None e'er knew the name of that heart-stricken Which comes when the day of this world is nigh lady, Her language, though sweet, none could e'er understand; ended, And light from another already shines through. But her features so sunn'd, and her eyelash so Then her eyes, when she sung-oh, but once to shady, Bespoke her a child of some far Eastern land. have seen them Left thoughts in the soul that can never depart; 'Twas one summer night, when the village lay While her looks and her voice made a language sleeping, A soft strain of melody came o'er our ears; So sweet, but so mournful, half song and half weeping, Like music that Sorrow had steep'd in her tears. between them, That spoke more than holiest words to the heart. But she pass'd like a day-dream, no skill could restore her Whate'er was her sorrow, its ruin came fast; We thought 'twas an anthem some angel had sung She died with the same spell of mystery o'er ADVERTISEMENT. THESE verses were written for a Benefit at the Dublin Theatre, and were spoken by Miss Smith, with a degree of success, which they owed solely to her admirable manner of reciting them. I wrote them in haste; and it very rarely happens that poetry, which has cost but little labour to the writer, is productive of any great pleasure to the reader. Under this impression, I certainly should not have published them if they had not found their way into some of the newspapers, with such an addition of errors to their own original stock, that I thought it but fair to limit their responsibility to those faults alone which really belong to them. With respect to the title which I have invented for this Poem, I feel even more than the scruples of the Emperor Tiberius, when he humbly asked pardon of the Roman Senate for using "the outlandish term, monopoly." But the truth is, having written the Poem with the sole view of serving a Benefit, I thought that an unintelligible word of this kind would not be without its attraction for the multitude, with whom, "If 'tis not sense, at least 'tis Greek." To some of my readers, however, it may not be superfluous to say, that by Melologue," I mean that mixture of recitation and music, which is frequently adopted in the performance of Collins's Ode on the Passions, and of which the most striking example I can remember is the prophetic speech of Joad in the Athalie of Racine. 66 T. M. MELOLOGUE. A SHORT STRAIN OF MUSIC FROM THE ORCHESTRA. THERE breathes a language, known and felt Far as the pure air spreads its living zone; Wherever rage can rouse, or pity melt, That language of the soul is felt and known. From those meridian plains, Where oft, of old, on some high tow'r, The soft Peruvian pour'd his midnight strains, And call'd his distant love with such sweet pow'r, That, when she heard the lonely lay, Not worlds could keep her from his arms away.' To the bleak climes of polar night, Where blithe, beneath a sunless sky, The Lapland lover bids his rein-deer fly, And sings along the length'ning waste of snow, Of vernal Phœbus burn'd upon his brow; Is still resistless, still the same; To the pale star that o'er its realm presides, Of human passion rise and fall for thee! GREEK AIR. List! 'tis a Grecian maid that sings, While, from Ilissus' silv'ry springs, She draws the cool lymph in her graceful urn; And by her side, in Music's charm dissolving, Some patriot youth, the glorious past revolving, Dreams of bright days that never can return; When Athens nurs'd her olive bough, With hands by tyrant pow'r unchain'd; And braided for the muse's brow A wreath by tyrant touch unstain'd. When heroes trod each classic field Where coward feet now faintly falter; When ev'ry arm was Freedom's shield, And ev'ry heart was Freedom's altar! FLOURISH OF TRUMPETS. Hark, 'tis the sound that charms The war-steed's wak'ning ears! — Oh! many a mother folds her arms Round her boy-soldier when that call she hears; And, though her fond heart sink with fears, "A certain Spaniard, one night late, met an Indian woman in the streets of Cozco, and would have taken her to his home, but she cried out, For God's sake, Sir, let me go; for that pipe, which you hear in yonder tower, calls me with Is proud to feel his young pulse bound Yes, Music, here, even here, Amid this thoughtless, vague career, Thy soul-felt charm asserts its wondrous pow'r.— There's a wild air which oft, among the rocks Of his own loved land, at ev'ning hour, Is heard, when shepherds homeward pipe their flocks, Whose every note hath power to thrill his mind With tend'rest thoughts; to bring around his knees The rosy children whom he left behind, With speaking tears, that ask him why Sweet notes of home, of love, are all he hears; And the stern eyes, that look'd for blood before, Now melting, mournful, lose themselves in tears. Swiss AIR.-"RANZ DES VACHES." But, wake the trumpet's blast again, And rouse the ranks of warrior-men! Oh War, when Truth thy arm employs, And Freedom's spirit guides the labouring storm, 'Tis then thy vengeance takes a hallow'd form, And, like Heaven's light'ning, sacredly destroys. Nor, Music, through thy breathing sphere, Lives there a sound more grateful to the ear Of Him who made all harmony, Than the bless'd sound of fetters breaking, And the first hymn that man, awaking From Slavery's slumber, breathes to Liberty. SPANISH CHORUS. Hark! from Spain, indignant Spain, Bursts the bold, enthusiast strain, Like morning's music on the air; And seems, in every note, to swear By Saragossa's ruin'd streets, By brave Gerona's deathful story, great passion, and I cannot refuse the summons; for love constrains me to go, that I may be his wife, and he my husband.'"- Garcilasso de la Véga, in Sir Paul Rycaut's translation. |