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And ready there my bark shall be,
To bear us swiftly o'er the sea

To some bright land afar to dwell

Till then, sweet maiden, fare thee well."

"Must-must we part ?"-the pallid maid Raised her dark eyes and trembling said, "Oh! I would rather die to-night,

Than thou should'st leave one hour my sight. I fear the guilt-I feel the woe,

To love thee 'gainst my father's will;

He bids me swear it to forego

I swear, and doubly love thee still.
He bids me wrench thee from my heart,
But in that act would life depart.
With thee to live-and love-and die,
Whether beneath our native sky,
Or in some wild, forsaken land-
In cave, or isle, on desert strand,
Is all I wish, is all I hope,

Whate'er the ills with which we cope.
This morn, before the holy Mother,
My sire betrothed me to another,

And if this meeting he divine,

Loved Leon! I shall ne'er be thine

He will not sleep till I be wed

To Leonardo-or am dead.

Oh! must thou go? Will the dark sea,

Dear LEON! give thee back to me ?-
I know not why-I fear no more,

LEON, thou'lt see Italia's shore."

"O FLORENCE! fairest! speak not thus grave alone can sever us;

The

My journey shall be brief, and then

I will not part from thee again,
Nor now in soul: as o'er his track
The Hadji's spirit stealeth back

To worship still at Mecca's shrine,
Or faithful Jew's to Palestine ;
So, wandering o'er the dark blue sea,
My spirit will return to thee.

When thou art singing in the grove,
When thou dost tune thy harp to love,

Then hovering nigh my soul shall be,
To catch the heavenly melody;

When evening shade the green earth dims,
When slumber sweet enchains thy limbs,
It will be here to guard thy form,

And save thee, loveliest one, from harm.”

He said, and as quick tears did start,

And overrun each silken lid,

He clasped her sobbing to his heart,

While down his cheeks the bright drops slid. To hearts wrapt in such holy dream, Ages could but a moment seem;

So lost to every thing around,

They might not hear the earthquake's sound. Around his neck her white arms wreathed--

Save that at intervals they breathed,

As sympathy their bosoms heaved,

One looking on would have believed

Them alabaster figures there,

Sculptor had wrought with strictest care:

Love prompts him ever thus to stay,
Now Danger urges him away;

And from the hallowed spell he started,

As at the tread of arméd men,

One long embrace—and then they parted

To meet-but never thus again.

CANTO II.

THE DETECTION THE PROMISE-THE MURDER.

I.

THERE are some men and women born

With young volcanoes in their hearts, Which from their craters ne'er are torn, Nor curbed by ethics, nor by arts. But, like Vesuvius, for some reason Inexplicable, have their season, By Nature's Telegraphic wires, Of throwing off their lava fires ;And of this class, erratic, wild,

Was UGO's rare and radiant child.

Flung back her long, rich, raven hair,

Pale as a statue of despair

Her small hands clasped, her lips apart, The maiden lists her lover dart

Along the silent corridor,

Descend the terrace to the shore,

Leap lightly down into his boat,

Lying beneath the mossy moat,

And dash adown the yellow tide

"The saints be praised! he's safe!" she sighed

Then reeling upon the divan sunk,

And from the Bacchanalian cup,

Cupid for her had just filled up,
Deeper than Ariadne, drunk :-

But in this world the scenes must shift,-
And bliss is not Heaven's largest gift,

Nor Love by Truth the oftenest crowned—
As Ariadne-FLORENCE found.

II.

A voice of thunder shakes the Castle-
The mastiffs, chainless, to and fro
Yelping along the Tiber go,

Urged to the scent by slave and vassal.

The maiden's bosom quakes with fear-
Oh God! what sounds salute her ear!
A step is in the corridor-

A hand upon the yielding door-
And now with sabre gleaming high,
And lowering brow, and flashing eye,
And heart and pulses leaping wild,
Old UGO stands before his child.

"Arise! thou fair dissembler, rise!

Fierce hissing through his teeth, he cries-

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