Seeing all their luckless race are dead, save me, And I neglect the holy rite for thee. Even as you list invite your many guests: But if, as now it seems, your vision rests With any pleasure on me, do not bid Old Apollonius-from him keep me hid." Lycius, perplex'd at words so blind and blank, Made close inquiry; from whose touch she shrank, Feigning a sleep; and he to the dull shade Of deep sleep in a moment was betray'd.
It was the custom then to bring away The bride from home at blushing shut of day, Veil'd, in a chariot, heralded along
By strewn flowers, torches, and a marriage song, With other pageants; but this fair unknown Had not a friend. So being left alone (Lycius was gone to summon all his kin), And knowing surely she could never win His foolish heart from its mad pompousness, She set herself, high-thoughted, how to dress The misery in fit magnificence.
She did so, but 'tis doubtful how and whence Came, and who were her subtle servitors. About the halls, and to and from the doors, There was a noise of wings, till in short space The glowing banquet-room shone with wide-arched
A haunting music, sole perhaps and lone Supportress of the fairy-roof, made moan
Of wealthy lustre was the banquet-room, Fill'd with pervading brilliance and perfume: Before each lucid panel fuming stood
A censer fed with myrrh and spiced wood, Each by a sacred tripod held aloft, Whose slender feet wide-swerved upon the soft Wool-woofed carpets: fifty wreaths of smoke From fifty censers their light voyage took To the high roof, still mimick'd as they rose Twelve sphered tables, by silk seats insphered, Along the mirror'd walls by twin-clouds odorous. High as the level of a man's breast rear'd On libbard's paws, upheld the heavy gold cups and goblets, and the store thrice told
Throughout, as fearful the whole charm might fade. Of Ceres' horn, and, in huge vessels, wine
Fresh carved cedar, mimicking a glade Of palm and plantain, met from either side, High in the midst, in honor of the bride:
Two palms and then two plantains, and so on, From either side their stems branch'd one to one All down the aisled palace; and beneath all
Came from the gloomy tun with merry shine. Thus loaded with a feast, the tables stood, Each shrining in the midst the image of a God.
When in an antechamber every guest
There ran a stream of lamps straight on from wall Had felt the cold full sponge to pleasure press'd,
So canopied, lay an untasted feast
Teeming with odors. Lamia, regal drest, Silently paced about, and as she went, In pale contented sort of discontent, Mission'd her viewless servants to enrich The fretted splendor of each nook and niche. Between the tree-stems, marbled plain at first, Came jasper panels; then, anon, there burst Forth creeping imagery of slighter trees, And with the larger wove in small intricacies. Approving all, she faded at self-will,
And shut the chamber up, close, hush'd and still, Complete and ready for the revels rude,
By minist'ring slaves, upon his hands and feet, And fragrant oils with ceremony meet Pour'd on his hair, they all moved to the feast In white robes, and themselves in order placed Around the silken couches, wondering Whence all this mighty cost and blaze of wealth could spring.
Soft went the music that soft air along, While fluent Greek a vowell'd under-song Kept up among the guests discoursing low At first, for scarcely was the wine at flow; But when the happy vintage touch'd their brains, Louder they talk, and louder come the strains
When dreaded guests would come to spoil her solitude. Of powerful instruments:-the gorgeous dyes,
The day appear'd, and all the gossip rout. O senseless Lycius! Madman! wherefore flout The silent-blessing fate, warm cloister'd hours, And show to common eyes these secret bowers? The herd approach'd; each guest, with busy brain, Arriving at the portal, gazed amain,
And enter'd marvelling: for they knew the street, Remember'd it from childhood all complete Without a gap, yet ne'er before had seen That royal porch, that high-built fair demesne; So in they hurried all, mazed, curious and keen: Save one, who look'd thereon with eye severe, And with calm-planted steps walk'd in austere ;
The space, the splendor of the draperies, The roof of awful richness, nectarous cheer, Beautiful slaves, and Lamia's self, appear, Now, when the wine has done its rosy deed, And every soul from human trammels freed, No more so strange for merry wine, sweet wine Will make Elysian shades not too fair, too divine. Soon was God Bacchus at meridian height; Flush'd were their cheeks, and bright eyes double
Garlands of every green, and every scent From vales deflower'd, or forest trees, branch-rent, In baskets of bright osier'd gold were brought High as the handles heap'd, to suit the thought
Of every guest; that each, as he did please, Might fancy-fit his brows, silk-pillow'd at his ease.
What wreath for Lamia? What for Lycius? What for the sage, old Apollonius? Upon her aching forehead be there hung The leaves of willow and of adder's tongue; And for the youth, quick, let us strip for him The thyrsus, that his watching eyes may swim Into forgetfulness; and, for the sage, Let spear-grass and the spiteful thistle wage War on his temples. Do not all charms fly At the mere touch of cold philosophy?
There was an awful rainbow once in heaven: We know her woof, her texture; she is given In the dull catalogue of common things. Philosophy will clip an Angel's wings, Conquer all mysteries by rule and line, Empty the haunted air, and gnomed mine- Unweave a rainbow, as it erewhile made The tender-person'd Lamia melt into a shade.
By her glad Lycius sitting, in chief place, Scarce saw in all the room another face, Till checking his love trance, a cup he took Full-brimm'd, and opposite sent forth a look 'Cross the broad table, to beseech a glance From his old teacher's wrinkled countenance, And pledge him. The bald-head philosopher Had fix'd his eye, without a twinkle or stir Full on the alarmed beauty of the bride, Browbeating her fair form, and troubling her sweet pride.
Lycius then press'd her hand, with devout touch, As pale it lay upon the rosy couch:
"Twas icy, and the cold ran through his veins; Then sudden it grew hot, and all the pains Of an unnatural heat shot to his heart. "Lamia, what means this? Wherefore dost thou start? Know'st thou that man?" Poor Lamia answer'd not. He gazed into her eyes, and not a jot Own'd they the lovelorn piteous appeal : More, more he gazed his human senses reel : Some angry spell that loveliness absorbs; There was no recognition in those orbs. "Lamia!" he cried-and no soft-toned reply. The many heard, and the loud revelry Grew hush; the stately music no more breathes; The myrtle sicken'd in a thousand wreaths. By faint degrees, voice, lute, and pleasure ceased; A deadly silence step by step increased, Until it seem'd a horrid presence there, And not a man but felt the terror in his hair. "Lamia!" he shriek'd: and nothing but the shriek With its sad echo did the silence break. "Begone, foul dream!" he cried, gazing again In the bride's face, where now no azure vein
Wander'd on fair-spaced temples; no soft bloom Misted the cheek; no passion to illume The deep-recessed vision:-all was blight; Lamia, no longer fair, there sat a deadly white. "Shut, shut those juggling eyes, thou ruthless man! Turn them aside, wretch! or the righteous ban Of all the Gods, whose dreadful images Here represent their shadowy presences, May pierce them on the sudden with the thorn Of painful blindness; leaving thee forlorn, In trembling dotage to the feeblest fright Of conscience, for their long-offended might, For all thine impious proud-heart sophistries, Unlawful magic, and enticing lies. Corinthians! look upon that gray-beard wretch! Mark how, possess'd, his lashless eyelids stretch Around his demon eyes! Corinthians, see! My sweet bride withers at their potency."
Fool!" said the sophist, in an under-tone
Gruff with contempt; which a death-nighing moan From Lycius answer'd, as heart-struck and lost, He sank supine beside the aching ghost. "Fool! Fool!" repeated he, while his eyes still Relented not, nor moved; "from every ill Of life have I preserved thee to this day, And shall I see thee made a serpent's prey?" Then Lamia breathed death-breath; the sophist's eye, Like a sharp spear, went through her utterly, Keen, cruel, perceant, stinging: she, as well As her weak hand could any meaning tell, Motion'd him to be silent; vainly so, He look'd and look'd again a level-No! "A Serpent!" echoed he; no sooner said, Than with a frightful scream she vanished: And Lycius' arms were empty of delight, As were his limbs of life, from that same night. On the high couch he lay!-his friends came round- Supported him-no pulse, or breath they found, And, in its marriage robe, the heavy body wound.*
"Philostratus, in his fourth book de Vita Apollonii, omit, of one Menippus Lycius, a young man twenty-five hath a memorable instance in this kind, which I may not years of age, that going betwixt Cenchreas and Corinth, met such a phantasm in the habit of a fair gentlewoman, which taking him by the hand, carried him home to her house, in the suburbs of Corinth, and told him she was a Phoenician by birth, and if he would tarry with her, he should hear her sing and play, and drink such wine as never any drank, and no man should molest him; but she, being fair and lovely, would die with him, that was fair and lovely to behold. The young man, a philosopher, otherwise staid and discreet, able to moderate his passions, though not this of love, tarried with her a while to his great content, and at last married her, to whose wedding, amongst other guests, came Apollonius; who, by some probable conjectures, found her out to be a serpent, a iamia; and that all her furniture was like Tantalus' gold, described by Homer, no substance but mere illusions. When she saw herself descried, she wept, and desired Apollonius to be silent, but he would not be moved, and thereupon she, plate, house, and all that was in it, vanished in an instant: many thousands took notice of this fact, for it was done in the midst of Greece."-BURTON'S | Anatomy of Melancholy, Part 3, Sect. 2, Memb. I, Subs. I. 571
So the two brothers and their murder'd man
Rode past fair Florence, to where Arno's stream Gurgles through straiten'd banks, and still doth fan Itself with dancing bulrush, and the bream Keeps head against the freshets. Sick and wan The brothers' faces in the ford did seem, Lorenzo's flush with love.-They pass'd the water Into a forest quiet for the slaughter.
There was Lorenzo slain and buried in,
There in that forest did his great love cease; Ah! when a soul doth thus its freedom win, It aches in loneliness-is ill at peace As the break-covert blood-hounds of such sin : They dipp'd their swords in the water, and did tease Their horses homeward, with convulsed spur, Each richer by his being a murderer.
They told their sister how, with sudden speed, Lorenzo had ta'en ship for foreign lands, Because of some great urgency and need
In their affairs, requiring trusty hands. Poor girl! put on thy stifling widow's weed,
And 'scape at once from Hope's accursed bands; To-day thou wilt not see him, nor to-morrow, And the next day will be a day of sorrow.
She weeps alone for pleasures not to be; Sorely she wept until the night came on, And then, instead of love, O misery!
She brooded o'er the luxury alone: His image in the dusk she seem'd to see,
And to the silence made a gentle moan, Spreading her perfect arms upon the air, And on her couch low murmuring, "Where? O where?"
But Selfishness, Love's cousin, held not long Its fiery vigil in her single breast; She fretted for the golden hour, and hung Upon the time with feverish unrest- Not long-for soon into her heart a throng Of higher occupants, a richer zest, Came tragic; passion not to be subdued, And sorrow for her love in travels rude.
In the mid-days of autumn, on their eves The breath of Winter comes from far away, And the sick west continually bereaves
Of some gold tinge, and plays a roundelay Of death among the bushes and the leaves, To make all bare before he dares to stray From his north cavern. So sweet Isabel By gradual decay from beauty fell,
Because Lorenzo came not. Oftentimes
She ask'd her brothers, with an eye all pale, Striving to be itself, what dungeon climes Could keep him off so long? They spake a tale Time after time, to quiet her. Their crimes
Came on them, like a smoke from Hinnom's vale; And every night in dreams they groan'd aloud, To see their sister in her snowy shroud.
And she had died in drowsy ignorance,
But for a thing more deadly dark than all; It came like a fierce potion, drunk by chance, Which saves a sick man from the feather'd palf For some few gasping moments; like a lance, Waking an Indian from his cloudy hall With cruel pierce, and bringing him again Sense of the gnawing fire at heart and brain. XXXV.
It was a vision. In the drowsy gloom,
The dull of midnight, at her couch's foot Lorenzo stood, and wept: the forest tomb
Had marr'd his glossy hair which once could shoot Lustre into the sun, and put cold doom
Upon his lips, and taken the soft lute From his lorn voice, and past his loamed ears Had made a miry channel for his tears.
Strange sound it was, when the pale shadow spake; For there was striving, in its piteous tongue, To speak as when on earth it was awake, And Isabella on its music hung:
Languor there was in it, and tremulous shake,
As in a palsied Druid's harp unstrung; And through it moan'd a ghostly under-song, Like hoarse night-gusts sepulchral briers among.
Its eyes, though wild, were still all dewy bright With love, and kept all phantom fear aloof From the poor girl by magic of their light,
The while it did unthread the horrid woof Of the late darken'd time,-the murderous spite Of pride and avarice,-the dark pine roof In the forest,-and the sodden turfed dell, Where, without any word, from stabs he fell. XXXVIII.
Saying moreover, "Isabel, my sweet!
Red whortle-berries droop above my head, And a large flint-stone weighs upon my feet; Around me beeches and high chestnuts shed Their leaves and prickly nuts; a sheep-fold bleat Comes from beyond the river to my bed: Go, shed one tear upon my heather-bloom, And it shall comfort me within the tomb.
"I am a shadow now, alas! alas!
Upon the skirts of human-nature dwelling Alone: I chant alone the holy mass,
While little sounds of life are round me knelling
And glossy bees at noon do fieldward pass,
And many a chapel-bell the hour is telling, Paining me through: those sounds grow strange to me And thou art distant in Humanity.
"I know what was, I feel full well what is, And I should rage, if spirits could go mad; Though I forget the taste of earthly bliss, That paleness warms my grave, as though I had A Seraph chosen from the bright abyss
To be my spouse: thy paleness makes me glad: Thy beauty grows upon me, and I feel A greater love through all my essence steal."
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