CANZONET. 1. MAIDEN! wrap thy mantle round thee, Why should horror's voice astound thee? All under the tree Thy bed may be, And thou mayst slumber peacefully. 2. Maiden! once gay pleasure knew thee; Yet, poor maiden, do not weep; There's rest for thee All under the tree, Where thou wilt sleep most peacefully. COMMENCEMENT OF A POEM ON DESPAIR. SOME to Aonian lyres of silver sound With winning elegance attune their song, Form'd to sink lightly on the soothed sense, And charm the soul with softest harmony: "Tis then that hope with sanguine eye is seen Her heart light dancing to the sounds of pleasure, Comes with her sister, Melancholy sad, Such subjects merit poets us'd to raise A dreadlier theme demands my backward hand, With frantic energy. 'Tis wan Despair I sing; if sing I can, Of him before whose blast the voice of song, Howls forth his sufferings to the mcaning wind; And, when the awful silence of the night 'Tis him I sing-Despair-terrific name, Of timorous terror-discord in the sound: For to a theme revolting as is this, * Alluding to the two pleasing poems, the Pleasures of Hope and of Memory. Dare not I woo the maids of harmony, Calling the hero to the field of glory, And firing him with deeds of high emprise, And woo the silken zephyr in the bowers Hither, ye furious imps of Acheron, Nurslings of hell, and beings shunning light, And all the myriads of the burning concave; Souls of the damned;-Hither, oh! come and join Th' infernal chorus. "Tis Despair I sing! He, whose sole tooth inflicts a deadlier pang Than all your tortures join'd, Sing, sing Despair! Repeat the sound, and celebrate his power; Unite shouts, screams, and agonizing shrieks, Till the loud paan ring thro' hell's high vault, And the remotest spirits of the deep Leap from the lake, and join the dreadful song. TO THE WIND. AT MIDNIGHT. NOT unfamiliar to mine ear, -Blasts of the night! ye howl as now With fitful force ye beat. Mine ear has dwelt in silent awe, The howling sweep, the sudden rush; Pour'd deep the hollow dirge, SILENCE of Death-portentous calm, Those airy forms that yonder fly, Denote that your void foreruns a storm, That the hour of fate is nigh. I see, I see, on the dim mist borne, The Spirit of battles rear his crest! I see, I see, that ere the morn, His spear will forsake its hated rest, And the widow'd wife of Larrendill will beat her naked breast. II. O'er the smooth bosom of the sullen deep Not a loose leaf waves on the dusky oak, Strike, oh, ye bards! the melancholy harp, III. Behold, how long the twilight air The shades of our fathers glide! There Morven fled, with the blood-drench'd hair, And Colma with grey side. No gale around its coolness flings, Yet sadly sigh the gloomy trees; And hark, how the harp's unvisited strings Sound sweet, as if swept by a whispering breeze! 'Tis done! the sun he has set in blood! He will never set more to the brave; |