The Christian Scholar By the Author of "The Cathedral" [i.e. Isaac Williams] |
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 | The Christian Scholar |  |
181
V. DANAE AND HER CHILD.
“Loud o'er the chest the night-winds roar'd,
The waves around tempestuous pour'd,
A mother's heart then quail'd with fear,
And on her cheek there was a tear;
O'er little Perseus, as he slept,
She laid her loving arm, and wept;—
‘What do I suffer, O my child,
While thou upon a night so wild,
With baby heart thus breathing deep,
Art in thy joyless house asleep,—
This brass-bound chest, 'mid Ocean gloom
Which nothing but the stars illume.
The waves around tempestuous pour'd,
A mother's heart then quail'd with fear,
And on her cheek there was a tear;
O'er little Perseus, as he slept,
She laid her loving arm, and wept;—
‘What do I suffer, O my child,
While thou upon a night so wild,
With baby heart thus breathing deep,
Art in thy joyless house asleep,—
This brass-bound chest, 'mid Ocean gloom
Which nothing but the stars illume.
Thou markest not the wave that rocks
Above thy deep and flowing locks,
Nor wind's harsh voice; so calm doth glow,
In purple wrapt, thy beauteous brow.
If thou with me couldst feel and fear,
Then wouldst thou lend thy little ear.
Sleep on, my infant, smiling fair,
Sleep Ocean, and sleep thou, my care!
Above thy deep and flowing locks,
Nor wind's harsh voice; so calm doth glow,
In purple wrapt, thy beauteous brow.
If thou with me couldst feel and fear,
Then wouldst thou lend thy little ear.
Sleep on, my infant, smiling fair,
Sleep Ocean, and sleep thou, my care!
O Father Jove, there yet may be
From thee some change for mine and me,
But if a word too bold I speak,
Forgive, I pray, for my child's sake.’”
From thee some change for mine and me,
But if a word too bold I speak,
Forgive, I pray, for my child's sake.’”
| The Christian Scholar | |