XXXVI. Beyond a mortal man impassion'd far Solution sweet: meantime the frost-wind blows XXXVII. 'Tis dark: quick pattereth the flaw-blown sleet: "This is no dream, my bride, my Madeline !" 'Tis dark the iced gusts still rave and beat: "No dream, alas! alas! and woe is mine! Porphyro will leave me here to fade and pine. Cruel! what traitor could thee hither bring? I curse not, for my heart is lost in thine, Though thou forsakest a deceived thing— A dove forlorn and lost with sick unpruned wing." 320 325 330 XXXVIII. "My Madeline! sweet dreamer! lovely bride! Say, may I be for aye thy vassal blest? 335 Thy beauty's shield, heart-shaped and vermeil dyed? Ah, silver shrine, here will I take my rest After so many hours of toil and quest, Though I have found, I will not rob thy nest 340 To trust, fair Madeline, to no rude infidel." XXXIX. "Hark! 'tis an elfin storm from faery land, 345 350 For o'er the southern moors I have a home for thee." XL. She hurried at his words, beset with fears, 355 A chain-droop'd lamp was flickering by each door; And the long carpets rose along the gusty floor. XLI. They glide, like phantoms, into the wide hall! 360 With a huge empty flagon by his side: The wakeful bloodhound rose, and shook his hide, 365 But his sagacious eye an inmate owns : By one, and one, the bolts full easy slide:- The key turns, and the door upon its hinges groans; XLII. And they are gone: ay, ages long ago 370 These lovers fled away into the storm. That night the Baron dreamt of many a woe, And all his warrior-guests, with shade and form 375 SHELLEY. ADONAIS. I. I WEEP for ADONAIS-he is dead! Oh, weep for Adonais! though our tears Thaw not the frost which binds so dear a head! Forget the Past, his fate and fame shall be II. Where wert thou, mighty Mother, when he lay, 5 ΙΟ When thy son lay, pierced by the shaft which flies In darkness? where was lorn Urania When Adonais died? With veiled eyes, 'Mid listening Echoes, in her Paradise She sate, while one, with soft enamoured breath, 15 Rekindled all the fading melodies, With which, like flowers that mock the corse beneath, He had adorned and hid the coming bulk of death. Descend :-oh, dream not that the amorous Deep 25 Death feeds on his mute voice, and laughs at our despair. IV. Most musical of mourners, weep again! Who was the Sire of an immortal strain, Blind, old, and lonely, when his country's pride 30 The priest, the slave, and the liberticide Trampled and mocked with many a loathed rite Into the gulf of death; but his clear Sprite Yet reigns o'er earth, the third among the sons of light. V. Most musical of mourners, weep anew! 35 Not all to that bright station dared to climb: Whose tapers yet burn through that night of time 40 In which suns perished; others more sublime, Struck by the envious wrath of man or God, Have sunk, extinct in their refulgent prime; And some yet live, treading the thorny road, Which leads, through toil and hate, to Fame's serene abode. 45 VI. But now, thy youngest, dearest one, has perished, Like a pale flower by some sad maiden cherished, Most musical of mourners, weep anew! 50 Thy extreme hope, the loveliest and the last, The bloom, whose petals nipt before they blew VII. To that high Capital, where kingly Death 55 A grave among the eternal. -Come away! Is yet his fitting charnel-roof! while still Awake him not dewy sleep he lay; surely he takes his fill Of deep and liquid rest, forgetful of all ill. 60 VIII. He will awake no more, oh, never more! His extreme way to her dim dwelling-place; Of change shall o'er his sleep the mortal curtain draw. IX. 65 70 Oh, weep for Adonais !—The quick Dreams, The passion-winged Ministers of thought, Who were his flocks, whom near the living streams 75 Of his young spirit he fed, and whom he taught The love which was its music, wander not,- But droop there, whence they sprung; and mourn their lot 80 They ne'er will gather strength, nor find a home again. X. And one with trembling hand clasps his cold head, "Our love, our hope, our sorrow, is not dead; See, on the silken fringe of his faint eyes, 85 Like dew upon a sleeping flower, there lies A tear some Dream hath loosened from his brain." She knew not 'twas her own, as with no stain She faded, like a cloud which had outwept its rain. XI. One from a lucid urn of starry dew Washed his light limbs, as if embalming them; The wreath upon him, like an anadem, A greater loss with one which was more weak; And dull the barbed fire against his frozen cheek. 90 95 |