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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 !

THE LOST PLEIAD.

BY MRS. HEMANS.

"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.

BY ALARIC A. WATTS.

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 !

118

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!

No, I'll not believe thy name

Can be aught allied to shame.

Then let them call thee what they will,
I've sworn, and I'll maintain it still

(Spite of tradition's idle din),

Thou art not-canst not be-NELL GWYN !

A FAREWELL TO ENGLAND.
BY JOSEPH RITCHIE, ESQ.

THY chalky cliffs are fading from my view, Our bark is dancing gaily on the sea, I sigh while yet I may, and say adieu, Albion, thou jewel of the earth, to thee! Whose fields first fed my childish fantasy, Whose mountains were my boyhood's wild delight, Whose rocks, and woods, and torrents, were to me The food of my soul's youthful appetite,Were music to my ear, a blessing to my sight!

I never dreamt of beauty, but, behold,
Straightway thy daughters flashed upon my eye;
I never mused on valour, but the old
Memorials of thy haughty chivalry
Filled my expanding soul with ecstacy;
And when I thought on wisdom and the crown
The muses give, with exultation high,

I turned to those whom thou hast called thine own, Who fill the spacious earth with their and thy renown.

When my young heart, in life's gay morning hour,
At beauty's summons, beat a wild alarm,
Her voice came to me from an English bower,
And English were the smiles that wrought the charm ;

120

A FAREWELL TO ENGLAND.

And if, when wrapped asleep on Fancy's arm,
Visions of bliss my riper years have cheered,
Of home, and love's fireside, and greetings warm,
For one by absence and long toil endeared,
The fabric of my hopes on thee hath still been reared.

Peace to thy smiling hearths, when I am gone;
And mayest thou still thine ancient dowry keep,
To be a mark to guide the nations on,

Like a tall watch-tower flashing o'er the deep ;—
Still mayest thou bid the sorrower cease to weep,
And dart the beams of Truth athwart the night
That wraps a slumbering world, till, from their sleep
Starting, remotest nations see the light,

And earth be blessed beneath the buckler of thy might.

Strong in thy strength I go; and wheresoe'er
My steps may wander, may I ne'er forget
All that I owe to thee; and O may ne'er
My frailties tempt me to abjure that debt!
And what, if far from thee my star must set,
Hast thou not hearts that shall with sadness hear
The tale, and some fair cheeks that shall be wet,
And some bright eyes, in which the swelling tear
Shall start for him who sleeps in Afric's deserts drear.

Yet I will not profane a charge like mine,
With melancholy bodings, nor believe,
That a voice, whispering ever in the shrine
Of my own heart, spake only to deceive;
I trust its promise, that I go to weave

A wreath of palms, entwined with many a sweet
Perennial flower, which time shall not bereave
Of all its fragrance, that I yet shall greet
Once more the ocean queen, and cast it at her feet.

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