HEBREW MELODIES. ADVERTISEMENT. THE subsequent poems were written at the request of my friend, the Hon Douglas Kinnaird, for a Selection of Hebrew Melodies, and have been pub ished with the Music, arranged by Mr Braham and Mr Nathan. January 1815. SHE WALKS IN BEAUTY. Of cloudless climes and starry skies; The smiles that win, the tints that glow, A mind at peace with all below, A heart whose love is innocent THE HARP THE MONARCH MINSTREL SWEPT THE harp the monarch minstrel swept, Which Music hallow'd while she wept O'er tones her heart of hearts had given, Redoubled be her tears, its chords are riven! It soften'd men of iron mould, It gave them virtues not their own; No ear so dull, no soul so cold, That felt not, fired not to the tone, Till David's lyre grew mightier than his throne! It told the triumphs of our King, The cedars bow, the mountains nod; Its sound aspired to Heaven and there abode ! Since then, though heard on earth no more, Devotion and her daughter Love, Still bid the bursting spirit soar To sounds that seem as from above, In dreams that day's broad light can not remove. IF THAT HIGH WORLD. If that high world, which lies beyond The eye the same, except in tears- It must be so: 'tis not for self That we so tremble on the brink; Yet cling to Being's severing link. Oh! in that future let us think To hold each heart the heart that shares; With them the immortal waters drink, And soul in soul grow deathless theirs! THE WILD GAZELLE. THE wild gazelle on Judah's hills And drink from all the living rills Its airy step and glorious eye May glance in tameless transport by :- A step as fleet, an eye more bright, And o'er her scenes of lost delight Inhabitants more fair. The cedars wave on Lebanon, But Judah's statelier maids are gone! More blest each palm that shades those plains Than Israel's scatter'd race; For, taking root, it there remains In solitary grace: It cannot quit its place of birth, But we must wander witheringly, And where our fathers' ashes be, Our temple hath not left a stone, OH! WEEP FOR THOSE. OH! weep for those that wept by Babel's stream, And where shall Israel lave her bleeding feet! The hearts that leap'd before its heavenly voice? The wild dove hath her nest, the fox his cave, ON JORDAN'S BANKS. ON Jordan's banks the Arab's camels stray, JEPHTHA'S DAUGHTER. And the voice of my mourning is o'er, And of this, Oh, my Father! be sure- When this blood of thy giving hath gush'd, OH! SNATCH'D AWAY IN BEAUTY'S BLOOM. OH. snatch'd away in beauty's bloom, Their leaves, the earliest of the year; And the wild cypress wave in tender gloom : And oft by yon blue gushing stream Shall Sorrow lean her drooping head, And feed deep thought with many a dream, And lingering pause and lightly tread; Fond wretch! as if her step disturb'd the dead! Away! we know that tears are vain, That death nor heeds nor hears distress: Will this unteach us to complain? Or make one mourner weep the less? And thou-who tell'st me to forget, MY SOUL IS DARK. My soul is dark-Oh! quickly string Its melting murmurs o'er mine ear. If in this heart a hope be dear, That sound shall charm it forth again: If in these eyes there lurk a tear, "Twill flow, and cease to burn my brain. But bid the strain be wild and deep, And ached in sleepless silence long; I SAW THEE WEEP. I SAW thee weep-the big bright tear And then methought it did appear I saw thee smile-the sapphire's blaze It could not match the living rays As clouds from yonder sun receive Which scarce the shade of coming eve Those smiles unto the moodiest mind Their own pure joy impart; Their sunshine leaves a glow behind THY DAYS ARE DONE. The deeds he did, the fields he won, Though thou art fall'n, while we are free The generous blood that flow'd from thee Within our veins its currents be, Thy name our charging hosts along, Thy fall, the theme of choral song To weep would do thy glory wrong; SONG OF SAUL BEFORE HIS LAST BATTLE. WARRIORS and chiefs! should the shaft or the sword Pierce me in leading the host of the Lord, Heed not the corse, though a king's, in your path: Bury your steel in the bosoms of Gath! Thou who are bearing my buckler and bow, Should the soldiers of Saul look away from the foe |