The Legend of Genevieve with other tales and poems. By Delta [i.e. David Macbeth Moir] |
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BALLAD STANZAS. |
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 | The Legend of Genevieve |  |
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BALLAD STANZAS.
Cette vie étoit trop douce pour pouvoir durer. Je le sentois, et l'inquietude de la
voir finir etoit la seule chose qui en troubloit la jouissance.
Confessions, Livre VII.
Confessions, Livre VII.
How beauteous are the valleys, love, where we at eve have proved
That it was pure delight itself to love as we have loved;
The sun, descending in the west, no happier pair did see,
When, young and ardent in my heart, I burn'd for love of thee!
That it was pure delight itself to love as we have loved;
The sun, descending in the west, no happier pair did see,
When, young and ardent in my heart, I burn'd for love of thee!
How beautiful was Nature then, how lovely her attire!
The music stream'd among the woods, as from a seraph's lyre;
As I drank the angel eloquence that glisten'd in thine eye,
The mountains wore a brighter green, more azure glow'd the sky.
The music stream'd among the woods, as from a seraph's lyre;
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The mountains wore a brighter green, more azure glow'd the sky.
Though years of shade have veil'd the scene whose beauty was so bright;
Though years have pass'd, and thou hast been a stranger to my sight,
Whene'er I gaze upon thy cheek, a talisman appears,
To wake the feelings and the thoughts of long departed years.
Though years have pass'd, and thou hast been a stranger to my sight,
Whene'er I gaze upon thy cheek, a talisman appears,
To wake the feelings and the thoughts of long departed years.
The evening walk, the whisper'd talk amid the fields of green,
When moonlight, with its magic rays, o'erhung the glowing scene:
As young Affection told his tale, with ardour o'er and o'er,
And I caress'd the yielding hand, that none had press'd before!
When moonlight, with its magic rays, o'erhung the glowing scene:
As young Affection told his tale, with ardour o'er and o'er,
And I caress'd the yielding hand, that none had press'd before!
The old oak tree, beneath whose boughs in silence we have stood,
As through the leaves the radiance gleam'd, and glitter'd on the flood—
The briary bank, whose perfume rich was wafted on the breeze,
And added pleasure to a scene where all combined to please.
As through the leaves the radiance gleam'd, and glitter'd on the flood—
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And added pleasure to a scene where all combined to please.
All—all have pass'd; but yet, amid the wilderness of years,
Amid the desert of the heart, where scarce a flower appears,
The sunshine of the summer days, that blossom'd to depart,
Reflects a beauty on the gloom and darkness of my heart.
Amid the desert of the heart, where scarce a flower appears,
The sunshine of the summer days, that blossom'd to depart,
Reflects a beauty on the gloom and darkness of my heart.
| The Legend of Genevieve | |