SWEETLY' you kiss, my LAIS dear! Our last-go, false to heaven and me! SUCH, while in air I floating hung, Such was the strain, Morgante mio! The muse and I together sung, With Boreas to make out the trio ; But, bless the little fairy isle! How sweetly after all our ills, Serenely o'er its fragrant hills! In glassy calm the waters sleep, The coral rocks they love to steep!" The fainting breeze of morning fails, The drowsy boat moves slowly past, And I can almost touch its sails That languish idly round the mast. 1 This epigram is by Paulus Silentiarius, and may be found in the Analecta of Brunck, Vol. 8. p. 72. But as the reading there is somewhat different from what I have followed in this translation, I shall give it as I had it in my memory at the time, and as it is in Heinsius, who, I believe, first produced the epigram. See his Poemata. Ηδυ μεν εστι φίλημα το Λαιδος ηδυ δε αυτων Και πολυ κιχλίζεσα τόβοις ευβοστρυχον αιγλην The sun has now profusely given Oh! for the boat the angel gave1 To him, who, in his heaven-ward flight, To planet-isles of odorous light! There spring the breezes, rich and warm, That pant around thy twilight car; Thy planet's brightening balm to shed; Which had been, oh! too dear before! Long may the bowl that pleasures bloom in, Fare you well-remember too, When cups are flowing to the brim, 1 In Kircher's "Extatic Journey to Heaven," Cosmiel, the genius of the world, gives Theodidactus a boat of Asbestos, with which he embarks into the regions of the sun. "Vides (says Cosmiel) hanc asbestinam naviculam commoditati tua præparatam." Itinerar. 1. Dial. 1. Cap. 5. There are some very strange fancies in this work of Kircher. 2 When the Genius of the world and his fellow-traveller arrive at the planet Venus, they find an island of loveliness, full of odours and intelligences, where angels preside, who 2 The water is so clear around the island, that the rocks shed the cosmetic influence of this planet over the earth; are seen beneath to a very great depth, and, as we entered such being, according to astrologers, the "vis influxiva" of the harbour, they appeared to us so near the surface, that it Venus. When they are in this part of the heavens, a casu seemed impossible we should not strike on them. There is istical question occurs to Theodidactus, and he asks no necessity, of course, for heaving the lead, and the negro" Whether baptism may be performed with the waters of pilot, looking down at the rocks from the bow of the ship, Venus?"—“ An aquis globi Veneris baptismus institui postakes her through this difficult navigation, with a skill and sit?" to which the Genius answers, "Certainly," confidence which seem to astonish some of the oldest sailors. 3 This idea is father Kircher's. "Tot animatos roles dixisses." Itinerar. i. Dial. Cap. 5 Yet heav'n will shed a soothing beam, To bless the bond itself hath form'd. But then, that eye, that burning eye! Oh! it doth ask, with magic power, If heaven can ever bless the tie, Where love inwreaths no genial flower! Away, away, bewildering look! Or all the boast of Virtue's o'er; Go-hie thee to the sage's book, And learn from him to feel no more! I cannot warn thee! every touch, That brings my pulses close to thine, Tells me I want thy aid as much, Oh! quite as much, as thou dost mine! Yet stay, dear love-one effort yet— The light that leads my soul astray! Thou say'st, that we were born to meet, That our hearts bear one common seal,— Oh, Lady! think, how man's deceit Can seem to sigh and feign to feel! When, o'er thy face some gleam of thought, Like day-beams through the morning air, Hath gradual stole, and I have caught The feeling ere it kindled there: The sympathy I then betray'd, Perhaps was but the child of art; With loveless heart or senses cold? For many a maid, my soul hath prov'd; With some I wanton'd wild and vain, While some I truly, dearly lov'd! The cheek to thine I fondly lay, To them have been as warmly said. While thus to mine thy bosom lies, Did we not love so true, so dear, This lapse could never be forgiven; But hearts so fond and lips so nearGive me the ring, and now-Oh heaven! YES, if 'twere any common love, That led my pliant heart astray, So fair there are but thou and she! She was thy lovely perfect twin, And wore the only shape on earth, That could have charm'd my soul to sin! Your eyes!-the eyes of languid doves Were never half so like each other! The glances of the baby loves Resemble less their warm-ey'd mother! I could as soon resist thine own- Then, scorn me not, though false I be, 'Twas love that wak'd the dear excess; My heart had been more true to thee, Had mine eye priz'd thy beauty less! ΤΟ WHEN I lov'd you, I can't but allow I had many an exquisite minute; But the scorn that I feel for you now Hath even more luxury in it Thus, whether we're on or we're off, Some witchery seems to await you; To love you is pleasant enough, And, oh! 'tis delicious to hate you! FROM THE GREEK OF MELEAGER.' And let the sound my lips adore, Give me the wreath that withers there; It hung upon her wavy hair, And caught her eyes' reflected light! The loving rose-bud drops a tear, LINES, WRITTEN IN A STORM AT SEA THAT Sky of clouds is not the sky Of her he loves The swell of yonder foaming billow Resembles not the happy sigh That rapture moves. Yet do I feel more tranquil now In this dark hour, Than when, in transport's young emotion, Oh! there's a holy calm profound "Tis as a solemn voice from heaven, 'Tis true, it talks of danger nigh, Where pleasure's throb or tears of sorrow Well!-there are some, thou stormy bed, 1 Εγχει, και παλιν οίπε, παλιν, παλιν, Ηλιοδώρος Whose lip hath drain'd life's cup of pleasure, Nor left one honey drop to shed Round misery's brim. Yes-he can smile serene at death: Tell them that he lies calmly sleeping ODES TO NEA; WRITTEN AT BERMUDA. NEA TYPANNEI. Euripid. Medea, v. 967. NAY, tempt me not to love again, Our souls had not been slow to meet ! So many a time, the rounds of pain, Would I endure such pangs again. Thither my wounded soul would fly, Where rosy cheek or radiant eye Should bring no more their bliss, their pain, Or fetter me to earth again! Dear absent girl, whose eyes of light, As when they first enamouring shone! Say, NEA, dear! could'st thou, like her, Endearing still, reproaching never. Could make such virtue false at last! Must thrill a soul more pure than mine Oh! thou shalt be all else to me, That heart can feel or tongue can feign; I'll praise, admire, and worship thee, But must not, dare not, love again. TALE ITER OMNE CAVE. Propert. Lib. iv. Eleg. 8 I PRAY you, let us roam no more Where late we thoughtless stray'd; That little bay, where, winding in (As lovers steal to bliss,) The billows kiss the shore, and then As though they did not kiss! I saw you blush, you felt me tremble, All that we wish'd and thought ;'Twas more than tongue could dare reveal, "Twas more than virtue ought to feel, But all that passion ought! I stoop'd to cull, with faltering hand, Before us faintly gleam'd; I rais'd it to your lips of dew, You read it in my languid eyes, And thus alone should love be said. To murmur on that luckless night, When passion broke the bonds of shame, And love grew madness in your sight? Divinely through the graceful dance, You seem'd to float in silent song, Bending to earth that beamy glance, Too rare for all but heaven and me! My soul forgot-nor, oh! condemn, I dar'd to speak in sobs of bliss, I would have clasp'd you-oh, even this!-- Forgive it, if, alas! you can; "Twas love, 'twas passion-soul and sense— "Twas all the best and worst of man! That moment, did the mingled eyes Of heaven and earth my madness view, I should have-oh, my only love! A DREAM OF ANTIQUITY I JUST had turn'd the classic page, Upon the bank awhile I stood, I felt as if the scenery there Were lighted by a Grecian sky- That yet was warm with Sappho's sigh! 1 Gassendi thinks that the gardens, which Pausanias mentions, in his first Book, were those of Epicurus; and Stuart says, in his Antiquities of Athens, "Near this convent (the convent of Hagios Assomatos) is the place called at present Kepoi, or the Gardens; and Ampelos Kepos, or the Vinoyard Garden; these were probably the gardens which Pausanias visited." Chap. ii. Vol. I. Where Epicurus taught the Loves To polish virtue's native brightness, Just as the beak of playful doves Can give to pearls a smoother whiteness!! "Twas one of those delicious nights So common in the climes of Greece, When day withdraws but half its lights, And all is moonshine, balm, and peace! And thou wert there, my own belov'd! And dearly by thy side I rov'd Through many a temple's reverend gloom, And many a bower's seductive bloom, Where beauty blush'd and wisdom taught, Where lovers sigh'd and sages thought, Where hearts might feel or heads discern, And all was form'd to sooth or move, To make the dullest love to learn, To make the coldest learn to love! And now the fairy pathway seem'd To lead us through enchanted ground, Where all that bard has ever dream'd Of love or luxury bloom'd around! Oh! 'twas a bright bewildering sceneAlong the alley's deepening green, Soft lamps, that hung like burning flowers, And scented and illum'd the bowers, Seem'd, as to him, who darkling roves Amid the lone Hercynian groves, Appear the countless birds of light, That sparkle in the leaves at night, And from their wings diffuse a ray Along the traveller's weary way 'Twas light of that mysterious kind, 12 Through which the soul is doom'd to roam, When it has left this world behind, And gone to seek its heavenly home! And, NEA, thou didst look and move, Like any blooming soul of bliss, That wanders to its home above Through mild and shadowy light like this! But now, methought, we stole along Through halls of more voluptuous glory Than ever liv'd in Teian song, 13 Or wanton'd in Milesian story! As if with soul and passion fill'd! 1 This method of polishing pearls, by leaving them awhile to be played with by doves, is mentioned by the fanciful Cardanus, de Rerum Varietat. Lib. vii. cap. 34. [While others, waving arms of snow Entwin'd by snakes of burnish'd gold,' Through many a thin Tarentian fold," Where roses lay, in langour breathing, The spell that so divinely bound me? With thee my own and heaven around me ? WELL-peace to thy heart, though another's it be, If I were yonder wave, my dear, And thou the isle it clasps around, I would not let a foot come near My land of bliss, my fairy ground! 1 Bracelets of this shape were a favourite ornament among the women of antiquity. O sixxρis opsi xx as xpuexe πεδαι Θαιδος και Αρισταγόρας και Λαίδος φαρμακα. Philostrat. Epist. xl. Lucian too tells of the Epxx1010 Spακοντες. See his Amores, where he describes the dressingroom of a Grecian lady, and we find the "silver vase," the rouge, the tooth-powder, and all the "mystic order" of a modern toilet. 2 Ταραντινίδιον, διαφανές ενδυμα, ωνομασμένον απο της Ταραντίνων χρήσεως και τρυφης. Polluz. 3 Apiana, mentioned by Pliny, Lib. xiv. and "now called the Muscatell (a muscarum telish") says Pancirollus, Book i. Sect. 1. Chap. 17. 4 The inhabitants pronounce the name as if it were written Bermooda. See the commentators on the words "stillvex'd Bermoothes," in the Tempest. I wonder it did not occur to some of those all-reading gentlemen that, possibly, the discoverer of this "island of hogs and devils" might have been no less a personage than the great John Bermu 2 In Hercynio Germaniæ saltu inusitata genera alitum accepimus, quarum pluma, ignium modo, colluceant nocti-dez, who, about the same period, (the beginning of the sixbus. Plin. Lib. x. cap. 47. 3 The Milesiacs, or Milesian Fables, had their origin in Milatus, a luxurious town of Jonia. Aristides was the most celebrated author of these licentious fictions. See Plutarch (in Crasso) who calls them XXROTH BIGXIX. 4 Some of the Cretan wines, which Athenæus calls ovOS avis, from their fragrancy resembling that of the finest flowers. Barry on Wines, chap. vii. teenth century,) was sent Patriarch of the Latin Church to Ethiopia, and has left us most wonderful stories of the Amazons and the Griffins, which he encountered. Travels of the Jesuits, Vol. I. I am afraid, however, it would take the Patriarch rather too much out of his way. 5 Johnson does not think that Waller was ever at Bermuda; but the "Account of the European Settlements in America," affirms it confidently. (Vol. II.) I mention this 5 It appears, that in very splendid mansions the floor or work, however, less for its authority, than for the pleasure I pavement was frequently of onyx. Thus Martial: "Calca-feel in quoting an unacknowledged production of the grea tusque tuo sub pede lucet onyx.' Epig. 50. Lib. xii. Edmund Burke. P |