 | Songs and ballads by Samuel Lover |  |
THE ANGEL'S WING.
[_]
There is a German superstition, that when a sudden silence takes place in a company, an angel at that moment makes a circuit among them, and the first person who breaks the silence is supposed to have been touched by the wing of the passing seraph. For the purposes of poetry, I thought two persons preferable to many, in illustrating this very beautiful superstition.
When by the evening's quiet light
There sit two silent lovers,
They say, while in such tranquil plight,
An angel round them hovers;
And further still old legends tell,
The first who breaks the silent spell
To say a soft and pleasing thing,
Hath felt the passing angel's wing.
There sit two silent lovers,
They say, while in such tranquil plight,
An angel round them hovers;
And further still old legends tell,
The first who breaks the silent spell
To say a soft and pleasing thing,
Hath felt the passing angel's wing.
Thus a musing minstrel stray'd
By the summer ocean,
Gazing on a lovely maid
With a bard's devotion:—
Yet his love he never spoke
Till now the silent spell he broke;—
The hidden fire to flame did spring,
Fann'd by the passing angel's wing.
By the summer ocean,
Gazing on a lovely maid
With a bard's devotion:—
Yet his love he never spoke
Till now the silent spell he broke;—
The hidden fire to flame did spring,
Fann'd by the passing angel's wing.
51
“I have loved thee well and long,
With love of Heaven's own making!—
This is not a poet's song,
But a true heart speaking;
I will love thee still, untired!”
He felt—he spoke—as one inspired—
The words did from Truth's fountain spring,
Upwaken'd by the angel's wing.
With love of Heaven's own making!—
This is not a poet's song,
But a true heart speaking;
I will love thee still, untired!”
He felt—he spoke—as one inspired—
The words did from Truth's fountain spring,
Upwaken'd by the angel's wing.
Silence o'er the maiden fell,
Her beauty lovelier making;—
And by her blush he knew full well
The dawn of love was breaking.
It came like sunshine o'er his heart!
He felt that they should never part,
She spoke—and oh!—the lovely thing
Had felt the passing angel's wing.
Her beauty lovelier making;—
And by her blush he knew full well
The dawn of love was breaking.
It came like sunshine o'er his heart!
He felt that they should never part,
She spoke—and oh!—the lovely thing
Had felt the passing angel's wing.
| Songs and ballads by Samuel Lover | |