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Oft in my waking dreams do I
Live o'er again that happy hour,
When midway on the mount I lay,
Beside the ruin'd tower.

The moonshine, stealing o'er the scene
Had blended with the light of eve;
And she was there, my hope, my joy,
My own dear Genevieve!

She lean'd against the armèd man,
The statue of the armèd knight;
She stood and listen'd to my lay,
Amid the lingering light.

Few sorrows hath she of her own,
My hope! my joy! my Genevieve!
She loves me best whene'er I sing

The songs that make her grieve.

I play'd a soft and doleful air,
I sang an old and moving story—
An old rude song, that suited well
That ruin wild and hoary.

She listen'd with a flitting blush,
With downcast eyes and modest grace;
For well she knew I could not choose
But gaze upon her face.

I told her of the Knight that wore
Upon his shield a burning brand;
And that for ten long years he woo'd
The Lady of the Land.

I told her how he pined: and ah! The deep, the low, the pleading tone

With which I sang another's love,
Interpreted my own.

She listen'd with a flitting blush,
With downcast eyes, and modest grace;
And she forgave me, that I gazed
Too fondly on her face!

But when I told the cruel scorn

That crazed that bold and lovely Knight, And that he cross'd the mountain-woods, Nor rested day nor night;

That sometimes from the savage den,
And sometimes from the darksome shade,
And sometimes starting up at once

In green and sunny glade,—

There came and look'd him in the face

An angel beautiful and bright;

And that he knew it was a Fiend,

This miserable Knight!

And that unknowing what he did,
He leap'd among a murderous band,
And saved from outrage worse than death
The Lady of the Land; -

And how she wept, and clasp'd his knees;
And how she tended him in vain-

And ever strove to expiate

The scorn that crazed his brain

And that she nursed him in a cave;
And how his madness went away,
When on the yellow forest-leaves
A dying man he lay ;—

His dying words-but when I reach'd
That tenderest strain of all the ditty,
My faltering voice and pausing harp
Disturbed her soul with pity!

All impulses of soul and sense
Had thrill'd my guileless Genevieve ;
The music and the doleful tale,
The rich and balmy eve;

And hopes, and fears that kindle hope,
An undistinguishable throng,
And gentle wishes long subdued,
Subdued and cherish'd long!

She wept with pity and delight,
She blush'd with love, and virgin shame;
And like the murmur of a dream,
I heard her breathe my name.

Her bosom heaved-she stepp'd aside,
As conscious of my look she stept—
Then suddenly, with timorous eye
She fled to me and wept.

She half inclosed me with her arms,
She press'd me with a meek embrace;
And bending back her head look'd up,
And gazed upon my face.

'Twas partly love, and partly fear,
And partly 'twas a bashful art,
That I might rather feel, than see
The swelling of her heart.

I calm'd her fears, and she was calm,
And told her love with virgin pride;
And so I won my Genevieve,

My bright and beauteous Bride.

COLERIDGE.

SONG FOR AUGUST.

ENEATH this starry arch

B Nought resteth

Nought resteth or is still;
But all things hold their march
As if by one great will.
Moves one, move all,-
Hark to the footfall,-
On, on, for ever.

Yon sheaves were once but seed;

Will ripens into deed:

As cave-drops swell the streams

Day thoughts feed nightly dreams;
And sorrow tracketh wrong
As echo follows song,-

On, on, for ever.

By night, like stars on high,
The hours reveal their train;

They whisper and pass by;
I never watch in vain.
Moves one, move all,-
Hark to the footfall,-
On, on, for ever.

They pass the cradle head,
And there a promise shed;

They pass the moist new grave,
And bid rank verdure wave;
They bear through every clime
The harvest of all time,-

On, on, for ever.

HARRIET MARTINEAU.

[LULLABY FOR TITANIA.]

66

FROM A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM.'

Y

First Fairy.

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OU spotted snakes with double tongue,
Thorny hedgehogs, be not seen;

Newts, and blind worms, do no wrong;
Come not near our fairy queen.

Chorus.

Philomel with melody

Sing in our sweet lullaby :
Lulla, lulla, lullaby: lulla, lulla, lullaby :
Never harm, nor spell nor charm,
Come our lovely lady nigh!
So good-night, with lullaby.

Second Fairy.

Weaving spiders, come not here;

Hence, you long-legg'd spinners, hence;

Beetles black, approach not near;
Worm, nor snail, do no offence.

Chorus.

Philomel with melody

Sing in our sweet lullaby :

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