As if to lie, ev'n for that tranced minute,
So near his heart, had consolation in it;
And thus to wake in his belov'd caress

Took from her soul one half its wretchedness.
But, when she heard him call her good and pure,
Oh, 'twas too much - too dreadful to endure!
Shuddering she broke away from his embrace,
And, hiding with both hands her guilty face,
Said, in a tone whose anguish would have riven
A heart of very marble, "Pure! -oh Heaven!".

That tone-those looks so chang'd-the withering blight That sin and sorrow leave where'er they light;

The dead despondency of those sunk eyes,

Where once, had he thus met her by surprise,
He would have seen himself, too happy boy,
Reflected in a thousand lights of joy;
And then the place, that bright, unholy place,
Where vice lay hid beneath each winning grace
And charm of luxury, as the viper weaves
Its wily covering of sweet balsam leaves,*-
All struck upon his heart, sudden and cold
As death itself;-it needs not to be told
No, no
- he sees it all, plain as the brand
Of burning shame can mark whate'er the hand,

That could from Heav'n and him such brightness sever, "T is done to Heav'n and him she's lost for ever!

*"Concerning the vipers, which Pliny says were frequent among the balsam. trees, I made very particular inquiry; several were brought me alive both to Yambo and Jidda."— BRUCE.

It was a dreadful moment; not the tears,
The lingering, lasting misery of years
Could match that minute's anguish

all the worst

Of sorrow's elements in that dark burst
Broke o'er his soul, and, with one crash of fate,
Laid the whole hopes of his life desolate.

"Oh! curse me not," she cried, as wild he toss'd His desperate hand tow'rds Heav'n-"though I am lost, “Think not that guilt, that falsehood made me fall,

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No, no 'twas grief, 'twas madness did it all!

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"Nay, doubt me not

though all thy love hath ceas'd

"I know it hath—yet, yet believe, at least,

"That every spark of reason's light must be

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Quench'd in this brain, ere I could stray from thee.

They told me thou wert dead - why, Azim, why, "Did we not, both of us, that instant die

"When we were parted? oh! could'st thou but know "With what a deep devotedness of woe

"I wept thy absence-o'er and o'er again

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Thinking of thee, still thee, till thought grew pain, "And memory, like a drop that, night and day, "Falls cold and ceaseless, wore my heart away. "Didst thou but know how pale I sat at home, "My eyes still turn'd the way thou wert to come, "And all the long, long night of hope and fear, "Thy voice and step still sounding in my ear"Oh God! thou wouldst not wonder that, at last, "When every hope was all at once o'ercast, "When I heard frightful voices round me say Azim is dead! this wretched brain gave way,

"And I became a wreck, at random driven,
"Without one glimpse of reason or of Heaven —
“All wild — and even this quenchless love within
"Turn'd to foul fires to light me into sin!

"Thou pitiest me I knew thou would'st. that sky

-

"Hath nought beneath it half so lorn as I. "The fiend, who lur'd me hither-hist! come near, "Or thou too, thou art lost, if he should hear "Told me such things-oh! with such devilish art, "As would have ruin'd ev'n a holier heart"Of thee, and of that ever-radiant sphere, "Where bless'd at length, if I but served him here, "I should for ever live in thy dear sight, "And drink from those pure eyes eternal light. "Think, think how lost, how madden'd I must be, "To hope that guilt could lead to God or thee! "Thou weep'st for me —do weep—oh, that I durst "Kiss off that tear! but, no- these lips are curst,

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They must not touch thee; one divine caress, "One blessed moment of forgetfulness

"I've had within those arms, and that shall lie,
"Shrin'd in my soul's deep memory till I die;
"The last of joy's last relics here below,
"The one sweet drop, in all this waste of woe,
"My heart has treasur'd from affection's spring,
“To soothe and cool its deadly withering!

"But thou

yes, thou must go. for ever go; "This place is not for thee for thee! oh no,

"Did I but tell thee half, thy tortur'd brain
“Would burn like mine, and mine go wild again!

Enough, that Guilt reigns here-that hearts, once good, "Now tainted, chill'd, and broken, are his food.—

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Enough, that we are parted—that there rolls

"A flood of headlong fate between our souls,
"Whose darkness severs me as wide from thee
"As hell from heav'n, to all eternity!"

"ZELICA, ZELICA!" the youth exclaimed, In all the tortures of a mind inflamed

Almost to madness

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by that sacred Heav'n,

"Where yet, if pray'rs can move, thou'lt be forgiven,
"As thou art here - here, in this writhing heart,
"All sinful, wild, and ruin'd as thou art!

"By the remembrance of our once pure love,

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"Which, like a church-yard light, still burns above "The grave of our lost souls which guilt in thee "Cannot extinguish, nor despair in me!

"I do conjure, implore thee to fly hence"If thou hast yet one spark of innocence,

""Tis worth whole years of torment to hear this.
"What! take the lost one with thee? let her rove

"By thy dear side, as in those days of love,

"When we were both so happy, both so pure -
"Too heavenly dream! if there's on earth a cure
"For the sunk heart, 'tis this day after day

-

"To be the blest companion of thy way;
"To hear thy angel eloquence- to see
"Those virtuous eyes for ever turn'd on me;

"And, in their light re-chasten'd silently,

"Like the stain'd web that whitens in the sun,

"Grow pure by being purely shone upon!

"At the dim vesper hour, when thoughts of guilt "Come heaviest o'er the heart, thou'lt lift thine eyes, "Full of sweet tears, unto the dark'ning skies, "And plead for me with Heav'n, till I can dare "To fix my own weak, sinful glances there; "Till the good angels, when they see me cling "For ever near thee, pale and sorrowing, "Shall for thy sake pronounce my soul forgiven, "And bid thee take thy weeping slave to Heaven! "Oh yes, I'll fly with thee

Scarce had she said

These breathless words, when a voice deep and dread As that of MONKER, waking up the dead

From their first sleep - so startling 'twas to both
Rung through the casement near," Thy oath ! thy oath!"
Oh Heav'n, the ghastliness of that Maid's look!
""Tis he,” faintly she cried, while terror shook

Her inmost core, nor durst she lift her eyes,

Though through the casement, now, nought but the skies And moonlight fields were seen, calm as before

""Tis he, and I am his all, all is o'er

"Go

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fly this instant, or thou'rt ruin'd too

--

'My oath, my oath, oh God! 'tis all too true,
"True as the worm in this cold heart it is -
"I am MOKANNA's bride - his, AZIM, his
"The dead stood round us, while I spoke that vow,
"Their blue lips echo'd it

I hear them now;