 | Eonchs of ruby. A Gift of Love |  |
LORD UTHER'S LAMENT FOR ELLA.
I.
When the milky moon hung crescent,Like young Grief when Joy is present,
Joy, whose life is evanescent—
On the horizon's rim, low, low—
From the Vale of Cuscovilla,
Through the Bowers of Boscobella,
Came to meet me Angel-Ella
In the days of long ago.
II.
By her side Cherubic Aster,With white limbs like alabaster,
Circled through Heaven's azure pasture,
Half the fields of night to mow,
When her heart to mine was given—
Then she sang to me at even
Golden melodies of Heaven
In the days of long ago.
III.
Pure as snow on HimalayaWas this beautiful bright Baya—
Bayadere of old Allaya
For within the Boscobella
Of the Vale of Cuscovilla,
Died the Sire of Angel-Ella
In the days of long ago.
IV.
In the mild month of October,Through the fields of Cooly Rauber,
By the great Archangel Auber,
Such sweet songs of love did flow,
From her golden lips preluded,
That my soul with joy was flooded,
As by God the earth was wooded
In the days of long ago.
V.
All her soul's divinest treasurePoured she out then without measure,
Till an ocean of deep pleasure
Drowned my soul from all its wo;
Like Cecilia Inatella,
In the Bowers of Boscobella,
Sang the saintly Angel-Ella
In the days of long ago.
VI.
In the Violet Valley lyingDwells the beautiful undying,
While my soul is left here sighing
That I, too, cannot be so;
For an angel's chariot driven
Through the parting clouds of Heaven,
Bore her soul to God, forgiven
In the days of long ago.
VII.
Through the shades of Death low looming,Where the pale night-flowers are blooming,
Goes the brass-winged beetle booming,
Making silence doubly so;
While my soul is left in sorrow,
Waiting for the bright to-morrow—
Solace none from Hope to borrow—
For the days of long ago.
VIII.
He who mourns the loved-departed,Weeps for those who are deserted—
Who in Heaven live broken-hearted
There, they live in joyful sadness,
Waiting, with exultant madness,
For the left-behind lost gladness
Of the days of long ago.
IX.
In the Orient Isles of Morning,Whence there is no more returning,
Thy pure spirit now is burning
With the stars' serenest glow;
While, as Abraham mourned for Sarah,
By the cypress wells of Marah,
I now mourn in life's Saharah
For the days of long ago.
X.
Where the moon hangs never crescent—(Though she made our nights so pleasant)—
Where God's face is ever present,
But where tears can never flow;
In the golden Boscobella
Of the Heavenly Cuscovilla
Waits to meet me Angel-Ella,
As in days of long ago.
XI.
On the green grass, passementedWith the Eden-flowers, sweet scented,
There she sits in Heaven, contented,
Of the flowers around them springing—
Angels nectar to them bringing—
Ever shining, ever singing
Of the days of long ago.
XII.
By her side Cherubic Aster,With white limbs like alabaster,
Plays along Heaven's emerald pasture—
Ganymede of joy below—
While her saintly soul sings Pæans
In the Amaranthine Æons
Of high Heaven with her dear Fleance,
Of the days of long ago.
XIII.
Soon my sighing soul shall followHer from this dark grave we hallow,
Up to God's Divine Valhalla,
There to sing forever mo
In the Bowers of Chalcedony
Of the Heavenly Avalona,
With the plaintive voice of Cona,
Of the days of long ago.
The Baya is a beautiful bird of Hindostan, about the Sparrow's size, with yellow-brown, soft plumage, yellow head and feet, with breast light colored. In Malabar, it is called the Olimara; in Sanscrit, Barbere; and in Bengalee, Babin. It is a great favorite with the lovers of Hindostan, who send it forth to pick the jewels from their mistress' brows. It is here used as a name of endearment by Lord Uther.
Boscobella, from two Italian words, signifies beautiful Woods, or Woodlands. It was the Eden-wilderness of the Golden Villa of Don Allaya, whose orchards, which were diversified with all kinds of the most delicious fruits, were more beautiful than the delightful gardens of King Alcinous. His Villa was called Bella Vista, or Beautiful View. It was called Golden, because it contained the trophies brought by the Spanish buccaneers from the Southern seas to old St. Louis' Fort in Florida, which were recaptured from them when overrun by the savage myrmidons of the great chiefs from the North. These treasures, which consisted of the richest gold and silver plate, corals, pearls, and ermine of the costliest kind, were bequeathed to Don Allaya by old Lamorah, the principal chief of the Northern tribes, on his death-bed. From the names engraven upon each plate, it was evident that they were the pride of Spanish Kings.
The Vale of Cuscovilla was to the River Mobile what Val-Ombrosa is to the Arno in Italy. Cuscovilla was the Holy City of the Southern tribes. It was in this valley that Boscobella, the Beautiful Bower of the villa of Don Allaya, was situated.
Marah means bitterness. When the Israelites came to the Waters of Marah, in the wilderness of Shur, they could not drink of them because they were bitter, whereupon Moses “cried unto the Lord, and he showed him a tree, which, when he had cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet.”
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