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THE ENTHUSIAST.
SONGS OF ARLA.
SONG I.
WILD wing my notes, fierce passions urge the strain;
Strong flame the fires that kindle in my soul;
I strike the wiery harp, nor will refrain;
Mad is despair, and scorns each feeble rein,
Feelings like mine no virtue can control.
Stifled, th' inflated heart with pain respires,
My crimson veins with struggling blood are press'd,
My cheeks are flush'd with passion's transient fires;
My brain with agonies distracted flies,
Till the fierce streams burst from my burning eyes,
And drowning torrents cool my panting breast.
Strong flame the fires that kindle in my soul;
I strike the wiery harp, nor will refrain;
Mad is despair, and scorns each feeble rein,
Feelings like mine no virtue can control.
Stifled, th' inflated heart with pain respires,
My crimson veins with struggling blood are press'd,
My cheeks are flush'd with passion's transient fires;
My brain with agonies distracted flies,
Till the fierce streams burst from my burning eyes,
And drowning torrents cool my panting breast.
SONG II.
With awe my soul the wreck of Nature views,
The storm amid the echoing mountain hears;
The sighs of Autumn, mingling with my tears,
Mourn the sad ravages which time pursues.
Hear the wild roar of the tempestuous blast,
Whirling the forest leaves to distant air!
See blooming flowers in scatter'd fragments cast,
While torrents pouring thunder on the ear!
The sun's bright beam in dreary winter lost,
Not joyless is, as me, on passion's tempests tost.
The storm amid the echoing mountain hears;
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The sighs of Autumn, mingling with my tears,
Mourn the sad ravages which time pursues.
Hear the wild roar of the tempestuous blast,
Whirling the forest leaves to distant air!
See blooming flowers in scatter'd fragments cast,
While torrents pouring thunder on the ear!
The sun's bright beam in dreary winter lost,
Not joyless is, as me, on passion's tempests tost.
My youthful charms fade 'neath my burning eyes,
The soul-entrancing morn of pleasure flies;
A raging sorrow sweeps without control
Those germs of genius which alone inspire:
The sensual passions which consum'd my soul,
Burn my distemper'd bosom with their fire.
Long lightnings glance still from my streaming eyes,
Though vain around the fiery circles roll;
Virtue and pleasure vanish from my soul;
The transient shadow of my glory flies.
The soul-entrancing morn of pleasure flies;
A raging sorrow sweeps without control
Those germs of genius which alone inspire:
The sensual passions which consum'd my soul,
Burn my distemper'd bosom with their fire.
Long lightnings glance still from my streaming eyes,
Though vain around the fiery circles roll;
Virtue and pleasure vanish from my soul;
The transient shadow of my glory flies.
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SONG III.
Impassion'd strains my trembling lips rehearse,
Echoing my soul the numbers pierce the skies,
I seem (delusions thus my mind impair)
To catch the potent fires of EDRAN'S eyes:
On loftiest pinions then, more noble verse
Bursts into sound, and floats upon the air,
Till memory bursts on my deluded heart,
Mingling discordant strains of deep despair.
Distracting thoughts upon my spirit pour,
No longer in delusive dreams I rest,
Such passions mingle with each bitter shower!
Echoing my soul the numbers pierce the skies,
I seem (delusions thus my mind impair)
To catch the potent fires of EDRAN'S eyes:
On loftiest pinions then, more noble verse
Bursts into sound, and floats upon the air,
Till memory bursts on my deluded heart,
Mingling discordant strains of deep despair.
Distracting thoughts upon my spirit pour,
No longer in delusive dreams I rest,
Such passions mingle with each bitter shower!
A father's image meets my troubled breast;
Ah! wandering heart! how bitterly distress'd!
Consuming flames will soon thy strength o'erpower,
And thou abandon'd die, with guilt oppress'd.
Ah! wandering heart! how bitterly distress'd!
Consuming flames will soon thy strength o'erpower,
And thou abandon'd die, with guilt oppress'd.
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HER father, soon returning, heard her fate,
Whilst he anticipates his child's embrace,
And empty hopes his joyful heart elate;
O'erwhelm'd at once he's blasted with disgrace:
No deeper pang his bosom can endure;
The laurels fade on his victorious brow;
From his uplifted arms, in fraud secure,
The villain fled, and shunn'd th' impending blow.
The parent view'd his lost desponding child,
But did not chase the sufferer from his breast,
For Christian charity, benign and mild,
Was deeply on his noble heart impress'd:
Patient enquiries taught him the base art
With which the vile seducer spread his snare,
The weakness of her lost deluded heart,
And present struggles of her wild despair;
To snatch her from th' abyss with haste he ran,
And warmly thus the tender sire began:
But did not chase the sufferer from his breast,
For Christian charity, benign and mild,
Was deeply on his noble heart impress'd:
Patient enquiries taught him the base art
With which the vile seducer spread his snare,
The weakness of her lost deluded heart,
And present struggles of her wild despair;
To snatch her from th' abyss with haste he ran,
And warmly thus the tender sire began:
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FATHER.
"O! tremble not to meet thy parent's eyes,
"But to mine open arms for refuge fly;
"From dark despondency, O ARLA! rise;
"Child of my bosom, calm the struggling sigh."
ARLA.
"Fast fall, ye tears, till ye have drown'd my sight;
"Quicken, ye pulses, your encreasing fire;
"O! let me lose myself in endless night,
"I burn with shame, I sicken at the light:
"When will my passions in the grave expire?
"Thro' wild excess my hopes are all o'erthrown,
"My genius blighted, and each virtue flown."
"Fast fall, ye tears, till ye have drown'd my sight;
"Quicken, ye pulses, your encreasing fire;
"O! let me lose myself in endless night,
"I burn with shame, I sicken at the light:
"When will my passions in the grave expire?
"Thro' wild excess my hopes are all o'erthrown,
"My genius blighted, and each virtue flown."
FATHER.
"Alas! what fiend is harassing thy breast,
"Urging thy passions like impetuous wind?
"Convulsively they rage, and unsuppress'd
"Will wreck the nobler functions of thy mind:
"Is pure religion then no longer known?
"How is thine heart thus from thy Maker flown?"
"Alas! what fiend is harassing thy breast,
"Urging thy passions like impetuous wind?
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"Convulsively they rage, and unsuppress'd
"Will wreck the nobler functions of thy mind:
"Is pure religion then no longer known?
"How is thine heart thus from thy Maker flown?"
ARLA.
"Short-breathing, deep with recent wounds I smart,
"And bursting in my bosom heaves mine heart;
"In vain my soul th' o'erwhelming storm would calm,
"Nor can the dreams of wild devotion charm.
"Delusive Faith! seducer of my youth!
"Thy wilder transports my young fancy caught,
"Delirious visions led me far from truth,
"Provok'd my passions, and my misery wrought;
"From ignorance I wak'ad to bitter thought,
"Saw clear the folly that had led astray,
"Guilt's burning blushes met the dawning day."
"Short-breathing, deep with recent wounds I smart,
"And bursting in my bosom heaves mine heart;
"In vain my soul th' o'erwhelming storm would calm,
"Nor can the dreams of wild devotion charm.
"Delusive Faith! seducer of my youth!
"Thy wilder transports my young fancy caught,
"Delirious visions led me far from truth,
"Provok'd my passions, and my misery wrought;
"From ignorance I wak'ad to bitter thought,
"Saw clear the folly that had led astray,
"Guilt's burning blushes met the dawning day."
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FATHER.
"Talk not of day; O! wrapt in darkest night!
"Still deepening the dire shades which truth should break;
"Enthusiastic mists have dimm'd thy sight,
"From which alone to guilt thou didst awake;
"Unknowing truth, religion you mistake:
"'Tis not the raging of a zealot's fires,
"Nor visions which from pamper'd fancies spring,
"Nor strains which a distemper'd zeal inspires,
"Though harmony awak'd its loftiest string.
"Religion is the tribute of a heart
"Which strongly feels GOD'S goodness and his power,
"And humbly strives to strengthen its desert,
"And, firm in hope, his attributes t' adore.
"'Twas thus I taught thee, when I fir'd thy soul
"With GOD'S omnipotence and wondrous love,
"But madly thou hast started from control,
"And o'erstrain'd raptures deadly poisons prove:
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"Prayers are but sounds that mount to heaven in vain,
"While uncurb'd passions rage with boundless sway;
"Strong principles must potent minds restrain,
"Or dire extremes will on the reason prey."
ARLA.
"With ineffectual sounds wound not mine ear,
"Light as the winds, they cannot reach the soul:
"She {Which}, like a hollow blast, thy voice can hear,
"And folding on her{it}self rebukes control.
"To death alone my spirit looks for aid,
"For all around me teems with dire dismay;
"Each earthly bliss, alas! is torn away,
"And fierce distractions my weak soul pervade.
"Pierc'd by my fate, stung with delusion's power,
"I pant for death, and urge the mortal hour."
"With ineffectual sounds wound not mine ear,
"Light as the winds, they cannot reach the soul:
"She {Which}, like a hollow blast, thy voice can hear,
"And folding on her{it}self rebukes control.
"To death alone my spirit looks for aid,
"For all around me teems with dire dismay;
"Each earthly bliss, alas! is torn away,
"And fierce distractions my weak soul pervade.
"Pierc'd by my fate, stung with delusion's power,
"I pant for death, and urge the mortal hour."
FATHER.
"Thou hast forgot thy soul can never die,
"That to the virtuous only death is rest;
"Cover'd with guilt, o'erwhelm'd with infamy,
"While earthly passions canker at thy breast,
"Wouldst thou thus rush into eternity?"
"Thou hast forgot thy soul can never die,
"That to the virtuous only death is rest;
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"Cover'd with guilt, o'erwhelm'd with infamy,
"While earthly passions canker at thy breast,
"Wouldst thou thus rush into eternity?"
The strong rebellious spirit heard him speak,
As fix'd on death her desperate passions wrought;
A sudden paleness smote her crimson cheek,
And trembling horror chill'd awak'ning thought.
She roll'd her fiery eyes, but found no rest,
Her panting heart congeal'd with sudden fears;
Then, rushing on her father's suffering breast,
Burst in an agonizing shower of tears.
As fix'd on death her desperate passions wrought;
A sudden paleness smote her crimson cheek,
And trembling horror chill'd awak'ning thought.
She roll'd her fiery eyes, but found no rest,
Her panting heart congeal'd with sudden fears;
Then, rushing on her father's suffering breast,
Burst in an agonizing shower of tears.
Nor did he strive her anguish to control,
But let it rage till all its force was spent,
Then touch'd the filial feelings of her soul,
Till to his words a willing ear she lent;
And then the heavenly precepts he diffus'd
Which breathe forgiveness to the guilty heart,
The simple tenets she had once abus'd
Now snatch her from despondency and smart:
But, ere the tumult of her soul had rest,
The sun of truth her mental darkness clear'd;
Burst the thick clouds which had her mind oppress'd,
While hope divine her woe-fraught bosom chear'd.
But let it rage till all its force was spent,
Then touch'd the filial feelings of her soul,
Till to his words a willing ear she lent;
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And then the heavenly precepts he diffus'd
Which breathe forgiveness to the guilty heart,
The simple tenets she had once abus'd
Now snatch her from despondency and smart:
But, ere the tumult of her soul had rest,
The sun of truth her mental darkness clear'd;
Burst the thick clouds which had her mind oppress'd,
While hope divine her woe-fraught bosom chear'd.
To depths of solitude she would have flown
To purify the passions of her breast,
To cherish truth sequester'd and alone,
With meditation's pensive pleasures blest:
But her wise parent check'd her erring mind,
Who piety with strong reflection join'd.
He cried, "What new delusions wouldst thou try?
"To what romantic wilds would ARLA fly?
"A mind prone to extremes these wishes fires,
"'Tis passion, and not virtue, which inspires.
"Large powers, with deep experience, scarce are food
"For the reflective cave of solitude.
"O'er what would thy sad meditations roll?
"Still idle dreams would rise and cloud thy soul;
"Which practical devotion must efface,
"And the strong exercise of virtue chase:
"Thy mind already on itself has prey'd,
"Blinded through inexperience, and betray'd;
"From Nature's grander traits conceptions caught,
"Have wak'd thy genius and enrich'd thy thought;
"But weak at root, though lofty and o'ergrown,
"Thy mind is by each casual blast o'erthrown;
"Let strengthen'd virtue, then, each thought inspire,
"And cherish'd reason check wild fancy's fire."
To purify the passions of her breast,
To cherish truth sequester'd and alone,
With meditation's pensive pleasures blest:
But her wise parent check'd her erring mind,
Who piety with strong reflection join'd.
He cried, "What new delusions wouldst thou try?
"To what romantic wilds would ARLA fly?
"A mind prone to extremes these wishes fires,
"'Tis passion, and not virtue, which inspires.
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"Large powers, with deep experience, scarce are food
"For the reflective cave of solitude.
"O'er what would thy sad meditations roll?
"Still idle dreams would rise and cloud thy soul;
"Which practical devotion must efface,
"And the strong exercise of virtue chase:
"Thy mind already on itself has prey'd,
"Blinded through inexperience, and betray'd;
"From Nature's grander traits conceptions caught,
"Have wak'd thy genius and enrich'd thy thought;
"But weak at root, though lofty and o'ergrown,
"Thy mind is by each casual blast o'erthrown;
"Let strengthen'd virtue, then, each thought inspire,
"And cherish'd reason check wild fancy's fire."
He spake; she felt the wisdom of his words,
Her heart, resign'd, to simple truth accords.
Her heart, resign'd, to simple truth accords.
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