Days and Hours :: :: University of Virginia Library

‘Oh where is Love?’ the weeping Muses said,
‘Thro' the wide world we seek for Love in vain;
Our ancient harps shall never ring again,
For Love, our Master Love, has fled;
With him Joy's festival is o'er,
And blue-eyed Truth shall return no more,
Beauty is banish'd from our shore,
And Melody is dead.’

II

Some said ‘He dwells in cedarn chambers hung
With silk and gold; from odorous lamps he lights
His dying torch thro' pleasant Summer nights;
Or hears delicious music sung
In twilight temples of Repose,
Where thro' the gilded lattice flows
South air from noonday plots of rose,
By some enchanting tongue.’

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III

Some said again—‘He loves the gloomy shine
Of torrent waters, and the morning star,
The dewy vales, and verdurous slopes afar
Dark with the sombre mountain pine;
He loves to scent the crush'd wild thyme
Under his heel, the ancient chime
Of village bells is more to him
Than all the vocal Nine.’

IV

But others answer'd—‘Ye must look for him
Where Summer suns without a shadow shine,
Along the champaign, underneath the vine,
In moon-lit gardens hush'd and dim;
Or on breezy shores of rivers smooth,
Where after noon he loves to soothe
His toil with songs of sunburnt youth,
And joins the dancers trim.’

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V

A village damsel spoke with eyes in tears;
‘Ah! me—He loves the wild unfaithful seas;
The sound of bursting billows, and the breeze,
Is sweeter to his cruel ears
Than all our songs, and merry mirth,
Upon the green, or by the hearth;
Soft looks, and sighs are little worth
To one who follows fears.’

VI

‘Oh! where is Love?’ the weeping Muses said;
Thro' the wide world we seek for Love in vain;
Our ancient harps shall never ring again,
For Love, our Master, Love is dead,
No more—ye answer us in vain—
Within your hearts he did remain,
Within your hearts he hath been slain
By Avarice, Fear, and Pride!’