The Poetical Works of Anna Seward With Extracts from her Literary Correspondence. Edited by Walter Scott ... In Three Volumes |
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COMPLAINT
OF AN ARABIAN LOVER.
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 | The Poetical Works of Anna Seward |  |
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COMPLAINT OF AN ARABIAN LOVER.
ODE.
Wide o'er the drowsy world, incumbent Night,
Sullen and drear, his sable wing has spread!
The waning moon, with interrupted light,
Gleams cold and misty on my fever'd bed!
Cold as she is, to her my bursting heart
Shall pour its waste of woe, its unavailing smart.
Sullen and drear, his sable wing has spread!
The waning moon, with interrupted light,
Gleams cold and misty on my fever'd bed!
Cold as she is, to her my bursting heart
Shall pour its waste of woe, its unavailing smart.
Thro' the long hours—ah me! how long the hours!
My restless limbs no balmy languors know;
Grieved tho' I am, yet grief's assuaging showers
From burning eye-balls still refuse to flow;
Love's jealous fires, kindled by Aza's frown,
Not the vast watery world, with all its waves can drown.
My restless limbs no balmy languors know;
Grieved tho' I am, yet grief's assuaging showers
From burning eye-balls still refuse to flow;
Love's jealous fires, kindled by Aza's frown,
Not the vast watery world, with all its waves can drown.
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Slow pass the stars along the night's dun plain!
Still in their destined sphere serene they move;
Nor does their mild effulgence shine in vain,
Like the fierce blazes of neglected love:
But this—this pang dissolves the galling chain!
Aza, a broken heart defies thy fix'd disdain!
Still in their destined sphere serene they move;
Nor does their mild effulgence shine in vain,
Like the fierce blazes of neglected love:
But this—this pang dissolves the galling chain!
Aza, a broken heart defies thy fix'd disdain!
A critical friend of the author's seemed to doubt whether a frown kindling fire was just metaphor; but, since it is poetically orthodox to say that the flame of love is lighted by the sunny ray of a smile, that of jealousy may certainly be said to enkindle from the lightning ofa frowning eye. There are lurid and dismal fires, as well as bright and cheerful ones.
| The Poetical Works of Anna Seward | |