Whose Lyre the spirit of sweet song had hung
With myrtle and with laurel: on whose head
Genius had shed his starry glories,-transcripts
Of woman's loving heart, and woman's disappointment.
SHE leant upon her harp, and thousands looked
On her in love and wonder ;-thousands knelt
And worshiped in her presence :-burning tears,
And words that died in utterance, and a pause
Of breathless agitated eagerness,
First gave the full heart's homage, then came forth
A shout that rose to heaven; and the hills,
The distant valleys, all rang with the name
Of the Æolian Sappho !-Every heart
Found in itself some echo to her song.
Low notes of love, hopes beautiful and fresh,—
And some gone by for ever- -glorious dreams,
High aspirations, those thrice gentle thoughts
That dwell upon the absent and the dead,
Were breathing in her music-and these are
Chords every bosom vibrates to. But she,
Upon whose brow the laurel crown is placed,
Her colour's varying with deep emotion—
There is a softer blush than conscious pride
Upon her cheek, and in that tremulous smile
Is all a woman's timid tenderness.
is on a Youth, and other days And feelings warm have rushed on her soul With all their former influence;-thoughts that slept Cold, calm as death, have wakened to new life ;
Whole years' existence have passed in that glance.—
She had once loved in very early days;
That was a thing gone by. One had called forth
The music of her soul.-He loved her too,
But not as she did :-she was unto him
As a young bird, whose early flight he trained,
Whose first wild songs were sweet, for he had taught
Those songs:-but she looked up to him with all
Youth's deep and passionate idolatry;—
Love was her heart's sole universe-he was
To her, Hope, Genius, Energy,—the God
Her inmost spirit worshiped,-in whose smile
Was all e'en minstrel pride held precious; praise
Was prized but as the echo of his own.
But other times and other feelings came:
Hope is love's element, and love with her
Sickened of its own vanity.-She lived
'Mid bright realities and brighter dreams,
Those strange but exquisite imaginings
That tinge, with such sweet colours, minstrel thoughts;
And Fame, like sunlight, was upon her path;
And strangers heard her name, and eyes that never
Had looked on Sappho, yet had wept with her.
Her first love never wholly lost its power,
But, like rich incense shed, although no trace
Was of its visible presence, yet its sweetness
Mingled with every feeling, and it gave
That soft and melancholy tenderness
Which was the magic of her song.—That youth
Who knelt before her, was so like the shape
That haunted her spring-dreams-the same dark eyes,
Whose light had once been as the light of heaven!—
Others breathed winning flatteries, she turned
A careless hearing;-but when Phaon spoke,
Her heart beat quicker, and the crimson light
Upon her cheek gave a most tender answer.-
She loved with all the ardour of a heart
Which lives but in itself; her life had passed
Amid the grand creations of the thought.
Love was to her a vision ;-it was now
Heightened into devotion. But a soul
So gifted and so. passionate as her's,
Will seek companionship in vain, and find
Its feelings solitary.-Phaon soon
Forgot the fondness of his Lesbian maid;
And Sappho knew that talents, riches, fame,
May not sooth slighted love.
There is a dark rock looks on the blue sea;
'Twas there love's last song echoed :-there she sleeps,
Whose lyre was crowned with laurel, and whose name
Will be remembered long as Love or Song
Are sacred-the devoted Sappho !
"Like the lost Pleiad seen no more below."-LORD BYRON.
AND is there glory from the Heavens departed?
-Oh, void unmarked!-thy sisters of the sky
Still hold their place on high,
Though from its rank thine orb so long hath started,
Thou! that no more art seen of mortal eye!
Hath the night lost a gem, the regal night?
-She wears her crown of old magnificence,
Though thou art exiled thence!
No desert seems to part those urns of light,
'Midst the far depths of purple gloom intense.
They rise in joy, the starry myriads burning!
The shepherd greets them on his mountains free,
And from the silvery sea
To them the sailor's wakeful eye is turning;
Unchanged they rise, they have not mourned for thee!
Couldst thou be shaken from thy radiant place,
E'en as the dewdrop from the myrtle spray,
Swept by the wind away?
Wert thou not peopled by some glorious race,
And was there power to smite them with decay?
Why, who shall talk of thrones, of sceptres riven?
It is too sad to think on what we are,
When from its height afar,
A world sinks thus; and yon majestic Heaven
Shines not the less for that one vanished star!
ON A PORTRAIT,
SUPPOSED TO BE OF NELL GWYN.
BEAUTIFUL and radiant girl!
I have heard of teeth of pearl,—
Lips of coral,-cheeks of rose,-
Necks and brows like drifted snows,-
Eyes, as diamonds sparkling bright,
Or the stars of summer's night,-
And expression, grace, and soul,
Softly tempering down the whole :-
But a form so near divine,
With a face so fair as thine,-
And so sunny bright a brow,-
Never met my gaze till now!
Thou wert Venus' sister-twin,
If this shade be thine, NELL GWYN!
ON A PORTRAIT OF NELL GWYN.
Cast that carcanet away,
Thou hast need of no display-
Gems, however rare, to deck
Such an alabaster neck!
Can the brilliant lustre vie
With the glories of thine eye?
Or the ruby's red compare
With the two lips breathing there?
Can they add a richer glow
To thy beauties? No, sweet, no!
Though thou bear'st the name of one
Whom 'twas virtue once to shun,-
It were sure to taste a sin,
Now to pass thee by-NELL Gwyn.
But they've wronged thee; and I swear,
By that brow, so dazzling fair,-
By the light subdued that flashes
From thy drooping lids' silk lashes,—
By the deep blue eyes beneath them,—
By the clustering curls that wreathe them,
By thy softly blushing cheek,—
By thy lips, that more than speak,—
By thy stately swanlike neck,
Glossy white, without a speck,-
By thy slender fingers fair,-
Modest mien,-and graceful air,—
'Twas a burning shame and sin,
Sweet, to christen thee-NELL GWYN.
Wreathe for aye thy snowy arms,
Thine are, sure, no wanton's charms!
Like the fawn's, as bright and shy-
Beans thy dark, retiring eye ;—
No bold invitation's given
From the depths of that blue heaven,—
Nor one glance of lightness hid
'Neath its pale declining lid !
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