 | Poems of "Frank Forester" (Henry William Herbert) |  |
54
VIRGINIA.
So arch a smile as Ariadne wore,
To greet her wine-god on the desert shore;
So sly a sparkle in that liquid eye,
As Dian cast to rapt Endymion's sigh.
To greet her wine-god on the desert shore;
So sly a sparkle in that liquid eye,
As Dian cast to rapt Endymion's sigh.
Wild as the wood-nymph of a minstrel's dream,
Shy as the Naiad by her crystal stream,
Pure as the priestess in Apollo's grove,
Yet warm as Danaë half won by Jove.
Shy as the Naiad by her crystal stream,
Pure as the priestess in Apollo's grove,
Yet warm as Danaë half won by Jove.
Fair form, young loveliness, and noble race,
All woman gentleness and woman grace,
Heaven hath no treasured benefit in store,
For those it favors most, thy love before.
All woman gentleness and woman grace,
Heaven hath no treasured benefit in store,
For those it favors most, thy love before.
Unsunned by passion, innocently bland,
Fresh as the forests of thy virgin land,
Tender, and delicate, and warm, and free—
Oh, may my lot be cast with such as thee!
Fresh as the forests of thy virgin land,
Tender, and delicate, and warm, and free—
Oh, may my lot be cast with such as thee!
| Poems of "Frank Forester" (Henry William Herbert) | |