 | The Ingoldsby Lyrics |  |
Ballad.
IN IMITATION OF HAFIZ, DELLA CRUSCA, AND CO.
Where yon rock o'erhangs the billow,
Bending o'er its shaggy brow,
Lord Alphonso, crowned with willow,
Viewed the black abyss below.
Bending o'er its shaggy brow,
Lord Alphonso, crowned with willow,
Viewed the black abyss below.
8
“Cease,” he cried, “thou stormy ocean;
Hush thy roaring waves to rest,
Cease thy wild, tempestuous motion—
Emblem of my troubled breast.
Hush thy roaring waves to rest,
Cease thy wild, tempestuous motion—
Emblem of my troubled breast.
“Once my heart beat high with pleasure,
Once the joys of life were mine;
Plundered of my dearest treasure,
Now my bosom swells like thine.
Once the joys of life were mine;
Plundered of my dearest treasure,
Now my bosom swells like thine.
“O Matilda! perjured beauty,
Thou couldst all my woes dispel;
Why forsake, unheeding duty,
One who loved so long—so well.
Thou couldst all my woes dispel;
Why forsake, unheeding duty,
One who loved so long—so well.
“Thou hast left me, too deceiving—
Left me pressed with grief and care;
Sighs my tortured breast are heaving;
All my refuge is despair!
Left me pressed with grief and care;
Sighs my tortured breast are heaving;
All my refuge is despair!
“Sadly now I view each morrow,
Vainly now the past regret;
What can soothe a wretch's sorrow
Whelmed at once in love and debt?
Vainly now the past regret;
What can soothe a wretch's sorrow
Whelmed at once in love and debt?
“No! to regions immaterial,
Far from want and woe, I'll fly;
Thus I rush to realms aërial—
All below is all my eye!”
Far from want and woe, I'll fly;
Thus I rush to realms aërial—
All below is all my eye!”
9
Wild he spake, his ringlets tearing,
Swift as tigers on their prey
To the margin rushed, despairing—
Blew his nose, and walked away!
Swift as tigers on their prey
To the margin rushed, despairing—
Blew his nose, and walked away!
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