A maiden-angel and her seraph-lover-
O! where (and ye may seek the wide skies
Was Love, the blind, near sober Duty known? Unguided Love hath fallen-'mid "tears of perfect moan.
He was a goodly spirit-he who fell;
A wanderer by mossy-mantled well-
A gazer on the lights that shine above-
A dreamer in the moonbeam by his love:
What wonder? for each star is eye-like there,
And looks so sweetly down on Beauty's hair;
And they, and ev'ry mossy spring were holy
To his love-haunted heart and melancholy.
The night had found (to him a night of woe)
Upon a mountain crag, young Angelo-
Beetling it bends athwart the solemn sky,
And scowls on starry worlds that down be-
neath it lie.
Here sate he with his love-his dark eye bent
With eagle gaze along the firmament:
Now turn'd it upon her—but ever then
It trembled to the orb of EARTH again.
"Ianthe, dearest, see! how dim that ray!
How lovely 'tis to look so far away!
She seem'd not thus upon that autumn eve
I left her gorgeous halls-nor mourn'd to
leave.
*There be tears of perfect moan
Wept for thee in Helicon.-Milton.
un-ray dropp'd, in Lemnos, with a spell
Arabesque carving of a gilded hall
in I sate, and on the draperied wall-
my eyelids-O the heavy light!
rowsily it weigh'd them into night!
wers, before, and mist, and love they ran
Persian Saadi in his Gulistan :
- that light-I slumber'd-Death, the
while,
'er my senses in that lovely isle ly that no single silken hair
that slept-or knew that he was there.
"My Angelo! and why of
A brighter dwelling-place
And greener fields than in
And woman's loveliness-
"But, list, Ianthe! when
Fail'd, as my pennon'd *
Perhaps my brain grew
I left so late was into cha
Sprang from her station,
And roll'd, a flame, the f
Methought, my sweet on
And fell-not swiftly as
But with a downward, t
Light, brazen rays, this
Nor long the measure of
For nearest of all stars
Dread star! that came,
A red Dædalion on the t
last spot of Earth's orb I trod upon
proud temple call'd the Parthenon.*
beauty clung around her column'd wall
ev'n thy glowing bosoms beats withal,†
hen old Time my wing did disenthral-
e sprang I-as the eagle from his tower,
ears I left behind me in an hour.
time upon her airy bounds I hung,
lf the garden of her globe was flung.
ing as a chart unto my view-
tless cities of the desert too!
beauty crowded on me then,
alf I wish'd to be again of men."
entire in 1687-the most elevated spot in Athens. lowing more beauty in their airy brows
n have the white breasts of the Queen of Love.
"We came-and to thy
Be given our lady's bid
We came, my love; aro
Gay fire-fly of the night
Nor ask a reason save t
She grants to us, as gra
But, Angelo, than thine
Never his fairy wing o
Dim was its little disk,
Alone could see the ph
When first Al Aaraaf 1
Headlong thitherward
"My Angelo! and why of them to be?
A brighter dwelling-place is here for thee,
And greener fields than in yon world above,
And woman's loveliness-and passionate love."
"But, list, Ianthe! when the air so soft
Fail'd, as my pennon'd* spirit leapt aloft,
Perhaps my brain grew dizzy-but the world
I left so late was into chaos hurl'd-
Sprang from her station, on the winds apart,
And roll'd, a flame, the fiery Heaven athwart.
Methought, my sweet one, then I ceased to soar
And fell-not swiftly as I rose before,
But with a downward, tremulous motion thro'
Light, brazen rays, this golden star unto!
Nor long the measure of my falling hours,
For nearest of all stars was thine to ours-
Dread star! that came, amid a night of mirt}
A red Dædalion on the timid Earth.
"We came—and to thy Earth-but not to us
Be given our lady's bidding to discuss:
We came, my love; around, above, below,
Gay fire-fly of the night we come and go,
Nor ask a reason save the angel-nod
She grants to us, as granted by her God-
But, Angelo, than thine gray Time unfurl'd
Never his fairy wing o'er fairier world!
Dim was its little disk, and angel eyes
Alone could see the phantom in the skies.
When first Al Aaraaf knew her course to be
Headlong thitherward o'er the starry sea-
* Pennon-for pinion.-Milton.
n its glory swell'd upon the sky, ng Beauty's bust beneath man's eye, d before the heritage of men, star trembled-as doth Beauty then!" discourse, the lovers whiled away
t that waned and waned and brought day,
: for Heaven to them no hope imparts r not for the beating of their hearts.
river! in thy bright, clear flow crystal, wandering water, u art an emblem of the glow Of beauty-the unhidden heartThe playful maziness of art d Alberto's daughter;
when within thy wave she lookshich glistens then, and trembles— y, then, the prettiest of books er worshiper resembles;
in his heart, as in thy stream, er image deeply lies
heart which trembles at the beam
I her soul-searching eyes.
KIND solace in a dying Such, father, is not I will not madly deem Of Earth may shr Unearthly pride I have no time to do You call it hope-that It is but agony of desi If I can hope-Oh Go Its fount is holierI would not call thee But such is not a g
Know thou the secret Bow'd from its wil O yearning heart! I Thy withering por The searing glory wh Amid the Jewels of 1 Halo of Hell! and wi Not Hell shall make O craving heart, for And sunshine of my The undying voice d With its interminab Rings, in the spirit Upon thy emptiness
KIND solace in a dying hour!
Such, father, is not (now) my theme-
I will not madly deem that power
Of Earth may shrive me of the sin
Unearthly pride hath revel'd in-
I have no time to dote or dream:
You call it hope that fire of fire!
It is but agony of desire:
If I can hope-Oh God! I can
Its fount is holier-more divine-
I would not call thee fool, old man,
But such is not a gift of thine.
Know thou the secret of a spirit
Bow'd from its wild pride into shame.
O yearning heart! I did inherit
Thy withering portion with the fame,
The searing glory which hath shone
Amid the Jewels of my throne,
Halo of Hell! and with a pain
Not Hell shall make me fear again-
O craving heart, for the lost flowers
And sunshine of my summer hours!
The undying voice of that dead time,
With its interminable chime,
Rings, in the spirit of a spell,
Upon thy emptiness-a knell.
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