MAIDEN, SINCE I SAW THEE LAST. MAIDEN, since I saw thee last, Shadows o'er thy life have passed— Tears have dimmed thy cheek's fresh rose Grief hath broken thy repose— Lovely visions from thee sped Peace for ever from thee fled. In thy languid eyes a beam Heavenly feelings cankering there— Thou hast loved-but loved in vain! Seek no words to tell me now Of thy lover's faithless vow Of the fiery venomed dart That hath pierced thy tender heart Golden dreams of wedded bliss Whelmed in Sorrow's dark abyss. From the pang that ceaseless wrings To their depths thy spirit's stringsFrom the listlessness of life From thy bosom's burning strife, Tears alone can give thee rest— Maiden, weep upon my breast! Well I comprehend thy wo, All the darkness of the soul, When the heart hath missed its goal Tears alone can give thee rest— Weep upon this faithful breast! THE STORM.* A TRANSLATION FROM THE ENEID, BOOK I., LINE 81. WHEN this he said, against the hollow rock The raging Eurus and the South Winds meet; With sudden fear Æneas' limbs congeal *This is a Translation of the Latin Note at the end of Florence, page 45; but was finished too late for insertion in that place. E Cold horror creeps along each curdling vein, He groans aloud with inward grief and pain, And supplicating rears his hands to heaven, And says "O bless'd! thrice bless'd! to whom 'twas given In battle on their native shores to fall, Before their fathers, 'neath proud Ilium's wall :— Why could I not upon the Trojan plain This wretched life pour forth by thy right hand, Upon the hidden rocks the South Winds cast, And three the East Winds from the billows urge That which the Lycians and Orontes bore And headlong from the poop the pilot hurled; Three times around the labouring vessel whirled, Then suddenly with fierce, voracious sweep, Submerged her far beneath the boiling deep. Her scattered crew now float upon the brine, With arms of men, and household gods divine, And Trojan wares, and goods, and treasured store Which they had borne from ancient Ilium's shore; O'er Ilioneus' strong ship the storm prevails, Next that in which the brave Achates sails, O'er Abas' then and old Alethes' rides, While through their gaping seams and opening sides With fearful speed the hostile water glides. THE END. |