 | The Lonely Isle |  |
CANTO I.
I
Let me essay to sing of other times,Ere the fair blossoms of my memory fade;
Bid me re-echo, what, in distant climes,
Appeared in splendid witchery arrayed:
It is a Tale about a lovely Maid
And Youth, upon whose brow would honour smile,
Who were by cruel treachery betrayed,
And basely hurried from their native soil,
To perish in a distant, lone, romantic Isle.
8
II
Gentle Monimia was as sweet a flowerAs ever England boasted for her own;
She flourished, beauteous, till, in evil hour,
Misfortune bent the lovely blossom down;
Then all her peace was for a season flown;
Her Angel wept when her fond Parents died,
And tho' her path with boundless wealth was strewn,
Yet only that the keenest woe supplied,
And surely innocence was ne'er severer tried.
III
Monimia's parents to her did bequeathAll their vast riches, all their treasures here;
Yet, ere they entered on the sleep of death,
Her father clasped his only brother dear,
And said, while lingered on his cheek the tear,
“Be kind unto our only pledge of love,
Thou art her guardian, bring her up in fear
Of Him in Heaven, nor let her young thoughts rove,
So that, in lapse of time, we'll meet our child above.
9
IV
“Be her Protector, till some worthy YouthWill take our innocent from thy good hand;
Then join them, Brother, in the bands of truth,
And may they live a blessing to the land:
Yet, if Almighty God gives his command,
And takes my lovely little One to heaven
Ere the young bud to fullest flower expand;
Then all my wealth, for which I long have striven,
To thee, my dearest Brother, is for ever given.”
V
That sigh's the last!—they're now in bowers of bliss;But, sweet Monimia, thou art left alone,
And while thy Parents dwell in paradise,
Thou art upon the wide, wide world now thrown;
Thy cruel Guardian has a heart of stone,
Wherein the pride of love did never dwell,
A virtuous ray ne'er thro' his dark soul shone,
Or if of yore there heaved one generous swell,
'Twas long since it had bid his callous breast farewell.
10
VI
Now sixteen summers had rolled o'er the maid,And she was all that beauty could express;
Peerless she stood, in matchless charms arrayed,
The sweetest form of earthly loveliness!
Nay, who, beholding her, could think her less
Than some fair wanderer from the bowers of heaven,
Who, for awhile, had left the land of bliss
To dazzle mortals,—like the lamp of Even,
That to a lonely night is for a season given.
VII
But what avails the Flower of Beauty, whenIts earthly Guardian is a tyrant vile,
When his dark bosom is a murderous den,
Where lurks a Tyger-soul intent on spoil?
Gentle Monimia! tho' with sweetest smile
Thou wouldst obey thy Uncle's harsh command,
Ah! little knowest thou of the desert Isle,
Where thou art doomed, a rock-encircled land,
Where South-sea billows murmur on the lonely strand!
11
VIII
Henry she loved—a youth, whose manly formWas only equalled by his noble soul;
And he returned it, for such feelings warm
Of mutual love, did ne'er o'er mortals roll:
The watchful Uncle soon remarked the whole,
And fixt upon them as his hapless prey;
Then murderous images across him stole;—
But suddenly his purpose in array
Before him stood—he quickly hastened to obey.
IX
A ship was bound for islands far at sea,A long long voyage, the wide world around;
And as she, for some years away would be,
The Guardian judged the proper moment found.
The Captain was not difficult to sound,
And for a handsome sum of golden ore,
He'd place the Lovers on some unknown ground,
Where not a noise they'd hear, save ocean's roar,
Some dreary distant isle, where foot ne'er stept before.
12
X
One evening, as the lovers fondly walkedBeneath the soft beams of the setting ray,
As, arm-in-arm, they rapturously talked
About their happiness on future day,
Behind a rock, upon the beach that lay,
Some men sprung forth upon the hapless pair,
And bore them to the ready boat away,
Amid the shrieks and struggles of despair,
The tears of innocence were only laughed at there.
XI
And soon they reached a gallant ship, that lay,Far in the offing, all equipt for sea;
And having first secured their helpless prey,
The sails were loosened to the breezes free,
And thro' the waves she darted rapidly,
While the rough sailors hailed the favouring wind,
And gave themselves to merriment and glee;
Some with a careless, some a callous mind,
And only two wept for the land they left behind.
13
XII
For many months the ship kept on her way,Dancing with glee upon the stormy wave,
It seemed as if with joy she would obey,
To place the lovers in their living grave!
Lovely Monimia would sometimes rave,
In sad delirium, at her hapless state,
Then weep, and say, “There's none on earth can save,
And He in Heaven has left us to our fate!
We are surrounded here by fears and perils great.”
XIII
Arraign not Providence, my lovely Maid,It yet will dry the eye that sadly weeps;
Remember, tho' thou'rt far from mortal aid,
The King of Heaven slumbers not nor sleeps:
He who commands the wild wave of the deeps,
And holds the stormy ocean in his hand,
Will not forsake thee; tho' a tyrant heaps
His wrath upon thy head, thy God will stand
A father to thee, tho' in the loneliest land.
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XIV
Young Henry aye assayed to cheer his love,Tho' he, too, oft would Providence arraign,
And oft he with the cautious Captain strove,
With tears, with threats, the mystery to explain:
But all his threats and arguments were vain.
The Captain laughed when tears began to flow,
And when he dwelt too long upon the strain,
He with a barbarous oath would from him go,
And leave the Youth again to misery and wo.
XV
One gloomy eve, the sun's dull setting rayShot heavily athwart a sea of gloom,
And long before its last beam was away,
The heavens and waters wildest forms assume:
Convulsed was Ocean from her deepest womb,
The night closed dark, the sea ran mountains high,
All thought, ere morn, they'd have a watery tomb,
They mount to heaven, then to the abyss they fly,
And Alpine waves appear to mingle with the sky.
15
XVI
For weeks the tempest raged in fullest force,No sun or stars did all that time appear;
They guessed they steered a wild bewildered course,
But knew not in what latitude they were.
Again the sun beamed forth refulgent fair,
The sea waxed smooth, an island met their view,
The richest flavours floated in the air,
The land was dreary rocks that met their view,
But what the island was, none of the gazers knew.
XVII
No damage in the storm the ship sustained,With main-sail backed, she rested nigh the Isle.
The Captain called the ruffians he had gained,
And bade them launch the Pinnace out mean while;
Then told the Lovers, with a fiend-like smile,
Their dwelling was to be in yonder land!
He wished them health to cultivate the soil,
Which ne'er before, mayhap, had known man's hand,
Or mortal step been printed on the sun-dried strand.
16
XVIII
Two little trunks were lowered to the boat,With liquors good, and of provisions store;
Muskets, and ammunition too a lot,
To lengthen life a little—but no more.
“Save us! O save!” Monimia cried, and tore
Her hair in agony;—but all in vain;
Off rowed the boat with swiftness to the shore.
Some of the crew cried loud—it was a scene
That would with infamy their ruffian Captain stain.
XIX
The lovers landed on a little beach,Close to a rock, which towered up like a wall,
When from the ship a murderous yell did reach
Their ears, and struck wild horror in them all:
A shout that would the stoutest heart appal;—
Some musket shot re-echoed to the shore,—
A signal fluttered for the boat's recal,
Which having landed all the little store,
The seamen sprung on board, and swiftly plyed the oar.
17
XX
Henry then placed Monimia on a chest,And nimbly vaulted up a little rock;
“Monimia! the boat's aboard; but, list!
Those yells and groans! and don't you see the smoke?
My God! what's that?” and instantly a shock,
That shook the island, thundered in their ears.
It was a sound that wildest fear awoke—
All pitchy darkness—now the black cloud clears,—
But where's the gallant ship? Alas! no ship appears.
XXI
Like lightning, bounding from his restless place,Young Henry darted where Monimia lay;
He sprinkled water on her pallid face,
And for awhile he deemed her soul away.
Pale he leaned o'er her, like a piece of clay,
By sculptor formed to imitate despair!—
His pulse, late throbbing strong, scarce seemed to play;
He gazed in wo, for she was all his care,
Yes, all his earthly joy and happiness lay there.
18
XXII
At length she opened her twin orbs of blue,And gazed, inanimate, she knew not where;
Her lovely cheeks had caught the lily's hue,
But never was there lily half so fair:
One sweet embrace,—life soon rekindled there,
Quickly the rose usurped the lily's place;
She clasped him to her breast,—and such a pair
The Prince of Painters would have loved to trace,
Yes, great Apelles would have owned their matchless grace!
XXIII
“My sweet Monimia! O my life! my soul!Let not thy spotless bosom feel dismay;
If thou art safe, tho' ruin round me roll,
Still, blest with thee, I'd be content and gay:
Our cruel enemies are now away,
Blotted for ever from the mortal page;
O! I will for their sinful spirits pray,
That the Almighty would his wrath assuage,
Come, my Monimia, we may avert his rage.”
19
XXIV
Then knelt they down upon the burning sand,And Henry lifted up his eyes in prayer.
The supplicants were clasped, hand-in-hand,
While his warm pleadings floated in the air,
Intreating God their foes dark souls to spare,
And save them from the dreary depths of wo,
To let them heavenly joys and pleasures share,
And keep them from those darksome pits below,
Where endless groans are heard, and tears of misery flow.
XXV
The Lovers wandered now among the rocks,And every cranny for an opening tried;
'Till, straying where the wild-fowl rose in flocks,
A little fissure, like a door, they spied:
Nimbly thro' it the weary wand'rers hied—
But, heavens! O! what a country met their view!
Henry, with sudden rapture, almost died,
He nigh had fainted; but the tear-drops flow
To his relief, he then the sweetest pleasure knew.
20
XXVI
The country seemed about ten miles around,Where little hills at intervals were seen;
A noble carpet covered all the ground,
Rich as the velvet of the emerald green:
A beauteous rivulet, of silver sheen,
Meandered thro' this little vale of bliss;
The air was cool and pleasant;—well, I ween,
An angel would have deemed it Paradise!
And to a mortal said, “My home's a home like this.”
XXVII
Night coming on, young Henry gathered grass,And, 'neath a tree, a soft warm couch he made;
And as the night-time must securely pass,
He went for arms, but not a moment staid.
Then sweet Monimia laid her weary head
On Nature's pillow, and soon sunk asleep;
While Henry walked around—he was afraid,
Some barbarous savage, or wild beast, might leap
Upon their helpless prey; so he sure watch did keep.
END OF CANTO FIRST.
| The Lonely Isle | |