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PART II.

DEEP in the bosom of a wood,

Where art had form'd the moated isle, An antique castle tow'ring stood,

In Gothic grandeur rose the pile.

Here Raymond, long in arms renown'd,
From scenes of war would oft repair:
His bed an only daughter crown'd,
And smil'd away a father's care.
By Nature's happiest pencil drawn,

She wore the vernal morning's ray
The vernal morning's blushing dawn'
Breaks not so beauteous into day,
Her breast, impatient of control,
Scorp'd in its silken chains to lie,
And the soft language of the soul

Flown from her never-silent eye.
The bloom that open'd on her face
Well seem'd the emblem of her mind,
Where snowy innocence we trace
With blushing modesty combin'd.
To these resistless grace impart
That look of sweetness form'd to please,
That elegance devoid of art,

That dignity that's lost in ease.
What youth so cold could view unmov'd
The maid that ev'ry beauty shar'd?
Her Armine saw; he saw, he lov'd;
He lov'd-alas! and he despair'd!
Unhappy youth! he sunk opprest;
For much he labor'd to conceal
That gentle passion of the breast,
Which all can feign, but few can feel.
Ingenuous fears suppress'd the flame,
Yet still he own'd its hidden power;
With transport dwelling on her name,
He sooth'd the solitary hour..

How long," he cry'd, "must I conceal What yet my heart could wish were known? "How long the truest passion feel, "And yet that passion fear to own? "Ah, might I breathe my humble vow!

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Might she too deign to lend an ear! "Elvira's self should then allow

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"That Armine was at least sincere. "Wild wish! to deem the matchless maid "Would listen to a youth like nie, "Or that my vows could e'er persuade,

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Sincere and constant tho' they be!

"Ah! what avail my love or truth?
"She listens to no lowly swain;
"Her charms must bless some happier youth,
"Some youth of Fortune's titled train.

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Then go, fallacious Hope! adieu! "The flattering prospect I resign; "And bear from my deluded view

"The bliss that never must be mine!

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"Yet will the youth, whoe'er he be, "In truth or tenderness excel? "Or will he on thy charms like me With fondness never-dying dwell? "Will he with thine his hopes unite? With ready zeal thy joys improve? "With fond attention and delight "Each wish prevent, each fear remove?. "Will he, still faithful to thy charms,

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"For constant love be long rever'd? "Nor quit that heaven within thy arms "By every tender tie endear'd? "What tho' his boastful heart be vain

"Of all that birth or fortune gaye,
"Yet is not mine, tho' rude and plain,
"At least as noble and as brave?
"Then be its gentle suit preferr'd!
"Its tender sighs Elvira hear!

In vain-I sigh-but sigh unheard;
"Unpitied falls this lonely tear!"
Twice twelve revolving moons had pass'd,
Since first he caught the fatal view,
Unchang'd by time his sorrows last,
Uncheer'd by hope his passion grew,
That passion to indulge, he sought
In Raymond's groves the deepest shade;
There fancy's haunting spirit brought
The image of his long-lov'd maid.
But hark! what more than mortal sound
Steals on Attention's raptur'd ear?
The voice of harmony around

Swells in wild whispers soft and clear.

Can human hand a tone so fine

Sweep from the string with touch prophane? Can human lip with breath divine Pour on the gale so sweet a strain?

"Tis she-the source of Armine's woe'Tis she whence all his joy must springFrom her lov'd lips the numbers flow,

Her magic hand awakes the string.

Now, Armine, now thy love proclaim,

Thy instant suit the time demands;
Delay not- Tumult shakes his frame,
And lost in ecstasy he stands.

What magic chains thee to the ground?
What star malignant rules the hour,
That thus in fix'd delirium drown'd
Each sense entranc'd hath lost its pow'r?

The trance dispel! awake! arise!
Speak what untutor'd love inspires!
The moment's past thy wild surprise
She sees, nor unalarm'd retires,

« Stay,

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"Tis gone! -Elvira's form it wore — "Yet one more glimpse of short delight!

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'Tis gone, to be beheld no more!

"Fly, loitering feet! the charm pursue That plays upon my hopes and fears! "Hah!no illusion mocks my view!

'Tis she-Elvira's self appears!

"And shall I on her steps intrude?

"Aların her in these lonely shades? "O stay, fair nymph! no ruffian rude "With base intent your walk invades, "Far gentler thoughts"-his faltering tongue, By humble diffidence restrain'd, Paus'd in suspense but thus ere long, As love impell'd, its power regain'd: "Far gentler thoughts that form inspires; "With me far gentler passions dwell; "This heart hides only blameless fires, "Yet burns with what it fears to tell.

"The faltering voice that fears control, "Blushes that inward fires declare, "Each tender tumult of the soul

"In silence owns Elvira there."

He said; and as the trembling dove
Sent forth t' explore the wat'ry plain,
Soon fear'd her flight might fatal
prove,
And sudden sought her ark again,
His heart recoil'd; as one that rued
What he too hastily confess'd,
And all the rising soul subdued
Sought refuge in his innost breast.
The tender strife Elvira ** w

Distrest; and some parent mild,
When arm'd with words and looks of awe,
Melts o'er the terrors of her child,
Reproof prepar'd and angry fear
In soft sensations died away;
They felt the force of Armine's tear,
And fled from pity's rising sway,

"That mournful voice, that modest air,

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"There first that form my eyes survey'd,

"With future hopes that fill'd my heart; "But ah! beneath that frown they fade— "Depart, vain, vanquish'd hope! depart!" He said; and on the ground his eyes Were fix'd abash'd; th' attentive maid, Lost in the tumult of surprise,

The well-remember'd youth survey'd.
The transient color went and came;
The struggling bosom sunk and rose;
The trembling tumults of her frame
The strong conflicting soul disclose,
The time, the scene she saw with dread,
Like Cynthia setting glane'd away:
But scatter'd blushes as she fled,
Blushes that spoke a brighter day.
A friendly shepherd's neighbouring shed
To pass the live-long night he sought:
And hope, the lover's downy bed,

A sweeter charm than slumber brought,

On every thought Elvira dwelt,
The tender air, the aspect kind,
The pity that he found she felt,

And all the angel in her mind,
No self-plum'd vanity was there,
With fancy'd consequence elate;
Unknown to her the haughty air

That means to speak superior state,
Her brow no stern resentments arm,
No swell of empty pride she knew,
In trivial minds that takes th' alarm,

Should humble Love aspire to sue,
Such Love, by flattering charins betray'd,
Shall yet, indignant, soon rebel,
And, blushing for the choice he made,

Shall fly where gentler virtues dwell,
'Tis then the mind, from bondage free,
And all its former weakness o'er,
Asserts its native dignity,

And scorns what folly priz'd before, The scanty pane the rising ray

On the plain wall in diamonds threw,
The lover hail'd the welcome day,

And to his favorite scene he flew.
There soon Elvira bent her way,
Where long her lonely walks had been;
Nor less had the preceding day,

Nor Armine less endear'd the scene.

Oft' as she pass'd, her rising heart

Its stronger tenderness confess'd, And oft she linger'd to impart

To some soft shade her secret breast.

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"Ah, youth belov'd! tho' low thy birth,

The noble air, the manly grace,

"That look that speaks superior worth, "Can fashion, folly, fear erase?

"Yet sure fron no ignoble stem

"Thy lineage springs, tho' now unknown: "The world censorious may condemn, "But, Armine, I am thine alone. "To splendor only do we live?

"Must pomp alone our thoughts employ? "All, all that pomp and splendor give

"Is dearly bought with love and joy

"But oh!—the favor'd youth appears — "In pensive grief he seems to move: "My heart forebodes unnumber'd fears; "Support it Pity, Virtue, Love!

"Hither his footsteps seem to bend

"Come, Resolution, to my aid! "My breast what varying passions rend! "Averse to go-to stay afraid!" "Dear object of each fond, desire, "That throbs tumultuous in my breast! "Why with averted glance retire?

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"At Armine's presence why distrest? "What tho' he boast no titled name, "No wide extent of rich domain, "Yet must he feed a hopeless flame, "Must truth and nature plead in vain ?” "Think not," she said, " by forms betray'd, "To humbler worth my heart is blind; "For soon shall every splendor fade,

"That beams not from thy gifted mind. "But first thy heart explore with care,: "With faith its fond emotions prove; "Lurks no unworthy passion there?

Prompts not ambition bold to love?, "Yes, lovely maid," the youth replies, "A bold ambition prompts my breast, "The towering hope that love supplies, "The wish in blessing to be blest.

"The meaner prospects I despise

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That wealth, or rank, or power bestow; "Be yours the grovelling bliss ye prize, "Ye sordid winds that stoop so low! "Be mine the more refin'd delights

"Of love that banishes control,

"When the fond heart with heart unites,
"And soul's in unison with soul."

Elvira blush'd the warm reply,
(To love a language not unknown)
The milder glories fill'd her eye,

And there a softer lustre shone.

The yielding smile that 's half supprest,
The short quick breath, the trenibling tear,
The swell tumultuous of the breast,
In Armine's favor all appear.

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"Art thou," the raging Raymond said, Of this audacious boy the sire? "Curse on the dart that idly sped,,

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Nor bade his peasant soul expire!" "His peasant soul !"— indignant fire Flash'd from the conscious father's eye: "A gallant earl is Armine's sire, "And know, proud chief, that earl am I. "Tho' here, within the hermit's cell,

"I long have liv'd unknown to fame, "Yet crowded camps and courts can tell— "Thou too hast heard of Egbert's name." "Hah! Egbert! he, whom tyrant rage "Forc'd from his country's bleeding breast? "The patron of my orphan age, "My friend, my warrior stands confest! "But why?"-"The painful story spare:

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That prostrate youth," said Egbert, "see; "His anguish asks a parent's care, "A parent, once who pitied thee!"

Raymond,

Raymond, as one who, glancing round,
Seems from some sudden trance to start,
Snatch'd the pale lovers from the ground,
And held them trembling to his heart.
Joy, Gratitude, and Wonder shed
United tears o'er Hymen's reign,
And nature her best triumph led,
For Love and Virtue join'd her train.

§ 140. An Italian Song. ROGERS. DEAR is my little native vale,

The ring-dove builds and warbles there;
Close by my cot she tells her tale
To every passing villager.

The squirrel leaps from tree to tree,
And shells his nuts at liberty.
In orange-groves and myrtle-bowers,
That breathe a gale of fragrance round,
I charm the fairy-footed hours
With my lov'd late's romantic sound;
Or crowns of living laure! weave,
For those that win the race at eve.
The shepherd's horn at break of day,
The ballet danc'd in twilight glade,
The canzonet and roundelay
Sung in the silent greenwood shade;
These simple joys, that never fail,
Shall bind me to my native vale.

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(Tho' low my voice, tho' artless be my hand)
I take the sprightly reed, and sing, and play;
Careless of what the censuring world may say:
Bright Chloe, object of iny constant vow,
Wilt thou a while unbend thy serious brow?
Wilt thou with pleasure hear thy lover's strains,
And with one heav'nly smile o'erpay his pains?
No longer shall the Nut-Brown Maid be old;
Tho' since her youth three hundred years have
roll'd,

At thy desire, she shall again be rais'd;
And her reviving charnis in lasting verse be
prais'd.

No longer man of woman shall complain, That he may love and not be lov'd again : That we in vain the fickle sex pursue, Who change the constant lover for the new. Whatever has been writ, whatever said, Of female passion feigu'd, or faith decay'd: Henceforth shall in my verse refuted stand, Be said to winds, or writ upon the sand. And, while my notes to future times proclaim Unconquer'd love and ever-during flaine; O fairest of the sex! be thou my Muse: Deign on my work thy influence to diffuse:

Let me partake the blessings I rehearse,
And grant me love, the just reward of verse.

As beauty's potent queen, with ev'ry grace,
That once was Emma's, has adorn'd thy face;
And as her son has to my bosom dealt
That constant flame, which faithful Henry felt;
O let the story with thy life agree:

Let men once more the bright example see;
What Emma was to him, be thou to me.
Nor send me by thy frown from her I love,
Distant and sad, a banish'd man to rove.
But oh! with pity long-entreated crown
My pains and hopes; and, when thou say'st
[alone.
Of all mankind thou lov'st, oh! think on me

that one

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WHERE beauteous Isis and her husband Tame
With mingled waves for ever flow the same,
In times of yore an antient baron liv'd;
Great gifts bestow'd, and great respect receiv'd.
When dreadful Edward with successful care
Led his free Britons to the Gallie war;
This lord had headed his appointed bands,
In firm allegiance to the king's commands;
And (all due honors faithfully discharg'd),
Had brought back his paternal coat, enlarg'd
With a new mark, the witness of his toil,
And no inglorious part of foreign spoil.

From the loud camp retir'd and noisy court In honorable ease and rural sport,

The remnant of his days he safely pass'd;
Nor found they lagg'd too slow, nor flew too fast.
He made his wish with his estate comply,
Joyful to live, yet not afraid to die.

One child he had, a daughter chaste and fair,
His age's comfort, and his fortune's heir.
They call'd her Enima; for the beauteous dame,
Who gave the virgin birth, had borne the name:
The name th' indulgent father doubly lov'd;
For in the child the mother's charms improv'd.
Yet as when little round his knees she play'd,
He call'd her oft, in sport, his Nut-Brown Maid;
The friends and tenants took the fondling word
(As still they please, who imitate their lord);
Usage confirin'd what fancy had begun;
The mutual terms around the lands were
known;

AndEmma and the Nut-Brown Maid were one..
As with her stature, still her charms increas'd,
Thro' all the isle her beauty was confess'd.
Oh! what perfections must that virgin share,
Who fairest is esteem'd, where all are fair!
From distant shires repair the noble youth,
And find report, for once, had lessened truth..
By wonder first, and then by passion mov'd,
They came; they saw; they narvell'd; and they
By public praises, and by secret sighs, [lov'd.
Each own'd the gen'ral power of Emma's eyes.
In tilts and tournaments the valiant strove,
By glorious deeds to purchase Emma's love.
In gentle verse, the witty told their flame,
Andgrac'dtheirchoicestsongs with Emma'sname.
In vain they combated, in vain they writ:
Useless their strength, and impotent their wit.

Great

Great Venus only must direct the dart, Which else will never reach the fair one's heart,

Spite of th' attempts of force, and soft effects

of art.

Great Venus must prefer the happy one :
In Henry's cause her favor must be shown:
And Emma, of mankind, must love but him
alone.

While these in public to the castle came,
And by their grandeur justify'd their flame;
More secret ways the careful Henry takes;
His squires, his arms, and equipage forsakes:
In borrow'd name and false attire array'd,
Oft he finds means to see the beauteous maid.
When Emina hunts, in huntsman's habit
drest,

Henry on foot pursues the bounding beast.
In his right hand his beechen pole he bears :
And graceful at his side his horn he wears.
Still to the glade, where she has bent her way,
With knowing skill he drives the future
prey;
Bids her decline the hill, and shun the brake;
And shows the path her steed may safely take;
Directs her spear to fix the glorious wound;
Pleas'd, in his toils, to have her triumph
crown'd;

And blows her praises with no common sound..
A falc'ner Henry is, when Emma hawks:
With her of tarsels and of lures he talks.
Upon his wrist the tow'ring merlin stands,
Practic'd to rise, and stoop, at her commands.
And when superior now the bird has flown,
And headlong brought the tumbling quarry
down;

With humble rev'rence he accosts the fair,
And with the honor'd feather decks her hair.
Yet still, as from the sportive field he goes,
His downcast eye reveals his inward woes;
And by his look and sorrow is exprest,
A nobler game pursued than bird or beast.
A shepherd now along the plain he roves ;
And, with his jolly pipe, delights the
The neighb'ring swains around the stranger
throng,

groves.

Or to admire or emulate his song:
While, with soft sorrow, he renews his lays,
Nor heedful of their envy, nor their praise.
But, soon as Emma's
eyes adorn the plain,
His notes he raises to a nobler strain;
With dutiful respect, and studious fear,
Lest any careless sound offend her ear.

A frantic gipsy, now the house he haunts,
And in wild phrases speaks dissembled wants.
With the fond maids in palmistry he deals:
They tell the secret first, which he reveals?
Says who shall wed, and who shall be beguil'd;
What groom shall get, and squire maintain the

child.

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That she shall prove as fortunate as fair, And Hymen's choicest gifts are all reserv'd for her.

Now oft had Henry chang'd his sly disguise, Unmark'd by all but beauteous Emma's eyes; Oft had found means alone to see the damne, And at her feet to breathe his am'rous flame; And oft, the pangs of absence to remove By letters, soft interpreters of love: Till time and industry, the mighty two That bring our wishes nearer to our view) Made him perceive that the inclining fair Receiv'd his vows with no reluctant ear; That Venus had confirm'd her equal reign, And dealt to Emma's heart a share of Henry's pain.

While Cupid smil'd, by kind occasion blest, And, with the secret kept, the love increas'd; The amorous youth frequents the silent groves And much he meditates, for much he loves. He loves 'tis true; and is belov'd again; Great are his joys; but will they long remain? Einma with smiles receives his present flame; But, smiling, will she ever be the same? Beautiful looks are rul'd by fickle minds; And summer seas are turn'd by sudden winds. Another love may gain her easy youth: Time changes thought; and flatt'ry conquers

truth.

O impotent estate of human life! Where hope and fear maintain eternal strife; Where fleeting joy does lasting doubt inspire; And most we question what we most desire. Amongst thy various gifts, great heaven, bestow Our cup of love unmix'd; forbear to throw Bitter ingredients in; nor pall the draught With nauseous grief: for our ill-judging thought Hardly enjoys the pleasurable taste;

Or deems it not sincere; or fears it cannot last.

With wishes rais'd, with jealousies opprest, (Alternate tyrants of the human breast) By one great trial he resolves to prove The faith of women, and the force of love, If, scanning Emma's virtues, he may find That beauteous frame inclose a steady mind, He'll fix his hope, of future joy secure; And live a slave to Hymen's happy pow'r. But if the fair one, as he fears, is frail; If, pois'd aright in reason's equal scale, Light fly her merits, and her faults prevail; His mind he vows to free from ani'rous care, The latent mischief from his heart to tear, Resume his azure arms,and shine again in war..

South of the castle, in a verdant glade, A spreading beech extends her friendly shade: Here oft the nymph his breathing vows had

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heard;

Here aft her silence had her heart declar'd, As active spring awak'd her infant buds, And 'genial life inform'd the verdant woods; Henry, in knots involving Einma's name, Had half express'd and half conceal'd his flame Upon the tree; and, as the tender mark

Grew

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