Oh Life! mysterious-subtle-fragile thread! We hugged the mast when pallid hope had sped— And offered aid—a friendly, safe abode. XI. "This was our sire, who saved me from the main- The common author of our grief and pain Thou art my sister-partner of my woe My tears-my anguish”. "ZAMEN-ZAMEN-NO! Thanks to the Heaven that made me not akin Unto the hideous wretch thy sire hath been! Virtue, that lofty souls must ever love— My sire, the rightful heir of MORA, fell He flew, poor man, to GREECE, his native land, Sought and obtained her youthful hand and heart; Which done, with him she sailed to HELLAS' shore And to HESPERIA fair returned no more. He said she of a fatal fever died; That they had laid her by my father's side But now I see it all-'tis all too true Alas! alas she was his victim too! Foul fiend they whispered this into my ear But such aspersions I could never hear― He was so fatherly-so dear to me, I could not link him with such infamy! Oh, GOD! avenge the injuries of the dead— Pour thy fierce wrath upon the murderer's head! Deeming it sinless as I knew my heart; My lute, the birds, the flowers, have been my friends My book, the soft blue heaven that o'er me bends, My Fancy never, in her wildest dream, Painted such hideous deeds as form thy theme, XII. And they were wed-Love chased their tears away, As mists are driven before the smile of day, With music and sweet song refreshed their hearts; Or where the myrtle made a genial shade, They pored upon the tomes of other days— And DANTE's dreams, and PETRARCH's deathless love- Upon the world; and thrilled its inmost heart— Bequeathed a cherished and a spotless name. NOTES. CANTO I. NOTE 1, Sect. III., p. 246. "Fond lingering over ANDALUSIA's shrines." The name of Andalusia, meaning the region of evening, or the west, was applied by the Arabs, not only to the province so called, but to the whole Peninsula. NOTE 2, Sect. III., p. 246. "Fresh blows the breeze on TARICK's burnished bay." "Tarick, whom Mousa, the Arab General, sent over with a body of troops to make the first attempt on Spain, crossed the Straits, and was the first that set his foot on the Rock of Gibraltar, from which circumstance it was called Ghebal Tarick, meaning in Arabic, the Rock or Mountain of Tarick. Gibraltar is a corruption of Ghebal Tarick."-See BUSK's History of Spain and Portugal, p. 8. "Mousa était ambitieux et entreprenant, mais la prudence tempésait en lui l'ambition et l'audace; il fit prendre des renseignements sur l'Espagne, sur le souverain, sur les forces militaires du pays, et ses agents lui firent un rapport fidèle de tout ce qu'ils avaient vu et remarqué. Ils lui vantèrent la douce température de cette contrée, son beau ciel, ses richesses, la bonté de ses fruits, |