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That kiss for which, if worlds were mine,
A world for every kiss I'd give her;
Those floating eyes, that floating shine
Like diamonds in an eastern river?

That mould, so fine, so pearly bright,

Of which luxurious Heaven hath cast her,
Through which her soul doth beam as white
As flame through lamps of alabaster !
Of these I sung, and notes and words
Were sweet as if 'twas Lamia's hair
That lay upon my lute for chords,

And Lamia's lip that warbled there!
But when, alas! I turned the theme,
And when of vows and oaths I spoke,
Of truth and hope's beguiling dream-
The chord beneath my finger broke!
False harp! false woman !-such, oh! such
Are lutes too frail and maids too willing;
Every hand's licentious touch

Can learn to wake their wildest thrilling!

And when that thrill is most awake,

And when you think Heaven's joys await you,
The nymph will change, the chord will break-
Oh Love, oh Music! how I hate you!

TO MRS.

ON SOME CALUMNIES AGAINST HER CHARACTER.

Is not thy mind a gentle mind?

Is not thy heart a heart refined?

Hast thou not every blameless grace,

That man should love or Heaven can trace?
And oh art thou a shrine for Sin
To hold her hateful worship in?
No, no, be happy-dry that tear-

Though some thy heart hath harboured near
May now repay its love with blame;

Though man, who ought to shield thy fame,
Ungenerous man, be first to wound thee;
Though the whole world may freeze around thee,
Oh! thou'lt be like that lucid tear 1
Which, bright, within the crystal's sphere

'This alludes to a curious gem, upon which Claudian has left some pointless epigrams. It was a drop of pure water enclosed within a piece of crystal. See Claudian. Epigram, de Chrystallo cui aqua inerat. Addison mentions a curiosity of this kind at Milan; he also says It is such

a rarity as this that I saw at Vendôme in France, which they there pretend is a tear that our Saviour shed over Lazarus, and was gathered up by an angel, who put it in a little crystal vial, and made a present of it to Mary Magdalen.Addison's Remarks on several parts of Italy.

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In liquid purity was found,

Though all had grown congealed around;
Floating in frost, it mocked the chill,
Was pure, was soft, was brilliant still!

Castalia; but

HYMN OF A VIRGIN OF DELPHI,

AT THE TOMB OF HER MOTHER.
OH! lost! for ever lost!—no more
Shall Vesper light our dewy way
Along the rocks of Crissa's shore,
To hymn the fading fires of day!
No more to Tempé's distant vale

In holy musings shall we roam,
Through summer's glow and winter's gale,
To bear the mystic chaplets home!
'Twas then my soul's expanding zeal,
By Nature warmed and led by thee,
In every breeze was taught to feel
The breathings of a deity!

Guide of my heart! to memory true,

Thy looks, thy words, are still my own

I see thee raising from the dew

Some laurel, by the wind o'erthrown,
And hear thee say, 'This humble bough
Was planted for a doom divine,
And, though it weep in languor now,
Shall flourish on the Delphic shrine !
Thus in the vale of earthly sense,

Though sunk a while the spirit lies,
A viewless hand shall cull it thence,
To bloom immortal in the skies!'

Thy words had such a melting flow,
And spoke of truth so sweetly well,

They dropped like heaven's serenest snow,
And all was brightness where they fell!
Fond soother of my infant tear!

Fond sharer of my infant joy!

Is not thy shade still lingering here?
Am I not still thy soul's employ?
And oh! as oft at close of day,

When meeting on the sacred mount,

ment, was supplied by a tree near the fountain of, Delphi is always attended by a player on the for adorning the altars and sweeping the pave- The youth who brings the Tempic laurel to 1The laurel, for the common uses of the temple, and Plutarch says, in his Dialogue on Music, sent to Tempe for their laurel. We find in Pau- Τεμπικην δαφνην εις Δελφους παρομαρτεί αυλητ sanias that this valley supplied the branches TS. of which the temple was originally constructed;

all important occasions they fute. Αλλα μην και τῳ κατακομιζοντι παιδί την

upon

10

Our nymphs awaked the choral lay,

And danced around Cassotis' fount;
As then, 'twas all thy wish and care
That mine should be the simplest mien,
My lyre and voice the sweetest there,
My foot the lightest o'er the green ;
So still, each little grace to mould,
Around my form thine eyes are shed,
Arranging every snowy fold,

And guiding every mazy tread !
And when I lead the hymning choir,
Thy spirit still, unseen and free,
Hovers between my lip and lyre,
And weds them into harmony!

Flow, Plistus, flow; thy murmuring wave
Shall never drop its silvery tear

Upon so pure, so blest a grave,

To memory so divinely dear!

RINGS AND SEALS.

Ώσπερ σφραγίδες τα φιλήματα.-Achilles Tatius, lib. ri.
'Go!' said the angry, weeping maid,
'The charm is broken!-once betrayed,
Oh! never can my heart rely

Ou word or look, on oath or sigh.

Take back the gifts, so sweetly given,

With promised faith and vows to Heaven;
That little ring which, night and morn,
With wedded truth my hand hath worn;
That seal which oft, in moments blest,
Thou hast upon my lip imprest,
And sworn its dewy spring should be
A fountain sealed for only thee!
Take, take them back, the gift and vow,
All sullied, lost, and hateful now!'

I took the ring-the seal I took,
While, oh! her every tear and look
Were such as angels look and shed,
When man is by the world misled!
Gently I whispered, 'Fanny, dear!
Not half thy lover's gifts are here:
Say, where are all the seals he gave
To every ringlet's jetty wave,

There are gardens, supposed to be those of King Solomon, in the neighbourhood of Bethlehem. The friars show a fountain which, they say, is the "sealed fountain" to which the holy spouse in the Canticles is compared; and they

pretend a tradition, that Solomon shut up these springs and put his signet upon the door, t keep them for his own drinking.'-Maundrell' Travels. See also the Notes to Mr. Good's Translation of the Song of Solomon.

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