University of Virginia Library

Search this document 
The works of Mrs. Hemans

With a memoir of her life, by her sister. In seven volumes

expand sectionI. 
expand sectionII. 
expand sectionIII. 
expand sectionIV. 
collapse sectionV. 
expand section 
  
  
ON A LEAF FROM THE TOMB OF VIRGIL.
  
  
  
  
  
expand section 
expand section 
expand sectionVI. 
expand sectionVII. 

ON A LEAF FROM THE TOMB OF VIRGIL.

And was thy home, pale wither'd thing,
Beneath the rich blue southern sky?
Wert thou a nursling of the spring,
The winds and suns of glorious Italy?
Those suns in golden light e'en now,
Look o'er the poet's lovely grave,
Those winds are breathing soft, but thou
Answering their whisper, there no more shalt wave.
The flowers, o'er Posilippo's brow,
May cluster in their purple bloom,
But on th' o'ershadowing ilex-bough,
Thy breezy place is void by Virgil's tomb.
Thy place is void; oh! none on earth,
This crowded earth, may so remain,
Save that which souls of loftiest birth
Leave when they part, their brighter home to gain.
Another leaf, ere now, hath sprung
On the green stem which once was thine;
When shall another strain be sung
Like his whose dust hath made that spot a shrine?