CLXX. Of sackcloth was thy wedding garment made; Darken above her bones, yet fondly deem'd Our children should obey her child, and bless'd Her and her hoped-for seed, whose promise seem'd CLXXI Woe unto us, not her; for she sleeps well: Which from the birth of monarchy hath rung Within the opposing scale, which crushes soon or late,— CLXXII. These might have been her destiny; but no, Whose shock was as an earthquake's, and opprest CLXXIII. Lo, Nemi! navell'd in the woody hills So far, that the uprooting wind which tears And, calm as cherish'd hate, its surface wears CLXXIV. And near Albano's scarce divided waves Shine from a sister valley ;-and afar The Tiber winds, and the broad ocean laves Mary died on the scaffold; Elizabeth of a broken heart; Charles V. a hermit: L XIV. & bankrupt in means and glory; Cromwell of anxiety; and "the great behind," Napoleon lives a prisoner. To these sovereigns a long but superfluous list aquí be added of names equally illustrious and unhappy. Rose o'er an empire :-but beneath thy right The Sabine farm was till'd, the weary bard's delight. CLXXV. But I forget.-My Pilgrim's shrine is won, Those waves, we follow'd on till the dark Euxine roll'd CLXXVI. Upon the blue Symplegades: long yearsLong, though not very many, since have done Their work on both; some suffering and some tears Have left us nearly where we had begun : Yet not in vain our mortal race hath run; We have had our reward-and it is here,That we can yet feel gladden'd by the sun, And reap from earth, sea, joy almost as dear As if there were no man to trouble what is clear. CLXXVII. Oh! that the desert were my dwelling-place, With one fair spirit for my minister, That I might all forget the human race, And, hating no one, love but only her! Ye elements !-in whose ennobling stir I feel myself exalted-Can ye not Accord me such a being? Do I err In deeming such inhabit many a spot? Though with them to converse can rarely be our lot. CLXXVIII. There is a pleasure in the pathless woods, What I can ne'er express, yet cannot all conceal. CLXXIX. Roll on, thou deep and dark blue Ocean-roll! A shadow of man's ravage, save his own, When, for a moment, like a drop of rain, He sinks into thy depths with bubbling grean, Without a grave, unknell'd, uncoffin'd, and unknown. CLXXX. His steps are not upon thy paths, thy fields And shake him from thee; the vile strength he wields And dashest him again to earth :-there let him lay. CLXXXI. The armaments which thunderstrike the walls These are thy toys, and, as the snowy flake, CLXXXII. Thy shores are empires, changed in all save theeAssyria, Greece, Rome, Carthage, what are they? Thy waters wash'd them power while they were free, And many a tyrant since; their shores obey The stranger, slave, or savage; their decay Has dried up realms to deserts:-not so thou;Unchangeable save to thy wild waves' playTime writes no wrinkles on thine azure browSuch as creation's dawn beheld, thou rollest now. CLXXXIII. Thou glorious mirror, where the Almighty's form Calm or convulsed-in breeze, or gale, or storm, Of the Invisible; even from out thy slime The monsters of the deep are made: each zone Obeys thee: thou goest forth, dread, fathomless, aione. OLXXXIV. And I have loved thee, Ocean! and my joy Were a delight; and if the freshening sea And trusted to thy billows far and near, CLXXXV. My task is done-my song hath ceased-my theme The spell should break of this protracted dream. Which in my spirit dwelt is fluttering, faint, and low. CLXXXVI. Farewell! a word that must be, and hath been- He wore his sandal-shoon and scallop-shell; BEPPO. I. "Tis known, at least it should be, that throughout However high their rank, or low their station. With fiddling, feasting, dancing, drinking, masking, And other things which may be had for asking. II. The moment night with dusky mantle covers Giggling with all the gallants who beset her: III. And there are dresses splendid, but fantastical, Masks of all times and nations, Turks and Jews, And harlequins and clowns, with feats gymnastical, Greeks, Romans, Yankee-doodles, and Hindoos; All kinds of dress, except tue ecclesiastical, All people, as their fancies hit, may choose, But no one in these parts may quiz the clergy,Therefore take heed, ye Freethinkers! I charge ye. IV. You'd better walk about begirt with briars, A single stitch reflecting upon friars, Although you swore it only was in fun; They'd haul you o'er the coals, and stir the fires Of Phlegethon with every mother's son, Nor say one mass to cool the caldron's bubble That boil'd your bones, unless you paid them double |