Tasso and the Sisters Tasso's Spirit: The Nuptials of Juno: The Skeletons: The Spirits of the Ocean. Poems, By Thomas Wade |
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 | Tasso and the Sisters |  |
They came,—and one, with iron clasp,
Enclos'd her in his hated grasp:
She rais'd her voice:—“Oh, Reumon mine!
“If one kind thought of me be thine;—
“If love, if vows have ought to bind—
“Let thy rare Spirits mount the wind!”—
Listen, listen—music gay
Floats upon its airy way;
Golden pinions gleam afar,
Sparkling as with gem and star;
Swiftly, swiftly, sound and song
Come the charmed air along,
And Spirits six
Their voices mix,
Flying, flying as they sing
And a light bark with them bring,
With golden sails
And painted sides,
To kiss the gales
And greet the tides:
Falling, they upon the billow
Lay the bark, as 'twere a pillow
Fit for thing so beautiful;
Rosy garlands then they throw
On the nimble vessels prow,
And sweet flow'rs that fairies cull.
The Spirits warbled—whilst they sung
As from the earth young Reumon sprung,
High in the air a weapon whirl'd,
And to the dust the warriors hurl'd:—
Then gently clasp'd his Laura dear,
And bade her not to weep, or fear.
They left the ground:—the Sprites decay'd
Amid the music that they made,
And, onward by the breezes sent,
Away, away the light bark went.
The wondering Chieftains uprose from the plain,
And murmur'd of vengeance—the murmur was vain;
Nor the Maid, nor the Child of the Spirit shall stand
Again on those Warriors' desolate land:—
With a frown on his brow, each retir'd to his home,
To muse on new combat and glory to come.
Enclos'd her in his hated grasp:
She rais'd her voice:—“Oh, Reumon mine!
“If one kind thought of me be thine;—
99
“Let thy rare Spirits mount the wind!”—
Listen, listen—music gay
Floats upon its airy way;
Golden pinions gleam afar,
Sparkling as with gem and star;
Swiftly, swiftly, sound and song
Come the charmed air along,
And Spirits six
Their voices mix,
Flying, flying as they sing
And a light bark with them bring,
With golden sails
And painted sides,
To kiss the gales
And greet the tides:
Falling, they upon the billow
Lay the bark, as 'twere a pillow
Fit for thing so beautiful;
Rosy garlands then they throw
On the nimble vessels prow,
And sweet flow'rs that fairies cull.
The Spirits warbled—whilst they sung
As from the earth young Reumon sprung,
High in the air a weapon whirl'd,
And to the dust the warriors hurl'd:—
Then gently clasp'd his Laura dear,
And bade her not to weep, or fear.
They left the ground:—the Sprites decay'd
Amid the music that they made,
And, onward by the breezes sent,
Away, away the light bark went.
100
And murmur'd of vengeance—the murmur was vain;
Nor the Maid, nor the Child of the Spirit shall stand
Again on those Warriors' desolate land:—
With a frown on his brow, each retir'd to his home,
To muse on new combat and glory to come.
| Tasso and the Sisters | |