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 |  |
And lightly on the Maiden mov'd
Beside the step of him she lov'd:
Thro' scenes of beauty they pursued
Their flowery way, and soon ascended
A mount, that in the Island stood
And almost with the bright clouds blended;
They paus'd upon its middle steep
And turn'd to gaze on all around,—
And scarce the Maid her sense could keep
For rapture at the sight she found:
For, far beneath, three vallies green
In all their verdant pride were seen,
Upon whose breasts sweet flow'rs arose,
As bright as e'er the Morning view'd
Beneath her glorious eye unclose
And smile upon the sun-beams rude,
That love to quit their native sky
On beds so beautiful to lie:
And odorous shrubs their incense shed
Upon the earth, and thro' the air
Such sweet perfumes unceasing spread,
One might have grown inebriate there
From scenting fragrancy so rare.—
Thro' each green valley's bright abode
Streamlets, for ever murmuring, flow'd,
Transparent as the light that lies
In wicked Beauty's dangerous eyes;
And o'er them hung each graceful tree
That loves beside the wave to be,
In morning dew all wet and dipp'd,
Which slowly from their branches dripp'd;—
And ere the drops the earth could print
They drank the passing sun-beam's tint,—
So that the gazing eye, deceiv'd,
Might, for a moment, have believ'd
The glittering boughs did doubtless throw
Bright amber on the ground below:
And, midst the herbage and the bloom
Of flowers, that mingled their perfume,
Wide branches forth did proudly shoot
Far distant from their native root,
All loaded with delicious fruit,
Of every die and every shape
That rich Pomona's children wear:—
Some scarcely from the leaves escape,
But slumber in their beauty there;
Whilst others boldly darken forth
And dare t' assert their matchless worth,
And look upon the flowers, that smile
Beneath them, on the green below,
As if they thought to prove the while
How deeplier beautiful their glow:
In other lands, in other climes
Fruits ripen at their several times;
But here together all display'd
Their hues, in gay confusion laid,
And yellow, purple, green and red
All—all at once shone overhead.
Beside the step of him she lov'd:
Thro' scenes of beauty they pursued
Their flowery way, and soon ascended
A mount, that in the Island stood
And almost with the bright clouds blended;
They paus'd upon its middle steep
And turn'd to gaze on all around,—
And scarce the Maid her sense could keep
For rapture at the sight she found:
For, far beneath, three vallies green
In all their verdant pride were seen,
Upon whose breasts sweet flow'rs arose,
As bright as e'er the Morning view'd
Beneath her glorious eye unclose
And smile upon the sun-beams rude,
That love to quit their native sky
On beds so beautiful to lie:
105
Upon the earth, and thro' the air
Such sweet perfumes unceasing spread,
One might have grown inebriate there
From scenting fragrancy so rare.—
Thro' each green valley's bright abode
Streamlets, for ever murmuring, flow'd,
Transparent as the light that lies
In wicked Beauty's dangerous eyes;
And o'er them hung each graceful tree
That loves beside the wave to be,
In morning dew all wet and dipp'd,
Which slowly from their branches dripp'd;—
And ere the drops the earth could print
They drank the passing sun-beam's tint,—
So that the gazing eye, deceiv'd,
Might, for a moment, have believ'd
The glittering boughs did doubtless throw
Bright amber on the ground below:
And, midst the herbage and the bloom
Of flowers, that mingled their perfume,
Wide branches forth did proudly shoot
Far distant from their native root,
All loaded with delicious fruit,
Of every die and every shape
That rich Pomona's children wear:—
Some scarcely from the leaves escape,
But slumber in their beauty there;
Whilst others boldly darken forth
And dare t' assert their matchless worth,
And look upon the flowers, that smile
Beneath them, on the green below,
As if they thought to prove the while
How deeplier beautiful their glow:
106
Fruits ripen at their several times;
But here together all display'd
Their hues, in gay confusion laid,
And yellow, purple, green and red
All—all at once shone overhead.
| Tasso and the Sisters | |