bid her swerve<br /> +From her intent—but every strained nerve<br /> +Was settled and bent up with terrible force,<br /> +To some deep deed, far, far beyond remorse;<br /> +No glimpse of mercy’s light her purpose crost,<br /> +Love, nature, pity, in its depths were lost;<br /> +Or lent an added fury to the ire<br /> +That seared her soul with unconsuming fire;<br /> +All that was dear in the wide earth was gone,<br /> +She loved but two, and these she doted on<br /> +With passionate ardour—and the close strong press<br /> +Of woman’s heart-cored, clinging tenderness;<br /> +These links were torn, and now she stood alone,<br /> +Bereft of all, her husband, sister—gone!<br /> +Ah! who can tell that ne’er has known such fate,<br /> +What wild and dreadful strength it gives to hate?<br /> +What had she left? Revenge! Revenge! was there;<br /> +He crushed remorse and wrestled down despair:<br /> +Held his red torch to memory’s page, and threw<br /> +A bloody stain on every line she drew;<br /> +She felt dark pleasure with her frenzy blend,<br /> +And hugged him to her heart, and called him friend.</p> +<p>When sorrowing clouds the face of heaven deform,<br /> +And hope’s bright star sets darkly in the storm,<br /> +Around us ghastly shapes and phantoms swim,<br /> +And all beyond is formless, vague, and dim,<br /> +Or life’s cold barren path before us lies,<br /> +A wild and weary waste of tears and sighs;<br /> +From the lorn heart each sweetening solace gone,<br /> +Abandoned, friendless, withered, lost, and lone;<br /> +And when with keener pangs we bleed to know<br /> +That hands beloved have struck the deepest blow;<br /> +That friends we deemed most true, and held most dear,<br /> +Have stretched the pall of death o’er pleasure’s +bier;<br /> +Repaid our trusting faith with serpent guile,<br /> +Cursed with a kiss, and stabbed beneath a smile;<br /> +What then remains for souls of tender mould?<br /> +One last and silent refuge, calm and cold—<br /> +A resting place for misery’s gentle slave;<br /> +Hearts break but once, no wrongs can reach the grave.</p> +<p>Rest ye, mild spirits of afflicted worth!<br /> +Sweet is your slumber in the quiet earth;<br /> +And soon the voice of heaven shall bid you rise<br /> +To meet rewarding smiles in yonder skies.<br /> +But where, for solace, shall the bosom turn<br /> +For death too strong—for tears—too proudly stern?<br +/> +When shall the lulling dews of peace descend<br /> +On hearts that cannot break and will not bend?<br /> +Ah! never, never—they are doomed to feel<br /> +Pains that no balm of heaven or earth can heal;<br /> +To live in groans, and yield their parting breath<br /> +Without a joy in life—or hope in death.<br /> +Yet, for a while, one living hope remains,<br /> +That nerves each fibre and the soul sustains;<br /> +One desperate hope, whose agonizing throes<br /> +Are bitterer far than all the worst of woes;<br /> +A hope of crime and horrors, wild and strange<br /> +As demon thoughts—that hope is thine, Revenge!<br /> +’Twas this that gave, oh! Ellinor, to thee<br /> +A strength to bear thy matchless misery:<br /> +Though the hot blood ran boiling in her brain,<br /> +And rolled a tide of fire through every vein,<br /> +Though many a rushing voice of blighted bliss<br /> +Struck on her mental ears, like adders’ hiss;<br /> +That hope gave gloomy fierceness to her eye,<br /> +Dash’d down the tear, repress’d the unloading +sigh;<br /> +Fixed her wan quivering lip, and steeled her breast<br /> +To crush the hearts that robbed her own of rest.</p> +<p>She wound her way within a heavy shade<br /> +Of arching boughs, in broad-spread leaves arrayed;<br /> +Which, clustering close and thick, shut out the light,<br /> +And tinged with black the shadowy robe of night;<br /> +Save here and there a melancholy spark<br /> +Of flickering moonshine glimmered through the dark,<br /> +Cheerless and dim, as when upon a pall,<br /> +Through suffering tears, the looks of sorrow fall;<br /> +But opening farther on, on either side<br /> +A wider space the severing trees divide;<br /> +And longer gleams upon the pathway meet,<br /> +And the soft grass is wet beneath her feet.<br /> +And now emerging from the darksome shade,<br /> +She pressed the silken carpet of the glade.<br /> +Beyond the green, within its western close,<br /> +A little vine-hung, leafy arbor rose,<br /> +Where the pale lustre of the moony flood<br /> +Dimm’d the vermillion’d woodbine’s scarlet +bud;<br /> +And glancing through the foliage fluttering round,<br /> +In tiny circles gemm’d the freckled ground.<br /> +Beside the porch, beneath the friendly screen<br /> +Of two tall trees, a mossy bank was seen;<br /> +And all around, amid the silvery dew,<br /> +The wild-wood pansy rear’d her petals blue;<br /> +And gold cups and the meadow cowslip red,<br /> +Upon the evening air their odours shed.</p> +<p>Unheeded all the grove’s deep gloom had been,<br /> +Unseen the moonlight brightness of the green;<br /> +In vain the stream’s blue burnish met her eye,<br /> +Lovely its wave, but pass’d unnoticed by:<br /> +The airs of heaven had breath’d around her brow<br /> +Their cooling sighs—she felt them not—but now<br /> +That lonely bower appeared, and with a start<br /> +Convulsive shudders thrill’d her throbbing heart.<br /> +For there, in days, alas! for ever gone,<br /> +When love’s young torch with beams of rapture shone,<br /> +When she had felt her heart’s impassioned swell,<br /> +And almost deem’d her Leon loved as well;<br /> +There had she sat, beneath the evening skies,<br /> +Felt his warm kiss and heard his murmur’d sighs;<br /> +Hung on his breast, caressing and carest,<br /> +Her husband smiled, and Ellinor was blest.</p> +<p>And when his injured country’s rights to shield,<br /> +Blazed his red banner on the battle field,<br /> +There had she lingered in the shadows dim,<br /> +And sat till morning watch and thought of him;<br /> +And wept to think that she might not be there,<br /> +His toils, his dangers, and his wounds to share.<br /> +And when the foe had bowed beneath his brand,<br /> +And to his home he led his conquering band,<br /> +There she first caught his long-expected face,<br /> +And sprung to smile and weep in his embrace.</p> +<p>These scenes of bliss across her memory fled,<br /> +Like lights that haunt the chambers of the dead,<br /> +She saw the bower, and read the image there<br /> +Of joys that had been, and of woes that were;<br /> +She clench’d her hand in agony, and cast<br /> +A glance of tears upon it as she past,<br /> +A look of weeping sorrow—’twas the last!<br /> +She check’d the gush of feeling, turned her face,<br /> +And faster sped along her hurried pace.<br /> +No longer now from Leon’s lips were heard<br /> +The sigh of bliss—the rapture breathing word;<br /> +No longer now upon his features dwelt<br /> +The glance that sweetly thrills—the looks that melt;<br /> +No speaking gaze of fond attachment told,<br /> +But all was dull and gloomy, sad and cold.<br /> +Yet he was kind, or laboured to be kind,<br /> +And strove to hide the workings of his mind;<br /> +And cloak’d his heart, to soothe his wife’s +distress,<br /> +Under a mask of tender gentleness.<br /> +It was in vain—for ah! how light and frail<br /> +To love’s keen eye is falsehood’s gilded veil.<br /> +Sweet winning words may for a time beguile,<br /> +Professions lull, and oaths deceive a while;<br /> +But soon the heart, in vague suspicion tost,<br /> +Must feel a void unfilled, a something lost;<br /> +Something scarce heeded, and unprized till gone,<br /> +Felt while unseen, and, tho’ unnoticed, known:<br /> +A hidden witchery, a nameless charm,<br /> +Too fine for actions and for words too warm;<br /> +That passing all the worthless forms of art,<br /> +Eludes the sense, and only woos the heart:<br /> +A hallowed spell, by fond affection wove,<br /> +The mute, but matchless eloquence of love!</p> +<p style="text-align: center">* * * * *</p> +<p>Oh! there were times, when to my heart there came<br /> +All that the soul can feel, or fancy frame;<br /> +The summer party in the open air,<br /> +When sunny eyes and cordial hearts were there;<br /> +Where light came sparkling thro’ the greenwood eaves,<br /> +Like mirthful eyes that laugh upon the leaves;<br /> +Where every bush and tree in all the scene,<br /> +In wind-kiss’d wavings shake their wings of green,<br /> +And all the objects round about dispense<br /> +Reviving freshness to the awakened sense;<br /> +The golden corslet of the humble bee,<br /> +The antic kid that frolics round the lea;<br /> +Or purple lance-flies circling round the place,<br /> +On their light shards of green, an airy race;<br /> +Or squirrel glancing from the nut-wood shade<br /> +An arch black eye, half pleas’d and half afraid;<br /> +Or bird quick darting through the foliage dim,<br /> +Or perched and twittering on the tendril slim;<br /> +Or poised in ether sailing slowly on,<br /> +With plumes that change and glisten in the sun,<br /> +Like rainbows fading into mist—and then,<br /> +On the bright cloud renewed and changed again;<br /> +Or soaring upward, while his full sweet throat<br /> +Pours clear and strong a pleasure-speaking note;<br /> +And sings in nature’s language wild and free,<br /> +His song of praise for light and liberty.</p> +<p>And when within, with poetry and song,<br /> +Music and books led the glad hours along;<br /> +Worlds of the visioned minstrel, fancy-wove,<br /> +Tales of old time, of chivalry and love;<br /> +Or converse calm, or wit-shafts sprinkled round,<br /> +Like beams from gems, too light and fine to wound;<br /> +With spirits sparkling as the morning’s sun,<br /> +Light as the dancing wave he smiles upon,<br /> +Like his own course—alas! too soon to know<br /> +Bright suns may set in storms, and gay hearts sink in wo.</p> +<p style="text-align: center">* * * * *</p> +<h2>NIAGARA.</h2> +<p>I.</p> +<p>Roar, raging torrent! and thou, mighty river,<br /> +Pour thy white foam on the valley below;<br /> +Frown, ye dark mountains! and shadow for ever<br /> +The deep rocky bed where the wild rapids flow.<br /> +The green sunny glade, and the smooth flowing fountain,<br /> +Brighten the home of the coward and slave;<br /> +The flood and the forest, the rock and the mountain,<br /> +Rear on their bosoms the free and the brave.</p> +<p>II.</p> +<p>Nurslings of nature, I mark your bold bearing,<br /> +Pride in each aspect and strength in each form,<br /> +Hearts of warm impulse, and souls of high daring,<br /> +Born in the battle and rear’d in the storm.<br /> +The red levin flash and the thunder’s dread rattle,<br /> +The rock-riven wave and the war trumpet’s breath,<br /> +The din of the tempest, the yell of the battle,<br /> +Nerve your steeled bosoms to danger and death.</p> +<p>III.</p> +<p>High on the brow of the Alps’ snowy towers<br /> +The mountain Swiss measures his rock-breasted moors,<br /> +O’er his lone cottage the avalanche lowers,<br /> +Round its rude portal the spring-torrent pours.<br /> +Sweet is his sleep amid peril and danger,<br /> +Warm is his greeting to kindred and friends,<br /> +Open his hand to the poor and the stranger,<br /> +Stern on his foeman his sabre descends.</p> +<p>IV.</p> +<p>Lo! where the tempest the dark waters sunder<br /> +Slumbers the sailor boy, reckless and brave,<br /> +Warm’d by the lighting and lulled by the thunder,<br /> +Fann’d by the whirlwind and rock’d on the wave;<br /> +Wildly the winter wind howls round his pillow,<br /> +Cold on his bosom the spray showers fall;<br /> +Creaks the strained mast at the rush of the billow,<br /> +Peaceful he slumbers, regardless of all.</p> +<p>V.</p> +<p>Mark how the cheek of the warrior flushes,<br /> +As the battle drum beats and the war torches glare;<br /> +Like a blast of the north to the onset he rushes,<br /> +And his wide-waving falchion gleams brightly in air.<br /> +Around him the death-shot of foemen are flying,<br /> +At his feet friends and comrades are yielding their breath;<br /> +He strikes to the groans of the wounded and dying,<br /> +But the war cry he strikes with is, ‘conquest or +death!’</p> +<p>VI.</p> +<p>Then pour thy broad wave like a flood from the heavens,<br /> +Each son that thou rearest, in the battle’s wild shock,<br +/> +When the death-speaking note of the trumpet is given,<br /> +Will charge like thy torrent or stand like thy rock.<br /> +Let his roof be the cloud and the rock be his pillow,<br /> +Let him stride the rough mountain, or toss on the foam,<br /> +He will strike fast and well on the field or the billow,<br /> +In triumph and glory, for God and his home!</p> +<h2>SONG.</h2> +<p>Oh! go to sleep, my baby dear,<br /> + And I will hold thee on my knee;<br /> +Thy mother’s in her winding sheet,<br /> + And thou art all that’s left to me.<br /> +My hairs are white with grief and age,<br /> + I’ve borne the weight of every ill,<br /> +And I would lay me with my child,<br /> + But thou art left to love me still.</p> +<p>Should thy false father see thy face,<br /> + The tears would fill his cruel e’e,<br /> +But he has scorned thy mother’s wo,<br /> + And he shall never look on thee:<br /> +But I will rear thee up alone,<br /> + And with me thou shalt aye remain;<br /> +For thou wilt have thy mother’s smile,<br /> + And I shall see my child again.</p> +<h2>SONG.</h2> +<p>Oh the tear is in my eye, and my heart it is breaking,<br /> +Thou hast fled from me, Connor, and left me forsaken;<br /> +Bright and warm was our morning, but soon has it faded,<br /> +For I gave thee a true heart, and thou hast betrayed it.</p> +<p>Thy footsteps I followed in darkness and danger,<br /> +From the home of my love to the land of the stranger;<br /> +Thou wert mine through the tempest, the blight, and the +burning;<br /> +Could I think thou wouldst change when the morn was +returning.</p> +<p>Yet peace to thy heart, though from mine it must sever,<br /> +May she love thee as I loved, alone and for ever;<br /> +I may weep for thy loss, but my faith is unshaken,<br /> +And the heart thou hast widowed will bless thee in breaking.</p> +<h2>WRITTEN IN A LADY’S ALBUM.</h2> +<p>Grant me, I cried, some spell of art,<br /> + To turn with all a lover’s care,<br /> +That spotless page, my Eva’s heart,<br /> + And write my burning wishes there.</p> +<p>But Love, by faithless Laia taught<br /> + How frail is woman’s holiest vow,<br /> +Look’d down, while grace attempered thought<br /> + Sate serious on his baby brow.</p> +<p>“Go! blot her album,” cried the sage,<br /> + “There none but bards a place may claim;<br /> +But woman’s heart’s a worthless page,<br /> + Where every fool may write his name.”</p> +<p>Until by time or fate decayed,<br /> + That line and leaf shall never part;<br /> +Ah! who can tell how soon shall fade<br /> + The lines of love from woman’s heart.</p> +<h2>LINES<br /> +<span class="smcap">to a lady</span>, <span class="smcap">on +hearing her sing</span> “<span +class="smcap">cushlamachree</span>.”</h2> +<p>Yes! heaven protect thee, thou gem of the ocean;<br /> + Dear land of my sires, though distant thy shores;<br +/> +Ere my heart cease to love thee, its latest emotion,<br /> + The last dying throbs of its pulse must be +o’er.</p> +<p>And dark were the bosom, and cold and unfeeling,<br /> + That tamely could listen unmoved at the call,<br /> +When woman, the warm soul of melody stealing,<br /> + Laments for her country and sighs o’er its +fall.</p> +<p>Sing on, gentle warbler, the tear-drop appearing<br /> + Shall fall for the woes of the queen of the sea;<br +/> +And the spirit that breathes in the harp of green Erin,<br /> + Descending, shall hail thee her +“Cushlamachree.”</p> +<h2>LINES<br /> +<span class="smcap">written on leaving new rochelle</span>.</h2> +<p>Whene’er thy wandering footstep bends<br /> + Its pathway to the Hermit tree,<br /> +Among its cordial band of friends,<br /> + Sweet Mary! wilt thou number me?</p> +<p>Though all too few the hours have roll’d<br /> + That saw the stranger linger here,<br /> +In memory’s volume let them hold<br /> + One little spot to friendship dear.</p> +<p>I oft have thought how sweet ’twould be<br /> + To steal the bird of Eden’s art;<br /> +And leave behind a trace of me<br /> + On every kind and friendly heart,</p> +<p>And like the breeze in fragrance rolled,<br /> + To gather as I wander by,<br /> +From every soul of kindred mould,<br /> + Some touch of cordial sympathy.</p> +<p>’Tis the best charm in life’s dull dream,<br /> + To feel that yet there linger here<br /> +Bright eyes that look with fond esteem,<br /> + And feeling hearts that hold me dear.</p> +<h2>HOPE.</h2> +<p>See through yon cloud that rolls in wrath,<br /> + One little star benignant peep,<br /> +To light along their trackless path<br /> + The wanderers of the stormy deep.</p> +<p>And thus, oh Hope! thy lovely form<br /> + In sorrow’s gloomy night shall be<br /> +The sun that looks through cloud and storm<br /> + Upon a dark and moonless sea.</p> +<p>When heaven is all serene and fair,<br /> + Full many a brighter gem we meet;<br /> +’Tis when the tempest hovers there,<br /> + Thy beam is most divinely sweet.</p> +<p>The rainbow, when the sun declines,<br /> + Like faithless friend will disappear;<br /> +Thy light, dear star! more brightly shines<br /> + When all is wail and weeping here.</p> +<p>And though Aurora’s stealing beam<br /> + May wake a morning of delight,<br /> +’Tis only thy consoling beam<br /> + Will smile amid affliction’s night.</p> +<h2>FRAGMENT.</h2> +<p>I.</p> +<p>Tuscara! thou art lovely now,<br /> + Thy woods, that frown’d in sullen strength<br +/> +Like plumage on a giant’s brow,<br /> + Have bowed their massy pride at length.<br /> +The rustling maize is green around,<br /> + The sheep is in the Congar’s bed;<br /> +And clear the ploughman’s whistlings sound<br /> + Where war-whoop’s pealed o’er mangled +dead.<br /> +Fair cots around thy breast are set,<br /> + Like pearls upon a coronet;<br /> +And in Aluga’s vale below<br /> +The gilded grain is moving slow<br /> +Like yellow moonlight on the sea,<br /> +Where waves are swelling peacefully;<br /> +As beauty’s breast, when quiet dreams<br /> + Come tranquilly and gently by;<br /> +When all she loves and hopes for seems<br /> + To float in smiles before her eye.</p> +<p>II.</p> +<p>And hast thou lost the grandeur rude<br /> + That made me breathless, when at first<br /> + Upon my infant sight you burst,<br /> +The monarch of the solitude?<br /> + No; there is yet thy turret rock,<br /> +The watch-tower of the skies, the lair<br /> + Of Indian Gods, who, in the shock<br /> +Of bursting thunders, slumbered there;<br /> +And trim thy bosom is arrayed<br /> + In labour’s green and glittering vest,<br /> +And yet thy forest locks of shade<br /> + Shake stormy on that turret crest.<br /> +Still hast thou left the rocks, the floods,<br /> + And nature is the loveliest then,<br /> +When first amid her caves and woods<br /> + She feels the busy tread of men;<br /> +When every tree, and bush, and flower,<br /> + Springs wildly in its native grace;<br /> +Ere art exerts her boasted power,<br /> + That brightened only to deface.</p> +<p>III.</p> +<p>Yes! thou art lovelier now than ever;<br /> + How sweet ’twould be, when all the air<br /> +In moonlight swims, along thy river<br /> + To couch upon the grass, and hear<br /> +Niagara’s everlasting voice,<br /> + Far in the deep blue west away;<br /> +That dreaming and poetic noise<br /> + We mark not in the glare of day,<br /> +Oh! how unlike its torrent-cry,<br /> + When o’er the brink the tide is driven,<br /> +As if the vast and sheeted sky<br /> + In thunder fell from heaven.</p> +<p>IV.</p> +<p>Were I but there, the daylight fled,<br /> + With that smooth air, the stream, the sky,<br /> +And lying on that minstrel bed<br /> + Of nature’s own embroidery<br /> +With those long tearful willows o’er me,<br /> + That weeping fount, that solemn light,<br /> +With scenes of sighing tales before me,<br /> + And one green, maiden grave in sight;<br /> +How mournfully the strain would rise<br /> + Of that true maid, whose fate can yet<br /> +Draw rainy tears from stubborn eyes;<br /> + From lids that ne’er before were wet.<br /> +She lies not here, but that green grave<br /> + Is sacred from the plough—and flowers,<br /> +Snow-drops, and valley-lilies, wave<br /> + Amid the grass; and other showers<br /> +Than those of heaven have fallen there.</p> +<h2>TO ---</h2> +<p>When that eye of light shall in darkness fall,<br /> +And thy bosom be shrouded in death’s cold pall,<br /> +When the bloom of that rich red lip shall fade,<br /> +And thy head on its pillow of dust be laid;</p> +<p>Oh! then thy spirit shall see how true<br /> +Are the holy vows I have breathed to you;<br /> +My form shall moulder thy grave beside,<br /> +And in the blue heavens I’ll seek my bride.</p> +<p>Then we’ll tell, as we tread yon azure sphere,<br /> +Of the woes we have known while lingering here;<br /> +And our spirits shall joy that, their pilgrimage o’er,<br +/> +They have met in the heavens to sever no more.</p> +<h2>LINES.</h2> +<p>Day gradual fades, in evening gray,<br /> + Its last faint beam hath fled,<br /> +And sinks the sun’s declining ray<br /> + In ocean’s wavy bed.<br /> +So o’er the loves and joys of youth<br /> + Thy waves, Indifference, roll;<br /> +So mantles round our days of truth<br /> + That death-pool of the soul.</p> +<p>Spreads o’er the heavens the shadowy night<br /> + Her dim and shapeless form,<br /> +So human pleasures, frail and light,<br /> + Are lost in passion’s storm.<br /> +So fades the sunshine of the breast,<br /> + So passion’s dreamings fall,<br /> +So friendship’s fervours sink to rest,<br /> + Oblivion shrouds them all.</p> +<h2>TO EVA.</h2> +<p>A beam upon the myrtle fell<br /> + From dewy evening’s purest sky,<br /> +’Twas like the glance I love so well,<br /> + Dear Eva, from thy moonlight eye.</p> +<p>I looked around the summer grove,<br /> + On every tree its lustre shone;<br /> +For all had felt that look of love<br /> + The silly myrtle deemed its own.</p> +<p>Eva! behold thine image there,<br /> + As fair, as false thy glances fall;<br /> +But who the worthless smile would share<br /> + That sheds its light alike on all.</p> +<h2>TO A LADY<br /> +<span class="smcap">with a withered violet</span>.</h2> +<p>Though fate upon this faded flower<br /> + His withering hand has laid,<br /> +Its odour’d breath defies his power,<br /> + Its sweets are undecayed.</p> +<p>And thus, although thy warbled strains<br /> + No longer wildly thrill,<br /> +The memory of the song remains,<br /> + Its soul is with me still.</p> +<h2>BRONX.</h2> +<p>I sat me down upon a green bank-side,<br /> + Skirting the smooth edge of a gentle river,<br /> +Whose waters seemed unwillingly to glide,<br /> + Like parting friends who linger while they sever;<br +/> +Enforced to go, yet seeming still unready,<br /> + Backward they wind their way in many a wistful +eddy.</p> +<p>Gray o’er my head the yellow-vested willow<br /> + Ruffled its hoary top in the fresh breezes,<br /> +Glancing in light, like spray on a green billow,<br /> + Or the fine frost-work which young winter +freezes;<br /> +When first his power in infant pastime trying,<br /> +Congeals sad autumn’s tears on the dead branches lying.</p> +<p>From rocks around hung the loose ivy dangling,<br /> + And in the clefts sumach of liveliest green,<br /> +Bright ising-stars the little beach was spangling,<br /> + The gold-cup sorrel from his gauzy screen<br /> +Shone like a fairy crown, enchased and beaded,<br /> +Left on some morn, when light flashed in their eyes unheeded.</p> +<p>The hum-bird shook his sun-touched wings around,<br /> + The bluefinch caroll’d in the still +retreat;<br /> +The antic squirrel capered on the ground<br /> + Where lichens made a carpet for his feet:<br /> +Through the transparent waves, the ruddy minkle<br /> +Shot up in glimmering sparks his red fin’s tiny +twinkle.</p> +<p>There were dark cedars with loose mossy tresses,<br /> + White powdered dog-trees, and stiff hollies +flaunting<br /> +Gaudy as rustics in their May-day dresses,<br /> + Blue pelloret from purple leaves upslanting<br /> +A modest gaze, like eyes of a young maiden<br /> +Shining beneath dropt lids the evening of her wedding.</p> +<p>The breeze fresh springing from the lips of morn,<br /> + Kissing the leaves, and sighing so to lose +’em,<br /> +The winding of the merry locust’s horn,<br /> + The glad spring gushing from the rock’s bare +bosom:<br /> +Sweet sights, sweet sounds, all sights, all sounds excelling,<br +/> +Oh! ’twas a ravishing spot formed for a poet’s +dwelling.</p> +<p>And did I leave thy loveliness, to stand<br /> + Again in the dull world of earthly blindness?<br /> +Pained with the pressure of unfriendly hands,<br /> + Sick of smooth looks, agued with icy kindness?<br /> +Left I for this thy shades, were none intrude,<br /> +To prison wandering thought and mar sweet solitude?</p> +<p>Yet I will look upon thy face again,<br /> + My own romantic Bronx, and it will be<br /> +A face more pleasant than the face of men.<br /> + Thy waves are old companions, I shall see<br /> +A well-remembered form in each old tree,<br /> +And hear a voice long loved in thy wild minstrelsy.</p> +<h2>SONG.</h2> +<p>’Tis not the beam of her bright blue eye,<br /> +Nor the smile of her lip of rosy dye,<br /> +Nor the dark brown wreaths of her glossy hair,<br /> +Nor her changing cheek, so rich and rare.<br /> +Oh! these are the sweets of a fairy dream,<br /> +The changing hues of an April sky.<br /> +They fade like dew in the morning beam,<br /> +Or the passing zephyr’s odour’d sigh.</p> +<p>’Tis a dearer spell that bids me kneel,<br /> +’Tis the heart to love, and the soul to feel:<br /> +’Tis the mind of light, and the spirit free,<br /> +And the bosom that heaves alone for me.<br /> +Oh! these are the sweets that kindly stay<br /> +From youth’s gay morning to age’s night;<br /> +When beauty’s rainbow tints decay,<br /> +Love’s torch still burns with a holy light.</p> +<p>Soon will the bloom of the fairest fade,<br /> +And love will droop in the cheerless shade,<br /> +Or if tears should fall on his wing of joy,<br /> +It will hasten the flight of the laughing boy.<br /> +But oh! the light of the constant soul<br /> +Nor time can darken nor sorrow dim;<br /> +Though wo may weep in life’s mingled bowl,<br /> +Love still shall hover around its brim.</p> +<h2>TO SARAH.</h2> +<p>I.</p> +<p>One happy year has fled, Sall,<br /> + Since you were all my own,<br /> +The leaves have felt the autumn blight,<br /> + The wintry storm has blown.<br /> +We heeded not the cold blast,<br /> + Nor the winter’s icy air;<br /> +For we found our climate in the heart,<br /> + And it was summer there.</p> +<p>II.</p> +<p>The summer’s sun is bright, Sall,<br /> + The skies are pure in hue;<br /> +But clouds will sometimes sadden them,<br /> + And dim their lovely blue;<br /> +And clouds may come to us, Sall,<br /> + But sure they will not stay;<br /> +For there’s a spell in fond hearts<br /> + To chase their gloom away.</p> +<p>III.</p> +<p>In sickness and in sorrow<br /> + Thine eyes were on me still,<br /> +And there was comfort in each glance<br /> + To charm the sense of ill.<br /> +And were they absent now, Sall,<br /> + I’d seek my bed of pain,<br /> +And bless each pang that gave me back<br /> + Those looks of love again.</p> +<p>IV.</p> +<p>Oh, pleasant is the welcome kiss,<br /> + When day’s dull round is o’er,<br /> +And sweet the music of the step<br /> + That meets me at the door.<br /> +Though worldly cares may visit us,<br /> + I reck not when they fall,<br /> +While I have thy kind lips, my Sall,<br /> + To smile away them all.</p> +<h2>THE AMERICAN FLAG.</h2> +<p>I.</p> +<p>When Freedom from her mountain height<br /> + Unfurled her standard to the air,<br /> +She tore the azure robe of night,<br /> + And set the stars of glory there.<br /> +She mingled with its gorgeous dyes<br /> +The milky baldric of the skies,<br /> +And striped its pure celestial white,<br /> +With streakings of the morning light;<br /> +Then from his mansion in the sun<br /> +She called her eagle bearer down,<br /> +And gave into his mighty hand,<br /> + The symbol of her chosen land.</p> +<p>II.</p> +<p>Majestic monarch of the cloud,<br /> + Who rear’st aloft thy regal form,<br /> +To hear the tempest trumpings loud<br /> + And see the lightning lances driven,<br /> +When strive the warriors of the storm,<br /> + And rolls the thunder-drum of heaven,<br /> +Child of the sun! to thee ’tis given<br /> + To guard the banner of the free,<br /> +To hover in the sulphur smoke,<br /> +To ward away the battle stroke,<br /> +And bid its blendings shine afar,<br /> +Like rainbows on the cloud of war,<br /> + The harbingers of victory!</p> +<p>III.</p> +<p>Flag of the brave! thy folds shall fly,<br /> + The sign of hope and triumph high,<br /> +When speaks the signal trumpet tone,<br /> + And the long line comes gleaming on.<br /> +Ere yet the life-blood, warm and wet,<br /> + Has dimm’d the glistening bayonet,<br /> +Each soldier eye shall brightly turn<br /> + To where thy sky-born glories burn;<br /> +And as his springing steps advance,<br /> + Catch war and vengeance from the glance.<br /> +And when the cannon-mouthings loud<br /> + Heave in wild wreaths the battle shroud,<br /> +And gory sabres rise and fall<br /> +Like shoots of flame on midnight’s pall;<br /> + Then shall thy meteor glances glow,<br /> +And cowering foes shall shrink beneath<br /> + Each gallant arm that strikes below<br /> +That lovely messenger of death.</p> +<p>IV.</p> +<p>Flag of the seas! on ocean wave<br /> + Thy stars shall glitter o’er the brave;<br /> +When death, careering on the gale,<br /> + Sweeps darkly round the bellied sail,<br /> +And frighted waves rush wildly back<br /> + Before the broadside’s reeling rack,<br /> +Each dying wanderer of the sea<br /> + Shall look at once to heaven and thee,<br /> +And smile to see thy splendours fly<br /> +In triumph o’er his closing eye.</p> +<p>V.</p> +<p>Flag of the free heart’s hope and home!<br /> + By angel hands to valour given;<br /> +The stars have lit the welkin dome,<br /> + And all thy hues were born in heaven.<br /> +For ever float that standard sheet!<br /> + Where breathes the foe but falls before us,<br /> +With Freedom’s soil beneath our feet,<br /> + And Freedom’s banner streaming o’er +us?</p> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CULPRIT FAY***</p> +<pre> + + +***** This file should be named 317-h.htm or 317-h.zip****** + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/1/317 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://www.gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/pglaf. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://www.gutenberg.org/about/contact + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/donate + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: +http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + +</pre></body> +</html> diff --git a/317-h/images/p0.jpg b/317-h/images/p0.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..6387c49 --- /dev/null +++ b/317-h/images/p0.jpg |
