Long may thy cheek retain its bloom,
Nor aught but joy thine eyes illume; "-
Rose, bowed, and vanished from the room.

VIII.

"Alone!" she cried, but all was o'er,
And cold and prostrate on the floor,
Like one o'erthrown by instant death,
She fell; nor showed she pulse, or breath,
Or sign of life, till morning bright
Had filled her room with rosy light.
Bewildered then and ashy pale--
As some wan spirit of the vale,-
As one who wakes from sleep elysian,

When hideous images have crossed
Abruptly o'er the mental vision,

And all sweet thoughts in chaos tost ;—

Or rocked upon the stormy streams
That rush along the land of dreams;
Or, starting from protracted trance,
Flings round a wild and hurried glance-
She woke blood on her lip, and hair,-
Upon her pallid brow despair;

Up quickly from the carpet sprung,
Backward her raven tresses flung,

Erased each mark and every speck
That could betray her heart's sad wreck,
Or she her room that night had left,

And of life's all had been bereft ;
Doffed the rich garb that yesterday

(With yesterday, oh! had life flown!) Her charms so lovely did display ;

Night's white apparel then put on,
Ran mutely o'er her beads of gold,
Till one by one were strictly told;
A golden cross placed on her breast,
Then laid her weary limbs to rest.
But not her soul by woe oppressed.

IX.

At rising hour she turned her head
And to her maidens gently said—
"Hie ye away with footsteps light;
The hideous visions of the night
Have from my eyelids driven rest; "-
And then again her pillow pressed.

X.

The morn was past, day on the wane,
When her attendants came again

With invitation to attend

That night in Count GUDONI's hall, Where LEON and his bride would lend

The charm unto the festival.

XI.

"Could it be so ?" She gasped for breath.

Had she received a hest for death,

An irresistible command

To hasten to the exile's land,

Where Hope and Mercy never smiled,
Her heart could not have beat so wild.
Pallid and lost to sense she lies,
The hot tears streaming from her eyes,
Swollen and throbbing with the pain
Of the bewildered, fevered brain.

Many the high resolves she made,

Many emotions dark allayed

That rose to give her bosom aid :

She would not shed another tear

For him she once had held so dear ;~

Henceforth her cheek should bloom as bright,

Her step be in the dance as light

As when one glance from LEON's eyes
Turned earth into a paradise ;

Her songs, her smiles should be as gay;
No sigh her weakness should betray-
Thus she had pondered as she lay.

But ah! we know not till they're stirred,

What notes among the heart's strings slumber;

A reckless touch of one fine chord

Wakes tones that life's brief years outnumber, Whose doleful jarring never ceases

Till Death the troubled soul releases.

When sense and reason had returned,
Passions again resumed their sway,

And in her bosom feelings burned

Which vengeance only can allay— Especially in lava hearts,

When wrong unsheathes in them her darts.

That night in Count GUDONI's hall

She would attend the festival,

Her beauty deck in richest style,

And teach her lip its sweetest smile;

TO LEON make her cheek and eye
The anguish of her heart belie.
Now up with flashing eye she

sprung,

A snowy shawl around her flung,
Summoned her page, and to him gave
The orders which she wished to have
Promptly and strictly all obeyed,
And then dismissed him for her maid;
The dress and jewels fixed upon,

The arduous toilette they begun.

XIV.

Before her mirror mute she stands,
Twirling the white note in her hands,
Till every fiery word she mars-

Her black eyes gleam like two fixed stars,
That through the tempest of the night
Flash out with white, intenser light--
And all her mien a hell bespeaks
That vent in desperate action seeks.
Slightly they tinge her pallid cheeks,
Diffusing over them a bloom,
Resembling first rose-buds of spring,
Or such as fitful fevers bring

Decaying beauty to illume;