COME , SESTOS and ABYDOS , aid my song;
To you these elegiac strains belong.
Your griefs with mine, ye wretched cities, blend,
And bid a listening world our tale attend:
The fatal nuptials place before their view,
And all the woes these faithful lovers knew.
From them the sun withheld his cheering light,
And wrapp’d the world in silence and in night:
One feeble lamp alone the gloom dispell’d;
That lamp, which Hymen’s fatal rites beheld.
Pure lamp of love, what envied fate was thine!
How worthy thou in heaven’s bright arch to shine!
There should thy fires, for ever bright and clear,
The lover’s faithful cynosure appear.
But what kind power shall give my verse to flow,
And form my voice to sing the tale of woe?
Parent of love, fair Goddess, first and best,
To thee my fervent vows be now address’d.
Delight of heaven above, and joy of earth,
Thou calm’st the air, and giv’st the flowerets birth:
Thy pleasing ardour life and bliss inspires,
And wakes in human bosoms gentlest fires:
By thee alone eternal union reigns,
And every creature wears thy willing chains.
If e’er thy HERO’S hands have join’d to bring
Daisies and pinks and all the pride of spring;
And with the fragrant spoils thy shrines have crown’d,
Or round thy statues myrtle-garlands bound;
Now all my soul with ardent zeal inspire,
Her woes to sing, and thy resistless fire.
That narrow sea, in ancient times renown’d,
In fragile chains by XERXES’ folly bound,
Did SESTOS’ and ABYDOS’ towns divide;
The hapless lovers dwelt on either side.
There, under some malignant planet’s spite,
They, doom’d to sorrow, first beheld the light.
Ye who, in search of knowledge, or of gain,
Traverse with venturous sails the faithless main,
If, as before the wind your vessels fly,
An antient tower’s high summits strike the eye;
Fix’d on a rock the raging deep it braves;
Its base, each coming tide, the ocean laves;
Here first the virgin drew the vital air,
Unseen, unknowing heaven had form’d her fair.
Nor love’s soft joys, nor pains she yet had prov’d;
Her charms nor envy, nor desire had mov’d:
Here with an aged nurse she liv’d serene;
Remote from every gay and busy scene.
Not distant from the tower a temple stands,
And every passing traveller’s praise demands.
The pious natives spar’d nor wealth nor toil,
To grace with richest ornaments the pile.
Here, each returning year, one solemn day,
They feast, and sacrifice in honour pay
To VENUS and ADONIS , hapless boy;
While song and dance their jocund hours employ.
Here, free and innocent, the gentle maid
To love’s bright queen in humble accents’ pray’d.
A milk-white lamb she proffer’d to bestow
On him, the boyish god, who bears the bow:
So might she ne’er his wanton malice prove,
But guard her heart from all the wiles of love.
Alas! too fair love’s fatal power to shun,
Thou from thy destin’d fate in vain would’st run:
Deaf are those ears, to which thou mak’st thy pray’r;
Blown by the winds, and lost in empty air.
Soon as AURORA , on the festive morn,
Whose golden tresses rosy wreaths adorn,
The crystal gates of heaven had open’d wide,
And all the orient sky with blushes died;
In crowds the people to the streams repair,
And bathe, and drink salubrious waters there;
There seek the temple, and their homage pay
To love’s bright queen, whom gods and men obey.
No youth, whose heart with soft desire was pain’d,
That day in the paternal doom remain’d;
But sought his eyes to satiate with those charms,
That fill’d his bosom with love’s fond alarms.
The nymph, whose locks adown her shoulders flow’d,
And brighter than the orient sun-beams glow’d,
With artful hands a leafy garland wove,
To grace the temple of the queen of love;
Then from her lap o’er all the altar threw
A shower of roses, bath’d with morning dew.
Ah! had APOLLO view’d the beauteous maid,
When in a youthful shepherd’s form array’d,
The prize of beauty had been all her own,
And his fond vows been paid to her alone.
No nymph, that fountain haunts, or forest green,
By fancy’s eye was e’er so lovely seen.
As round the taper the poor insect flies,
Nor leaves its dangerous brightness till it dies;
Thus round the fair the crowd enchanted drew,
And with her fatal beauties charm’d their view.
Her noble form, adorn’d with every grace,
The winning sweetness of her beauteous face,
Her starry eyes, enkindling soft desire,
The radiant glow of youth with rapture fire.
Ah! sure, they said, these charms had SPARTA seen,
The general voice had crown’d thee beauty’s queen:
When GRECIAN maidens strove the prize to gain,
These eyes had made their fond pretensions vain.
As the gay spring its opening blossoms shows
Above decrepit winter’s frost and snows;
So far dost thou all other nymphs outshine,
And all thy sex’s various charms are thine.
How blest the man, to whom the fates decree,
Their best, their fairest gift in giving thee!
As towards the beauteous maid each eye was turn’d,
With fear she view’d them, and with blushes burn’d;
Abash’d, the triumphs of her charms descried,
And in the distant temple strove to hide.
As the fierce hawk the turtle eyes with pain,
When, far beyond his reach, pursuit is vain;
Each amorous youth thus view’d the flying fair,
And felt his passion smother’d in despair.
Alone, of all the train, LEANDER shew
A flame, too strong to. hide, for art too true;
Whose power, express’d at once, without disguise,
Proclaim’d the lover’s wishes from his eyes.
She his fond looks with sweet regard return’d,
And glow’d with pity, as with love he burn’d.
Then hope, that doubting stood, with fear depress’d,
Commenc’d the joyful inmate of his breast.
Now frigid night approach’d of dusky hue,
And o’er the world her dewy mantle threw.
The youth, embolden’d by the friendly shade,
That hides the thefts by bashful lovers made,
Seiz’d her fair hand, and press’d the beauteous prize
With ardent kisses and with burning sighs.
Warm on her cheek the deepening blushes shone,
Her face at once assum’d an angry frown:
Her hand withdrawn, with quick resentment fir’d
She turn’d, and with disdainful mien retir’d.
But, when she saw the youth her steps invade,
She stopp’d, and thus with voice resentful said:
Intrusive man, thus rashly dar’st thou run,
In search of her, who seeks thy view to shun?
Know’st thou my parents? noble is their name:
Their rank, at least from thee, may deference claim.
Some other chase, too forward youth, pursue,
And fly the anger to thy rashness due.
But oft, with scornful voice, the angry fair,
Peace to their lovers amidst war declare.
Her bosom-conflict soon the youth descried,
And hop’d that love the conflict would decide.
Imbolden’d, round her neck of snowy hue
His circling arms the daring lover threw;
On the soft ivory-skin a kiss impress’d,
And, ere she chid, he thus the nymph address’d:
Oh! fitter thou to mingle with the Gods,
And add new splendour to the blest abodes;
For surely earth is not thy natal place,
Nor thou descended from a mortal race.
Accept an heart that seeks not to be free,
And let thy bosom its blest prison be:
But, if deriv’d from some terrestrial dame,
Oh! let thy beauty’s slave thy pity claim.
The Goddess, to whom now our vows are paid,
Loves not the coolness of the scornful maid.
ENDYMION , happy youth! ’twas thine to prove
Without its agonies the joys of love.
For thee the beauteous empress of the night,
Veil’d in a cloud, conceal’d her radiant light;
And left the glories of her heavenly reign;
To meet on LATMUS ‘ top her faithful swain;
With him their hours in mutual joys to spend,
And there with him his fleecy flocks to tend.
Thus VENUS ‘ fires her frozen heart subdu’d,
And to a faithful lover form’d the prude.
Yield then, fair nymph, to love’s delightful sway,
Revere the power, to whom your vows you pay.
His love-inspiring words resistless charm,
And her cold breast with tender transports warm.
Thus, when the sun’s meridian splendours glow,
In tepid streams dissolves the wintry snow.
Love’s latent power each glowing phrase convey’d
Warm to the heart, and won the attentive maid;
He in that heart, to fancy’s raptur’d view,
The fairest scenes in liveliest colours drew.
As when the fawn, that frisk’d devoid of fear,
With anguish feels the invading hunter’s spear,
Then to the river scours, or seeks the plain,
Yet finds from change of place no change of pain;
Thus, deep within her heart, the virgin found
Love’s fatal dart had fix’d the mortal wound.
A thousand maiden arts in vain she tries,
To hide her soft confusion from his eyes.
Now bashfully she turns her head aside;
Now with her veil her blushes strives to hide;
Attempts to go, and yet resolves to stay;
In vain to speak her trembling lips essay:
Her fears, her silence all her soul reveal,
And tell each thought she struggles to conceal.
O blissful, silence! dearer to the heart,
Than all the graces language can impart:
O blest interpreter! by thee the youth
Resolves his doubts, and finds the welcome truth.
As one, who stoutly strives with curb and reign
The impetuous courser’s fury to restrain:
In vain the floods oppose, the hills arise;
O’er hills and floods with headlong rage he flies:
Agast, his rider marks with wishful view
The safe, the happy path he should pursue.
‘Twas thus the maid, ‘gainst passion’s fierce command,
Oppos’d in vain weak reason’s feeble hand.
At length (her face with rosy blushes spread)
She in these tender accents trembling said:
What God inspires you? sure, these words you spoke,
Might tigers tame, and bend the stubborn oak.
But faithful tell me, why you tread this strand;
What be your name, and where your native land?
Yet why these questions? useless all to me,
Since all your vows and prayers must fruitless be.
What canst thou hope, a stranger as thou art,
And come, perhaps, from some far distant part?
Like some fond maid, shall I thy vows receive,
And mine to a loose wanderer rashly give?
No; till our parents’ sanction we obtain,
And wear, like willing captives, Hymen’s chain,
The prudent fair man’s flattering arts must shun,
And from his soft seductions distant run.
For oft the busy tongues of human kind
To blaze what should be hid a pleasure find;
And what we wish to hide from silent night,
Is oft in public shewn to noon-day light.
Yet, if you prize my love, the truth relate,
And undissembling tell your name and state.
My home is SESTOS ; HERO is my name;
My lineage I from noble parents claim.
See’st thou yon tower, that overlooks the shore
Round it the billows beat, the tempests roar:
There, distant from the vulgar and the great,
Is peaceful solitude my happy state.
Sole with my nurse I spend the careless day,
Nor wish beyond my custom’d bounds to stray.
She ceas’d; but, as if fearful to have said
More than she thought became a cautious maid,
Her silken veil she quickly spread, to hide
Her glowing cheeks, with purple roses died.
LEANDER gaz’d with love-impassion’d soul,
While hope and doubt by turns his mind control.
To love the humble suiter ardent pray’d,
His faithful votary’s fond request to aid;
To give his tongue each soft persuasive art,
And warm with mutual fires the virgin’s heart.
The wanton boy approves the amorous pray’r,
And unsuspected wounds the yielding fair.
Thrice his ambrosial wings he sportive spread,
Then, lightly perching on LEANDER’S head,
These words, in secret to his lips convey’d,
And, as the God inspir’d, the lover said:
O nymph divine, thine envied love to gain,
Shall I all fearless plough the stormy main,
And NEPTUNE ‘twixt us spread his seas in vain?
Yes; tho’ destructive fleets should guard the shore,
Tho’ boiling surges in loud tumults roar,
Nor storms, nor fleets, nor HELLE’S dreaded fate,
Should daunt my purpose, or my zeal abate.
Now, guided by pale Luna’s lambent light,
Now, midst the gloom involv’d of darkest night,
I with this arm will cleave yon rolling sea,
Nor fear its horrours, when they lead to thee.
My country lies not distant from thy shore;
A breeze shall from ABYDOS waft me o’er.
But from thy lofty tower a lamp display,
Which thro’ the gloomy deep may point the way:
Preserve the pious flame all pure and bright;
And, when love’s signal shall attract my sight,
Thy name invok’d, the conflict will I try,
And ocean’s and Orion’s rage defy.
But watch, lest adverse winds thy lamp annoy,
And one rude blast its life and mine destroy.
Nor think, bright maid, my name I wish to hide;
Know, beauteous HERO is LEANDER’S bride.
But now the stars, round CYNTHIA’S car that burn,
Sink and retire before the rising morn:
The envious night forbids their farther stay;
The lingering lovers dare no more delay.
But first the tower, all unobserv’d before,
His eyes attentive measure o’er and o’er;
Its site remark; the rocks that rise around;
And where some peaceful bay may best be found,
When, ocean’s perils past, he treads on solid ground.
The youth to the paternal dome retires,
While love with pleasing hope his soul inspires.
She to her solitary cell returns;
There eyes the approaching day, and fondly mourns;
There wishes for the slow-returning night,
That gives her dear LEANDER to her sight.
Nor bat, nor owl more hate the cheerful sun,
Who joy in gloomy haunts his rays to shun,
Than these fond lovers, who lament in vain,
And to the winds, that hear not, thus complain:
All-glorious sun, who pour’st in dazzling streams
This flood of glory that around us beams;
Who life and joy bestow’st on all below;
Oh! if thou e’er hast felt a lover’s woe,
(Once to thy youthful bosom was it known)
Relieve, and pity griefs so like thine own.
Quick lash thy lingering steeds, impel their flight,
Plunge them in ocean, and restore the light.
Come, gentle night, to lovers ever dear,
Like us, who fondly wish and greatly fear.
Soon as the nymph remark’d, that, from her throne,
The silver moon in all her radiance shone,
With gentle beams their fond desires to aid,
She from her tower the friendly lamp display’d;
Whose welcome ray might on ABYDOS fall,
And to her fond embrace her lover call.
He, anxious, oft the hoarse-resounding shore
With solitary steps had wander’d o’er:
Still on the tower his watchful eyes he threw,
And fondly wish’d love’s radiant sign to view.
But, when he saw the lamp’s inspiring ray
From that dear spot, impatient of delay,
He hid his garments in the secret cave,
And plung’d his beating bosom in the wave;
With growing hopes he boldly forward press’d,
And thus the radiant guide of love address’d:
O faithful messenger of soft desires!
O light, enkindled by love’s purest fires!
How friendly shine thy gentle beams afar,
My guide thro’ dangers, and my polar star!
Dear to mine eyes, as when, in gloom of night,
The bear’s bright beams allure the pilot’s sight.
Oh! safe conduct me thro’ my dangerous way,
And to my lovely HERO’S arms convey.
He spoke; and, as a bird the air divides,
Along the ocean’s azure bosom glides.
The sportive dolphins pleas’d around him sweep,
And hail the stranger to their native deep.
The wanton Tritons frolic in his train,
And frisking waft him o’er the watery plain.
The nymphs, from NEREUS and bright DORIS sprung,
With sea-green tresses, ever fair and young,
Forsake the pearly cave and coral grove,
To mark the triumphs of immortal love:
With pity’s eye they view the adventurous youth,
Admire his beauty, and revere his truth.
Some from his breast the briny surge repel,
And smooth the billows, that too roughly swell;
Some from their brows the rosy garlands tear,
And with the fragrant spoils adorn his hair;
With fond attention see him reach the shore,
Nor leave him, till he needs their aid no more.
No holy vestal e’er with fond desire
More anxious strove to guard the sacred fire,
Than thou, fair nymph, to keep serene and bright
Thy lamp, still shining mid’ the silent night.
She now against the winds her robe extends;
Now her spread hand the precious flame defends.
But, when the shallow stream approaching near,
Crown’d with fresh wreaths, she saw her love appear,
No greyhound, fleet to chase the bounding fawn,
Travers’d with half such speed the dewy lawn,
As she with beating heart and nimble feet,
Her dear-lov’d husband’s glad approach to meet.
Scarce from the stream the weary youth withdrew,
When round his neck her snowy arms she threw,
And from her vermil-lips sweet kisses gave,
Impressing his, yet dripping from the wave:
Then with a snow-white robe and shining vest,
Wrought by her hands, his shivering limbs she dress’d,
And to her chamber led, where oft the fair
Unseen had wept, and pour’d the silent pray’r.
Here her soft hand with tenderness benign
Squeezed from his dripping hair the adherent brine;
Here for his languid limbs prepar’d a bed,
With fragrant roses and with lilies spread:
Then in sweet accents, which sweet kisses broke,
Thus to the idol of her heart she spoke:
Dear, faithful spouse! thou, who with fond regard,
What never lover durst, hast greatly dar’d;
Forget thy troubles now, be pleasure thine,
And on my breast thy wearied head recline.
She spoke; the youth enraptur’d view’d her charms,
And clasp’d the dear-bought treasure in his arms:
On that for future rest his soul relies;
Nor envies JOVE his empire in the skies.
In vain shall language labour to relate
The faithful lovers’ enviable state,
When smiling fortune crowns their vows at last,
And happiness succeeds to sorrow past:
With equal ease might I attempt to teach
The names of shells, that glister on the beach;
Or tell in balmy spring the various flow’rs,
That FLORA o’er the earth’s green mantle show’rs.
No gay processions on the bride await;
O’er her is born no canopy of state;
No white-rob’d youths, with garlands crown’d, advance,
To weave with nimble feet the mazy dance:
No tuneful bard attends, in nuptial lays
To sing their passion, or record their praise:
No parent’s voice is heard, with duteous care
Invoking Hymen’s blessings on the pair:
Fresh wreaths around the posts no virgins place
Their heads nor amaranth nor caltha grace:
But night her sable mantle round them spread,
And gloomy silence hover’d o’er their bed.
Now, in her dew-besprinkled robe array’d,
With roses crown’d, her golden lock display’d.
Aurora shone, to gladden human sight,
And drive from earth the gloomy shades of night.
In vain her eye beam’d on the nuptial bed;
The cautious lovers were already fled.
For when they saw, bright on the etherial plain,
The star of love begin her morning-reign,
And, with her potent wand of silver bright,
Before her drive the glimmering lamps of night;
They vows exchang’d, and kisses sweet bestow’d,
Moist with their mutual tears, that copious flow’d.
Him to the utmost sands his spouse attends,
And to the care of every God commends.
The youth unwilling plunges in the main,
And mournful seeks his hated home again;
While from the beach her eyes his course pursue,
Till soon the distance hides him from her view.
Reluctant, not alone, she homeward bends,
Her lover’s image all her steps attends.
O foe to lovers’ joys, Aurora, why
Didst thou so speedily illume the sky?
Why banish from the world thy silent night,
And o’er her bosom throw thy hated light?
Say, must thou smooth thine aged TITHON’S hair?
Oh! leave a spouse unworthy of thy care,
And to the GANGES ‘ flowery banks repair;
There mid’ the fragrant groves of myrtle play,
And weave fresh garlands for the new-born day.
Oh! think (and be thy soul with pity mov’d)
On CEPHALUS , so loving once, and lov’d.
Thy fiery steeds’ too eager rage restrain,
And yet awhile indulge night’s silent reign.
Elated now, now sinking thro’ despair,
In joy and grief, alternate, liv’d the pair;
Till, from the frozen bosom of the north,
The hoary winter pour’d his tempests forth.
The black-wing’d storms deform the azure skies;
Howl thro’ the air; the seas in mountains rise;
Thick fall the leaves; the fields their sweets resign,
And drooping nature mourns her sad decline.
Now diving ?SACUS his head uprears;
Loud on his nymph he calls; his nymph appears:
Beside the sandy beach their course they keep,
And shun the dangers of the stormy deep.
There his hoarse voice resounds with dismal yells,
And to the seaman future wrecks foretels.
The weary pilot bids them furl the sails,
To shun the fury of tempestuous gales;
The dashing oars with eager haste to ply,
Till safe within the stream the vessels lie.
For this, what time he sees, all keenly bright,
A starry zone begird the brow of night,
With suppliant voice he prays the Triton-train
To still the blustering winds, and smooth the main;
While the bright olive-branch adorns his hand,
And shrilling horns re-echo thro’ the strand.
Now the sad lovers, every pleasure gone,
In piteous strains their cruel lot bemoan.
The surges roar, thick lowering clouds prevail,
And false and fickle is each rising gale.
Oft as the youth remark’d with anxious eye
The fearful aspect of the troubled sky,
And saw the sad ALCYONE no more
In airy circles skim along the shore;
While Sol, with fiery tints his face bespread,
Sunk in the western main his glowing head;
And livid spots defac’d fair CYNTHIA’S form;
He mark’d the signs, and knew the coming storm:
Then tender grief his soul with anguish wrung,
Sighs swell’d his breast, and tears unbidden sprung.
When anxious HERO from her sea-beat tow’r
Saw gathering clouds a watery deluge pour,
In wild complaints she breath’d her amorous strain,
And thus address’d the adverse winds in vain:
Ah! wrathful Boreas, bane of all my joy,
Why ‘gainst a tender nymph thy rage employ?
In vain you tear and lash the labouring sea;
It feels thee not; thy fury falls on me.
Ah! sure some pity should thy bosom melt,
That all love’s pangs for ORITHYA felt.
For her lov’d sake, Oh! smooth the raging deep,
And let thy boisterous voice in silence sleep.
But, ah! what mortal heaven’s decrees can shun,
Or from the destin’d hour that waits them run?
‘Twas now, when seamen NEPTUNE’S anger fear,
And to the shelter’d bay their vessels steer;
There, fix’d with anchor firm, they safely ride,
Nor fear the fury of the wind and tide.
But lost LEANDER winds and tides defies,
When from the tower the fatal sign he spies.
Ah! think, unhappy Youth, ere yet too late;
And read thy doom in wretched HELLE’S fate.
Ah! cruel lamp, no more to death invite;
Veil thy delusive splendours from his sight,
Till nature from her wintry chains be freed,
And vernal showers to gelid storms succeed.
Then, when the spring by FLORA’S hand is dress’d,
Sweet Zephyrs’ breath shall smooth old ocean’s breast.
But HERO , forc’d by that resistless fate,
That gives to mortal life the destin’d date,
Bereav’d of him, the idol she ador’d,
Shar’d in no pleasures, but e’en life abhorr’d:
Thus, when the clouds their kindly aid deny,
The tender blossoms droop their heads and die,
O’er reason’s eye the veil of love she threw;
No more her wonted fears the danger view,
Alas! tho’ now no boisterous tempest raves,
Yet think, how treacherous are the winds and waves!
Soon as the night had spread her sable vest,
When spectres terrify and dreams molest,
She with rash hand the fatal lamp display’d:
LEANDER soon the wish’d for sign survey’d.
For still with anxious eye he view’d the tow’r;
(Thus to the sun inclines the amorous flow’r)
And now he sought with sacrifice and pray’r
To calm the wintry sea, and still the air.
The sea to calm a sable ram he slew,
And one milk-white, the blustering brethren’s due.
The winds are hush’d, the boisterous waves subside;
Dauntless he plung’d beneath the faithless tide.
While to the power that rules the deep he pray’d,
And every sea-born God, his hopes to aid;
Alone forgotten in disastrous hour,
And unemploy’d was ?olus’s pow’r.
Unhappy youth! too quickly doom’d to know
With what dire rage immortal bosoms glow!
While, straining every nerve, he ardent strove,
And fondly reach’d in hope his absent love,
From her high tower, where HERO anxious stood,
And view’d with fearful eye the expanded flood,
The raven’s note, which gathering storms foretel,
Doleful resounded, like death’s dismal knell;
While from the caves, and hollow grots around,
The ethos wild return’d the dismal sound,
That gave new horrours to the nightly gloom,
And spoke to HERO’S heart her lover’s doom.
O CYNTHIA , hear, (she cried) o’er whose domains
By storms unmov’d eternal quiet reigns;
Parent of good, from whose sweet influence flow
Those precious gifts, that sweeten life below;
If true it be, as bards and sages tell,
That thy strong hand the raging deep can quell;
If oft by him, whose destiny I dread,
Thine altar’s flame has been with incense fed,
Reward his piety, and grant my pray’r;
Still the loud waves, and guard from storms the air.
His smile alone the lamp of life supplies,
And, if he falls, his faithful HERO dies.
Four milk-white doves shall, with the rising morn,
All pure as snow, thy sacred shrines adorn:
Thus much and more my grateful heart shall give,
So may LEANDER and his HERO live.
The fond request, with humble mind preferr’d,
Eager to grant, the gentle Goddess heard.
But ?OLUS , whom yet the hapless pair
Nor sought to please with sacrifice nor pray’r.
His head uprais’d, and, stung with grief and pride,
Open’d the portals of his cavern wide.
Swift as the greyhound loosen’d from his chain,
From their close prison rushed the boisterous train:
At once o’er earth and air they furious spread,
And heav’d old ocean from his deepest bed.
Now frozen Aquilo resistless blew;
Now from the south the adverse tempest flew:
By fear unaw’d, by pity unrestrain’d,
Disorder dire and fell destruction reign’d.
The swelling billows rose all foaming white,
And dash’d the sabre brows of lowering night.
Why, vengeful ?OLUS , such rage employ,
Two fond, two hapless lovers to destroy?
Poor is the triumph o’er so weak a foe,
And small the joy such conquests can bestow.
Oh! rather let thy vengeance fierce be hurl’d
‘Gainst the proud masters of a bleeding world.
Mark yonder fleet, that stems the dashing tides,
And death and ruin in its bosom hides:
Give the dread word, o’erwhelm them in the wave,
And trembling nations from destruction save.
Entranced in horrour stood the wretched dame
Grief dimm’d her eyes and agoniz’d her frame;
No hope remain’d the raging storm to brave;
No pitying God her dying lord to save.
Yet every God, the watery world who guides,
And every nymph, that on its bosom glides,
With tears and broken accents she implor’d,
Her woes to pity and their aid afford.
But, tho’ her tears and charms compassion mov’d,
Still mid’ the waves expires the youth she lov’d,
To her his faithful soul unalter’d flies;
While o’er his head the boisterous billows rise.
Love’s gentle queen beheld him all dismay’d;
Him ocean’s nymphs, the Tritons, strove to aid
Their arms around the panting youth they spread,
And oft above the billows rais’d his head.
But, ah! their feeble efforts all were vain;
Not NEPTUNE’S self could still the raging main;
Tho’ thrice his trident struck its furious breast,
And bade with awful voice the tempest rest.
In vain the God of love essay’d to give
The needful aid, and bid his votary live.
He and his amorous troop their wings extend,
And round the lamp with fond attention bend,
‘Gainst hostile winds to guard the sacred light,
And keep the wavering flame serene and bright.
Ah! grief of griefs! the feeble lamp expires;
For now it sinks, now lifts its dying fires:
Its last faint gleams no longer light the shore,
Gleams now extinguish’d, to revive no more.
Soon, wretched nymph, shalt thou with tearful eye
View on the sea’s cold breast thy lover lie.
In tears AURORA brought the fated morn;
Nor wreath nor purple vest the power adorn:
A veil of sable clouds she round her threw,
And seem’d to hide her from the mournful view.
With locks dishevell’d and with bosom bare,
Tortur’d with all the anguish of despair,
The lonely dame wild wander’d o’er the coast,
Retrac’d her steps, and wail’d her lover lost.
O’er ocean’s lap she cast her streaming eyes,
And view’d that deep, whence all her sorrows rise.
Frantic and wild she tore her golden hair,
And beat with cruel hands her bosom bare;
Flew to the spot her prostrate lover press’d,
And clasp’d the lifeless body to her breast.
His the last tears, that dimm’d her closing eyes!
His the last kiss, and his her parting sighs!
What tho’ for thee, lov’d youth, no pile was rear’d,
Nor mourning friends to grace the rites appear’d;
Yet nobler obsequies thy fall attend,
And HERO’S woes shall dignify thine end.
Now, every debt of love and sorrow paid,
No more for life the hopeless mourner pray’d.
Him, close embrac’d, one parting kiss she gave,
Then, sinking with him, sought a watery grave.
Ere yet the billows close above his head,
O wretched youth! with freezing tongue she said:
Responsive echo caught the mournful sound;
O wretched youth! the hollow rocks rebound.
Ye gentle nymphs, to whom the youth was dear,
Now to your pearly cave their bodies bear.
Ye little loves, your favourite’s fate deplore,
And weep with me LEANDER now no more.
Ye cities, where they drew their latest breath,
Mourn every winter their untimely death;
While round our brows we bind the mournful yew,
And pay the illustrious dead the honours due,
Then, when COCYTUS’ gloomy waves are cross’d,
And they shall both have reach’d the farthest coast,
Amidst those fields, with spring eternal gay,
Thro’ groves of myrtles shall the lovers stray,
And, recollecting oft their former fate,
Share with redoubled joy their present blissful state.
(Elizabeth Scot)
More Poetry from Elizabeth Scot:
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