IV.

But, Spirit of the Breeze,
Whose noonday melodies,

And fragrant breath, soothe me so tenderly;

In vain I strive to view

Thy form's celestial hue,

Too shadowy a dream art thou to flit o'er Fancy's

eye.

V.

Or art thou but a sound,

In fragrance floating round,

The whisper of some rural Deity,

Who, stretch'd in grotto calm,
With breath of purest balm,

Is warbling to the Nymphs' delicious minstrelsy?

VI.

Oh! happy wandering thing,
Thus bearing on thy wing

Refreshing coolness, fragrance, and sweet sound;
How calmly dost thou stray

Through groves and meadows gay,

Still catching, as thou glidest on, new freshness from the ground.

VII.

Thou breathest on my brow,

I feel thy kisses now,

Thy cooling kisses :-but what charm was this? For oh! those kisses bore

A joy unfelt before,

A momentary, strange, imaginative bliss.

VIII.

From my distemper'd brain

Thou didst call up a train

Of recollections sweet, which long had slept;
Almost before my eyes

I saw dear forms arise,

And cherish'd thoughts and feelings from their deep cells crept.

IX.

Whence was this wondrous spell?
Thou sweet-voiced Spirit tell-

Oh! com'st thou from mine own Salopian hills?
Their freshness dost thou bring,

Thou blessed gale of Spring,

With soothing charms to win me from my dream

X.

Oh! there did lurk beneath

The fragrance of thy breath.

A dim emotion of remember'd joy;

And in thy voice I heard

Tones that my spirit stirr'd,

[of ills?

The kindly tones that spoke to me, and cheer'd me

when a boy.

XI.

Hast thou not wandering been

Amid those valleys green,

Which bear the light print of my loved one's feet; And as thou glidedst by,

Caught her most holy sigh?

I felt, I felt its fragrance in thy kiss so sweet.

XII.

And hast thou not stray'd o'er
Sabrina's grassy shore,

Sweetening thy cool breath with her springing
flowers;

And pass'd the cot where dwell

They whom I love so well,

Beneath their arching trees, and honeysuckle

XIII.

Bear'st thou not thence along

My dark-brow'd sister's song,

[bowers?

Her song so potent gentle hearts to move;
Whose sweet and maiden tone,

Perchance hath sweeter grown,

Now blended with the quiet sighs and tender notes of love?

XIV.

Or she, the mild-ey'd maid,
Perchance by moonlight stray'd,

Quietly gazing at the silent sky;

When thou didst catch her thought,

With such calm rapture fraught,

To breathe it o'er my weary soul, deliciously.

XV.

Oh! thou hast nought to do

Upon the ocean blue,

Filling with busy breath the mariner's sails;
No worldly, dull employment,

Thou bodiless enjoyment,

Is thine, nor aught hast thou to do with wild and warring gales.

XVI.

But peacefully thou roamest,

And wheresoe'er thou comest,

Breathest around the freshness of the skies;
And on our hearts dost fling,

From thy enchanted wing,

Remembrances of absent love, calm thoughts, and happy sighs.

XVII.

I know that thou art come

From my far-distant home,

And thy calm breathings tell what peace is there; But, gentle fay, returning,

Say not my soul is burning

With disappointment's bitter sting and comfortless

That dear and happy musings still are mine; That Hope's bright dreams are flown, But many a lingering tone

Of Memory's music lulls me yet to ecstasies divine.

April, 1821.