 | Miscellaneous Poems |  |
31
TO ------
Who to the injured spirit can atone,Unhappy victim of the Tyrant's fears—
Or what to thee recall thy perish'd years,
Nature's sweet boon destroyed—when one by one
The blossoms of thy vernal life were strewn
Along that dungeon floor? Ungentle ears
Heard not, poor Tasso, thy lament: no tears
Unlock'd Ferrara's sepulchre of stone.
Like captive, my own bard, art thou;—yet he
Had time, thought, feeling, free to count his chain;
While thine is heavier bondage, double pain,
Prisoner at once and slave.—Oh, thoughtless ye!
Who make the gifted mind, that should be free,
A monumental Lamp to burn in vain.
| Miscellaneous Poems | |