The Harp of Erin Containing the Poetical Works of the Late Thomas Dermody. In Two Volumes |
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 | II. |
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THE WINTER'S NIGHT. |
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 | The Harp of Erin |  |
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THE WINTER'S NIGHT.
The surly demons of the tempest yell,
The frozen ground rings sullen on the car;
Night breathes her cold sighs o'er the shiv'ring dell,
And shected Horror leagues with wan-cheek'd Fear.
No more Spring's smiling babes', the roses, rear.
Their blushing heads, but bid a long farewell;
No more the balmy eye-lids of the Morn
Awake green-crested Summer from her cell;
With crystal spangles doth she now adorn
Her bosom pale, and chill, and weeps her withering thorn.
The frozen ground rings sullen on the car;
Night breathes her cold sighs o'er the shiv'ring dell,
And shected Horror leagues with wan-cheek'd Fear.
No more Spring's smiling babes', the roses, rear.
Their blushing heads, but bid a long farewell;
No more the balmy eye-lids of the Morn
Awake green-crested Summer from her cell;
With crystal spangles doth she now adorn
Her bosom pale, and chill, and weeps her withering thorn.
Terrific darkness clothes the baleful heath,
While Dread's black legions lift her awful veil;
Gigantic Terror calls the fiends of Death,
And bids the elves their dismal scenes reveal
To the tranc'd trav'ller's eye, whose heart-strings feel
The horrid shock, and blasted, tear asunder;
The forked lightnings round his forehead dance,
Grim howls the flame-rob'd Pow'r that sways the thunder;
He sinks, he dies!—the torturing cries advance,
Ne'er shall his children catch their father's sprightly glance.
While Dread's black legions lift her awful veil;
Gigantic Terror calls the fiends of Death,
And bids the elves their dismal scenes reveal
To the tranc'd trav'ller's eye, whose heart-strings feel
The horrid shock, and blasted, tear asunder;
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Grim howls the flame-rob'd Pow'r that sways the thunder;
He sinks, he dies!—the torturing cries advance,
Ne'er shall his children catch their father's sprightly glance.
Ah me! what now avails the shudd'ring wretch
Who hugs her orphan infant to her breast,
Beneath some ruin'd castle's yawning breach!
Hark! the winds whistle o'er the hapless guest;
The shatter'd walls rock, tottering!—sprites unblest,
O! spare the meek-ey'd mourner!—Angels catch
The falling rocks! arrest the sudden death!
Celestial Comfort's soft elixir fetch:
Lo, now! even now, she pours her last sad breath,
The frighted darling clings, and gasps, and falls beneath!
Who hugs her orphan infant to her breast,
Beneath some ruin'd castle's yawning breach!
Hark! the winds whistle o'er the hapless guest;
The shatter'd walls rock, tottering!—sprites unblest,
O! spare the meek-ey'd mourner!—Angels catch
The falling rocks! arrest the sudden death!
Celestial Comfort's soft elixir fetch:
Lo, now! even now, she pours her last sad breath,
The frighted darling clings, and gasps, and falls beneath!
Fell Winter, tyrant of the blooming year,
Nature's harsh stepsire! Mirth's Cimmerian foe,
Fly with thy ruffian-blasts to cavern drear,
Nor mar the lovely woodland's vernal flow;
Thou, and thy ravens, shriek the dirge of woe
In Lapland's haggard waste; the rude rocks tear
And hurl huge fragments to the stagnant wave
From some blank hill where witching beldames stare:
But oh! Europa's flow'ry natives spare!
Zephyr alone his radiant wing shall wave,
And melting thaws serene unbind their icy grave.
Nature's harsh stepsire! Mirth's Cimmerian foe,
Fly with thy ruffian-blasts to cavern drear,
Nor mar the lovely woodland's vernal flow;
Thou, and thy ravens, shriek the dirge of woe
In Lapland's haggard waste; the rude rocks tear
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From some blank hill where witching beldames stare:
But oh! Europa's flow'ry natives spare!
Zephyr alone his radiant wing shall wave,
And melting thaws serene unbind their icy grave.
| The Harp of Erin | |