Sidebilder
PDF
ePub
[blocks in formation]
[graphic][subsumed]

AT the close of the day, when the hamlet is still,
And mortals the sweets of forgetfulness prove;
When nought but the torrent is heard on the hill,

And nought but the nightingale's song in the grove:
'Twas then, by the cave of the mountain reclined,
A Hermit his nightly complaint thus began:
Though mournful his numbers, his soul was resign'd:
He thought as a sage, though he felt as a man.

THE HERMIT.

[ocr errors]

"Ah! why thus abandon'd to darkness and woe? Why thus, lonely Philomel, flows thy sad strain? For Spring shall return, and a lover bestow,

And thy bosom no trace of misfortune retain. Yet, if pity inspire thee, oh! cease not thy lay;

Mourn, sweetest companion! man calls thee to mourn: Oh! soothe him, whose pleasures, like thine, pass away;

Full quickly they pass--but they never return!

'Now, gliding remote on the verge of the sky,
The moon, half-extinct, a dim crescent displays;
But lately I mark'd, when, majestic on high,

She shone, and the planets were lost in her blaze.
Roll on then, fair orb, and with gladness pursue
The path that conducts thee to splendour again :
But man's faded glory no change shall renew ;-
Ah, fool! to exult in a glory so vain!

""Tis night, and the landscape is lovely no more:

I mourn; but, ye woodlands, I mourn not for you; For morn is approaching, your charms to restore,

Perfumed with fresh fragrance, and glitt'ring with dew. Nor yet for the ravage of Winter I mourn;

Kind Nature the embryo blossom shall save:

But when shall Spring visit the mouldering urn?

Oh! when shall it dawn on the night of the grave?"

[merged small][ocr errors]

THE shades of night were falling fast,

As through an Alpine village pass'd

A youth, who bore, 'mid snow and ice,

A banner with the strange device,
Excelsior!

His brow was sad; his eye beneath

Flash'd like a falchion from its sheath;

Aud like a silver clarion rung

The accents of that unknown tongue,
Excelsior!

In happy homes he saw the light

Of household fires gleam warm and bright;

Above, the spectral glaciers shone,

And from his lips escaped a groan,
Excelsior!

"Try not the Pass!" the old man said: "Dark lowers the tempest overhead; The roaring torrent is deep and wide!" And loud that clarion voice replied,

Excelsior!

[graphic][ocr errors][subsumed][merged small][merged small][ocr errors]
« ForrigeFortsett »